Indie Oz is amazing!

Remember sometime back when I said that costs of making a really good-looking movie were lower due to readily available HD-ready cameras and a wide variety of video editing software? Well, some people are out there with independent Oz projects, proving me absolutely right.

Within one week, I've watched two short films by Oz fans. First up is The Wheeler of Oz by Metro City Films. The film follows the story of Maliphet, a discontent Wheeler who longs to just be accepted. He heads to Oz to look for a friend, but a terrible accident proves to be the key to his surprising future. At 11.5 minutes, I can't say much more without spoiling it. Using a mix of real photography, costumes, set design, and CGI, it's a visual delight. Maliphet's costume brings to mind Disney's Return to Oz, and the director has mentioned that Pons Maar, the head Wheeler from that movie, offered advice on making the wheels work correctly.

The Wheeler of Oz will be screened at a variety of film festivals, but if you can't make it to one of those, he also sells the film on DVD for $10 (shipping included).

Another film is a 23-minute adaptation of the Tin Woodman's tragic origin from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from Whitestone Motion Pictures. Although Baum nuts like me might get put off by no references from The Tin Woodman of Oz, it quickly draws the viewer in, and hits an emotional high note.

I could not find out if the film will be shown at film festivals, but it is available for free viewing at Vimeo, so here it is, below.

Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

Finally, we've been seeing progress on an independent adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from Barnyard Films. The writer has given us a lot of feedback and answered many questions fans have had, and what we've seen so far looks quite promising. Here's a video in which they show how they will pull off the Scarecrow in their film:



Because these films are independent, they don't need to pander to certain demographics, and the two short films I saw feel very Ozzy indeed, maybe moreso than anything a major studio has released. Keep up the great work, people!

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

One thing Oz fans tend to forget about Baum's stories is that there are things he didn't write about. In Ozma of Oz, we left Dorothy and Uncle Henry in Australia, but when Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, the Oz book for 1908, opens, Dorothy is heading to Hugson's Ranch from San Francisco. Whatever happened in Australia and San Francisco was left completely unrevealed. What Oz fans forget to do is think that sometimes, occurrences in Oz happened in between stories as well. (Okay, some have remembered this, and have written some great in between stories.) So, sometimes, details revealed in one story might not match another one.

Dorothy is riding a train to Hugson's Siding, and the train is running late due to an earthquake. Oz fans have speculated which earthquake in history it could be, and there was a well-researched article in The Baum Bugle that suggests it could have happened quite a bit further back in the past that most Oz fans would guess, but I think Baum intended it to be a fairly recent occurrence for his contemporary readers, yet entirely fictional.

It is extremely early in the morning when the train arrives at Dorothy's stop, and she gets out and finds her ride: a boy asleep in a buggy drawn by a tired old horse. Dorothy wakes the boy who proves to be her second cousin Zeb. He explains that his uncle, Bill Hugson, married Aunt Em's sister. (This bit also supports my theory that Dorothy must be related by blood to Uncle Henry.) The horse is named Jim, and Dorothy has with her, in a bird cage, a white kitten named Eureka that she found. (In later Oz books, the kitten became permanently pink, with no real explanation.)

As they head to Hugson's ranch, more tremors of the earthquake are felt, until the ground opens up beneath the buggy, and all fall into the earth. As they fall through the earth, it is, at first, terrifying, but quickly, the descent becomes slow. (Alice, anyone?) They see that inside the Earth is a country where the houses are made of glass, and six multi-colored suns shine. (These lights make things seem a different color, and it is because of this light that Eureka appears as pink.)

Dorothy and company land at last on top of a glass house. (Wait... Something's coming to me...) They notice a man in a house opposite the one they're on, and see him walk off the edge, and walking through the air to the street. With a bit of experimentation, our friends discover they can also walk in air. (Baum later gives the reason that they must be near the center of the earth, and gravity has less effect there. As smaller planets have less gravity, this may bear some weight. However, to say for sure, we'd need to find a hollow in the earth that deep down.)

Upon descent, the strange people of the land confront them with emotionless voices and faces, calling themselves Mangaboos. They ask if they caused a "rain of stones," damaging the houses and injuring the people. Of course Dorothy and Zeb deny responsibility, but they are taken to the home of Gwig the Sorcerer, who suggests they are responsible for the stones, then tells the Prince that although he had previously said there would be no more "rains of stones," claiming that this was a "Rain of People-and-Horse-and-Buggy," accompanied by stones.

Yeah, we get it, Gwig, you're a phony. And speaking of phonies, the Mangaboos notice something else falling from above: a man in a hot-air balloon. Yep, it's the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Prince of the Mangaboos asks Gwig why another person has come from the sky, but Gwig humbugs that he said "people," and the Wizard is just a person. Seeing this, the Wizard claims a wizard is better than a sorcerer, to which Gwig challenges him to feats of magic. Gwig makes music sound, while the Wizard seems to pull nine tiny piglets out of nowhere. Gwig then makes the Wizard gradually become unable to breathe, and to combat this, the Wizard joins together many knives to create a sword, and uses it to slice Gwig in half.

Yes, the Wizard just killed someone.

And you thought Oz books were squeaky clean books for kids...

When we are told the grisly details, we discover the Mangaboos are not human: they are vegetable. They grow on vines and bushes and are picked when they become ripe, and when they die, must be "planted" to grow new bushes. Thus, the sliced halves of Gwig look like a sliced potato. The Mangaboos are rather creepy, no emotion, looking human, but are something else all together.

Dorothy, the Wizard, and Zeb are taken to the planting grounds, where they see the Royal Bush of the Mangaboos, noticing a princess who appears to be ripe. Willing to guess that the Prince is delaying her harvest, thus extending his reign, Dorothy and the Wizard pick the Princess, who takes the throne. The Prince had intended to kill them. With the Princess, she might be kinder, or will have to be made aware of the strangers in her land, but in any case, they're buying some extra time.

