Ozma of Oz
Encyclopedia
Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein published on July 30, 1907, was the third book of L. Frank Baum
's Oz
series. It was the first in which Baum was clearly intending a series of Oz books.
It is the first Oz book where the majority of the action takes place outside of the Land of Oz. Only the final two chapters take place in Oz itself. This reflects a subtle change in theme: in the first book, Oz is the dangerous land through which Dorothy must win her way back to Kansas; in the third, Oz is the end and aim of the book. Dorothy's desire to return home is not as desperate as in the first book, and it is her uncle's need for her rather than hers for him that makes her return.
It was illustrated throughout in color by artist John R. Neill
.
The book bore the following dedication: "To all the boys and girls who read my stories — and especially to the Dorothys — this book is lovingly dedicated."
farm to Australia. He and his niece Dorothy Gale
(this is the first of the Oz books in which the reader learns her last name) are aboard a steamship traveling there when they are caught in a fierce storm and separated. Dorothy is tossed overboard in a large poultry crate along with Billina
, a yellow hen
that was also on the ship.
Dorothy and Billina wash ashore and pick something to eat from a lunch pail tree. She guesses that they are in a "fairy country" because lunch pails do not normally grow on trees and animals like Billina do not talk, but it's not Oz because that country has no seashore. They come across a message inscribed in the sand: "BEWARE THE WHEELERS"! Soon they meet these gaudily dressed, loud-yelling creatures who have wheels instead of hands and feet, and roll around on all fours. Dorothy and Billina climb a rocky mountain to escape them and find a door carved into its side. Having found the key by the door, they open it and find Tik-Tok, a round copper mechanical man whom they activate. by winding up all three of his clockwork motors (one each for thinking, motion and speech) with the key like a wind-up toy.
Tik-Tok tells Dorothy and Billina about the Land of Ev
where they are now and the loss of its royal family to the magic of the Nome King
. He takes them to safety from the Wheelers to the royal residence, where the head-exchanging Princess Langwidere, the niece of the deceased king of Ev, locks them in a high tower. Tik-Tok stops in mid-motion, unable to move again until he is wound up with the key.
Ozma
and her companions (many of whom appeared in the two previous Oz books) cross the Deadly Desert
with the aid of a magic carpet provided by Glinda
to free the royal family of Ev, and Ozma has Dorothy released from Langwidere's custody. Cheerful reunions are had by the Scarecrow
, the Tin Woodman
, and the Cowardly Lion
, and new introductions are made to Ozma and the Hungry Tiger
, a massive tiger hamstrung by his conscience.
The expedition journeys to the underground kingdom of the Nomes, where the Nome King reveals that he has turned the royal family into ornaments around his palace. The Oz people are given the option to guess which ornaments they are (he does not reveal that they are royal purple ones), but if they fail, they will also become ornaments. Ozma, the twenty-seven soldiers of the Royal Army of Oz, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and Tik-Tok all suffer this fate (Dorothy escapes it only by touching a purple ornament in one of her guesses). When the guests from Oz retire one night, Billina learns which of the Nome King's ornaments were once people and about the magic belt that he wears.
Billina was originally not going to be allowed to guess, but she so infuriates the Nome King by laying an egg
(poisonous to any Nome) under his throne that he lets her guess. All of her guesses turn out to be right, thanks to her learning his transformation secrets. He commands his army to recapture all of them by force, but Dorothy takes the magic belt, the Army's sole private takes the offensive, and Billina's eggs are left in the Nomes' paths so they do not dare follow.
After returning the royal family of Ev (the queen mother
, five boys, and five girls) to their rightful place, Ozma, Dorothy, and the others return to Oz where a great victory celebration is held in the Emerald City
. Dorothy is officially made a Princess of Oz, Billina elects to remain in Oz, and Ozma uses the magic belt to send Dorothy to Australia to be reunited with Uncle Henry.
revisited this story for the plot of his 1913 musical The Tik-Tok Man of Oz
, starring James C. Morton
and Fred Woodward. Aside from Tik-Tok, a princess named Ozma
, and a visit to the Nome King
's domain, the similarities between the book and the finished play were minimal, allowing Baum to re-adapt the latter as the eighth Oz book, Tik-Tok of Oz
, in 1914.
