Glinda
Encyclopedia
Glinda is a fictional character
in the Land of Oz
created by American
author L. Frank Baum
. She is the most powerful sorceress
of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country
south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma
.
refers to Glinda as the Good Witch of the South. She finally gets Dorothy home by telling her of the power of the silver slippers. She gets the Golden Cap from Dorothy, and uses it to get the Scarecrow back to the Emerald city, the Tin Man to the land of the Winkies, and the Lion to a nearby forest, areas which the characters have been made rulers of. Later books call her a "Sorceress" rather than a "witch." Baum's writings make clear that he did not view witches as inherently wicked or in league with the Devil
, so this change was probably meant to signal that Glinda's knowledge and command of magic surpassed that of a witch.
In the books, Glinda is depicted as a beautiful young woman with long, rich red hair and blue eyes, wearing a pure white dress. She is much older than her appearance would suggest, but "knows how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived" - a fact that is established in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by the Soldier With Green Whiskers. She has ruled the Quadling Country ever since she overthrew the Wicked Witch of the South during the period when Ozma's grandfather was king of Oz.
She plays the most active role in finding and restoring Princess Ozma
, the rightful heir, to the throne of Oz, the search for whom takes place in the second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz
, although Glinda had been searching for Ozma ever since the princess disappeared as a baby. It may well be that she didn't overthrow the Wicked Witches of the East and West, despite being more powerful than they were, because she wanted all of Oz to be unified under its rightful ruler, Ozma, first. After Ozma's ascent to the throne, Glinda continues to help the Queen of Oz to shape the future of the Land of Oz as a whole, no longer confining her powers to guarding her Quadling Kingdom in the South alone; true to her character, Glinda does not interfere in affairs of State unless Ozma seeks her counsel or help specifically.
In addition to her vast knowledge of magic
, Glinda employs various tools, charms, and instruments in her workshop. The Emerald City of Oz
reveals that she owns a Great Book of Records that allows her to track everything that goes on in the world from the instant it happens. Starting with The Road to Oz
she trains the formerly humbug Wizard
in magic; he becomes a formidable practitioner, but acknowledges that she is more powerful yet.
Glinda lives in a palace near the southern border of the Quadling Country, attended by fifty beautiful maidens from each country of Oz. She also employs a large army of female soldiers, with which she takes on General Jinjur's Army of Revolt, who had conquered the Emerald City in The Marvelous Land of Oz
. Men are not prominent in Glinda's court.
Glinda is strongly protective of her subjects in the South. She creates gated communities for the rabbits of Bunnybury and the paper dolls of Miss Cuttenclip, showing a personal interest in the concerns of not only the humanoid Quadlings, but also the other inhabitants of her jurisdiction.
In The Emerald City of Oz
, when Ozma goes to consult Glinda about the security of her Ozian citizens, the Sorceress seals off all of Oz from the Great Outside World, making Oz invisible to the eyes of mortals flying overhead in airplanes and such. However, unlike Ozma, Glinda is willing to ignore strife and oppression in remote corners of Oz like Jinxland and the Skeezer territory as long as it does not threaten the Emerald City or innocent outsiders. The readers are left with the sense that Glinda is experienced and seasoned to the point of knowing that there isn't a magic cure for everything, and that certain things cannot be changed or perhaps should not be changed for better or for worse.
One of the more obscure facts about Glinda is that she created the Forbidden Fountain with the Waters of Oblivion, at the center of Oz, whose waters redeemed a former King of Oz who was exceptionally cruel. This happened "many centuries ago" according to Queen Ozma (again alluding to Glinda's advanced age), and it is this fountain that saves Oz from the invading Nome King and his allies in The Emerald City of Oz
, by making them forget their nefarious intentions. Glinda clearly made the Fountain at a point in Oz's history when the Land was unified under one of the members of the Royal Family of Oz, albeit a tyrannical king in this isolated incident, and so she was able to intervene in a way that she couldn't when the country was divided between the Wizard and the Wicked Witches of the East and West et al., prior to Dorothy's arrival.
Most intriguingly, in The Emerald City of Oz
, when the Nome King considers invading Oz, he is told by a minion, General Guph, that Glinda the Good's castle is located "at the north of the Emerald City," when it has been established that Glinda rules the South. Guph may have gotten his facts muddled, as none of the Nomes had been to Oz at that time, but it portends the depiction of Glinda as the Good Witch of the North rather than the South in the 1939 MGM film (which is the most widely known version of Oz to date).
General Guph also tells the Nome King that Glinda "commands the spirits of the air,". As mentioned above, he is not an expert on Oz, but this statement made by Guph once again foreshadows a much later cinematic rendition of Glinda, in the film version of the Broadway musical The Wiz
in which Glinda (played by Lena Horne) is responsible for the twister that brings Dorothy's house to Oz and sets all subsequent events into motion.
Of all the characters in L. Frank Baum's Oz, Glinda is the most enigmatic. Despite being titled "Glinda the Good," she is not a one-dimensional caricature whose sole purpose is to embody and generate all that is generically considered "good," as indicated above.
She ultimately becomes the adult anchor in the Oz books, because she is never distracted or swayed, and always maintains absolute firmness of purpose - something that cannot be said for the other adult characters in the series such as the Wizard and the Shaggy Man or even the Good Witch of the North. They all fall short of Glinda's wisdom and resoluteness.
's 1995 revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
, she is initially called "Galinda," and (through her mother) is descended from the noble clan of the Arduennas of the Upland. Her character is seen extensively in the first half of the novel, but disappears for most of the second half, compared to her musical counterpart.
Though originally snobbish and superficial, she is also intelligent enough to be accepted to Shiz University's Crage Hall, where she is forced to share a room with Elphaba
. After a long period of mutual loathing, the two girls later become close friends.