The Wizard soon reveals to his friends that his trick with the piglets was sleight of hand, and the piglets were obtained from the island of Teenty-Weent. (However, that would also change.) Eureka automatically wishes to eat one of the piglets (because, like all of Baum's fairylands, now the animals can talk), but Dorothy and the Wizard will not let her. (Later, Jim even threatens to eat Eureka should she do such a thing.)

The Wizard takes Gwig's old home as his own, but is soon confronted by the Princess of the Mangaboos. The Mangaboos cannot tolerate other people living with them, and as they do not believe there is a way to leave, they feel the only answer is to kill the invaders. However, the Wizard pulls a trick to keep himself and his friends alive for awhile at least: he sets a fire on the ground and says any Mangaboos who spoke untruthfully against them will be withered instantly. The Princess sends some of her advisers into the fire, and they are all withered and must be planted right away. She agrees not to harm the Wizard or the children, but asks that the animals be disposed of. The Wizard, however, manages to protect the animals.

However, one night (as the suns cannot move, night is only specified by when the people sleep), the sleepless Mangaboos kidnap the animals and force them into a hole in a mountainside. Jim fights and Eureka claws, but in the end, they are forced into the mountain anyways. Eureka manages to escape to wake the Wizard, Dorothy, and Zeb, but when they go to rescue Jim and the piglets, the Mangaboos seal them all into the mountain.

You realize what just happened? People who lived in glass houses just threw stones.

Deciding to continue traveling than waiting for death to take them, the Wizard and his friends continue into the hole and discover it's a tunnel. It leads them up to another country, in another plateau of this underground world. While gravity has now been restored and there are no more multicolored suns, just a single one, they find it to be a more natural-looking place, except they cannot see any living thing.

The Wizard feeds a peach-like fruit to the piglets and discovers to his horror that it made them invisible. He gathers up the invisible piglets as they venture to a farmhouse, where they find an invisible family sitting down to dinner, which the Wizard and friends are invited to join.

The family fills the travelers in: this is the Valley of Voe, and everyone is invisible because they eat the peach-like dama fruit. The main reason is because wild, vicious bears roam the valley, and they also eat dama fruit, so being invisible offers a fighting chance to survive against the bears. (Yes, you're either invisible, or you will almost certainly die.) The travelers decide against eating the fruit and to try their luck at escaping the valley, in a similar way that they escaped the Mangaboos: Pyramid Mountain sits on the other side of Voe, and leads to the country of the Gargoyles.

As the travelers journey across the valley, they rest beside a river when they are warned by an invisible person that the bears are near. The person shows them a leaf that, once rubbed on the soles of their feet, will allow them to walk on water. The charm also seems to work on the buggy wheels, but before everyone can fully escape, the bears attack Jim, and he gets a few scratches, but the Wizard manages to use his collapsible sword to kill one of the bears.

The travelers hurry to Pyramid Mountain, walking on the water as much as possible. Inside the Mountain is a winding staircase that they all must walk up. About halfway up, they see an opening, and looking through see a black sea with flames shooting out of it, giant fierce-looking birds flying around, and on their level, Cloud Fairies, who must be akin to other sky fairies we'll meet in later Oz books. I can't figure out what country they're looking at, though it seems uninhabited. Is it Baum's own take on Hell?

Now we come to an odd part of the book: inside this cavern lives the Braided Man of Pyramid Mountain, who got there by accident when he stacked a lot of post-holes up together and fell through. He also makes rustles for silk dresses and flutters for flags, which he gives to the Wizard and Dorothy in return for a hair ribbon. Really, this scene is weird. The travelers have been going from one peril to another, and then we suddenly get a character who makes non-material objects? Seriously, I was trying to write this into a script, and wound up crossing out the whole page and wrote NO GOOD on it. Yes, the Braided Man was fun, but he felt really out of place.

Moving on... The country of the Gargoyles, at the top of Pyramid Mountain, is completely made of wood, down to the grass and pebbles. Even the Gargoyles are made of wood. Remembering that the people in Voe told them the Gargoyles hate noise, the Wizard uses his revolvers (what did he have that for I wonder?) and sword to try to fight, but eventually, the travelers are conquered and imprisoned.

The prison proves to be the top of a tall building with no windows or doors. However, Eureka discovers she can cling to the wood and climbs down to the city and observes the Gargoyles. She reports that the Gargoyles unhook their wings before they sleep, and the Wizard deduces that the magic power of flight must be in the wings, so if they could get some, they could fly away. Zeb makes a rope ladder with Jim's harness and quietly steals many wings that the Wizard uses to attack to Jim and the buggy, enabling them to fly away.

Well, Pegasus it sure ain't...

Anyways, the Gargoyles wake and see them escaping, so the ones with wings still make chase. The travelers reach the mountain at this end just in time, the Wizard unhooking the wings and setting them on fire, making the remark that no one will miss the Gargoyles if the fire spreads and burns the entire country. (Genocide?)

In the cave, they discover some dragonettes, baby dragons left by their mother as she hunts for food. After a humorous yet grim conversation, the travelers continue to find a dead end, apparently very close to the earth's surface.

And it is at this moment that Dorothy remembers that Ozma promised that every day at 3PM, Dorothy will be seen in the Magic Picture, Dorothy having only to make an unspecified signal with her hand to be brought to Oz.

And all Oz fans shout "WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK OF THAT BEFORE, DOROTHY?" And actually, in Ozma of Oz, it was stated that this would actually occur on Saturday morning. David Hulan mentioned in a recent Baum Bugle that if this had been left as it was introduced, it would have made more sense, and given a bit of urgency to the story: the travelers just needing to stay together and alive until Saturday. I tend to agree, especially as the 3 o'clock timing makes no difference in subsequent Oz stories.