Elements from Ozma of Oz and the previous novel, The Marvelous Land of Oz
, were incorporated into the 1985 film Return to Oz
, featuring Fairuza Balk
as Dorothy. Although most of the plot was taken from Ozma, the action was chiefly re-located to the derelict Emerald City
, ruled by Princess Mombi (Princess Langwidere in all but name) and her Wheelers. In the second half of the film, Dorothy, Billina, Tik-Tok, and other new friends traveled to the Nome King's mountain, to rescue the Scarecrow from the King's ornament collection, which were emerald green unlike the book’s royal purple. The 1939 film's famous ruby slippers
were used in place of the Magic Belt.
The 1986 anime adaptation of the first novel
included this story. It was later shortened and edited into a single feature for United States VHS and Laserdisc
(and later DVD) release.
The book was also made into a Canadian
animated feature film
in 1987 Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz
. It is a condensed version, running only 28 minutes. A video release features a live introduction by actor Michael Gross
.
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's Oz
The Oz books
The Oz books form a book series that begins with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , and that relates the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length Oz books, all of which are in the public domain in the United States...
series. It was the first in which Baum was clearly intending a series of Oz books.
It is the first Oz book where the majority of the action takes place outside of the Land of Oz. Only the final two chapters take place in Oz itself. This reflects a subtle change in theme: in the first book, Oz is the dangerous land through which Dorothy must win her way back to Kansas; in the third, Oz is the end and aim of the book. Dorothy's desire to return home is not as desperate as in the first book, and it is her uncle's need for her rather than hers for him that makes her return.
It was illustrated throughout in color by artist John R. Neill
John R. Neill
John Rea Neill was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own. His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series...
.
The book bore the following dedication: "To all the boys and girls who read my stories — and especially to the Dorothys — this book is lovingly dedicated."
Plot summary
Uncle Henry has been ordered by his doctor to take a vacation from his KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
farm to Australia. He and his niece 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...
(this is the first of the Oz books in which the reader learns her last name) are aboard a steamship traveling there when they are caught in a fierce storm and separated. Dorothy is tossed overboard in a large poultry crate along with Billina
Billina
Billina is a character in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum.She is a yellow hen tossed overboard in a storm with Dorothy Gale in the novel Ozma of Oz, the third Oz book, and a sequel to L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, a yellow hen
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
that was also on the ship.
Dorothy and Billina wash ashore and pick something to eat from a lunch pail tree. She guesses that they are in a "fairy country" because lunch pails do not normally grow on trees and animals like Billina do not talk, but it's not Oz because that country has no seashore. They come across a message inscribed in the sand: "BEWARE THE WHEELERS"! Soon they meet these gaudily dressed, loud-yelling creatures who have wheels instead of hands and feet, and roll around on all fours. Dorothy and Billina climb a rocky mountain to escape them and find a door carved into its side. Having found the key by the door, they open it and find Tik-Tok, a round copper mechanical man whom they activate. by winding up all three of his clockwork motors (one each for thinking, motion and speech) with the key like a wind-up toy.
Tik-Tok tells Dorothy and Billina about the Land of Ev
Land of Ev
The Land of Ev is a fictional country in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum and his successors. Its exact location is unclear between text and maps. The Road to Oz states that Ev is to the north of the Land of Oz, and in Ozma of Oz, Princess Ozma of Oz and her procession enter the Munchkin Country and...
where they are now and the loss of its royal family to the magic of 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...
. He takes them to safety from the Wheelers to the royal residence, where the head-exchanging Princess Langwidere, the niece of the deceased king of Ev, locks them in a high tower. Tik-Tok stops in mid-motion, unable to move again until he is wound up with the key.
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...
and her companions (many of whom appeared in the two previous Oz books) cross the Deadly Desert
Deadly Desert
The Deadly Desert is the magical desert that completely surrounds the fictional Land of Oz. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste.The desert...
with the aid of a magic carpet provided by Glinda
Glinda
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.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
to free the royal family of Ev, and Ozma has Dorothy released from Langwidere's custody. Cheerful reunions are had by the Scarecrow
Scarecrow (Oz)
The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator William Wallace Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely...
, 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...
, and the Cowardly Lion
Cowardly Lion
The Cowardly Lion is the main character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is a Lion, but he talks and interacts with humans....
, and new introductions are made to Ozma and the Hungry Tiger
Hungry Tiger
The Hungry Tiger is a fictional character from The Oz books by L. Frank Baum.The Hungry Tiger is a massive beast who is friends with the Cowardly Lion. He is always hungry, no matter how much he eats, and longs to eat a "fat baby," though he never would because his conscience will not allow him to...
, a massive tiger hamstrung by his conscience.