Galinda drops the first 'a' in her name in the middle of the story, in tribute to Doctor Dillamond, a martyred Goat
who teaches at Shiz (Dillamond made the habitual mistake of calling her "Glinda" instead of "Galinda" while they shared a carriage, before her arrival to the University). The Goat's death also prompts Glinda to re-evaluate her life, and she dedicates herself to studying sorcery
, at which she proves to be quite skilled.
It is stated that she marries Sir Chuffrey in the second half of the novel and they have no children. She initially dislikes Elphaba's sister Nessarose (who goes on to become the Wicked Witch of the East), but becomes close to her after Elphaba leaves Shiz, and enchants the Silver Shoes that enable Nessarose to walk without any assistance.
As in the original Oz books, she is revered as a powerful sorceress, but she admits that her magic is nowhere near as great as Elphaba's, in direct opposition with L. Frank Baum's original books in which Glinda is described as being more powerful than "all the Witches" in Oz. Maguire follows the 1939 movie in having Glinda ultimately become the Witch of the North, not the South. Glinda also appears in Son of a Witch
, Maguire's sequel to Wicked, now widow
ed from Sir Chuffrey. Maguire has strongly suggested that the fourth book in The Wicked Years will be about Glinda.
, Glinda is the Good Witch of the North
, not the South as in the book. She is played in the film by Billie Burke
. Glinda performs the functions of not only the novel's Good Witch of the North and Good Witch of the South, but also the novel's Queen of Field Mice, by being the one who welcomes Dorothy to Oz, sends her "off to see the Wizard," and orchestrates her rescue from the deadly poppy field in addition to revealing the secret to going back home.
Combining L. Frank Baum's original good witches of the North and of the South in the character of Glinda seems to be an attempt to make Baum's original story more compact, as befits an MGM film musical. A single good witch and a single wicked witch allows for more cohesive and cogent storytelling in a family-entertainment movie that is just over 100 minutes long.
Two good witches would have been superfluous in a movie of that type at best, and would not have contributed to the drama and to Dorothy's personal journey and character growth in any meaningful way, which is what the filmmakers were interested in portraying. In an epic novel like Baum's original, in which Oz is not a dream representing Dorothy's unsolved inner conflicts but rather an actual country in which Dorothy is trapped for an extended period of real time, having two good witches is dramatically effective.
It must be stressed, however, that even in Baum's original Oz book series, Glinda is the only "good witch" in Oz of any consequence. The older-looking Good Witch of the North makes her only speaking appearance towards the beginning of Baum's first book, re-appearing only as one of the numerous guests at Ozma's birthday celebrations in the fifth book, after which she is not mentioned again until the books written by Ruth Plumly Thompson after Baum's death. From the 7th book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz
onwards, Baum goes so far as to say that "Glinda and the Wizard" are the "only" ones authorized to practice magic in Oz by Queen Ozma; it is not clear whether he forgot about the Good Witch of the North, or had written her character out of the series.
Glinda evolved into the all-knowing and only prominent "good" sorceress in founder L. Frank Baum's version of Oz, long before she was portrayed that way in the 1939 MGM film; although Baum's exceedingly refined and no-nonsense type Glinda quite different from the quirky and bubbly Glinda embodied by Billie Burke in the movie musical.
The MGM movie incarnation of the "Good Witch" knew the powers of the Magic Shoes, but withheld this information from Dorothy at the beginning, in order to facilitate her psychological and emotional maturity, which suggests that Billie Burke's Glinda is not as superficial as she appears to be at first glance, and that her flighty persona conceals her true depth and adult wisdom.
She is the only primary Oz character not to have a counterpart in the sepia-tones of Kansas, suggesting that she might represent the untapped powers of beauty and wisdom in young Dorothy.
In the original novel, of course, the unnamed Good Witch of the North genuinely believed that the Wizard of Oz was the only entity powerful enough to send Dorothy back home to Kansas, while Glinda the Good Witch (later "Sorceress") of the South does not claim to be similarly powerful until the sixth book, The Emerald City of Oz
, by which point in time she creates "The Great Book of Records," which chronicles everything that takes place inside as well as outside Oz.
The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
In Evelyn Judson played Glinda. She is played by Olive Cox in the 1910 version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, according to IMDB. In the latter, she appears in one scene in which she enlarges Toto to make him a better protector for Dorothy. She does not appear in any of the productions of The Oz Film Manufacturing Company
nor the 1925 silent film.
The Wonderful Land of Oz
Glinda is played by Hilary Lee Gaess; her singing voice was dubbed. She is portrayed as much younger than the Billie Burke incarnation, although her pink costume/gown is similar. She sings 2 stirring solos titled "Try To Touch a Star" and "I've Watched Over You." In the latter song, she makes the touching and astute observation that the Scarecrow possesses not only a brain, but also a heart (at least metaphorically).
She is able to summon the powers of "all the good fairies" when restoring Princess Ozma to her rightful form, almost making her equal to L. Frank Baum's Queen Lurline (whereas Baum's Glinda is a stately sorceress showing no association with fairy magic or "unscrupulous" witchcraft, insisting that the witch Mombi herself disenchant Ozma unlike in this film). Apart from undoing Mombi's evil magic herself, this incarnation of Glinda also tells the old Gillikin witch that she has "allowed" her to practice some of her "less horrible tricks" thus far, suggesting that every practitioner of magic in Oz is ultimately answerable to Glinda should they go too far.
Filmation's Journey Back to Oz
Operatic mezzo soprano Risë Stevens
provides the voice of "Glinda, the Good Fairy" as she is described in the opening title sequence. In L. Frank Baum's novel, The Lost Princess of Oz
, the Wizard says: "Ozma is a fairy, and so is Glinda, so no power can kill or destroy them, but you girls are all mortals and so are Button-Bright and I, so we must watch out for ourselves." However, the only fact established by this statement is that Glinda is one of Oz's "fairy people" (L. Frank Baum's term for anyone native to an enchanted land) rather than a Fairy proper. Even the citizens of Oz who do not possess magical powers are referred to as "fairy people" by Baum in The Emerald City of Oz
, meaning that they are not mortals like Dorothy and the Wizard who were born in the outside world.
