The Christmas of Oz - Revisited

Note: This one's a direct repost from my former blog.  My daughter's now 10 years old and has a little sister who rivals her for the title: Cutest Princess Ever.  Still, I thought it was fun enough that it deserved to make the move here with me. :)

Last year, JUST before Christmas and well into the Holiday Season, my wife and I introduced our three-year old little girl to the Wizard of Oz.  It was on television one evening and we let her stay up "late" to watch the entire movie.

Now just to get it out-of-the-way, obviously my little girl is the cutest, smartest, most talented and awe-inspiring three-year old around.  Got it?  Now that THAT's settled, we can continue.

See, like many little girls, My little Princess has become enthralled with all things Oz.  Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion have become her bosom buddies.  She can tell what scene is playing just from the music or dialogue she hears even when she's out of the room, and she's got more than a few words for that naughty green witch that seriously needs a time out, in her opinion.

The video was at the top of her wish list for Christmas and my Wife and I lovingly got it and made sure she opened it as her first gift.  Between showings on cable in the days leading up to Christmas and her own DVD, she's seen the film more than twenty times in the last three weeks.  Seriously.  And so has Daddy.

I'll let that sink in, and appreciate all the Sympathy cards you send.

Anyway, my precious little girl is quite verbose and inquisitive, like any self-respecting three-year old should be, but bias aside, she's even just a bit more than that.   She's honestly been asking us, since she was about one year old "What's that?" about everything.

So, she finally decided to turn her mutant intelligence powers to the details of the Wizard of Oz (The guy she insists just needs to learn how to use his balloon like a good Wizard), and while she's still thrilled to see Dorothy's house flying through the air in the Tomato, she's perplexed by the following mystery:

What are the Witch's names for the East AND West, and is there a witch for the South? (and, of course, what's HER name, then?)

I have to admit, I found myself floored by the clarity of her question and frankly, the fact that I had NO friggin' idea.  I mean, I had seen the movie now more than twenty times WITH her as well as maybe just as many times throughout my entire life, and I'd never given the idea a second thought.  I recall even reading the books when I was a kid...or more likely having them read to me, and as far as I knew, the Green Lady was simply the Wicked Witch of the West.  Period.  That WAS her name, right?

Stumped, I went to the source.

In the book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, the Wicked Witch of the West had no name mentioned.  Anywhere.

No wonder she's so grumpy. She's jealous that Dorothy has a name and she doesn't.

No.  Really.  No name.  Way to go, Mr. Baum.

A clever google-ite, I kept looking and found details for the novel Wicked...a book I have yet to read but have heard good things about.  In the Gregory Maguire book,  "Wicked, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," the Wicked Witch of the West was named Elphaba. (Obviously a clever manipulation of L. Frank Baum).  In the Broadway musical;  "Wicked" the Wicked Witch of the West is also named Elphaba.

Her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East had a VERY small but pivotal role in the L. Frank Baum book and the 1939 film. (She's the one who gets a house dropped on her cranium without even uttering a quiet "Oh No!").

In the book by Maguire and the Broadway musical, the Wicked Witch of the East's name was Nessarose.   In the Script for the MGM film, she was called Gulcheria (after Miss Gulch)

However, in the Baum novels, she had also had no name, and so both witches were referred to as either The Wicked Witch of the East or West.

And what about the Witch of the South?  Believe it or not, it gets worse here, kiddies.

In Baum's books, The Good Witch of the South is named Glynda. Yes, Glynda...in the South, not the North.   She is beautiful and young in appearance (though much older in reality), and it is she who tells Dorothy that her magical SILVER slippers will take her wherever she wants to go. She is also the most powerful witch in all of Oz, and rules Quadling County, which is well defended by her army of Amazons.
Got all that?  Forget the munchkins, or flying monkeys gang...this witch has Amazons!

Her sis, the Good Witch of the North is an older sorceress, weaker than either of the wicked East-West sisters.  She's the one who meets Dorothy upon her arrival,  and sends her down the yellow brick road, but doesn't appear in the book after that, though she does show up in sequels.  (I guess she got lost or something)

She was never named in Baum's books, but in his own stage adaptation he named her Locasta.   However,  in one of the sequels written by another Author ( Plumly), she is named Tattypoo.

And here I thought explaining to my Princess how a Scarecrow could talk, a man could be made out of Tin, and a Lion could be such a scaredy-cat might be difficult.  But THIS mess?

While for now I'm likely to just pick from the available names for each witch, someday, not today, or probably even THAT soon, probably around the time that she'd rather be talking to her friends about boys and the latest bubblegum pop music star that is driving her Mother and I crazy...THAT's when I'm going to sit her down and explain, in detail, the true details for names of the Witches North, South, East, and West.

That's what Fathers are for, right?  The important stuff?   I'll let her Mother worry about that silly ol' Birds and the Bees thing...

~Steve