THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ (1904) – We’ve all been exposed to countless variations of the adventures of Dorothy Gale and company in Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Therefore I’m starting my reviews of the Oz books with the second in the series – The Marvelous Land of Oz.
A little boy named Tip lives with the mean-spirited witch Mombi as his adult “guardian.” One day Tip mischievously plans a bit of revenge on Mombi by building a pumpkin-headed figure made of wood, branches and old clothes. He then positions the figure – named Jack Pumpkinhead – to scare the evil witch when she arrives home.
The nasty old witch is unfazed and further proves she’s not scared by sprinkling the pumpkin-headed figure with a magical Powder of Life. The powder brings Jack Pumpkinhead to life but he’s very naive and ignorant.
When Mombi threatens to turn Tip into a marble statue as revenge for trying to scare her, the boy steals some of her Powder of Life and runs away with Jack Pumpkinhead as a traveling companion. Tip sprinkles some of the powder on a sawhorse, bringing it to life as a mount for Jack, who is still unsteady on his legs.
Thus begins another adventure throughout the bizarre Land of Oz. Among the other characters encountered by Tip, Jack and the Sawhorse:
GENERAL JINJUR – A militant girl general who is leading her female army in a bid to overthrow the Scarecrow, who has been ruling the Emerald City since Dorothy’s departure in the first book. Her army raids the Emerald City and begins looting while also besieging Scarecrow, Tip, Jack Pumpkinhead and the Sawhorse in the palace.
Tip leads his allies in an escape from the city, but General Jinjur asks Mombi to help capture them.
After our heroes have secured the aid of the Tin Woodman they are saved from Mombi’s immediate plot with help from …
THE WOGGLEBUG, HM, TE (Highly Magnified and Thoroughly Educated) – A reasonably clever humanoid insect who vastly overestimates his intelligence and abilities. Still, he manages to prove useful enough to help get our heroes back to the Emerald City.
Unfortunately, back in the Emerald City, Tip, the Pumpkinhead, the Sawhorse, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Wogglebug are once again captured and imprisoned by General Jinjur and her forces. The captives plan to escape via …
THE GUMP – A flying device slapped together from junk found around the tower prison of our heroes. The Powder of Life brings the patchwork creature to life and Tip & company fly away on it.
Reaching the palace of Glinda the Good Witch in the Quandling Country, our characters learn from her that a few years earlier, Oz’s human King Pastoria died, leaving behind an infant daughter named Ozma.
When the Wizard of Oz took the throne Princess Ozma was sent into hiding. Glinda says that Ozma is the rightful ruler of Oz in its entirety. The Scarecrow, weary of the burden of ruling the Emerald City, wants to find Ozma so she can take over ruling Oz.
Glinda escorts Tip, the Pumpkinhead, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Wogglebug, the Sawhorse and the Gump back to the Emerald City, where Mombi now lives after allying herself with General Jinjur. Our heroes force Mombi to admit that she was given the infant Ozma long ago and cast a spell transforming her into the little boy Tip, whom she has treated badly for years.
Using the last of her magic, Mombi undoes the transformation spell, changing Tip permanently back into Ozma. The princess assumes her father’s throne. The reunified regions of Oz rally behind their rightful ruler and General Jinjur’s army is defeated by Glinda’s own female army.
Ozma promises to rule Oz honestly and fairly with Wobblebug as her advisor. The Sawhorse is pleased to be her Royal Mount (don’t go there) and the Gump is granted its wish to be disassembled back into its component parts. General Jinjur swears loyalty to Queen Ozma.
The Scarecrow, happy to be free of a ruler’s burdens, joins Jack Pumpkinhead in accompanying the Tin Woodman back to the latter’s home in Winkie Country.
Like so many other Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz is in the public domain and can be read or listened to in audiobook form online. The books are fun for kids but all feature some trippy sequences and concepts that often make adult readers joke that Baum was smoking something when writing them.
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Logged, thank you!
Fictional book . Interesting . Well reviewed
Very nice of you to say so!
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😀 😀
An excellent book review. Perfect timing as well with the new movie Wicked that is currently playing in theatres which I have yet to see. I have not read Wizard of Oz but I am a huge fan of the original 1939 movie. It’s my favourite musical of all time. A legendary movie that forever changed the world of Cinema. Its impact on Hollywood was massive. Unlike most movies made during the era, it has aged beautifully with a powerful message that remains relevant today. There’s truly no other movie like it.
Here’s why I loved the 1939 Wizard of Oz:
Thanks! I agree about the impact of the 1939 film.
Who knew?
I know what you mean. Baum personally authored several of these, with a variety of odd creatures as memorable as the Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and Tin Woodman.
Love this. “The Gump” is super cool and sounds like my favorite, while General JinJur reminds me of an overbearing family member who I’d better not name! Great post. 🎃🧙♂️
Ha! Thank you! Yes, better to leave the name of such a family member out!
I loved these books as a child, and your review is excellent.
Thank you for the kind words! I appreciate it!
My pleasure!
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I remember 40-odd years ago, when I was maybe 12 or 13, my extended family rented a giant camp in the Adirondacks for a week or two, I stumbled across a library there that had a vast collection of Dark Shadows novelizations and also a trove of these Oz books, all of which I proceeded to read. The Oz books were not what I was expecting given that my only knowledge of Oz at the time was the famous and apparently rather sanitized MGM musical that you have maybe heard of.
Ha! Yeah I’ve “heard of” it. And yes, from the Tin Woodman’s real origin onward those stories have some way-out elements.