In this film, it is revealed that this Glinda's magic is no match for Mombi's (the exact opposite was true in Baum's original books). Still, she helps Dorothy confront Mombi and her army of green elephants in a way that evokes the help offered by the Queen of Field Mice in Baum's The Land of Oz.
She sings a climactic song called "You Have Only You (To Look To)" to Dorothy, making her look inside herself for the strength that is not forthcoming from old companions such as the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. In this regard, Glinda reveals how in touch she is with stark reality, a trait that hearkens back to Baum's original Glinda.
At the end of the film, she sends Dorothy back to Kansas by conjuring up another twister. This too is in keeping with L. Frank Baum's original Glinda, who had the power to "command the spirits of the air" according to The Emerald City of Oz
.
The Wizard of Oz
Glinda, looking very young and with long blonde hair, voiced by Wendy Thatcher, claims to be the sister of the Good Witch of the North
despite the appearance of quite a large age gap (Baum did always say she is much older than she looks), and appears in the Emerald City in a similar deus ex machina
to the MGM film.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (anime)
In CINAR's 1987 animated series, Glinda is portrayed as a tall and very slender sorceress with long blue hair. It is she who offers to make Dorothy a Princess of Oz in this series, during their very first encounter, but Dorothy maintains that she wishes to return to Kansas.
In Baum's The Land of Oz, Glinda categorically states that she does not engage in "transformations" because "they are not real", but in this series, the Good Witch transforms into an eagle in order to pursue Mombi
, who attempts to fly away from the Emerald City in the form of a dragon.
After restoring Princess Ozma to the throne, Glinda uses her magic on Mombi
and Jinjur
to make them reform, when the witch and the rebel queen refuse to mend their villainous ways. Having thus changed Mombi and Jinjur's inherent natures, Glinda ensures that they will never create trouble for anyone again.
Glinda entrusts Dorothy with the task of preparing Ozma for her official coronation ceremony, confident that the maturer Dorothy will mould the series' playful young Ozma into a responsible queen. As the series draws to an end, Glinda telepathically contacts and saves Dorothy from falling to her death from a tower, following a confrontation with the Nome King
and his minions.
did, wears a white gown with pink embroidery (rather than a wholly pink gown), and has blonde hair. Her voice and her personality, however, are extremely close to the Billie Burke
version. She arranges for Dorothy
to return to the Land of Oz by means of the Ruby Slippers, because the Wicked Witch of the West
has been brought back to life, and Glinda needs Dorothy's help to set things right again.
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
Glinda is the Good Witch of the South and is played by Miss Piggy
, as are her sisters the Good Witch of the North and the two Wicked Witches. In keeping with the traditions of Muppet films, she is attracted to the Scarecrow (played by Kermit the Frog
). She is portrayed in a lavender dress with a feather boa, an archetypal Hollywood starlet much more in keeping with the character of Miss Piggy than Glinda.
in this adaptation, expected in 2013.
, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South, as she appears in the Oz books. She appears only once at the end of the musical, but traditionally the same actress who plays Glinda also plays Aunt Em
. She is the sister of Addaperle (Miss One), Evilene, and Evvamean, the other three witches of Oz. The role was originated by Dee Dee Bridgewater
. In the film version, she is played by Lena Horne
, and she causes the snowstorm that brings Dorothy to Oz.
Wicked
(based on Maguire's novel), Glinda is one of the two female leads as the musical focuses on her love/hate relationship with Elphaba
(the young woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West
). As in Gregory Maguire
's revisionist novel, Glinda is characterized by her popularity and goes by the name of Galinda Upland (who hails from the Upper Uplands). She is described as "blonde" in every way, whereas Baum's original Glinda as well as Billie Burke
's Glinda in the 1939 MGM movie (which dictated the visual look as well as the overall feel and flavor of this stage musical) had red hair. This is because composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz
tailor-made this version of Glinda for actress/singer Kristin Chenoweth
.
Elphaba and Glinda find out the Wizard has a campaign to rid Oz of all talking animals, and has tricked Elphaba into creating flying monkey spies. Elphaba rebels against the horrendous torturing and cruel treatment of animals, vowing to bring down the Wizard. Glinda prefers to play it safe and moreover explore her political opportunities with the Wizard, ultimately sealing her destiny to become "Glinda the Good", and a public icon/spokesperson of Oz.
The love triangle between Glinda, Fiyero and Elphaba is what primarily distinguishes the Wicked musical incarnation of Glinda from Gregory Maguire's novel. Glinda and the "scandalacious" Winkie Prince Fiyero gravitate towards each other, but while Glinda convinces everyone that the two of them are in love, Fiyero re-evaluates his priorities and becomes increasingly drawn to Glinda's now best friend Elphaba.
Most significantly, in the musical, Glinda unwittingly sets into motion the events that lead to the Munchkin Boq
becoming the Tin Woodman
(which only happens in this musical), and Elphaba's sister Nessarose
(dubbed "The Wicked Witch of the East
") being killed by Dorothy Gale
's farmhouse. Boq was an unwanted but ardent suitor that Glinda foisted upon Nessarose, the Munchkin
Governor's daughter, who became so attached to him that she stripped the Munchkins of their rights just to keep Boq with her (thus earning the title "Wicked Witch of the East"). Boq was transformed into the Tin Woodman when Elphaba attempted to correct a Grimmerie spell-book charm that was miscast by Nessarose (who wanted to claim the "heart" he "lost" to Glinda). Not long after, Glinda was so determined to bring Elphaba and Fiyero to justice for running away together, that she suggested to the Wizard and Madame Morrible that they spread a rumor about Nessarose being in danger to lure Elphaba out of hiding. The Wizard and Madame Morrible took Glinda's suggestion to its most extreme level, with Morrible creating the cyclone that brought Dorothy's house to Oz and crushed Nessarose to death.
