My Eleven Favorite Oz Characters

I didn't much like "Oz The Great and Powerful," but the original Oz books are pretty fun -- especially the fourteen written by L. Frank Baum himself. There are a lot of colorful and fascinating characters in the books that people who only know Oz from the 1939 movie don't know anything about... Nothing against Dorothy, the Scarecrow or the Cowardly Lion, but they are only a small sample of the many weird and wacky inhabitants of Oz (which, by the way, is not a dream but a real place in the books), so I picked eleven of my favorite Oz characters that did not appear in the movie and decided to do a group picture.

From left to right: The Hungry Tiger, the Woozy, Jenny Jump, Button-Bright, Cap'n Bill, Tiny Trot, Jellia Jamb, Billina the Yellow Hen, Eureka the Pink Kitten, Scraps the Patchwork Girl, and Polychrome, daughter of the rainbow.

All these characters (except for Jenny Jump, the only character who didn't appear in the original fourteen books) are public domain by now and have appeared in many works by different authors and artists. I've tried to put my own spin on them, taking some inspiration from the John R. Neill illustrations but not trying to copy him.

(Download image for full size.)

EDIT: Here's the list over how I rank the characters, as well as a short description of who they are.

10: Billina: A smart and sassy talking hen that came with Dorothy on her second visit to Oz. Her original name was "Bill," because her owners had thought she was a boy, but Dorothy suggested she change it to "Billina."

9: Jellia Jamb: Head of the Palace maids in the Emerald City; she's worked for both the Wizard, the Scarecrow, (briefly) General Jinjur and Ozma. Kind and competent, but known for her mischievous sense of humor.

8: Trot and Cap'n Bill: They're sharing the eighth spot on the list, which is why it's eleven characters instead of the usual top ten. Mayre "Trot" Griffiths is a Californian girl who was at birth was marked by fairies with some kind of invisible symbols -- as a result she tends to see and experience a lot of things normal humans don't. "Cap'n" Bill Wheedles is a retired sea captain (he had to retire from the sea when he lost his left leg and got a wooden one) and a friend of her family, who usually comes along on her adventures in order to look after her. The unlikely duo starred in two non-Oz books by L. Frank Baum (The Sea Fairies and Sky Island) before they began appearing in the Oz series.

7: Scraps: A living, full-sized rag doll, made from a parchwork quilt and stuffed with cotton, and brought to life by the magic Powder of Life. She was originally intended as a housemaid and servantgirl, but she was given "too many marbles" and turned out too independent and random to be very good at taking orders. She's eccentric even by Oz standards and often speaks in verse.

6: Jenny Jump: The only character on the list not created by L. Frank Baum, but by illustrator John R. Neill. A non-conformist, stubborn, bossy and quarrelsome fifteen-year-old from New Jersey who was turned into a half-fairy by a leprechaun (literally; half her body is that of a fairy, the other half is mortal) and has some strange random powers, such as being able to effortlessly jump all across a continent. Though utterly refusing to conform to anything, and sometimes so random and unpredictable she makes Scraps look logical and rational, she's nevertheless carved out a niche for herself as Oz's resident fashionista -- and the land's first Duchess.

5: The Woozy: One of the weirder animals in Oz. He's blue, he's made up of squares and flat surfaces, he's almost completely indestructible, his favorite snack is bees (though if he can't get any, he'll eat anything else) and when he gets angry actual fire flashes from his eyes. However, he seldom does get angry -- unless someone says "Krizzle-kroo" to him. That one word sends him into a rage, because he has no idea what it means.

4: Eureka: Dorothy's pet cat (yes, she has a cat too, in addition to Toto); originally a white kitten, but became pink under totally unexplained circumstances. Unlike Toto, she's a big talker, a large part of her dialogue consisting of rather sarcastic and sniping comments. She doesn't get along with Billina.

3: Button-Bright: A phlegmatic and cheerful little boy from Philadelphia who's always getting lost due to his tendency to wander off at random moments (and there's also his magic umbrella, which can take him anywhere he wishes to go, Mary Poppins-style). His real name is "Saladin Paracelsus de Lambertine Evagne von Smith," but he prefers his nickname, Button-Bright, given to him by his parents because he was "as bright as a button." (He's not especially bright, mind, so the Scarecrow theorizes that the button said parents werethinking of was probably covered in dull cloth.)

2: The Hungry Tiger: The Cowardly Lion's best friend. He's a good-natured and helpful sort, but has a huge appetite and is almost always hungry -- and the thing he craves the most is to eat a human baby, which he's sure is the tastiest thing in the world. However, his conscience won't let him actually eat babies --or, well, anything that he hasn't been served and given the okay to eat, so he's really all talk and no action.

1: Polychrome: A sky fairy, she's the sweetest and merriest, but also most reckless of the many daughters of the Rainbow. More than once, her recklessness has left her stranded on the ground, cut off from her element, whereupon she usually ends up swept up in whatever adventure is going on around her at the time. Interestingly enough, in her first appearance she's a rather helpless and delicate girl who hides behind Dorothy for protection -- in later appearance she's become a fearless and accomplished magic-user who protects others.