Day 1 - Festival on Mt Munch - Kiki Aru learns the magic word and leaves
  Oz, visiting 1) Hiland/Loland; 2) Merryland; 3) Noland, where he spends the night
Day 2 - Kiki Aru travels through Noland, Ix, Ev - he encounters Ruggedo -
  night in inn - the Glass Cat tells Cap'n Bill about the Magic Flower
Day 3 - Dorothy wonders what to give Ozma for her birthday - she visits
  Glinda & bargains with the Wizard - they leave for the Forest of Gugu
  - Trot & Cap'n Bill leave to retrieve Magic Flower - they spend night
  at the edge of the forest - Kiki Aru & Ruggedo plot to conquer Oz -
  they cross the Desert in bird form in the evening
Day 4 - Kiki Aru and Ruggedo consult with Gugu and his counselors - Trot &
  Cap'n Bill are caught by the Magic Island & the Glass Cat returns to the
  Emerald City for help
Day 5 - The Animals' Revolt breaks out - Dorothy & Wizard arrive, are enchanted
  by Kiki Aru - arrival of Glass Cat - Wizard learns the magic word - Glass Cat
  leads party to rescue Trot & Cap'n Bill - night in Munchkin Country
Day 6 - Glass Cat torments monkeys - the party camps overnight & the monkeys
retaliate
Day 7 - The Glass Cat leaves the party around noon
 
An unspecified amount of time passes before the party arrives at the Emerald
City. Ozma's birthday is the following month.
 
August 21 - Ozma's birthday and party
August 22 - Disenchantment of Kiki Aru and Ruggedo
 
Note on the Glass Cat's trip: The Glass Cat makes the trip from the Magic Isle
to the Forest of Gugu via the Emerald City in less than 24 hours. I can see
no evidence in the text to argue for a longer (or shorter) period of time.
Baum comments that she moved "like a crystal streak," but this
would depend on the amount of territory she covered and the amount of time
she spent. A closer look at her trip may provide some more information.
 
1) "The day was nearly gone" when Cap'n Bill and Trot crossed to the Magic
  Island to get the flower, so it would have been even later when the Glass Cat
  left for the Emerald City.
2) Since the Pink Kitten was "curled up in the sunshine" when Bungle
  arrived at the palace, it must have been morning--the morning of the following 
  day (Day 5 in the chronology). 
3) Alternatively, if Baum's earlier statement about the day being "nearly gone"
  is not taken literally, it might have been the evening before (Day 4 in the chronology). 
4) This would dovetail nicely with Toto's comment about Dorothy's party having
  left "yesterday"; but Toto also says that Dorothy was going "to
  the Great Forest in the _Munchkin_ Country" (emphasis mine). He may have
  been confused; or Baum (or his editor) may have made an error here. I have assigned
  Dorothy's departure to the previous day (Day 3) on the grounds of Dorothy's
  statement to the Wizard, "Let's leave now." 
5) At any rate, whether Bungle arrived at the EC in the evening of Day 4 or the
  morning of Day 5, by late morning of Day 5, she had arrived in the Forest of Gugu.
 
So in the time between the end of Day 4 and the middle of Day 5 Bungle had
traveled the same distances that Trot and Cap'n Bill had traveled and Dorothy
and the Wizard had traveled--which included a full day of travel by both
parties, plus the time the Glass Cat spent in the EC--in the period of less
than a day. She must have been traveling more than twice as fast than
both of the parties for an extended length of time in order to get to
the Forest of Gugu by midday.
 
Based on the IWOC maps and the dimensions of Oz given in Dave Hardenbrook's FAQ
(and the alternative suggested by David Hulan), I can't see that Bungle
traveled less than 60-80 miles over the whole trip--possibly more (100-120).
Assuming that she left the Magic Island around 8 PM and arrived in the EC
around 7 AM, then left for the Forest of Gugu around 8 AM and arrived there
around 12 PM (purely arbitrary numbers) this would mean that she was traveling
between 3 1/3 and 8 miles per hour-perfectly doable, but hardly the
"crystal streak" described by Baum.
 
This leaves us with several possibilities (assuming that the text is correct as printed):
 
1) Bungle's entire trip may have been quite a bit larger; but if that is the case,
  I think we need to argue that Oz itself is larger than the dimensions we've set
  for it in previous discussions.
2) The timing may be off--Bungle may have spent more time in the EC, or may have
  stopped at some point during the night or the following morning (unlikely--Baum
  says that she left the palace "without stopping to ask any more questions")
3) Something else may be going on that Baum either didn't know or wasn't interested in repeating.