Glinda comes to understand that Elphaba and Fiyero "deserve each other" in the most positive sense of the term. She tries to avenge Elphaba's supposed death by threatening to expose the Wizard as a fraud
unless he leaves Oz altogether. Having thrown the fiendish Madame Morrible in jail, Glinda follows in Elphaba's footsteps, trying to fix all the damage that has been caused in Oz over the past few decades, and hoping to truly earn her title as "Glinda the Good" among the people.
The role was originally played by Kristin Chenoweth
.
Other actresses to play the lead role include Jennifer Laura Thompson
, Megan Hilty
, Kate Reinders
, Kendra Kassebaum
(currently the longest-running in the role), Annaleigh Ashford
, Alli Mauzey
, Erin Mackey
, Katie Rose Clarke
, Helen Dallimore
, Dianne Pilkington
, Louise Dearman
, Lucy Durack
, Chandra Lee Schwartz
, Christina DeCicco, Heléne York, Natalie Daradich, Tiffany Haas, Chantal Janzen
, Stacie Morgain Lewis, Lucy Scherer, Joana Fee Würz, Amanda Jane Cooper, Kate Fahrner, Laura Woyasz, Emily Rozek, Suzie Mathers, and Gina Beck
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Land of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
created by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
. She is the most powerful sorceress
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country
Quadling Country
The Quadling Country is the southern division of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz. It is distinguished by the color red, worn by most of the local inhabitants as well as the color of their surroundings. Like the Munchkin Country, the outer regions of the Quadling Country are rich, pleasant and...
south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...
.
Literature
Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of OzThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
refers to Glinda as the Good Witch of the South. She finally gets Dorothy home by telling her of the power of the silver slippers. She gets the Golden Cap from Dorothy, and uses it to get the Scarecrow back to the Emerald city, the Tin Man to the land of the Winkies, and the Lion to a nearby forest, areas which the characters have been made rulers of. Later books call her a "Sorceress" rather than a "witch." Baum's writings make clear that he did not view witches as inherently wicked or in league with the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, so this change was probably meant to signal that Glinda's knowledge and command of magic surpassed that of a witch.
In the books, Glinda is depicted as a beautiful young woman with long, rich red hair and blue eyes, wearing a pure white dress. She is much older than her appearance would suggest, but "knows how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived" - a fact that is established in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by the Soldier With Green Whiskers. She has ruled the Quadling Country ever since she overthrew the Wicked Witch of the South during the period when Ozma's grandfather was king of Oz.
She plays the most active role in finding and restoring Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...
, the rightful heir, to the throne of Oz, the search for whom takes place in the second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This and the next...
, although Glinda had been searching for Ozma ever since the princess disappeared as a baby. It may well be that she didn't overthrow the Wicked Witches of the East and West, despite being more powerful than they were, because she wanted all of Oz to be unified under its rightful ruler, Ozma, first. After Ozma's ascent to the throne, Glinda continues to help the Queen of Oz to shape the future of the Land of Oz as a whole, no longer confining her powers to guarding her Quadling Kingdom in the South alone; true to her character, Glinda does not interfere in affairs of State unless Ozma seeks her counsel or help specifically.
In addition to her vast knowledge of magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, Glinda employs various tools, charms, and instruments in her workshop. The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
reveals that she owns a Great Book of Records that allows her to track everything that goes on in the world from the instant it happens. Starting with The Road to Oz
The Road to Oz
The Road to Oz: In Which Is Related How Dorothy Gale of Kansas, The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome the Rainbow's Daughter Met on an Enchanted Road and Followed it All the Way to the Marvelous Land of Oz. is the fifth of L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz books...
she trains the formerly humbug Wizard
Wizard (Oz)
The Wizard of Oz, known during his reign as The Great and Powerful Oz, is the epithet of Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L...
in magic; he becomes a formidable practitioner, but acknowledges that she is more powerful yet.
Glinda lives in a palace near the southern border of the Quadling Country, attended by fifty beautiful maidens from each country of Oz. She also employs a large army of female soldiers, with which she takes on General Jinjur's Army of Revolt, who had conquered the Emerald City in The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published on July 5, 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This and the next...
. Men are not prominent in Glinda's court.
Glinda is strongly protective of her subjects in the South. She creates gated communities for the rabbits of Bunnybury and the paper dolls of Miss Cuttenclip, showing a personal interest in the concerns of not only the humanoid Quadlings, but also the other inhabitants of her jurisdiction.
In The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
, when Ozma goes to consult Glinda about the security of her Ozian citizens, the Sorceress seals off all of Oz from the Great Outside World, making Oz invisible to the eyes of mortals flying overhead in airplanes and such. However, unlike Ozma, Glinda is willing to ignore strife and oppression in remote corners of Oz like Jinxland and the Skeezer territory as long as it does not threaten the Emerald City or innocent outsiders. The readers are left with the sense that Glinda is experienced and seasoned to the point of knowing that there isn't a magic cure for everything, and that certain things cannot be changed or perhaps should not be changed for better or for worse.
One of the more obscure facts about Glinda is that she created the Forbidden Fountain with the Waters of Oblivion, at the center of Oz, whose waters redeemed a former King of Oz who was exceptionally cruel. This happened "many centuries ago" according to Queen Ozma (again alluding to Glinda's advanced age), and it is this fountain that saves Oz from the invading Nome King and his allies in The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
, by making them forget their nefarious intentions. Glinda clearly made the Fountain at a point in Oz's history when the Land was unified under one of the members of the Royal Family of Oz, albeit a tyrannical king in this isolated incident, and so she was able to intervene in a way that she couldn't when the country was divided between the Wizard and the Wicked Witches of the East and West et al., prior to Dorothy's arrival.