The expedition journeys to the underground kingdom of the Nomes, where the Nome King reveals that he has turned the royal family into ornaments around his palace. The Oz people are given the option to guess which ornaments they are (he does not reveal that they are royal purple ones), but if they fail, they will also become ornaments. Ozma, the twenty-seven soldiers of the Royal Army of Oz, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and Tik-Tok all suffer this fate (Dorothy escapes it only by touching a purple ornament in one of her guesses). When the guests from Oz retire one night, Billina learns which of the Nome King's ornaments were once people and about the magic belt that he wears.
Billina was originally not going to be allowed to guess, but she so infuriates the Nome King by laying an egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
(poisonous to any Nome) under his throne that he lets her guess. All of her guesses turn out to be right, thanks to her learning his transformation secrets. He commands his army to recapture all of them by force, but Dorothy takes the magic belt, the Army's sole private takes the offensive, and Billina's eggs are left in the Nomes' paths so they do not dare follow.
After returning the royal family of Ev (the queen mother
Queen mother
Queen Mother is a title or position reserved for a widowed queen consort whose son or daughter from that marriage is the reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since at least 1577...
, five boys, and five girls) to their rightful place, Ozma, Dorothy, and the others return to Oz where a great victory celebration is held in the Emerald City
Emerald City
The Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
. Dorothy is officially made a Princess of Oz, Billina elects to remain in Oz, and Ozma uses the magic belt to send Dorothy to Australia to be reunited with Uncle Henry.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
L. Frank BaumL. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
revisited this story for the plot of his 1913 musical The Tik-Tok Man of Oz
The Tik-Tok Man of Oz
The Tik-Tok Man of Oz is a musical play with book and lyrics by L. Frank Baum and music by Louis F. Gottschalk that opened in Los Angeles, California on March 31, 1913. It is loosely inspired by Baum's book, Ozma of Oz , and the basis for his 1914 novel, Tik-Tok of Oz. It was promoted as "A...
, starring James C. Morton
James C. Morton
James C. Morton was an American character actor. He appeared in 187 films between 1922 and 1943.-Career:...
and Fred Woodward. Aside from Tik-Tok, a princess named Ozma
Ozma
Ozma may refer to:* Ozma of Oz, a 1907 and third book in the Oz series* Ozma , a 1989 album by the Melvins* Ozma , a rock band from Pasadena, California* Ozma Wars, a 1979 arcade game...
, and a visit to 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...
's domain, the similarities between the book and the finished play were minimal, allowing Baum to re-adapt the latter as the eighth Oz book, Tik-Tok of Oz
Tik-Tok of Oz
Tik-Tok of Oz is the eighth Land of Oz book written by L. Frank Baum, published on June 19, 1914. The book actually has little to do with Tik-Tok and is primarily the quest of the Shaggy Man to rescue his brother, and his resulting conflict with the Nome King.The endpapers of the first edition...
, in 1914.
Elements from Ozma of Oz and the previous novel, 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...
, were incorporated into the 1985 film Return to Oz
Return to Oz
Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is an unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. The film is based on the second and third Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz...
, featuring Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Alejandra Balk is an American film actress. She made her theatrical film debut as Dorothy Gale in Disney's Return to Oz...
as Dorothy. Although most of the plot was taken from Ozma, the action was chiefly re-located to the derelict Emerald City
Emerald City
The Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
, ruled by Princess Mombi (Princess Langwidere in all but name) and her Wheelers. In the second half of the film, Dorothy, Billina, Tik-Tok, and other new friends traveled to the Nome King's mountain, to rescue the Scarecrow from the King's ornament collection, which were emerald green unlike the book’s royal purple. The 1939 film's famous ruby slippers
Ruby slippers
The ruby slippers are the shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. Because of their iconic stature, they are now among the most treasured and valuable of film memorabilia. As was customary for important props, a number of pairs were made for the film, though no one knows...
were used in place of the Magic Belt.
The 1986 anime adaptation of the first novel
The 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...
included this story. It was later shortened and edited into a single feature for United States VHS and Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
(and later DVD) release.
The book was also made into a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
animated feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
in 1987 Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz
Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz
Dorothy Meets Ozma of Oz is a short film introduced through Michael Gross of Family Ties. It is based on Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum.-Plot:...
. It is a condensed version, running only 28 minutes. A video release features a live introduction by actor Michael Gross
Michael Gross (actor)
Michael Gross is an American television, movie, and stage actor who plays both comedic and dramatic roles. His most notable roles are as the father Steven Keaton from Family Ties and the Graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors franchise.-Early life:Gross was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son...
.