Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin-Woodman meet the Cowardly Lion.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by Lyman (long for "L.") Frank Baum in 1900, was an instant success, which has been much homaged and parodied, though the 1939 movie version, The Wizard of Oz, may now be better known. Return to Oz, a semi-sequel released in 1985 by Disney, is a cult movie. Many viewers feel that the latter film captures the spirit of the books more than its MGM predecessor does; it certainly looks far more like the books' original illustrations.The book itself had many sequels; for more about these, see Land of Oz.Dorothy is a little girl from Kansas whose farmhouse is carried away to Oz by a random tornado, with her and her dog Toto inside. The tornado drops the house on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. Dorothy is quickly feted by the native Munchkins as a hero, but wants nothing more than to get home. The (un-named) Good Witch of the North is sympathetic, but unfortunately has never heard of this strange place called "Kansas". So she gives Dorothy the wicked witch's silver shoes, kisses her on the forehead, and sends her off to the capital — the Emerald City — to ask the Wizard who rules there for his advice.Along the way, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow (who wants a brain), the Tin Woodman (who misses his heart) and the Cowardly Lion (who wishes he had courage). Together they travel to the Emerald City to ask for the Wizard's help - having to deal along the way with the aptly named Wicked Witch of the West, who wants revenge for the death of her sister - as well as her magical silver shoes.Although the basic story is close to that of the film, there are several deviations and extra parts - such as the history of the Tin Woodman, the Wizard's multiple disguises, the fact that there are two Good Witches rather than just one, an extended anticlimactic journey after the defeat of the Wicked Witch, and (most significantly) the ending, which in the movie implied it was All Just a Dream, while in the book it is all most definitely real.Check out the Character Sheet.For a list of the many, many adaptations, see The Wizard of Oz.
The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz is the Trope Namer for:
The book version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz includes examples of:
Adaptation Overdosed: While the movie is better remembered, the book has a lot of adaptations ranging from comic books to film to cartoons made in Russia.
All Just a Dream: Averted in the original books. Baum himself stated that the land of Oz is located somewhere in the world, it's just surrounded by impassable deserts.
Applied Phlebotinum: The Wicked Witch of the West's Golden Cap, which she uses to control the Winged Monkeys.
Armless Biped: Hammerheads, who attack by extending their necks à la a jack-in-the-box.
The Beastmaster: the Wicked Witch of the West's main source of power is in her animal servants - a pack of black wolves, a murder of crows, a swarm of black bees, and the Golden Cap that allows her to summon the Winged Monkeys thrice. When most of those minions are slain and the Cap's powers exhausted, the Witch seems to be almost powerless.
Beware the Nice Ones: The Tin Woodman. Sweetest, nicest, most loyal guy you'd ever encounter. Cried himself rusted over accidentally killing a harmless bug. Threaten an innocent life, and his axe will be used to make the offender a head shorter.
Bee Bee Gun: The Wicked Witch of the West can control a bee swarm.
Bond Villain Stupidity: The Wicked Witch of the West is too concerned about self-preservation to even try to steal Dorothy's silver slippers (due to her fear of the dark and her weakness against water). Of course, she later wises up and steals one slipper using a cheap shot (read: invisible brick). Unfortunately for her, when Dorothy's slippers are messed with, it's a Berserk Button; Dorothy swiftly retaliates by weaponizing the Witch's weakness and mopping up the remains.
More justified in Volkov's version, in which the silver shoes themselves protect Ellie (Dorothy) from harm, and she never removes them, even when sleeping. This is why both the Winged Monkeys and the Witch are afraid to harm her.
Bridge Logic: The Scarecrow has the Tin Woodman do this by chopping down a tree... and then has him chop it down again, with the pursuing Kalidahs still on it. The book was published in 1900, making this one Older Than Television.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Blue is the colour of the Munchkins and Green is the colour of the Emerald City. Witches all wear white so when the Munchkins see Dorothy wearing her white and blue checked dress they assume she is a witch as well as a friend to them because of those colours. Furthermore, yellow is the favorite color of the Winkies in the West (they're even called Yellow Winkies), and red for the Quadlings of the South.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Natch. This goes double for the book, in which after journeying all that way to see the wizard, the company then has to make another journey to Glinda so Dorothy can go home.
Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: The Wicked Witches of the East and West and The Good Witch of the North are only known by their titles.
Fairy Tale: Wizard of Oz was Baum's attempt to write an "American" fairy tale.
He seized his axe, which he had made very sharp, and as the leader of the wolves came on the Tin Woodman swung his arm and chopped the wolf’s head from its body, so that it immediately died. As soon as he could raise his axe another wolf came up, and he also fell under the sharp edge of the Tin Woodman’s weapon. There were forty wolves, and forty times a wolf was killed, so that at last they all lay dead in a heap before the Woodman.
The King Crow flew at the Scarecrow, who caught it by the head and twisted its neck until it died. And then another crow flew at him, and the Scarecrow twisted its neck also. There were forty crows, and forty times the Scarecrow twisted a neck, until at last all were lying dead beside him.
Good All Along: All of the Wicked Witch's servants, including the Winged Monkeys.
Heart Trauma: The Tin Woodman's entire motivation in the original book that he erroneously believed he was experiencing this. Since he had literally lost his heart, he thought he had lost his capacity for kindness and love. In fact, he was almost saintlike in his love and kindness toward nearly everything he met; he just wasn't sentimental or strongly emotional.
Invisible Block: Well, an invisible iron bar, which the Wicked Witch summons to make Dorothy lose a shoe.
Irony: The Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Woodman wants a heart, and the Cowardly Lion wants courage. Throughout their adventures, guess who comes up with all the plans, is unusually tender-hearted, and casually displays real courage? Yeah...
I Was Quite a Looker: Aunt Em is said to have been cheerful and pretty when she came to live in Kansas but the sun and wind took away her sparkle and left her sad and grey.
Real Life Writes the Plot / Write Who You Know: Dorothy was named after Baum's niece, who died as a little girl. Aunt Em and Uncle Henry were based on Baum and his wife Maud.
Serial Prostheses: The Tin Woodman is an extreme example, having literally replaced his entire body serially.
Set Bonus: While you need both slippers to get wishes, just wearing one is a powerful Protective Charm.
Single Palette Town: The Emerald City and each of the four quadrants of Oz: East, Munchkins, blue; West, Winkies, yellow; North, Gilikins, purple; South, Quadlings, red.
Wicked Witch: Obviously, the Wicked Witches of the West and East. The Good Witches of the North and South are an inversion (and a rather radical one too, as the notion of a good witch was alien at the time).
The Wonderland: Oz itself, with talking scarecrows and robots before there were robots...
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