Most intriguingly, in The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
, when the Nome King considers invading Oz, he is told by a minion, General Guph, that Glinda the Good's castle is located "at the north of the Emerald City," when it has been established that Glinda rules the South. Guph may have gotten his facts muddled, as none of the Nomes had been to Oz at that time, but it portends the depiction of Glinda as the Good Witch of the North rather than the South in the 1939 MGM film (which is the most widely known version of Oz to date).
General Guph also tells the Nome King that Glinda "commands the spirits of the air,". As mentioned above, he is not an expert on Oz, but this statement made by Guph once again foreshadows a much later cinematic rendition of Glinda, in the film version of the Broadway musical The Wiz
The Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
in which Glinda (played by Lena Horne) is responsible for the twister that brings Dorothy's house to Oz and sets all subsequent events into motion.
Of all the characters in L. Frank Baum's Oz, Glinda is the most enigmatic. Despite being titled "Glinda the Good," she is not a one-dimensional caricature whose sole purpose is to embody and generate all that is generically considered "good," as indicated above.
She ultimately becomes the adult anchor in the Oz books, because she is never distracted or swayed, and always maintains absolute firmness of purpose - something that cannot be said for the other adult characters in the series such as the Wizard and the Shaggy Man or even the Good Witch of the North. They all fall short of Glinda's wisdom and resoluteness.
Wicked (novel)
In Gregory MaguireGregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire is an American writer. He is the author of the novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other novels for adults and children...
's 1995 revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is a parallel novel published in 1995 written by Gregory Maguire and illustrated by Douglas Smith. It is a revisionist look at the land and characters of Oz from L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, its sequels, and the...
, she is initially called "Galinda," and (through her mother) is descended from the noble clan of the Arduennas of the Upland. Her character is seen extensively in the first half of the novel, but disappears for most of the second half, compared to her musical counterpart.
Though originally snobbish and superficial, she is also intelligent enough to be accepted to Shiz University's Crage Hall, where she is forced to share a room with Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
. After a long period of mutual loathing, the two girls later become close friends.
Galinda drops the first 'a' in her name in the middle of the story, in tribute to Doctor Dillamond, a martyred Goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
who teaches at Shiz (Dillamond made the habitual mistake of calling her "Glinda" instead of "Galinda" while they shared a carriage, before her arrival to the University). The Goat's death also prompts Glinda to re-evaluate her life, and she dedicates herself to studying sorcery
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
, at which she proves to be quite skilled.
It is stated that she marries Sir Chuffrey in the second half of the novel and they have no children. She initially dislikes Elphaba's sister Nessarose (who goes on to become the Wicked Witch of the East), but becomes close to her after Elphaba leaves Shiz, and enchants the Silver Shoes that enable Nessarose to walk without any assistance.
As in the original Oz books, she is revered as a powerful sorceress, but she admits that her magic is nowhere near as great as Elphaba's, in direct opposition with L. Frank Baum's original books in which Glinda is described as being more powerful than "all the Witches" in Oz. Maguire follows the 1939 movie in having Glinda ultimately become the Witch of the North, not the South. Glinda also appears in Son of a Witch
Son of a Witch
Son of a Witch is a fantasy novel written by Gregory Maguire. The book is Maguire’s fifth revisionist story and the second set in the land of Oz originally conceived by L. Frank Baum. It is a sequel to Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West...
, Maguire's sequel to Wicked, now widow
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
ed from Sir Chuffrey. Maguire has strongly suggested that the fourth book in The Wicked Years will be about Glinda.
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
In the 1939 film version of The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, Glinda is the Good Witch of the North
Good Witch of the North
The Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the elderly and mild-mannered Ruler of the Gillikin Country...
, not the South as in the book. She is played in the film by Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
. Glinda performs the functions of not only the novel's Good Witch of the North and Good Witch of the South, but also the novel's Queen of Field Mice, by being the one who welcomes Dorothy to Oz, sends her "off to see the Wizard," and orchestrates her rescue from the deadly poppy field in addition to revealing the secret to going back home.
Combining L. Frank Baum's original good witches of the North and of the South in the character of Glinda seems to be an attempt to make Baum's original story more compact, as befits an MGM film musical. A single good witch and a single wicked witch allows for more cohesive and cogent storytelling in a family-entertainment movie that is just over 100 minutes long.
Two good witches would have been superfluous in a movie of that type at best, and would not have contributed to the drama and to Dorothy's personal journey and character growth in any meaningful way, which is what the filmmakers were interested in portraying. In an epic novel like Baum's original, in which Oz is not a dream representing Dorothy's unsolved inner conflicts but rather an actual country in which Dorothy is trapped for an extended period of real time, having two good witches is dramatically effective.
It must be stressed, however, that even in Baum's original Oz book series, Glinda is the only "good witch" in Oz of any consequence. The older-looking Good Witch of the North makes her only speaking appearance towards the beginning of Baum's first book, re-appearing only as one of the numerous guests at Ozma's birthday celebrations in the fifth book, after which she is not mentioned again until the books written by Ruth Plumly Thompson after Baum's death. From the 7th book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz
The Patchwork Girl of Oz
The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum, is a children's novel, the seventh set in the Land of Oz. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps , and others. The book was first published on July 1, 1913, with illustrations by John R. Neill...
onwards, Baum goes so far as to say that "Glinda and the Wizard" are the "only" ones authorized to practice magic in Oz by Queen Ozma; it is not clear whether he forgot about the Good Witch of the North, or had written her character out of the series.
Glinda evolved into the all-knowing and only prominent "good" sorceress in founder L. Frank Baum's version of Oz, long before she was portrayed that way in the 1939 MGM film; although Baum's exceedingly refined and no-nonsense type Glinda quite different from the quirky and bubbly Glinda embodied by Billie Burke in the movie musical.
The MGM movie incarnation of the "Good Witch" knew the powers of the Magic Shoes, but withheld this information from Dorothy at the beginning, in order to facilitate her psychological and emotional maturity, which suggests that Billie Burke's Glinda is not as superficial as she appears to be at first glance, and that her flighty persona conceals her true depth and adult wisdom.