Well, the travelers are brought to Oz, and... well, isn't the Wizard going to answer for his crime in abducting Ozma and giving her to Mombi? The answer... no. In fact, he is no longer guilty of it somehow. Ozma tells him a completely different story of how the witches took over Oz and how she wound up with Mombi. There's been a number of stories trying to rectify the two stories, all making our Wizard innocent, as he was unaware that he was doing wrong, or that the Wizard who met with Mombi was actually a different Wizard altogether, and that Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs was actually the second Wizard of Oz. If this is to believed, which I think, if handled right, it makes a nice theory, I guess Ozma and Glinda found out after Ozma's restoration.

So, as the Wizard is no longer the ruler, he is offered a new home in Oz, which he accepts, taking a position in the court as a Wizard, Ozma noting that a humbug Wizard is the safest there is. During the pomp and parade, the Wizard makes a gift of one of the piglets (who became visible after leaving Voe) to Ozma as her own pet.

Jim has a bit of a rivalry with the Sawhorse, he thinking he is superior, while the Sawhorse admires Jim in every way. The two have a race, and while the Sawhorse wins, Jim kicks him, damaging the Sawhorse, and is quickly pounced on by the Hungry Tiger with the warning that none of their friends must be attacked in their presence, proving that Ozma does have a good bodyguard! However, Jim feels indignant, and Zeb sympathizes with his horse.

One day, Ozma calls for Jellia (who the Wizard recognized, making her likely the green servant girl from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) to bring her pet piglet. When Jellia returns and says she failed to find it and that Eureka was seen leaving the room, they can only assume Eureka has finally sated her desire to eat one of the piglets. Eureka neither confesses or denies the crime, so she is to be put on trial. The Wizard, not wanting to have Dorothy upset over losing Eureka, gives the Tin Woodman, Eureka's defense attorney, one of the other piglets to substitute for it, forging evidence to clear Eureka's name.

The trial ensues very humorously, but eventually concludes with the verdict that Eureka is guilty. When the Tin Woodman produces the replacement piglet, claiming it is the missing one, Eureka is cleared of all charges, but the kitten refuses to be free unless the Wizard can produce eight piglets, and noting that Ozma's piglet had an emerald collar. The trick being exposed, Eureka finally explains that though she intended to eat the piglet, it ran and fell into a vase in Ozma's room, where it remains. The piglet is recovered, and Eureka claims that she didn't tell anyone of her innocence because it would have spoiled the fun.

Soon, Dorothy sees in the Magic Picture that Uncle Henry has returned home at last and is mourning with Aunt Em over the loss of Dorothy, so she feels she must return. Zeb and Jim feel out of place in Oz (fairyland isn't for everyone, it seems), and ask to go home as well. Ozma returns them all to their homes.

Really, Baum was at his best when he wrote stories of peril and adventure. While the Braided Man, the Dragonettes, Jim's rivalry with the Sawhorse, and Eureka's trial are all funny and great reading, they fall flat and almost feel out of place with the rest of the book.

And what is up with all the contradictions? While some can be explained away, the fact is that Baum did leave some glaring continuity errors unanswered. Even my "things happened in between stories" argument can only last so long.

But all the same, Oz fans love this and all of Baum's Oz books, grimness, uneven storytelling, and continuity errors. It proves that despite having problems, a good story can still shine.

Ozma of Oz

Well, Reilly and Britton had done it again: they'd convinced Baum to write another Oz book. And not just another Oz book, but at least four. The first of these was released in 1907, Ozma of Oz.

The story opens with Dorothy and Uncle Henry at sea, and it's a stormy night. Baum explains that the long years of working on the farm have taken their toll on Uncle Henry's health, and they're heading to Australia to rest and recuperate.

I've been curious as to what exactly Uncle Henry's condition was. Furthermore, I'd like to imagine the doctor recommended hiring a nurse to see to Uncle Henry, but they'd opted for Dorothy to go instead, as they would only need to pay her fare. I estimate that she'd be about 10 at this time, and while that would seem young for someone to care for an ailing elderly man, Dorothy is consistently depicted as being very mature for her age, in practical matters.

Another thing: this was the first time Dorothy had been illustrated by John R. Neill, except for a cameo on a mural in the Tin Woodman's palace in The Marvelous Land of Oz. In that mural, and in W.W. Denslow's illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, she is depicted with thick braids. Denslow's coloring for her hair is usually interpreted as brown (subsequent interpretations of Dorothy such as the 1902 musical and the 1939 movie musical might be a factor), though I think it looks more like red. Neill, however, has Dorothy with a blonde bob. While the change in hair color could be anyone's guess (aside from different illustrator, different publisher), I came up with the idea that Uncle Henry noticed how out of style Dorothy's hair was on their way to the port, and let her get her hair cut and styled. Or maybe Dorothy met a new friend on the ship who cut her hair for her... (Hmmm... Now who else was illustrated by Neill who had a bob?)

Anyways, this stormy evening, Dorothy can't find Uncle Henry and goes on deck to look for him, when she gets washed overboard. Desperately, she hangs onto a chicken coop that also blew off the ship (sadly, Baum even notes that a number of chickens met an unfortunate end because of this) and climbs inside. Eventually, the storm subsides, and she falls asleep.

...Anyone notice how similar that is to the cyclone in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

Dorothy is awakened by a chicken clucking as it lays an egg. To her surprise, the chicken, named Bill, can talk and notes they are not far from land. When Dorothy notes that Bill is a female chicken, a hen, she decides to feminize the name Bill by making it "Billina," and thus one of the book's most entertaining characters is introduced. (And Baum is actually in top form here...)

It's no surprise Baum would introduce a talking chicken, given that he raised chickens, and his first published book, The Book of the Hamburgs, was about raising them. And Baum never makes his talking animals anthropomorphic, but keeps them in the character of what kind of animal they are, with the exception of the Cowardly Lion and Hungry Tiger, who have ridiculous inferiority complexes, with the Lion misunderstanding what courage really is, and the Tiger waiting for the meal that will permanently sate his hunger.