Date: Tue, 17 Nov 98 11:57:23 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: ozzy digest
 
Some comments on "Magic of Oz": David Green and Dick Martin in 
their "Oz Scrapbook" commented that the last two Oz books were 
more somber in mood, with dangers that seemed more threatening 
(growing down out of existence in "Magic" and drowning in "Glinda") 
than in previous Oz books, and suggested that Baum's increasing ill 
health influenced them.  A detail that tends to back them up is in 
Cap'n Bill's comments on how we fail to appreciate good health until 
we don't have it.  Michael Riley in his "and Beyond" book points out 
that the plot is recycled from a combination of "Emerald City" 
(Ruggedo's attempt to conquer Oz) and "Road" (Ozma's birthday), and 
comments that the combination is original enough to give the book a 
distinctive atmosphere, maybe not as engaging as Baum at his best, 
but at about his middle level (I'd agree with that, too).  I seem to have 
mis-remembered what Roger Sale said in his "Oz" essay in his 
"Fairytales and After" book, as I thought he presented the Lonesome 
Duck as his primary example of the series of characters he sees as 
self-images of Baum in the later Oz books, weary enchanters who 
would like to be left alone and can get snappish if pestered but are 
still capable of friendly enchantment if properly coaxed (others being 
both the Yookoohoo witches, and -- not an enchanter, but similarly 
content with being left alone, Nimmie Aimee).  But I couldn't find any 
mention of the LD in re-reading his essay.  Did my eye skip a 
paragraph, or was I remembering some other essay entirely, that I 
couldn't find?  Anyhow, whoever said it, the LD is certainly an amusing 
and striking character.
 
Ruth Berman

Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 13:47:46 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: Oz and what we wore
 
More to come from me on MAGIC [as if any of you had doubts], but first I'll
say what a pleasure it was to reread one of the books in which Baum showed
himself at the top of his game. Three tight, interwoven plots, with hardly
a flat or incidental episode; lively and true-to-themselves
characterizations of Ozians old and new; and a happy ending with little
contrivance. Fun!
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 15:06:37 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: MAGIC OF OZ and yellow knights
 
Now some thoughts on MAGIC. Because I think this book is more successful
than most of Baum's, I don't feel a need to tease out a theme to unite its
parts. It's already quite unified.

  The book's first plot begins during a party: the Hyups' festival, where
"The young folks danced and sang songs; the women spread the tables with
good things to eat, and the men played on musical instruments and told
fairy tales" [21]. Meanwhile, Dorothy and Trot are also preparing for a
party, and their plans initiate the other two plots. 

  Against those images of joyous communities Baum gives us portraits of two
loners, "wanderers" [35] without community. Kiki Aru "sat sullenly outside
the circle" [22], completely fourteen. Then our old antagonist Ruggedo
reappears, sly and vengeful. "The wandering ex-King of the Nomes" [266] has
immense wealth in his pockets, but wants more. Kiki has nearly unlimited
power in the word *pyrzqxgl*, but "always wanted to be wicked" [33]. To
achieve their goal they make themselves into Li-Mon-Eags, forcing
themselves partway into four different animal communities and yet remaining
outside them all. Baum makes clear that these two Li-Mon-Eags aren't even
in league with each other--each is still a loner. 

  Set against that plot, the stories of Trot and Dorothy are stories of
communities rescuing those who go it alone. Both girls and their companions
leave the Emerald City on secret missions--in MAGIC Ozma's birthday party
gives Baum a plausible, if artificial, reason for not involving her and her
power from the start. Away from their community, both girls both end up in
dire trouble. But through their close companions and their links to
home--the Glass Cat literally returns to the Emerald City in her search for
the Wizard--Dorothy can save Trot before it's too late.

  The Glass Cat is a curious choice to tie these threads together. Baum
tells us over and over that she's a loner and a wanderer, as much as Kiki
and Ruggedo. But unlike those villains, the Glass Cat cares about her
standing in society [62]. Her complete hard-heartedness is just for show
[149]. Aloof as she is, the Glass Cat is a member of the palace community.

  In rereading MAGIC this time, I was struck by how many characters speak
of or are said to have their "people": Loo the Unicorn [97], the Kalidah
[110], Rango [188], the Wizard [192-3], Gugu [196]. Obviously, most of
these peoples aren't people in the sense of humans, as Ruggedo uses the
word on page 128. Rather, they're communities. Therefore, the term has
especially strong meaning when Ozma says she will help Ruggedo become as
good-hearted as "our own people" [266]. The villains have lost their
original places in, or rather out of, society; as the Wizard says, "the boy
can tell us nothing of his history and his family" [261]. But in Ozma's
Emerald City, Kiki and Ruggedo will both be integrated into a community.
[Readers of KABUMPO know how long that'll last!]