She is the only primary Oz character not to have a counterpart in the sepia-tones of Kansas, suggesting that she might represent the untapped powers of beauty and wisdom in young Dorothy.
In the original novel, of course, the unnamed Good Witch of the North genuinely believed that the Wizard of Oz was the only entity powerful enough to send Dorothy back home to Kansas, while Glinda the Good Witch (later "Sorceress") of the South does not claim to be similarly powerful until the sixth book, The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
, by which point in time she creates "The Great Book of Records," which chronicles everything that takes place inside as well as outside Oz.
The Fairylogue and Radio-PlaysThe Fairylogue and Radio-PlaysThe Fairylogue and Radio-Plays was an early attempt to bring L. Frank Baum's Oz books to the motion picture screen. It was a mixture of live actors, hand-tinted magic lantern slides, and film. Baum himself would appear as if he were giving a lecture, while he interacted with the characters...
(1908)
In Evelyn Judson played Glinda. She is played by Olive Cox in the 1910 version of The Wonderful Wizard of OzThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910 film)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1910 silent fantasy film and the earliest surviving film version of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel, made by the Selig Polyscope Company without Baum's direct input. It was created to fulfill a contractual obligation associated with Baum's personal bankruptcy caused by...
, according to IMDB. In the latter, she appears in one scene in which she enlarges Toto to make him a better protector for Dorothy. She does not appear in any of the productions of The Oz Film Manufacturing Company
The Oz Film Manufacturing Company
The Oz Film Manufacturing Company was an independent film studio from 1914-1915. It was founded by L. Frank Baum , Louis F. Gottschalk , Harry Marston Haldeman , and Clarence R. Rundel as an offshoot of Haldeman's social group, The Uplifters, that met at the Los Angeles Athletic Club...
nor the 1925 silent film.
The Wonderful Land of OzThe Wonderful Land of OzThe Wonderful Land of Oz is a 1969 film by Barry Mahon, based on the novel The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum. A low budget but faithful adaptation, the film stars Mahon's son, Channy as Tip, Zisca Baum as Mombi, Caroline Berner as General Jinjur, George Wadsworth as Jack Pumpkinhead, Gil...
(1969)
Glinda is played by Hilary Lee Gaess; her singing voice was dubbed. She is portrayed as much younger than the Billie Burke incarnation, although her pink costume/gown is similar. She sings 2 stirring solos titled "Try To Touch a Star" and "I've Watched Over You." In the latter song, she makes the touching and astute observation that the Scarecrow possesses not only a brain, but also a heart (at least metaphorically).She is able to summon the powers of "all the good fairies" when restoring Princess Ozma to her rightful form, almost making her equal to L. Frank Baum's Queen Lurline (whereas Baum's Glinda is a stately sorceress showing no association with fairy magic or "unscrupulous" witchcraft, insisting that the witch Mombi herself disenchant Ozma unlike in this film). Apart from undoing Mombi's evil magic herself, this incarnation of Glinda also tells the old Gillikin witch that she has "allowed" her to practice some of her "less horrible tricks" thus far, suggesting that every practitioner of magic in Oz is ultimately answerable to Glinda should they go too far.
Filmation's Journey Back to OzJourney Back to OzJourney Back To Oz is a 1974 animated film and the official sequel to the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz, although Baum received no screen credit. However, the Wizard was nowhere to be found, at least in the...
Operatic mezzo soprano Risë StevensRisë Stevens
Risë Stevens is a retired American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Professional life:Stevens studied at New York's Juilliard School for three years. She went to Vienna, where she was trained by Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Herbert Graf. She made her début as Mignon in Prague in 1936 and stayed there until...
provides the voice of "Glinda, the Good Fairy" as she is described in the opening title sequence. In L. Frank Baum's novel, The Lost Princess of Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz
The Lost Princess of Oz is the eleventh canonical Oz book written by L. Frank Baum. Published on June 5, 1917, it begins with the disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz and covers Dorothy and the Wizard's efforts to find her...
, the Wizard says: "Ozma is a fairy, and so is Glinda, so no power can kill or destroy them, but you girls are all mortals and so are Button-Bright and I, so we must watch out for ourselves." However, the only fact established by this statement is that Glinda is one of Oz's "fairy people" (L. Frank Baum's term for anyone native to an enchanted land) rather than a Fairy proper. Even the citizens of Oz who do not possess magical powers are referred to as "fairy people" by Baum in The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
, meaning that they are not mortals like Dorothy and the Wizard who were born in the outside world.
In this film, it is revealed that this Glinda's magic is no match for Mombi's (the exact opposite was true in Baum's original books). Still, she helps Dorothy confront Mombi and her army of green elephants in a way that evokes the help offered by the Queen of Field Mice in Baum's The Land of Oz.
She sings a climactic song called "You Have Only You (To Look To)" to Dorothy, making her look inside herself for the strength that is not forthcoming from old companions such as the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. In this regard, Glinda reveals how in touch she is with stark reality, a trait that hearkens back to Baum's original Glinda.
At the end of the film, she sends Dorothy back to Kansas by conjuring up another twister. This too is in keeping with L. Frank Baum's original Glinda, who had the power to "command the spirits of the air" according to The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
.
The Wizard of OzThe Wizard of Oz (1982 film)is a 1982 Japanese anime feature film directed by Fumihiko Takayama, from a screenplay by Yoshimitsu Banno and Akira Miyazaki, which is based on the 1900 children's novel by L...