As Dorothy and Billina land, they notice letters in the sand reading "Beware The Wheelers." (Are these letters dug into the sand, or what?) As their clothes and feathers dry, Billina finds a golden key. Dorothy goes to look for food, and finds two trees that bear paper lunch boxes and tin dinner pails filled with food. She gets one of each, and has a lunch, before they encounter the Wheelers, men with wheels instead of hands and feet, and thus roll on all fours. Dorothy and Billina escape them on a rock, where the hen finds a path that leads to a locked cave. The golden key Billina found unlocks the cave, and inside, they find a man made of copper.

Tiktok (or Tik-Tok, the spelling varied in the books), once wound with a key (I thought Disney's Return to Oz improved on the idea by making the keys and his instructions attached to him), tells his story, that he was owned by the cruel King of Ev, Evoldo, who sold his wife and children to the Nome King in exchange for a long life. Afterward, Evoldo regretted his action, and having failed to bargain with the Nome King, locked Tiktok away and threw the key into the sea. Regretting this, he jumps in after it and drowns. (Evoldo, a life ended by regret.) Tiktok now dedicates himself to serving Dorothy, as she freed him.

Tiktok's first bit of service is getting rid of the Wheelers by beating them with Dorothy's dinner pail. He manages to capture the leader, who is forced to lead them to the city of Evna, to meet Princess Langwidere, the acting ruler of Ev.

Langwidere is a lazy princess (the first part of her name is a homophone of "languid," though I've never been able to decide if the name means "languid ear" or "languid dear"), and she has thirty heads she can change out for her own, each with a different personality. (Baum never tells us if Langwidere was born with these, if there are thirty headless or dead women somewhere, or if they came from somewhere else altogether. A suggestion I made for this is being worked into a story someone's working on.) When Langwidere fancies Dorothy's head, Dorothy promptly refuses, Langwidere locks Dorothy in a tower, puts Billina in her hen house, and as Tiktok has wound down, she leaves him where he is, letting him be more ornamental than useful. (Now where did I get that term?)

As Dorothy looks out of her prison, she notices the Land of Ev borders the Deadly Desert that separates her from the Land of Oz. To her surprise, she sees movement on the desert, and soon makes it out as Princess Ozma on a magic carpet that rolls out in front of her procession. Ozma rides in a chariot pulled by the Lion and Tiger, while the Scarecrow on the Sawhorse follows, and the Tin Woodman leads an army of twenty-six officers and one private, who proves to be Omby Amby, the soldier with the green whiskers from the previous Oz books. (He made good on his word to cut off his beard to disguise himself to trick Jinjur's army, as mentioned in the last book, a surprising bit of continuity from Baum.)

As the procession arrives at the palace Dorothy calls for her old friends to save her, and as they were going to visit Langwidere anyways, Ozma agrees. Langwidere happily releases Dorothy to Ozma when she hears that Ozma intends to free the Queen of Ev and her children, so Langwidere will be free of her duties. Dorothy winds Tiktok and frees Billina (who, in a brilliant metaphor of feminism, has beaten the rooster of the hen house in a fight), then a council is held about Evoldo's bargain with Roquat of the Rocks, the Nome King, and what must be done to free the Royal Family of Ev. All they can do is go to the Nome King and either bargain or fight.

The procession heads towards the Nome Kingdom, the Magic Carpet serving as a bridge over a gap they encounter, but a greater danger lies in an mechanical giant who hammers the ground, blocking off access to the Nome King's palace. (Tiktok admires the giant, noting that the creators of the giant also made him.) However, some quick bounding and running by the Lion, Tiger, and Sawhorse all manage to carry the party across, one at a time, as the giant raises the hammer.

Finally, they reach a dead end where they are laughed at by almost invisible rock fairies, and Ozma demands the Nome King to appear. Tiktok reminds Ozma that the Nome King does not answer to Ozma, so she requests that the Nome King appear, to no avail. When Tiktok suggests Ozma pleads to see him, she flatly refuses, and Dorothy instead politely asks the Nome King to see them, which causes an entry to appear in the rock. (For the titular character, you're getting shown up quite a bit, Ozma.)

The Nome King seems to be an amiable and cheerful fellow, but refuses to simply surrender the Royal Family of Ev, revealing that he transformed them into ornaments and knick-knacks to decorate his palace. Ozma offers to replace the ornaments, up to ten times what the Nome King would lose, or else they will fight the Nome King. He shows Ozma his own immense army, far outnumbering their own twenty-seven soldiers, so the Nome King offers to let them take a gamble: each member of the party can go into the ornament rooms, one at a time, and make eleven guesses as to the enchanted objects. However, if all guesses prove to be failures, the guesser will also be transformed into an ornament. However, the next guesser may have one more than the previous, giving them one chance to find each transformed person.

Ozma decides to accept, thinking she would surely pick one out of eleven correctly, and goes first. However, she discovers the ornament rooms are immense and full of ornaments, and all of her guesses prove to be failures. The Tin Woodman and the army follow suit, but all fail. Meanwhile, the Nome King provides refreshments for those waiting, and Billina wanders off. After Omby Amby fails, the Nome King decides to go to bed and continue the next day, and has Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tiktok, the Lion, and the Tiger sent to rooms. Dorothy, however, notices that she cannot find Billina.

Billina, however, has made herself cozy under the Nome King's throne, where she hears the Chief Steward (later named Kaliko) chide the Nome King for making the Royal Family of Ev the only purple ornaments in his collection, and the people of Oz the only green ones. He even mentions that if he had the Magic Belt, he would make a better king. The Nome King scoffs at this criticism and goes to bed, revealing he plans to make Dorothy a gray ornament, and the Scarecrow and Tiktok solid gold.