  The two encounters with the Lonesome Duck are the only major episodes
which can be lifted out of MAGIC without affecting its plots. Yet, as Ruth
Berman wrote, <<the LD is certainly an amusing and striking character.>>
Furthermore, the duck is another loner who throws Oz's communities into
stark relief. "Everyone I meet--bird, beast or person--is disagreeable to
me," it says proudly. Trot suggests, "You can do things for others, and
then you'd get lots of friends and stop being lonesome," but the duck
replies, "Now you're getting disagreeable" [178-9]. "I like to be lonesome,
so please don't offer to be friendly to me" [204]. Even in the vast
community of Oz, there's a small castle for complete loners. 
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 22:03:37 -0600
From: d.godwin at minn.net (David Frank Godwin)
Subject: Oz things
 
Could the Lonesome Duck be some sort of remnant of the Lonesome Zoop of the
LFB silent Oz films? Acutally, I doubt it. The two characters have entirely
different personalities. The annoying zoop wants to be everybody's buddy
(or possibly to frighten them; its motivations are never very clear), while
the duck just wants to be left alone. Question: did the Lonesome Zoop have
any origin external to the films or exist in any form outside them? Not in
any Oz book, I think, but perhaps elsewhere? Actually,the zoop seems to
have more in common with the animated phonograph in PGOz. Could it have
been a deliberate substitution in the PG film? After all, it's a lot easier
for an actor to dress up like a zoop than a phonograph.
 
- David G.

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 98 14:03:53 (PST)
From: Dave Hardenbrook <DaveH47 at mindspring.com>
Subject: Ozzy Things
 
COMMENTS ON _MAGIC OF OZ_:
If Kiki lost his memory via the H2O of Ob.,so that he "can tell us nothing
of his history", then how was Baum able to write about the events involving
him and Ruggedo at all?  (This is an "Oz as History" question of course...) :)
 
My dad regards _Magic_ as the darkest of all the Baum Oz books. IMHO
that dubious title belongs to _Dorothy & Wiz_, but still I can see
his point: No longer the funny, roly-poly, second-rate baddie,
Ruggedo really is sinister in this book.  And the idea of the beasts'
rebellion is reminicent of _Animal Farm_...
 
Ruggedo: No more Mr. Nice Guy!
 
                             -- Dave

Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 16:47:34 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: MAGIC OF OZ and attitudes
 
David Godwin wrote:
<<did the Lonesome Zoop have any origin external to the films or exist in
any form outside them?>>
 
I can't help thinking the Zoop's reason for being was that the costume was
in Fred Woodward's trunk. "I've got the donkey outfit I used in the TIK-TOK
MAN OF OZ musical, and a lion, and a tiger, and you've built me a Woozy,
but how can we use *this*?" 

  Of course, that begs the question of why Woodward might have a Zoop
costume originally. Since he did stage work before joining the Oz Film
Company, the costume's original use may not have been preserved.
 
Turning to MAGIC, Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
<<If Kiki lost his memory via the H2O of Ob.,so that he "can tell us
nothing of his history", then how was Baum able to write about the events
involving him and Ruggedo at all?>>
 
Ozma might have tracked him back by asking the Magic Picture, "Show me this
mysterious boy's parents," interviewing them, and having Glinda review her
Great Book's entries with 20-20 hindsight. But that probably still wouldn't
uncover some events. Most notable among those is how Kiki left the
*pyrzqxgl* instructions in a "tin box in a neglected corner part of the
[Arus'] garden" [25]. Perhaps Bini or Mopsi stumbled across that box and
recognized their son's handwriting on the paper inside. If not, having
someone else find that box is a good opening for a story!  
 
More on MAGIC: The book was published in 1919 when America saw World War I
as a noble triumph and, I believe, Frank Joslyn Baum was still in Europe.
Yet it strikes me as showing a conflicted view of war. 

  Neill draws soldiers from the Allied trenches [186-7], but Baum's
description gives them "immense soldier caps...with red and yellow plumes"
[189], the same old-fashioned uniforms of his earlier comic armies. Baum's
dedication and author note speak admiringly of the Allied forces. But the
image of war in his story seems more to reflect America's attitude toward
the World War before 1917.

  War threatens the Emerald City only because Ruggedo convinces Gugu and
his subjects that Oz's humans wish to enslave them. He even claims evidence
of an arms race: he "saw them all begin making ropes--ropes long and
short--with which to snare our friends the beasts" [126-7]. We Oz readers
naturally root for Ozma's side in any conflict, but this book isn't showing
the army that might oppose her as villains (as in EMERALD CITY). Rather,
they're innocent dupes of a greedy war-monger.