(1982)
Glinda, looking very young and with long blonde hair, voiced by Wendy Thatcher, claims to be the sister of the Good Witch of the NorthGood Witch of the North
The Good Witch of the North is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the elderly and mild-mannered Ruler of the Gillikin Country...
despite the appearance of quite a large age gap (Baum did always say she is much older than she looks), and appears in the Emerald City in a similar deus ex machina
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
to the MGM film.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (anime)The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (anime)The Wonderful Wizard of Oz may refer to:*The Wonderful Wizard of Oz* The Wizard of Oz, a 1982 Japanese feature film* The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a 1986 Japanese animated TV series* The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz, a 1992 Japanese animated TV series...
In CINAR's 1987 animated series, Glinda is portrayed as a tall and very slender sorceress with long blue hair. It is she who offers to make Dorothy a Princess of Oz in this series, during their very first encounter, but Dorothy maintains that she wishes to return to Kansas.In Baum's The Land of Oz, Glinda categorically states that she does not engage in "transformations" because "they are not real", but in this series, the Good Witch transforms into an eagle in order to pursue Mombi
Mombi
Mombi is a wicked old witch from L. Frank Baum Oz Books. She appears in the book The Marvelous Land of Oz and is alluded to in other works. Of all the wicked witches in L...
, who attempts to fly away from the Emerald City in the form of a dragon.
After restoring Princess Ozma to the throne, Glinda uses her magic on Mombi
Mombi
Mombi is a wicked old witch from L. Frank Baum Oz Books. She appears in the book The Marvelous Land of Oz and is alluded to in other works. Of all the wicked witches in L...
and Jinjur
Jinjur
Jinjur is the main antagonist of The Marvelous Land of Oz. She is a character in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and his successors. She first appears in The Marvelous Land of Oz as a self-appointed general leading an "Army of Revolt"—an all-woman force seeking to end the reign of the Scarecrow and...
to make them reform, when the witch and the rebel queen refuse to mend their villainous ways. Having thus changed Mombi and Jinjur's inherent natures, Glinda ensures that they will never create trouble for anyone again.
Glinda entrusts Dorothy with the task of preparing Ozma for her official coronation ceremony, confident that the maturer Dorothy will mould the series' playful young Ozma into a responsible queen. As the series draws to an end, Glinda telepathically contacts and saves Dorothy from falling to her death from a tower, following a confrontation with the Nome King
Nome King
The Nome King is a fictional character in L. Frank Baum's Oz books. Although the Wicked Witch of the West is the most famous of Oz's villains , the Nome King is the closest the book series has to a main antagonist.-In the novels:The character called the Nome King is originally named Roquat the Red...
and his minions.
DiC's The Wizard of Oz (1990)
Glinda's portrayal in this short-lived series is much more in keeping with the 1939 MGM film, although the character looks significantly younger than Billie BurkeBillie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
did, wears a white gown with pink embroidery (rather than a wholly pink gown), and has blonde hair. Her voice and her personality, however, are extremely close to the Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
version. She arranges for Dorothy
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
to return to the Land of Oz by means of the Ruby Slippers, because the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
has been brought back to life, and Glinda needs Dorothy's help to set things right again.
The Muppets' Wizard of OzThe Muppets' Wizard of OzThe Muppets' Wizard of Oz is a 2005 musical telefilm directed by Kirk Thatcher and starring Ashanti and The Muppets. The film was produced by Bill Barretta and written by Debra Frank, Steve L. Hayes, Tom Martin, and Adam F...
Glinda is the Good Witch of the South and is played by Miss PiggyMiss Piggy
Miss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
, as are her sisters the Good Witch of the North and the two Wicked Witches. In keeping with the traditions of Muppet films, she is attracted to the Scarecrow (played by Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...
). She is portrayed in a lavender dress with a feather boa, an archetypal Hollywood starlet much more in keeping with the character of Miss Piggy than Glinda.
Oz: The Great and Powerful
Glinda will be portrayed by Michelle WilliamsMichelle Williams (actress)
Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
in this adaptation, expected in 2013.
The Wiz
In the Broadway musical The WizThe Wiz
The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the context of African American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974 at the Morris A...
, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South, as she appears in the Oz books. She appears only once at the end of the musical, but traditionally the same actress who plays Glinda also plays Aunt Em
Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas...
. She is the sister of Addaperle (Miss One), Evilene, and Evvamean, the other three witches of Oz. The role was originated by Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater
Dee Dee Bridgewater is an American Jazz singer. She is a three-time Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award - winning stage actress and host of National Public Radio's syndicated radio show JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater...
. In the film version, she is played by Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, and she causes the snowstorm that brings Dorothy to Oz.
Wicked
In Broadway musicalBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
(based on Maguire's novel), Glinda is one of the two female leads as the musical focuses on her love/hate relationship with Elphaba
Elphaba
Elphaba Thropp is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little...
(the young woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West
Wicked Witch of the West
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
). As in Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire is an American writer. He is the author of the novels Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and many other novels for adults and children...
's revisionist novel, Glinda is characterized by her popularity and goes by the name of Galinda Upland (who hails from the Upper Uplands). She is described as "blonde" in every way, whereas Baum's original Glinda as well as Billie Burke
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress. She is primarily known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz. She was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Emily Kilbourne in Merrily We Live...
's Glinda in the 1939 MGM movie (which dictated the visual look as well as the overall feel and flavor of this stage musical) had red hair. This is because composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...
tailor-made this version of Glinda for actress/singer Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
.
Elphaba and Glinda find out the Wizard has a campaign to rid Oz of all talking animals, and has tricked Elphaba into creating flying monkey spies. Elphaba rebels against the horrendous torturing and cruel treatment of animals, vowing to bring down the Wizard. Glinda prefers to play it safe and moreover explore her political opportunities with the Wizard, ultimately sealing her destiny to become "Glinda the Good", and a public icon/spokesperson of Oz.
The love triangle between Glinda, Fiyero and Elphaba is what primarily distinguishes the Wicked musical incarnation of Glinda from Gregory Maguire's novel. Glinda and the "scandalacious" Winkie Prince Fiyero gravitate towards each other, but while Glinda convinces everyone that the two of them are in love, Fiyero re-evaluates his priorities and becomes increasingly drawn to Glinda's now best friend Elphaba.
