| Winkie Country | |
|---|---|
Map of Oz, with Winkie Country in the east |
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| The Oz series location | |
| Creator | L. Frank Baum |
| Genre | Children's books |
| Type | Fairy country |
| Notable locations | Oogaboo, Yip Country, Herku, City of Thi, Tin Woodman's castle, Truth Pond |
| Notable characters | Wicked Witch of the West, Tin Woodman, Winkies, Jack Pumpkinhead |
The Winkie Country is a division of the fictional Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color yellow; this color is worn by most of the local inhabitants and predominates in the surroundings.
This was the country ruled by the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy "melted" her with a bucket of water in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Since then, the Tin Woodman ruled over the Winkies as their Emperor. The Winkie Country is separated only by the Deadly Desert from the underground Dominions of the Nome King.
The most famous depiction of the Winkies is in The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) where they appear as the regimental army of the Wicked Witch of the West, marching in formation and chanting "Yo E Oh, Yo Ho" repeatedly. In the film, the Winkies bear little or no resemblance to their literary counterparts, dressing in blue uniforms and having green skin and pointed noses. The Winkie Country is only shown at night in the film, with the main colors being blue, black and gray. The scenery is very bleak and barren, with many mountains and rock formations.
Like all the countries of Oz, the Winkie Country contains various unusual sights and places. Among them are:
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In Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch, this area is called the Vinkus, and it is revealed that "Winkie" is considered a derogatory term. The Vinkus is inhabited by several semi-nomadic tribes, including the Scrow, the Yunamata, and the Arjiki. Fiyero, a major character in Wicked, is a Prince of the Arjikis, and the Wicked Witch's (Elphaba's) castle (here named Kiamo Ko) is actually Fiyero's ancestral home.
Metallica sampled the chants of the Winkie guards outside the Wicked Witch's castle from the film The Wizard of Oz on the intro to the track "The Frayed Ends of Sanity" on their 1988 album ...And Justice for All. The chants were also heard in the Experience Unlimited song "Da Butt".