The next day, Tiktok is the first to go, but his action winds down before he can make his last guess. Dorothy is sent to wind him, let him make his last guess, then make her own guesses. After Tiktok fails, one of Dorothy's guesses proves successful, as she disenchants Evring, one of the princes of Ev. This means even if she doesn't make another correct choice, she will not be transformed, and Evring is free.

While Dorothy is going about this, Billina lays an egg under the Nome King's throne. He is outraged, claiming that all eggs are poison to Nomes, as they belong only to the outside world. (This has been a matter of much debate to Oz fans, some theorizing that it is not really true, some taking it to where even human ova would be fatal, or other extremities. Baum never settled on exactly how an egg would kill a Nome.) The Scarecrow offers to remove it, as he also carries Billina's daily egg from the previous day, but Billina tells him not to touch it unless she is allowed to have a round at the Nome King's guessing game. The Nome King agrees, thinking he will be rid of Billina.

The Scarecrow takes his turn after the rest of Dorothy's guesses prove unsuccessful, and also fails. Billina takes her turn, and using the information she overheard, manages to restore the rest of the Royal Family of Ev, Ozma, the Army, the Scarecrow, and Tiktok. However, she cannot find the Tin Woodman. They decide to confront the Nome King about his unfair gambles, but find his army ready to attack.

Using Billina's eggs, the Scarecrow manages to blind the Nome King, and Billina tells Dorothy to take the Magic Belt. As the Nome King finds himself powerless, he panics, and is forced to listen to Ozma's demands. He searches the ornament rooms himself but cannot find the Tin Woodman. They decide to leave the Nome King, since he seems to be in earnest, but as they leave, he makes his army attack, but Dorothy uses the Magic Belt to transform the front row of soldiers into eggs. (It always struck me as hard luck for the transformed Nomes, since they were just following orders. Maybe we can assume that Dorothy restored them when they were a safe distance away.)

The giant with the hammer proves no obstacle, as the Magic Belt halts it. On the way back to Evna, Evring produces a green tin whistle he'd found in the Ornament Rooms, which proves to be the transformation of the Tin Woodman, who is quickly restored.

Peace is quickly restored to Ev, as Prince Evardo takes the throne, as he is the eldest of Evoldo's sons, and Ozma and her company are rewarded for their efforts. Soon, they return to Oz to a banquet, where Omby Amby is promoted to Captain General, for at least trying to fight the Nomes. (This promotion is oddly the wisest thing Ozma does in the book.)

After spending "several very happy weeks" in Oz, Dorothy discovers Ozma's Magic Picture and asks to see Uncle Henry, who is obviously concerned over Dorothy's apparent loss at sea. Going to Glinda to ask how Dorothy is to return to Uncle Henry in Australia, Glinda reveals the Magic Belt can send Dorothy home, but if Dorothy uses it, it will be lost, like the Silver Shoes from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Instead, Dorothy lets Ozma use the Magic Belt to send to Uncle Henry, Billina opting to stay in Oz, and Tiktok being turned over to Ozma's keeping.

Ozma wishes Dorothy back to Uncle Henry. The story ends with Dorothy explaining her survival to Uncle Henry, and promising to take care of him until he gets better. Uncle Henry assures her that having her back, he's better already.

We might want to ask, who is the heroine of the story? Is it Ozma? Yes, it was her idea to free the Royal Family of Ev, thus making permanent peace with that country, but aside from being the diplomat, she doesn't do much in the way of heroics. Is it Dorothy? Maybe. It is Dorothy who moves the story along and who we mostly focus on. But if you want the character who is responsible for saving the day, it would have to be Billina.

The story also introduces the Nome King, one of the most popular villains in the Oz books. Yes, even the Wicked Witch of the West isn't quite as popular (except the MGM and Wicked incarnations). He at first seems amiable and agreeable, but is actually quite devious and can be quite dangerous when angry. In fact, Baum almost bookended the ... But we'll get to that in a later blog. Let's just say he's not going to take this defeat lying down. He is best summed up as I heard a different character described: "He'd politely ask you to tea, then bite your head off."

Ozma of Oz is one of the Oz books that are often pegged as a favorite. And it's not hard to see why. After all, Baum writes his best here, as well as retaining his humor: the character who saves the day is not the beautiful Princess Ozma, nor our daring Dorothy, but a chicken. Baum keeps his characters in top form, creates a landmark villain, and tellss a top-notch story.

And he not only does here what he did with The Marvelous Land of Oz, but better as well. Dorothy is back, she has a new friend or two - who have qualities and characters that are entirely different to one another but also entertaining and appropriate - while exploring a new land and its equally strange inhabitants, gets reunited with her old friends, meets a new threat, manages to help out in his defeat, save an enchanted kingdom and arrange a way to come back to Oz when she wishes while also returning to her despaired family. These points, like those mentioned in The Marvelous Land of Oz, were also key story elements in the plot of Disney's Return to Oz, and thus, finally wrote what felt like a satisfying follow up to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

From Oz to the US

Queer Visitors From The Marvelous Land of Oz and The Woggle-Bug Book. Not exactly the catchiest titles, huh? Strangely enough, this is the bit of Oz I keep coming back to. After searching down photocopies of the originals, and putting the stories online, even making a MIDI of "What Did The Woggle-Bug Say?" I wound up writing a review of the collected edition of Queer Visitors for the Baum Bugle, and contributed an introduction (and a lot of material) for a new edition of The Woggle-Bug Book. It almost feels redundant doing a blog for these stories, given my previous work with them, but here I am, typing away.

Queer Visitors was a series of comic strips that advertised The Marvelous Land of Oz from 1904 to 1905. The strips were actually full-size newspaper pages, with a story by Baum, and illustrations by Walt McDougall, which would include speech balloons.

The Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse, and the Woggle-Bug visit America in the Gump, arriving at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, where they get into mischief. The visitors take time heading from St. Louis to somewhere in Kansas, where the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman are reunited with Dorothy and Toto.

As they visit with Dorothy and travel across the United States even more, more mischief ensues as the visitors attempt to do good deeds, or just visit.