  That depiction of the "enemy" is a strong contrast to the Beat-the-Hun
propaganda that swamped America in 1917 and 1918. It seems more like the
attitude behind America's earlier neutrality, Wilson's 1916 campaign, Henry
Ford's peace mission, and so on. 
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 17:08:40 GMT
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-19-98
 
11/19:
Ruth:
Calling the plot of _Magic_ recycled from a combination of _Emerald City_
and _Road_ is something of a stretch, I think. It's true that it deals with
an attempt by Ruggedo to conquer Oz and a birthday party for Ozma, but both
are handled completely differently from the ones in the earlier books.
Where Ruggedo's first attempt was highly likely to succeed and was foiled
only by a huge coincidence (that his tunnel opened directly in front of the
Fountain of Oblivion), this one had very little chance even if all had gone
as well as he hoped. And whereas the birthday party in _Road_ was just a
(very lengthy and rather boring) filler at the conclusion of the real goal
of the book, which was getting Dorothy to the Emerald City so Ozma could
send her home, in this one the search for presents motivates two of the
three major subplots. I don't even remember any presents at the party in
_Road_, and certainly Dorothy wasn't concerned with finding one.
 
I like the Lonesome Duck, too; I've used him in a couple of short stories,
though only in bit parts.
 
11/20:
J.L.:
Interesting comments on _Magic_. You rate it higher than I do (I put it
around the middle of Baum's oeuvre, about on a par with _Land_,
_Scarecrow_, and _Glinda_, but not as good as _Wizard_, _Ozma_, _Patchwork
Girl_, _Rinkitink_, or _Lost Princess_), but you're right that it's
probably the most tightly-plotted Oz book Baum wrote.
 
Dave:
>If Kiki lost his memory via the H2O of Ob.,so that he "can tell us nothing
>of his history", then how was Baum able to write about the events involving
>him and Ruggedo at all?  (This is an "Oz as History" question of course...) :)
 
Good question. I suppose the only answer is that we know Ruggedo did
recover his memory eventually, and must have told someone what he and Kiki
had done. And Kiki must have told him what happened to him before they met.
(Not what the magic word was, of course, but the Wizard could have filled
that in later.) That's about the only solution I can think of.
 
Some comments on MAGIC:
Kiki's journey at the beginning of the book gives us some of our best
information about the countries surrounding Oz. His route, though, makes
the location of Ev inconsistent with _Ozma_, which is one of the more
difficult contradictions to resolve in Baum. Throwing out the _Tik-Tok_ map
as non-authoritative, the other Baum books can be reconciled with _Ozma_'s
evidence that Ev is across the desert from the Munchkin country by assuming
that the Nomes have magic gates that let them transport themselves
instantly from one part of their dominions to another. This would remove
the problem that the tunnel in _Emerald City_ went under the Winkie
Country. But Kiki flies east from the Munchkin country across the desert to
Hiland, then north across Merryland to Ix, then west across Noland to Ev.
This implies that Ev is west or northwest of Oz and opposite the Winkie
and/or Gillikin countries.
 
Ruggedo seems to have forgotten how he was deposed and exiled from his
former kingdom. He blames it on Ozma and Dorothy when they had nothing to
do with it.
 
Ruggedo's plan to conquer Oz using an army of animals seems exceedingly
unlikely to work. I can't believe that Gugu would have been gullible enough
to take the word of a couple of Li-Mon-Eags and actually go to war with the
humans of Oz without sending a few trusted scouts out to verify what they'd
told him. I don't see this threat to Oz as serious at all.
 
Trot and Cap'n Bill have a very strange reaction to some of the Wizard's
proposed methods of rescuing them. Sure, cutting off their roots, or
pulling them up bodily, would hurt, probably a lot. But when the
alternative is total destruction, do you think you'd object to some pain?
I'd beg the Wizard to try to think of something else, and not to be
precipitate about it, but if it came to that I'd give up some fingers and
toes - and much more gladly something as useless as roots - to avoid
destruction, and I can't imagine that Trot and Cap'n Bill wouldn't feel the
same.
 
That's all that occurs to me at the moment, and I have work I need to get
to, so I'll wait and see what other people have to say.
 
David Hulan

From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-20-98
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1998 09:47:25 PST
 
Dave Hardenbrook:
>COMMENTS ON _MAGIC OF OZ_:
>If Kiki lost his memory via the H2O of Ob.,so that he "can tell us 
>nothing
>of his history", then how was Baum able to write about the events 
>involving
>him and Ruggedo at all?  (This is an "Oz as History" question of 
course...) :)
 
In many Oz books, the authors relate information that could not have 
been received merely by communicating with someone in Oz, such as the 
thoughts and motivations of certain characters.  In _Hungry Tiger_, for 
instance, the Tiger decides that he will never tell anyone his reason 
for going to Rash, yet Thompson includes this reason in her story.  
Either the Royal Historians do a lot of guessing, or they have some sort 
of insight into the characters' minds.
--
May you live in interesting times,
Nathan
DinnerBell at tmbg.org

Date: Mon, 23 Nov 98 10:34:51 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: ozzy digest
 
 
J.L. Bell: Interesting comments on contrast of longers/communities in "Magic."

