Normally I would try to write something else down, or at least begin something about how I have wanted to do something like this for a couple months now, but I have gotten to the point where if I was going to write something down, I better just sit down and do it. For those who are new here, Hello, I am MichaelWhovian and welcome to the corner of the internet I have decided to place a flag down and spout incoherently about topics, tell stories and sing hoedowns so that someone's day can be just a little bit happier than it was before. I have an Obsession.
All of us do in our own way, some have a library of books in a general sense, some of us like a specific show, or tale spun in so many different ways, and some of us have a hobby they love to spout facts that only the deepest of people into those hobbies would know about. Mine is about the many many adventures of Dorothy Gale and her friends in the Marvelous Land of Oz, a tale that has spun so many authors to write, so many different adaptations over the years, and is such a inspiration to so many more that it has nearly driven one of my friends to Insanity over just how many references to it there are in Media.
(If you could, Go and Subscribe to FreezingInfernos's channel if you haven't, He, Rainiac, and Kat are seriously three of the funniest people out there and deserve every ounce of attention that could be sent their way.)
But, That brings up the question I bet many people have. Why This? Why specifically the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, why choose this as the specific thing to be obsessed about? One Reason.
The Adventure.
Now, that may feel like a cop out answer to a lot, and how that could describe a LOT of different things, but truly that is the best way to describe the nearly 130 years of books, and adaptations which has taken so many people across the barrier into the Magical Land, and so many people have their own favorite versions of the famous tale If I had to pick two reasons to describe to you today, It would be just how mature the books are, and just how in depth the books get without describing the exact situations.
The Books are horrific in some of their descriptions, even starting in the first book, the one everyone has seen or read for so many years, but has been edited in some forms to try and pull back on some of the more graphic details. Nowadays, the story of the Tin Woodsman is thought to be well known, that the Witch of the East cursed him so he would turn into a Man of Tin, as such he would have no heart to love the woman of his dreams. However, in the original book, It wasn't the man himself she enchanted, but his axe, which through multiple incidents of falling out of his hands, sliced off his limbs, then his own head (Which the Tinsmith every time was able to use enchanted tin to keep him alive), until eventually his body was sliced in two, and when the tinsmith once again put him back together, he forgot the most important detail to the woodcutter. A Heart.
Then, there are the witch's forces. The MGM movie is one of the more famous in this regard, that the Wicked Witch of the West saw Dorothy and her friends in her land and sent the Winged Monkeys off to capture Dorothy. However, in the original book, The Monkeys were her last option. She had a Myriad of Minions at her disposal against the group, but most of their fates were not suitable for film. The Scarecrow against her army of crows, him breaking their necks each time one got close enough to try and attack Dorothy. The Army of Wolves with Teeth and Claws, felled by the swing of the Tin Woodsman's Axe (This one is graphic enough, that in some book versions this is replaced by an army of Bees, which after using the Scarecrow's clothing and straw to hide under, only find the Tin Woodsman to sting.) Finally, she sends an army of her own people, the Winkies. They are not harmed, merely as scared as the Cowardly Lion, who finds enough courage to roar and send the Army fleeing.
The Books are graphic not just as shock value, but to show just how dangerous the land of Oz is. These two incidents are not the only graphic or terrifying bits in the books, there are many different decisions made, to show that while the Land is full of Wonder and beauty, there is also danger, and quite a lot to scare those who willingly choose to follow the paths. That's what makes the books so much more exciting, is just how captivating the journey is.
(This, For Reference, is from the Wizard of Oz Anime made in the 80s, and aired on HBO. These covered the events of Dorothy and her friends traveling to the Wicked Witch, but again, made more tasteful for Children's experiences.)
The Other way these books have caught my eye is just how smart the Author was in talking about specific things, pushing adult subjects and themes in a way children can understand and showing them in ways that one can learn while reading.
In one circumstance, after Dorothy has been to Oz a few times now, helping people and showing her magical land to many a friend along the way, she has returned home to find her Aunt and Uncle in Crisis. Apparently, Because of the Tornado, Her Uncle had borrowed and tried to find ways to keep the farm, and since they were able to grow much of anything after the storm which sent Dorothy on her original journey, they are in danger of losing the farm altogether. Dorothy, seeing this, thinks of a plan. Asking her friends back in Oz, they all come up with a solution. Dorothy's permanent move to the Land of Oz, with her and her Guardians in tow. The threat, the real threat, of facing financial crisis, but fixed in the view of a child, showing and using a real life problem and turning it and giving it a magical solution.
The Other one, is one that is more inferred, but it has become quite a symbol in some circles over the years, and that would be the character of Princess Ozma. For those who have only heard of or seen the original book, Princess Ozma is the rightful ruler of the Emerald City, who as a baby was given by the Wizard to a wicked witch in order to make sure the child was well taken care of. (It is inferred he did not know the old woman was a wicked witch at the time.) It is during this time that Ozma is raised, as a boy, named Tip, and one day, after seeing Mombi's evil tactics one too many times, runs away with one of his own creations in an attempt to find his own adventure, eventually coming to terms with who he truly is. Over time, she becomes dear friends with Miss Dorothy Gale, and compares her to be closer to her with anyone else. Now, it should not take a rocket scientist to read into what he had written, and what he was implying here, but again, showing just how the author put adult themes and subjects in ways even a child could understand, and not doing it in a way that's in your face.
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