Baum pays special attention to the Woggle-Bug's adventures. Many of the early newspaper stories featured the "What Did The Woggle-Bug Say?" contest, in which the Woggle-Bug solved a question, or showed off his knowledge. Later, the Woggle-Bug is instrumental in resolving plots, or carries them alone.

The Woggle-Bug Book follows up Queer Visitors, giving the Woggle-Bug a misadventure that reads like a "highly magnified" story from the series, and is also considered Baum's worst story.

The visit's conclusion was never properly revealed. In 2003, I wrote a short story that simply had the visitors become homesick, and decide to return to Oz, and they have to send Dorothy back home instead of letting her join them. And when they return, they tell Ozma that money should be abolished in Oz. I never published this story online or otherwise, and probably would not, though I still have it.

What I find most interesting about these stories is that they turn the conventional idea of Oz on its head: usually, someone from America goes to visit Oz. Now we have people from Oz visiting America.

The stories, Queer Visitors and The Woggle-Bug Book, have been questioned when it comes to continuity with the other Oz books. While the proper Oz books seem to say that magic doesn't work outside of Oz, Jack, the Sawhorse, and the Gump are alive outside of Oz, the Woggle-Bug maintains his immense size, and only here, the visitors practice magic. One could argue that they are actually ambassadors, so technically, wherever they are is counted as part of Oz, and Glinda gave them magical charms to use to keep them out of trouble, or to help people. However, though these explanations are reasonable, they require validation, and the stories offer none.

In the Oz books, Baum indicates that Oz is on a hidden continent on Earth somewhere. Promotional material for the series told of the visitors visiting other planets, however, Baum may not have written these.

Another is that, given that her old friends visit, it is odd that Aunt Em doesn't believe Dorothy's tales of Oz, which is a factor that comes into play in The Emerald City of Oz. Once again, one could argue that Baum, not quite catching all the details, added Aunt Em's skepticism, given that Dorothy relayed the Oz stories to him, in-universe.

One minor point is that, despite it appearing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and being mentioned in The Marvelous Land of Oz, the visitors mention that money is not used in Oz. Apparently, despite my fabricated ending for the series, Ozma must have abolished money prior to The Road to Oz.

The biggest concern to modern readers is the ethnic humor. As in my introduction to The Woggle-Bug Book, I see this rather as Baum depicting an ethnically diverse America, at a time when stereotyping was not seen as hateful to people of differing ethnicity.

All in all, these stories are of varying quality. Some of the Queer Visitors stories are quite innocent, while others, and especially The Woggle-Bug Book, can get rather cringe-worthy.

After the initial releases in 1904 and 1905, all the stories were unavailable. Dick Martin illustrated a heavily re-written picture book called The Visitors From Oz, which was based on some of the Queer Visitors stories, which were later reprinted as double-page spreads in the International Wizard of Oz Club's Baum Bugle. The Woggle-Bug Book was available in black and white in a pricey hardcover in the late 1970's, and has since has had some reprints as well.

The stories, both Queer Visitors and The Woggle-Bug Book, were collected in the mid-1980's as The Third Book of Oz, with new illustrations by Eric Shanower. Despite two editions, the volume disappeared quickly. It was replaced in 2005 by Hungry Tiger Press' The Visitors From Oz.

Last year, Sunday Press issued Queer Visitors in an oversized but attractive hardcover. To accompany this edition, I worked with Marcus Mebes and Ruth Berman to present a new edition of The Woggle-Bug Book, so now these odd Ozian tales are available, with or without their original illustrations. If you want to read them, take your pick.

The Marvelous Land of Oz

L. Frank Baum did not want to write sequels. Like many good authors, he wanted to try to try other things, test his writing skills. While he eventually got to try various stories, he eventually found that series were very lucrative.

However, his return to Oz was not intended to start a series. The musical adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz spurred many people to read the book, which had already been popular. Many children wanted to know the further adventures of their favorite Oz characters, and wrote to Baum. While Baum indicated that a "Dorothy" had made a long journey to see him, in actuality, the newly formed Reilly & Britton had offered to make him their star author.

Baum was ready to jump for the chance. His last star author position was at the George Hill Company, who had published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Baum's intended follow-up, Dot & Tot of Merryland. Currently, Baum's publisher had been Bobbs-Merrill, who he was not very happy with. The offer of being a star author again was enough to break through Baum's reticence to write a new Oz story.

The story opens with a boy named Tippetarius (or Tip for short) living with a cruel "sorceress" named Mombi. Tip hates his guardian, but does not know why he lives with her. When Mombi is out on a shopping trip, Tip makes a pumpkin-headed wooden dummy to scare her with. When Mombi returns, she brings "Jack Pumpkinhead" to life. Now, she decides to get rid of Tip once and for all by turning him into a marble statue.

While Mombi sleeps, Tip and Jack escape, Tip taking the Powder of Life Mombi used to bring Jack to life with. Determining to go to the Emerald City to meet the Scarecrow, Tip brings a wooden Sawhorse to life for Jack to ride, to ease his joints. However, the Sawhorse soon separates Tip and Jack by running the rest of the way to the Emerald City.

On the rest of the journey, Tip runs into Jinjur, a general of her own army, who intend to conquer the Emerald City and run it to suit themselves. Tip goes with them to the Emerald City, which is conquered quickly and bloodlessly, due to the Scarecrow's low defenses.

Tip and the Soldier with the Green Whiskers (who Baum would later reveal as Omby Amby, though Thompson said he was named Wantowin Battles) hurry to the Scarecrow, and using the Sawhorse, Tip, the Scarecrow, and Jack run to the castle of the Tin Woodman, who is eager to help his old friend. Heading back to the Emerald City, they are joined by the Woggle-Bug, who has been thoroughly educated, highly magnified, and doesn't really help to advance the plot. The party's progress is thwarted by deceptions by Mombi, who has joined with Jinjur. Guidance by the Queen of the Field Mice, making her sole return appearance since The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, easily defeats this, and she lends the Scarecrow some mice who scare away Jinjur and her army.

