Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 First edition cover |
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| Author | L. Frank Baum |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | John R. Neill |
| Cover artist | John R. Neill |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Oz books |
| Genre(s) | Children's Literature |
| Publisher | Reilly & Britton |
| Released | 1908 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| ISBN | NA |
| Preceded by | Ozma of Oz |
| Followed by | The Road to Oz |
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is the fourth book set in the Land of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by John R. Neill. It was published on June 18, 1908 and reunites Dorothy with the humbug Wizard from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This is one of only two of the original forty Oz books (the other being The Emerald City of Oz) to be illustrated with watercolor paintings.
Baum having resigned himself to a series of Oz books, elements of this book had been set up in the prior Ozma of Oz.[1] He was not entirely pleased with this, as the introducion to Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz opens with the protest that he knows many tales of many lands, and hoped that children would permit him to tell them those tales.[2]
Very little of the story -- six of the twenty chapters -- actually takes place in Oz.[3] As in Ozma of Oz before it, and in the books after, Oz is not the land where the adventures take place, but the land the characters are seeking as a refuge from adventure.[4]
The book was dedicated to Harriet Alvena Baum Neal, the author's eldest sister.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Dorothy Gale, with a kitten named Eureka, is sent by her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to visit her uncle in California who operates Hugson's Ranch. She strikes up an acquaintance with Hugson's son and her cousin, Zeb. Dorothy, Eureka, and Zeb are riding a buggy being pulled by a cab-horse named Jim when an earthquake starts and opens a crevice beneath them that sends them hurtling into the bowels of the earth.
Dorothy, Eureka, Jim, Zeb, and the buggy alight in the land of the Mangaboos, a vegetable people who accuse them of causing the Rain of Stones (what the Mangaboos call the earthquake because they're beneath the surface of the earth, and earth instead falls on them). Zeb is surprised by this strange new land, but Dorothy surmises that they're in a fairy country because they're meeting vegetable people and the animals—Jim and Eureka—are now speaking. Just as they're about to be sentenced to death by the Mangaboos, a hot air balloon falls out of the sky, and in the basket is the Wizard of Oz, whom Dorothy last met as he floated away from the Emerald City.
The Wizard brags about his showmanship and with the others' aid attempts to awe the Mangaboos into sparing their lives. After defeating their wizard Gwig by slicing him in half—and showing him, as a vegetable, completely hollow inside—he's appointed by the Mangaboo prince as their temporary wizard. The Wizard, Dorothy, and Zeb escape the fate of all intruders—to be cut up and planted—for a while when they release a Princess from the garden who assumes authority. The Prince will now lose his authority and be planted himself. But the cold Princess vows to have Jim and Eureka killed nonetheless, so they all plan to escape higher into the earth where the Mangaboos cannot follow them due to the stronger pull of gravity the further they rise.
Dorothy, Eureka, Zeb, Jim, and the Wizard enter a beautiful green valley and the Wizard's nine tiny piglets devour an enticing fruit which they find makes them invisible. They enter a seemingly empty castle and are welcomed by invisible people, for they have entered the Valley of Voe, whose inhabitants hide from marauding bears by being invisible to them. The inhabitants of Voe help them escape the bears and explain what lies ahead, particularly the terrible Gargoyles. (A story the Voe people tell seems to indicate that by now Baum had decided that people in a fairy land don't die; even cut into pieces, an individual is still active and aware. See The Tin Woodman of Oz for another example of this.)
The companions reach the base of Pyramid Mountain and meet the Braided Man halfway up. He was once a posthole digger who one day fell into a hole he'd dug and since then kept shop here, making hair braids. His facial hair has gotten so long, however, that he's had to braid it to keep from tripping. They head into the land of the Gargoyles and at first repel them successfully because the winged wooden creatures are startled by loud noises. However, they do not tire and soon imprison Dorothy and her friends. They manage to escape the Gargoyles' grasp, however, using their detached wings and Jim's guidance.
After a close encounter with the Dragonettes, baby dragons whose mother has tied their tails to a post until she returns from hunting, Dorothy suggests that she signal Ozma to bring them to Oz by using the magic belt which she'd captured from the Nome King in Ozma of Oz. She does so at a prearranged time of day, and Dorothy, the Wizard, Jeb, Eureka, and Jim arrive within the Emerald City.
Soon after renewing his acquaintance with the Emerald City staff and making the acquaintance of Ozma, the Wizard elects to remain in Oz permanently. The others' visit is highlighted by the wooden Saw-Horse beating Jim in a race and the trial of Eureka for eating Ozma's pet piglet gifted to her by the Wizard. Ozma then uses the magic belt to send Dorothy, Eureka, Jim, and Zeb back to Kansas.
Four years passed between the first and second Oz books (1900-4), and three between the second and third (1904-7). By 1907, however, it was clear to Baum and to his publisher, Reilly & Britton, that the Oz books were more popular and sold better than any of Baum's other works. After 1907's Ozma of Oz, Baum devoted more of his energies to Oz. A 1906 contract between Baum and his publisher called for new Oz books at two-year intervals between 1907 and 1911.
In fact, Baum accelerated this schedule, producing Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz only a year after the previous book. The effect of this effort on the quality of the resulting work can only be a matter of speculation; but commentators have noted that this fourth Oz book is darker and more troubling than usual. In it, Baum violates his own standard of leaving out most elements that can disturb or frighten children. "In the first two-thirds of the book, Dorothy and her friends...barely escape from an unrelenting succession of threatening magical countries...." In the company of the Wizard, "Dorothy is a helpless little girl, given no opportunity to show her resourcefulness." When Oz is finally reached, it is a bland "goody-goody place" with few positive events to offer.[5]
[edit] Adaptations
In 1948, forty years after the book's original publication, Capitol Records released a multi-album dramatic version, performed by a full cast. In 1993, these audio recordings were matched with the art of animator and Oz fan Rob Roy MacVeigh, as a test for an animated film that was never completed due to MacVeigh's death. The only known copy of this test film is held by The International Wizard of Oz Club, and had never been shown to the public.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Peter Glassman, "Afterword", L. Frank Baum, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, p 259 ISBN 0-688-09826-6
- ^ Peter Glassman, "Afterword", L. Frank Baum, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, p 259-60 ISBN 0-688-09826-6
- ^ Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, p 144, ISBN 0-7006-0832-X
- ^ Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, p 141, ISBN 0-7006-0832-X
- ^ Katharine M. Rogers, L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2002; pp. 160-1.
[edit] External links
| The Oz books | ||
| Previous book: Ozma of Oz |
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz 1908 |
Next book: The Road to Oz |