   Speaking of the Glass Cat's pride -- I've been getting this picture in 
mind of a meek Glass Cat with pebbled head going meekly to the 
Wizard shortly after "Patchwork Girl" and saying very meekly, "On 
second thought, I hate myself this way.  I feel uncatlike and not myself, 
and dull pebbles don't show up the way pink brains do, so people 
keep tripping on me, and I'm afraid I'll get broken, and I promise that if 
you let me FEEL arrogant I won't act on it, at least not all the time."  
And possibly after she got her pink brains back, she started dropping 
lots of comments about the attractiveness of pinkness, and at that 
point Eureka went to Glinda and said, "You know, I enjoyed being pink 
when the light was pink, and Bungle's been one-upping me about 
being colorful, and I think Quadling rose is a particularly fine color, so 
would you please strike me pink?"
 
Dave Hardenbrook: How the Royal Historian could have found out 
about Kiki Aru's past considering that the boy had lost his memory -- 
possibly Bini Aru decided that under the circumstances a little magic 
was called for, transformed himself into a bird to go looking for Kiki, 
and eventually found him and explained his past to Ozma.  If he 
started out by crossing the Desert, he might have run into the birds 
who could tell him how Kiki got teamed up with Ruggedo.  
Alternatively, if Ozma felt curious enough to visit Ev to ask about who 
had last seen Ruggedo, she might in turn have traced Kiki back to Mt. 
Munch.  (You'd think that she could have just asked the Magic Picture 
to show her the boy's home, but as that didn't occur to her in the first 
place, I suppose we're to assume that not having a memory of himself 
would make Kiki someone the picture's magic couldn't identify further.)
 
Ruth Berman

From: Sduffley at aol.com
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 19:11:22 EST
Subject: Ozzy digest -- MAGIC
 
J.L. Bell wrote:
>>Ozma might have tracked him back by asking the Magic Picture, "Show me this
mysterious boy's parents," interviewing them, and having Glinda review her
Great Book's entries with 20-20 hindsight. But that probably still wouldn't
uncover some events. Most notable among those is how Kiki left the
*pyrzqxgl* instructions in a "tin box in a neglected corner part of the
[Arus'] garden" [25]. Perhaps Bini or Mopsi stumbled across that box and
recognized their son's handwriting on the paper inside. If not, having
someone else find that box is a good opening for a story!  
 
We seem to be of like minds on this one, John.  At risk of alienating/annoying
those without access to back issues of "Oziana," I refer you to the 1986
number, which includes my story, "Much Ado About Kiki Aru."  ... "Magic" was
always my favorite Oz book, but it troubled me that we never heard anything
more about the Hyup boy.  Ruggedo reappears numerous times in Thompson's Oz
books, and though I certainly wouldn't accord Kiki equal stature in the ranks
of Oz villains, he always intrigued me.  In essence, part of me identified
with him: who wouldn't be bored spending their days in the claustrophobic,
idyllic (read: boring!) community atop Mt. Munch?  I see Kiki as a typical
rebellious teenager, not inherently evil but easily gone astray out of
frustration and/or a selfish desire to discover his "self", even if this comes
at the expense of others.  
 
In my story, Mopsi and Bini Aru return from the Hyup festival to discover
their son's absence.  In searching the house, Bini stumbles upon the loosened
floorboard -- remembering that he hid the instructions to the magic word
there, he uses its power to set off to the Emerald City, intent upon using
Ozma's magic picture to discover his son's whereabouts. (Nb: while Kiki may
have buried a copy of the instructions in a tin box in the garden, he replaced
the original in the floor of Bini's workshop (p. 24)).  Meanwhile, in the
Emerald City, Dorothy sympathizes with the generally unhappy Munchkin lad who
has recently joined the palace community -- the boy is unhappy, as most
amnesiacs are, to realize that he has no memory.  Dorothy, too, decides to
consult the magic picture to learn the boy's true identity. ... Ultimately,
Kiki is reunited with his parents and sent back to Mt. Munch.  For good
measure, the story also addresses the origin of the word "Pyrzqxgl" and
explains why, after "Magic," the word is never used again.
 
My apologies to Digest readers for this tangent -- and shameless plug ...
however, at least the story was published and, I believe, is still available
from the Club (so please spare me complaints about references to obscure,
inaccessible material!).
 
Sean Duffley
 
"I didn't know I was being wicked ... but if I was, I'm glad of it.  I hate
good people.  I've always wanted to be wicked, but I didn't know how." -- Kiki
Aru, The Magic of Oz.

Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 17:36:25 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: MAGIC OF OZ history
 
David Hulan wrote:
<<Calling the plot of _Magic_ recycled from a combination of _Emerald City_
and _Road_ is something of a stretch, I think. It's true that it deals with
an attempt by Ruggedo to conquer Oz and a birthday party for Ozma, but both
are handled completely differently from the ones in the earlier books.>>
 
Yes, the difference in how Baum uses Ozma's birthday shows up clearly when
we view it in relation to Dorothy's autonomy. In ROAD, the birthday is why
Ozma is guiding and looking after her friend. In MAGIC, it's the reason
Dorothy and Trot are on their own and we *can't* expect Ozma to rescue
them. Letting the girls act for themselves is both more pleasing and more
tense.
 
David Hulan wrote:
<<Ruggedo's plan to conquer Oz using an army of animals seems exceedingly
unlikely to work. I can't believe that Gugu would have been gullible enough
to take the word of a couple of Li-Mon-Eags and actually go to war with the
humans of Oz without sending a few trusted scouts out to verify what they'd
told him.>>
 
I agree the plan is unlikely--Ruggedo may actually be thinking the beasts
would cause enough chaos that he and Kiki could use the weapon of
*pyrzqxgl* on their enemies without being detected. 

  At the same time, Baum clearly sets up Gugu's subjects as volatile and
violent. The beasts must be restrained "from fighting and tearing one
another to pieces. . . . some of them have lost an eye or an ear or even
had a leg torn off" [82-3]. The first time we see Gugu and his advisors,
they're considering a case in which a boar for no clear reason bites off a
giraffe's tail, the giraffe kicks a nursing mother, and the tussle quickly
escalates into violence from two other animals as well [87-8]. 

  So even if only some of these animals end up following the Li-Mon-Eags
[130-1], they could easily disrupt Ozma's "Happy Corner" in the center of
Oz [53].
 
Nifty suggestion, Ruth Berman, about the Glass Cat's personality
restoration (and how Eureka got <<in the pink>> as well). If Eureka asked
to be colorized first, no longer being the only unusual cat in the palace
could have pricked the Glass Cat into asking for her brains back.

  Ruggedo also undergoes a restoration from being a humble subject of the
new King Kaliko at the end of TIK-TOK. In MAGIC the former Nome King is
again a wanderer on the Earth's surface, pockets filled with jewels [37],
as Tititi-Hoochoo had demanded. 

  That pattern makes me wonder whether reforming these prickly personae was
Baum's idea in the first place. We know from the "Garden of Meats" episode
that Reilly & Britton was concerned about not giving children nightmares.
We know that many years later the publisher rewrote WONDER CITY to reform
its main character. I therefore wonder whether Reilly & Britton suggested
to Baum that the Glass Cat and Ruggedo needed to learn lessons, and perhaps
that the Nome's exile was too harsh or scary for young readers. ["Mommy,
the Nome King's wandering around up here, and now he's really mad!" "Calm
down, dear. Let me tell you about vibrational planes."] When going back to
those characters, Baum might have picked them up from where *he* had wanted
to leave them.
 
Some other observations on how Baum composed MAGIC: 

  There's a curious transition right in the middle of the book. Up to page
188 Baum seems always to refer to the Glass Cat as "it." Starting on page
189, the cat is always "she." This seems like an odd place for Baum to have
stopped writing for a while, however.

  Another interesting item is on page 250, where the word "Sorceror"
appears in place of "Scarecrow." We've recently heard about how Baum
prepared these late manuscripts: writing the first draft in hand, then
typing them--or having them typed. This error seems the sort that a typist,
not the author, would create. 

  I recall that the author's note in TIN WOODMAN promised more about "The
Magic of Oz." Because that phrase appears in quotation marks, I see it as a
sign Baum had MAGIC lined up for publication. 

  Finally, Baum's author note for MAGIC speaks of a "long and confining
illness" having prevented him from replying to letters--"unless stamps were
enclosed." I assume that last phrase was just a reminder to fans not to
burden his wallet. The way it's inserted, however, it says Baum had been
replying to letters with stamps all along, and that he would reply to all
letters from then on. Sadly, he was quite near the end of his life.
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 17:47:03 GMT
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-25-98
 
J.L.:
>More on MAGIC: The book was published in 1919 when America saw World War I
>as a noble triumph and, I believe, Frank Joslyn Baum was still in Europe.
>Yet it strikes me as showing a conflicted view of war.
 
True, but it's also known that Baum wrote the basic story much earlier - in
1915, I believe - and only did minor revisions to it before publication. I
don't remember the exact sequence of events, but I know that _Magic_ and
_Glinda_ were written before _Lost Princess_, and I think maybe before
_Rinkitink_, and stored in a safe deposit box to be available in case he
died soon. In the event he lived long enough to revise them somewhat - for
instance, adding the Frogman and Tin Soldier to the guests at Ozma's
birthday party in _Magic_, and the former to Ozma's councillors in _Glinda_
- but it's most likely that the attitude toward war in _Magic_ was that of
the average American in 1915 rather than in 1918 or 1919, after America had
been drawn into The Great War anyhow.
 