Once they have taken the Palace back, the Scarecrow and his friends realize they're still captured, as the army waits outside. Putting together a flying machine consisting of two sofas, a gump's head, palm branches, a broom, and a lot of clothesline, Tip uses the last of the Powder of Life to bring it to life with. Dubbing it "The Gump," the company flies to Glinda, but not before a miscalculated direction sends them into a misadventure in a jackdaw's nest, during which the Scarecrow has to be re-stuffed with money.

Glinda refuses to restore the Scarecrow to the throne, claiming that there is a proper heir to the throne. (Why she allowed the Scarecrow to take the throne at all is a mystery.) Revealing that the Wizard took the throne from the former King of Oz, Pastoria (a history Baum would retcon), she further reveals that he had a daughter named Ozma. The Scarecrow says he would not mind surrendering the throne to Ozma, as he tires of the duty. Glinda reveals Mombi was involved in Ozma's disappearance, and so she takes her army to the Emerald City so she can question Mombi.

Jinjur feels that it would be in her best interest to just surrender Mombi, but the witch threatens her, and disguises herself. Glinda manages to thwart Mombi's first attempt, but when Mombi disguises herself as a rose, Glinda and her friends fail to find Mombi, except the Tin Woodman picks the rose on his way out of the City.

Glinda becomes suspicious of the rose, and Mombi transforms herself into a series of shapes, until she turns into a griffin, and starts running towards the desert. The Sawhorse, however, races the griffin to the edge of the desert, where the griffin tires and transforms back into Mombi, being swiftly captured by Glinda.

Upon questioning, Mombi reveals the Wizard gave her Ozma, and in order to conceal the princess, she transformed her into a boy, which everyone realizes, and Mombi confirms, must be Tip. As her last act of magic, Mombi restores Ozma, who, with the aid of Glinda, quickly takes the Emerald City again. Tin Woodman returns to his kingdom and Scarecrow becomes the Royal Treasurer, Woggle-Bug unsuccessfully tutores Jack Pumpkinhead and Saw-Horse becomes Ozma's steed for occasions.

One major misunderstanding of the book is that Baum was making fun of the feminists with General Jinjur and her army. While Baum cleverly pulls off the revolt, keeping the women in character, it is not Baum disapproving of feminists at all. Baum's mother-in-law, Matilda Gage, was a leading, though largely forgotten, feminist, and Baum respected her work. It has even been held that she was the one who told him to start writing his children's stories, which led to his great successes. And the story itself presents a flaw with the theory: if feminism is a bad thing, why is a girl ruling the Emerald City at the end of the story, and throughout the rest of Baum's books? Glinda even states that if it wasn't for Ozma's inheritance, Jinjur would have as much claim to the throne as the Scarecrow, and she would not have interfered. Would Jinjur's government had been the right one? Probably not. But remember, Glinda let a humbug in a balloon rule the Emerald City.

Baum fairly peppered his script with humor, such as when Jinjur declares they are revolting, the Guardian of the Gates tells them they "don't look it," since that is also a word for "ugly." And one of the most memorable scenes is the scene in which the Scarecrow calls for Jellia Jamb (making her first appearance with a name) to interpret his conversation with Jack Pumpkinhead, and the girl decides to have some fun at their expense.

Also, Baum made the story fairly adventurous: midnight runaways, a city being conquered, familiar characters mixed with new characters, and a literal high-flying adventure! It's no wonder that this book was paired with story elements of Ozma of Oz to plot Disney's Return to Oz (Think about those points, and you'll see that they are in that film).

The discovery of Ozma as Tip is the most notable sex change in Baum's works. He did other enchantments, or fairies disguising as a member of the opposite sex. Many members of the LGBT community relate to Tip and Ozma due to this plot twist. Really, the two, as they appear early on, seem to be polar opposites: Tip loves mischief and is very handy with his jack-knife, while Ozma is definitely sophisticated and regal.

This is also a long Oz book, mainly due to the characters spending much time talking as they walk or stand about - a prime example being the Woggle-Bug's recollection of how he came to be - which naturally slows down the story and drags the action. Naturally this is changed in the adaptations, be it comic or acting-media.

All in all, for some reason, there is something lacking from Baum's sequel... What was it? Well... We'll soon see...

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

This is part of what I hope will be an ongoing series that will cover the Famous Forty and other Oz stories by those authors. Given that I do not own or have read all of those books, there may be some gaps in between entries. I will attempt to do the Famous Forty in order, at least. Sam has said he may contribute to this, but has made no promises.

Really, what can be said about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz that hasn't already been said? Even saying that it is Baum's most examined piece of work is an understatement. It's been picked apart, torn, shredded, examined under microscopes, and re-assembled. So, honestly, there's not much to say about it, even though I finished re-reading it recently after a long time with no Oz. (Yes, it was scary.)

Baum says in his introduction that he believed it was time for a revolution in the children's library, as existing stories felt out-of-date considering the atmosphere in which children grew up. Thus, he states, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was written to please contemporary children. Little did he know that adults and children over 100 years later would still be reading it.

While I do appreciate how Baum wrote his Oz books, and appreciate examining them, as I do myself, I tend to keep in mind that Oz was originally intended to be enjoyed. If you start getting so defensive of this literature that you can't enjoy it anymore, you've missed out. Reading it too critically can spoil your fun, and comparing it with a certain movie as you read can also be spoiling.

Almost two years ago, I wrote about how the story fit the basis of myths and epics very well. Although I would have written some things differently today, I still stand by this analysis of the story, so if you want my take on the story structure, please refer to that blog.

