Tin Man contains numerous nods and references to the Land of Oz books, films, and other sources.
- Expy: Most of the characters are based on the classic Oz characters, although it is revealed that D.G. is a direct descendant of Dorothy Gale. It is implied the other characters are descendants of the original as well.
- D.G. = Dorothy Gale (averted due to being actually related to Dorothy). To an extent, she also is an expy of Tip (Ozma who was disguised as a boy and sent away) with her forgotten heritage, tomboy behavior, and troublemaking.
- Azkadellia = The Wicked Witch of the West (although she is possessed by the actual witch).
- Glitch = The Scarecrow.
- Wyatt Cain = Tin Woodman.
- Raw = Cowardly Lion.
- Tutor = Toto.
- Lavender Eyes = Glinda the Good.
- Ahamo and the Mystic Man = The Wizard of Oz.
- Emily and Hank = Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.
- Eastern Guild = The Munchkins, and especially the Lollipop Guild.
- The only characters in the party with surnames? Dorothy Gale and Nick Chopper (the Tin Woodsman). The only ones in the party with surnames in the mini? D. G. (Gale) and Wyatt Cain (the Tin Man)
- D.G. and her parents live in Kansas, on the same farm where Dorothy lived.
- The police officer who gives D.G. is a speeding ticket is named Officer Gulch, after Miss Gulch from The Wizard of Oz.
- D.G. works in a diner like Ashanti in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz. Her work outfit resembles Dorothy's dress from the 1939 film, though the white and blue gingham dress was also referenced in the book.
- D.G. refers to Hank as "Popsicle". Glinda called her father this nickname in Wicked.
- Emily shows D.G. has numerous travel brochures, one of which is to Australia, where Uncle Henry and Dorothy's relatives lived in Ozma of Oz, which started with Dorothy and Uncle Henry taking a trip there.
- Azkadellia's fortress is based on the Wicked Witch's castle from the 1939 film.
- The Emerald of the Eclipse resembles a miniaturised version Emerald City from the 1939 film.
- The tank which Azkadellia uses to show the visions of the Viewers is a nod to the Wicked Witch's crystal ball and all-seeing eye.
- The arrival of the storm in Kansas involves several symbolical nods to the Scarecrow (a scarecrow's head falls off), the Tin Woodman (a rusted heart-shaped number plate), and the Cowardly Lion (a cat runs away in fear).
- Dorothy's house is Number 39 - a nod to the year 1939, when The Wizard of Oz was released.
- The Munchkins seen are part of the "Eastern Resistance Guild" - a possible nod to the Lollipop Guild from the film.
- Munchkin Country was also in the eastern part of Oz, and the original Munchkins intitially mistook Dorothy for a powerful (and potentially dangerous) Munchkin sorceress due to her blue and white clothing (blue being Munchkin colors, white only worn by sorcerers/sorceresses), and called the North Witch to detain and question her.
- Glitch is introduced with a missing brain and being tied up like the Scarecrow.
- The Old Brick Road is the Yellow Brick Road.
- Cain is imprisoned in a tin suit for years watching a holographic loop showing his family's murder. He does not have a metal body like his counterpart, but refers to himself as "heartless".
- Like Nick Chopper before him, he is the party's strongest fighter. He also is very unlucky in love. Cain is too late to save his wife. Nick just found out his girlfriend two-timed him and then ran off with someone else.
- The term "Tin Man" is used for the O.Z.'s former police officers.
- Lavender Eyes is trapped in a bubble of sorts by Azkadellia - a nod to her mode of transport from the 1939 film.
- Milltown's robotic residents may be a nod to Tik Tok, one of the first robots in modern literature.
- Their half-human, half robot appearance could also be a reference to Klu-Klip's experiments in The Tin Woodsman of Oz where he made a Frankenstein-esque creature out of Nick and Capt. Fyter's hacked off body parts and robotic pieces.
- The Mobats (or Monkey Bats) are the Flying Monkeys.
- The Mystic Man appears at first as a giant holographic head and then appears from a ball of fire.
- Glitch points out an off-screen rainbow - a nod to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".
- The revelation that D.G. is a princess is similar to that of Tip/Ozma from The Marvelous Land of Oz.
- Glitch is revealed to be Lavender Eyes' advisor, like how the Scarecrow was to Ozma in the later Oz books.
- The fates of the four heroes reflects those of Dorothy and her companions in the original novel.
- Tutor was nicknamed "Toto" by a young D.G. due to her inability to remember his name. Tutor himself can shapeshift into a dog.
- The Wicked Witch is implied to be the Wicked Witch of the West, or perhaps Kumbricia "Mother of Witches" from Wicked.
- Ahamo's name is "Omaha" backwards - a nod to the Wizard's hometown. Ahamo later admits he comes from Nebraska.
- The crown that D.G.'s doll wears resembles that of Ozma.
- Ahamo uses a hot air balloon to travel.
- Dorothy Gale is revealed to be D.G.'s greatest-great grandmother and the first person from Earth to travel to the O.Z., referred to as a "Slipper" - a nod to the Silver Slippers.
- Dorothy cameos in the series, in a black and white farmyard as a nod to the sepia-coloured opening of the 1939 film. Dorothy is wearing the Silver Slippers (they were silver in the original book).
- D.G. and Azkadellia's magic resembles rippling water and causes the Wicked Witch to melt. D.G. lampshades the reference with her surprised remark of "She melted!?"
- D.G.'s last line "I'm so glad to be home", is a nod to the final infamous line of the 1939 film: "There's no place like home."
- The Soiled City on a Hill depiction of Central (Emerald) City is much like the city was described in in Wicked.
- Tin Man got a Shout-Out of its own: The same house used as DG's home in the series showed up in Once Upon a Time as the Wicked Witch's home.
- DG refers to Elmer Gulch as a menace to society. Miss Gulch had referred to Toto as such in the 1939 film.
- Glitch looks like he might have been modeled after Syd Barrett, who wrote a song called "The Scarecrow" on The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. note
- Before the final battle, DG gives each of her companions a pep talk that references the Wizard's speech and gifts from the 1939 film, in which he points out that they already have the qualities they are seeking. She assures Glitch that he is the smartest person she knows even without half his brain, points out to Raw all of the courageous things they've done together, and gets Cain to unbend enough for a hug.
- In a flashback, Az congratulates DG on her plan to "trick the trees into throwing apples at them". DG mentions that she heard it in an old story once. Since this happened in the 1939 film, the "old story" was probably the one about their "greatest-great grandmother".
- In the same scene, Az tells DG that they need to be careful in the woods because of the wild animals roaming around, listing off lions and tigers as potential threats. Then a bear shows up, and they gasp "Oh my!" in shock. Another reference to the 1939 film.