David Hulan

From: sahutchi at iupui.edu
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 11:16:48 -0500 (EST)
Reply-To: sahutchi at iupui.edu
To: "Dave L. Hardenbrook" <DaveH47 at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-25-98
 
On Magic:  I've read that Jeffrey Goines's concept of the Army of the 12
Monkeys_ (in Terry Gilliam's _Twelve Monkeys_) was derived from a sequence
in this book.  I haven't read it lately, but I think it is referring to a
passage when six monkeys become human soldiers.  Refresh me on the detials
if I'm mistaken.
 
Scott

Date: Mon, 30 Nov 98 12:07:24 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Reply-To: Ruth A Berman <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: ozzy digest
 
J.L. Bell: Fred Woodward must have had quite a lot of animal
costumes in his trunk.  As a stage actor he'd specialized in animals.  I
think the main part of the Zoop costume would have been an ape
costume.
 
David Hulan: You're right that it would be odd to accept destruction as
preferable to the pain of getting pulled up by the roots, but probably
it's meant to be assumed that Trot and Cap'n Bill are thinking in terms
of "Surely you can find a less painful treatment?"
 
Ruth Berman

Date: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 23:37:36 -0500
From: Tyler Jones <tnj at compuserve.com>
Subject: Oz
 
Mount Munch:
According to Baum, the Hyup country is shaped like a saucer, "wide and
deep", implying that their land slopes downward toward the central part of
the community. It's a god thing, too. If the land was higher at the center,
and sloped downward toward the edge, there may not be as many Hyups as
there are today.
 
Tyler Jones

From: sahutchi at iupui.edu
Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 14:12:54 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-30-98
 
Sean:  At the time I read "Much Ado About Kiki Aru," I liked it so much I
wanted to consider iot official, but I haven't read it since middle
school.  I do notice that it is contradictory with _The Glass Cat of Oz_,
which I still must admit I haven't read, and I'll reiterate this again,
particularly if Melody (though she's not on the digest anymore) thought I
was insulting her (never intentionally) that I don't buy you guys' books
because I don't haver time to read anything not required for schoool at
the present time.  When I get to be Stephen's age, I'll have read
everything Oz there is to read, and as much of everything else as I can.
 
Scott

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 18:32:19 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: MAGIC OF OZ and *pyrzqxgl*
 
Sean Duffley wrote of his 1986 OZIANA story "Much Ado About Kiki Aru":
<<Kiki is reunited with his parents and sent back to Mt. Munch.  For good
measure, the story also addresses the origin of the word "Pyrzqxgl" and
explains why, after "Magic," the word is never used again.>>
 
Thanks for the reference, Sean, self-promoting or not. I neglected this
OZIANA twelve years ago, so you gave me a reason to catch up a step. 

  Like you, I suspect the Oblivious Kiki would retain his "somewhat sulky
manner." Rather than send him back to Mount Munch, though, I've imagined
him still living in the Emerald City, where he finally finds excitement
enough to keep him only a little grumbly. He starts living as an ordinary
Ozian, letting himself grow to manhood, starting a family. Eventually, I
imagine, Ruggedo might achieve his goal of seizing control of the capital.
He calls the young man to the palace and demands he become chamberlain.
Kiki, under whatever name he's assumed, scowls and insists he's never met
Ruggedo before. The Nome fumes: "Of course we've met! Don't try to fool
me--the Water of Oblivion lasts only a few years! If you don't become my
chamberlain, I'll--" And Kiki whispers *pyrzqxgl* and is off on the wings
of a dove.

  I'm sure many other folks have wondered why, if *pyrzqxgl* is so
powerful, the Wizard doesn't use it in later Oz books. Sean has one
imaginative explanation. Another is that it's limited in important ways
that MAGIC doesn't reveal to us. We see *pyrzqxgl* working only on nearby
people. Does it transform people only into other living or once-living
things, like nuts (Kiki threatens to turn Ruggedo into a stone [39], but
never does so)? And how long do *pyrzqxgl* transformations last (at least a
week or so, in the case of that nutty Ruggedo)? 
 
Speaking of *pyrzqxgl*, the attitude toward transformation shown in MAGIC
seems to differ from that in TIN WOODMAN. After Mrs. Yoop's enchantments,
we read seemingly endless complaints about how awful it is being a straw
bear, a tin owl, and so on. In this book unexpected transformations are
bewildering [142], but we read fewer complaints. Dorothy prefers being
herself, not a lamb, but doesn't bleat about it [148]. Bru would prefer to
stay a bear, but Loo enjoys being a man [94-7]. Though the forest wolf
says, "I'm thankful I escaped with my own shape," he equates the
Li-Mon-Eag's changing others with "making them all his slaves" [152]. Other
animals actually "wanted to be transformed" [132]. 