I noted on my latest re-read how grim the story can get. After meeting the Tin Woodman, Dorothy notes that she will run out of food soon and fears starvation. Although this is mentioned rather grimly, noting Dorothy "could not live unless she was fed," Baum manages to turn this grim situation into a bit of character development for the Scarecrow. After meeting the Cowardly Lion, and before they can cross the river that will soon lead them into the Deadly Poppy Field, he manages to find food for her, first in the form of nuts, and then in fruit. This thoughtfulness on his part shows that he can think, though he, and sometimes the readers themselves, may not realize it.

The Tin Woodman, I felt, should be the one out of Dorothy's friends, who could sympathize the most with her, since, unlike the Lion or Scarecrow, he had been human at some point, and had people he loved who were taken from him. However, oddly, Baum didn't seem to play with this. In fact, although he claims he will go back to the Munchkin girl he loved (revealed to be named Nimmee Aimee in The Tin Woodman of Oz), by the end of the story, he seems to have forgotten about her. Baum would resolve this in a much later story (his third to last Oz book), but here, the story is left cold and unresolved.

The Cowardly Lion, I have found, is almost one of the most accurately portrayed lions in literature. Male lions tend not to hunt, leaving female lions to do so. As Baum's Lion has no mate, he hunts on his own (he offers to kill a deer for Dorothy's dinner), and like a real lion, will only attack to defend his territory, or his pride, if needed. (If you want to read Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, and Tin Woodman as his "pride," that is.)

Dorothy herself is almost your fairytale leading lady, though very different from the impudent Goldilocks or the all too-trusting Red Riding Hood. Fairy tale characters she mirrors are the kind Snow-White and her sister Rose-Red who take pity for even grotesque creatures, and the persevering sister who saves her enchanted siblings in the fairy tales of "Brother and Sister," "The Six Swans," "The Seven Ravens," and "The Twelve Brothers." Updating on these characters, Dorothy is very feminine. She has learned to be self-reliant when needed, she takes charge of the situation, and her first visit serves to be the catalyst for changing Oz into a better country, causing the demise of the Wicked Witches of the East and West, and dethroning the Wizard, which would ultimately lead to the restoration of the true heir, a story Baum would pick up on later.

I say The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has rightfully earned its place as an American classic and a fantasy story. May it have many more years of pleasing children and adults.

The Royal Podcast of Oz: An Interview With Eric Gjovaag

I’m delighted to release this podcast, where I interview Eric Gjovaag, the webmaster of The Wonderful Website of Oz, as we discuss his online work, the book Queen Ann in Oz, the Oogaboo Rendevous, the Winkie Convention, his favorite Oz books, and Oz movies. As always, you can play it or get download links at the podcast site, or use the player below.

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This is the next to last podcast I'll be releasing where I used a analog headset, and it should also be the last where extensive editing was required due to buggy software. Due to a problem with the latest version of Skype, sometimes Eric's audio would cut out for the recording program I used, so I'd need to cut and splice his audio so it would make sense and still represent what he was trying to say. I attempted to make it sound as good as possible, but still, some parts may sound a little off. However, when I mentioned the audio problems to him, he was very cooperative and even re-recorded a couple of lengthy answers. He was an excellent interviewee.

APRIL FOOL: EA Games announces new Oz game!

Announcement from the company that brought us a Pinball construction set in 1983. Right off the bat, I could tell it was a doozy of an announcement. Loving the description! Fully playable Oz mapped out. Oh, this is going to be good. Lucky fans, we are.

From Kevin Taylor from EA: "We're delving into every location, every character from your favorite Oz stories by L. Frank Baum and mapped them out. Players can explore everywhere from the Yellow Brick Road to the Island of the Skeezers. And they can play as a wide selection of their favorite Oz characters, or create their own character, who can be either a visitor or a resident of Oz. And using online game play, they can team up with another player.

"There are various plots that you can follow. While you won't find every Oz character from the books in the game, we're including many of them. You can ride the Sawhorse to the home of Reera the Yookoohoo, or you can accompany the Woggle-Bug to the home of General Jinjur.

"I find it odd that no one else has seen the viability in the scope of this game before. Baum's characters and John R. Neill's illustrations lend themselves well to a video game, and the possibilities of stories you can play are almost endless.

"The game should be available in stores by Christmas and we're porting it for the XBox360, the Wii, and the PS3. Just now, we have no plans for a handheld game, but if this game sells well enough, then we'll look into that."

You can read more and see a bit of concept art here.

Podcast updates!

I'm pleased to announce work is ensuing for up to four podcasts! There's an interview, then co-blogger Sam Milazzo and I will be discussing a current topic, then, for Baum's birthday, another podcast in which a story is read by a narrator a cast.

In June, we'll be attempting a special commemorative podcast.

Sorry for the lack of Oz blogs, I haven't had my mind in Oz recently, but plan to get back in soon!

Oz In Other Lands

I was just thinking a few days ago how different countries have accepted Oz. In Japan, they've been extremely receptive, and there's been many different adaptations in artwork, literature, anime, and even film. It also seems that Return to Oz was well-received there, as was The Oz Kids series. Over in the UK, you'll find Oz aficionados.

Just about any country with an animation studio has made some sort of Oz adaptation, and both Brazil and Turkey have made Oz films. It seems the Turkish Wizard of Oz is a fondly remembered by the Turkish people, and is often aired on television.

And now to Russia. Most Oz fans know that Alexander Volkov rewrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a Russian fairy tale, then wrote a series of original sequels, ironically ending at six, where Baum had meant to end his series. Just like the Oz books, the series has been expanded by other writers, and adapted for stage, television and film. And proper translations of the Oz books have appeared in Russia, and they've even produced an animated hybrid adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Volkov's version, which was followed by an adaptation of The Marvelous Land of Oz. Recently, it seems that a Russian studio is working on a movie called The Wizard of Oz.

My question is, what makes this American fairyland so popular overseas? Are the adventure and the story and the personal quests so universal that it doesn't matter what country is enjoying them?

Feel free to discuss.