| Munchkin Country aka Munchkinland |
|
|---|---|
Map of Oz, with Munchkin Country in the west |
|
| The Oz series location | |
| Creator | L. Frank Baum |
| Genre | Children's books |
| Type | Fairy country |
| Notable locations | Yellow brick road, Deadly Poppy Field, Mount Munch |
| Notable characters | Munchkins, Wicked Witch of the East, Boq, Scarecrow, Nick Chopper, Jinjur, Dr. Pipt, Ojo the Lucky, Ku-Klip, Nimmie Amee, |
Munchkin Country (or Munchkinland in the 1939 film and its imitators) is the Eastern region in the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In Wizard it was originally called "the land of Munchkins", and "Munchkin Country" in all subsequent Oz books. It is often referred to as "Munchkinland", a name which was introduced in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Munchkin Country is linked to the Emerald City by means of the yellow brick road. The inhabitants of Munchkin Country are called Munchkins. Dorothy attends a celebration at the mansion of Boq, the wealthiest man in the vicinity. "Munchkin" does not necessarily mean someone of short stature. Many Munchkins portrayed in the books are of normal height, most notably Nick Chopper, also known as the Tin Woodman.
Contents |
Munchkin Country is distinguished by the color blue, which is worn by most of the Munchkins, as well as the color of their surroundings. While the Eastern part of the Munchkin Country is described as rich, beautiful, fertile and pleasant, and inhabited by friendly people, the Western part of the province (i.e., the region bordered by a large forest and the area surrounding the Emerald City) is wild, rough and dangerous. Certain areas of this land are densely forested, and inhabited by ferocious beasts.
Munchkin Country is the site where Dorothy Gale's house lands after being carried to Oz by a cyclone. Munchkin Country's ruler was the Wicked Witch of the East but upon Dorothy's arrival in Oz, she is eliminated when the house lands on top of her, causing much celebration among the Munchkins.
Princess Ozma's party visited the King of the Munchkins on their return from the Dominions of the Nome King, and found Jinjur working in his employ. This king also appears briefly in The Road to Oz.
Ruth Plumly Thompson's books identify the king of the Munchkin Country as Cheeriobed. He rules from the Sapphire City in the Ozure Isles, with his wife, Queen Orin, and son, Prince Philador. He is introduced by name in The Giant Horse of Oz and makes a subsequent appearance in The Wishing Horse of Oz.
John R. Neill's Oz books name the Scarecrow as king of the Munchkins, although this contradicts the previous books. He is never shown in this capacity; he is simply stated to be so.
In Gregory Maguire's novels, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch (which use "Munchkinland"), the characters are not all Munchkins, and so they are actually called Munchkinlanders. In these books (unlike the more famous movie), Munchkins are generally shorter than average height, though the more powerful families, as Frexspar said, "married into some height along the way." Maguire portrays Munchkinland as the corn belt of Oz. Munchkinland is also shown to be the native home of Elphaba, or the Wicked Witch of the West, and her younger sister Nessarose (although in the novel, they grew up in Quadling Country). In the Broadway musical Wicked, based on the novel, their father is the governor of Munchkinland. In both adaptations, Nessarose eventually comes to power but her corrupt rule earns her loathing by the Munchkinlanders and the name, "Wicked Witch of the East".