Most significantly, in the musical, Glinda unwittingly sets into motion the events that lead to the Munchkin Boq
Boq
Boq is a minor character in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. He becomes a more prominent character in Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which purports to show the lives of some of Baum's characters from another perspective, and more...
becoming the Tin Woodman
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
(which only happens in this musical), and Elphaba's sister Nessarose
Nessarose
Nessarose Thropp is the name of the woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the East in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway adaptation, Wicked...
(dubbed "The Wicked Witch of the East
Wicked Witch of the East
The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his Oz series of books....
") being killed by Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
's farmhouse. Boq was an unwanted but ardent suitor that Glinda foisted upon Nessarose, the Munchkin
Munchkin
The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...
Governor's daughter, who became so attached to him that she stripped the Munchkins of their rights just to keep Boq with her (thus earning the title "Wicked Witch of the East"). Boq was transformed into the Tin Woodman when Elphaba attempted to correct a Grimmerie spell-book charm that was miscast by Nessarose (who wanted to claim the "heart" he "lost" to Glinda). Not long after, Glinda was so determined to bring Elphaba and Fiyero to justice for running away together, that she suggested to the Wizard and Madame Morrible that they spread a rumor about Nessarose being in danger to lure Elphaba out of hiding. The Wizard and Madame Morrible took Glinda's suggestion to its most extreme level, with Morrible creating the cyclone that brought Dorothy's house to Oz and crushed Nessarose to death.
Glinda comes to understand that Elphaba and Fiyero "deserve each other" in the most positive sense of the term. She tries to avenge Elphaba's supposed death by threatening to expose the Wizard as a fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
unless he leaves Oz altogether. Having thrown the fiendish Madame Morrible in jail, Glinda follows in Elphaba's footsteps, trying to fix all the damage that has been caused in Oz over the past few decades, and hoping to truly earn her title as "Glinda the Good" among the people.
The role was originally played by Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
.
Other actresses to play the lead role include Jennifer Laura Thompson
Jennifer Laura Thompson
Jennifer Laura Thompson is an American stage actress and singer. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan and graduated in 1991....
, Megan Hilty
Megan Hilty
Megan Kathleen Hilty is an American stage and television actress.- Early years :Hilty was born in Bellevue, Washington and is the daughter of Jack and Donna Hilty. She attended Sammamish High School in Bellevue and the Washington Academy of Performing Arts Conservatory High School in Redmond,...
, Kate Reinders
Kate Reinders
Kate Reinders is an American musical theatre actress, who has performed as lead and understudy in several Broadway shows. Reinders was born in Seattle, Washington, but raised in Muskegon, Michigan...
, Kendra Kassebaum
Kendra Kassebaum
Kendra Kassebaum is an American theatre actress who has performed in many different musicals , and is most noted for her role as Glinda in the first national tour, Broadway, and San Francisco casts of Wicked.- Biography :Kendra Kassebaum was born May 12, 1973, in St Louis, Missouri...
(currently the longest-running in the role), Annaleigh Ashford
Annaleigh Ashford
Annaleigh Ashford is an American actress known for her Broadway credits in Wicked, Legally Blonde, and Hair.-Early life:Annaleigh Ashford was born Annaleigh Swanson in Denver, Colorado to Holli Swanson, a gym teacher...
, Alli Mauzey
Alli Mauzey
Alli Mauzey is an American actress from Anaheim Hills, California.She made her Broadway debut as Brenda in Hairspray in 2003. Her "big break" came when she starred as Lenora in the Broadway musical Cry Baby for which she won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Drama League Award.In...
, Erin Mackey
Erin Mackey
Erin Mackey is a stage actress/singer, best known for playing the role of Glinda in the Chicago, Los Angeles and Broadway productions of Wicked.-Career:...
, Katie Rose Clarke
Katie Rose Clarke
Katherine "Katie" Rose Clarke is an American musical theater actress. Originally from Friendswood, Texas, she first came to national attention for her portrayal of Clara Johnson in the Broadway production, the live PBS broadcast, and the national tour of The Light in the Piazza...
, Helen Dallimore
Helen Dallimore
Helen Dallimore is an Australian actress, known for originating the role of Glinda in the West End production of Wicked.-Background:...
, Dianne Pilkington
Dianne Pilkington
Dianne Lesley Pilkington is an English theatre actress and singer.- Life :Pilkington was born in Wigan. She trained at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 1997 with the Principal's Award....
, Louise Dearman
Louise Dearman
Louise Dearman is a British musical theatre performer, currently playing the role of Glinda in the West End production of Wicked. She has a number of other professional stage and television credits, such as Eva Perón in Evita, and released her debut solo album, You and I, in 2005.-Early...
, Lucy Durack
Lucy Durack
Lucy Durack is an Australian musical theatre performer most recognised for playing Glinda in the Australian production of Wicked.-Biography:...
, Chandra Lee Schwartz
Chandra Lee Schwartz
Chandra Lee Schwartz is an American theatre performer, who most recently played Glinda on the first National Tour of Wicked from Friday, 21 August 2009, through Sunday, 17 April 2011. She originally starred alongside Donna Vivino as Elphaba, who was later replaced by Jackie Burns...
, Christina DeCicco, Heléne York, Natalie Daradich, Tiffany Haas, Chantal Janzen
Chantal Janzen
Chantal Janzen is a Dutch actress and musical star. She starred in The Preacher, Full Moon Party and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo and presented Idols....
, Stacie Morgain Lewis, Lucy Scherer, Joana Fee Würz, Amanda Jane Cooper, Kate Fahrner, Laura Woyasz, Emily Rozek, Suzie Mathers, and Gina Beck
Gina Beck
Gina Beck is an English actress and singer known primarily for her roles in leading musical theatre productions. Gina recently starred as Christine Daaé in Cameron Mackintosh's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in London's West End for two years...
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