  One special case is Ruggedo, who's "dreadfully ashamed" of being turned
into a goose who "might lay an egg!" [158] That implies he's a gender other
than gander--quite a change. (As supporting evidence for that deduction,
the Nome wasn't so upset about being another bird--an eagle [50].) 

  Furthermore, in TIN WOODMAN the canary and the tin owl discovered their
shapes naturally brought them knowledge of some bird language. As a monkey
Woot instinctively flees through the forest from the jaguar. In contrast,
Kiki deems his cry as a hawk to be "the funny sound this sort of bird
makes" [25]. He doesn't know what hawks eat, and can't grasp sleeping the
way hawks do [28]. Later we read of "the voice of Kiki, coming from the
eagle" [50]. 

  In sum, the *pyrzqxgl* spell doesn't seem to go as deep as Mrs. Yoop's
yookoohoo magic; it changes the physical form of a person, but doesn't
change that person's mind at all. Nor does Baum emphasize *pyrzqxgl* as a
terrifying force that saps people of their identity. From the time Bini Aru
discovers the word [19], it's presented as a tool, like the Magic Belt, no
better or worse than the use to which it's put.
 
David Hulan described one of the starting-points for his GLASS CAT OF OZ as
<<I wanted to explore what would happen if a sympathetic character had the
use of "pyrzqxgl">>. It thus seems fair to read his book as one learned
interpretation of how that magic word works. [I'll avoid SPOILERS about
plot points beyond the first chapters, for folks who haven't read this 1995
title yet.] 

  Typical of David's smart approach to the series--smarter often than the
characters within it--he starts by deducing that *pyrzqxgl* is actually
disguised: "There is such a word, but it doesn't resemble *Pyrzqxgl*. If
the author knew it at all, he deliberately misled his readers" [GC, 13]. In
contrast, Baum solemnly warns us, " It might be well,...in reading this
story aloud, to be careful not to pronounce *Pyrzqxgl* the proper way, and
thus avoid all danger of the secret being able to work mischief" [20]. 

  Early in GLASS CAT David's protagonists use *pyrzqxgl* to instantly
change their clothes [GC, 16]. On rereading MAGIC, I see it indeed
establishes the word can provide clothing: Kiki creates a giant soldier
"dressed in a uniform and with a sharp sword" [164]. Nevertheless, David's
scene originally got my knickers in a twist. That's because Kiki's spell
was part of changing a monkey into a giant, while the children in GLASS CAT
remain as they are *except* for their clothing. Furthermore, Baum
implicitly tells us clothing is integral to a human: when Kiki is restored
to "his natural form," he appears fully dressed as a Munchkin [259]. To
Baum, born and raised a Victorian, natural and naked are incompatible. To
Hulan, modern thinker that he is, a child can forget to put on underwear.
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 02:06:35 GMT
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 11-30-98
 
J.L.:
>Nifty suggestion, Ruth Berman, about the Glass Cat's personality
>restoration (and how Eureka got <<in the pink>> as well).
 
I like the part about the Glass Cat's personality restoration, but the
Shaggy Man refers to Eureka as a Pink Kitten in PG when he first tells
Bungle about her, so I don't think Eureka's pinkness can be placed after
the restoration of Bungle's brain color.
 
>["Mommy,
>the Nome King's wandering around up here, and now he's really mad!" "Calm
>down, dear. Let me tell you about vibrational planes."]
 
I remember reading an SF story - I think by Bradbury, maybe in _The
Illustrated Man_ - where some kids were dealing with an interdimensional
invader and called him "Ruggedo" for very much that sort of reason.
 
It was indeed odd that Baum transitioned from "it" to "she" as the pronoun
for the Glass Cat in the middle of _Magic_; I've noticed that as well. In
PG the cat was always "she"; I forget what the pronoun was in _Glinda_,
which is the only other book where she had a speaking part.
 
Ruth:
>David Hulan: You're right that it would be odd to accept destruction as
>preferable to the pain of getting pulled up by the roots, but probably
>it's meant to be assumed that Trot and Cap'n Bill are thinking in terms
>of "Surely you can find a less painful treatment?"
 
That would be my interpretation of their initial reactions, certainly, but
it wouldn't explain their farewells on the last page of chapter 18, where
Cap'n Bill says, "I guess, friends, it's all up with us this time," and
Trot, after a somewhat lachrymose speech, ends it with, "...I hope,
Dorothy, that none of you in the Emerald City will forget me - or dear ol'
Cap'n Bill." To me, this clearly says that they've decided that it's better
to be destroyed than to have the roots cut off; otherwise they'd be saying,
"Are you _sure_ that cutting off the roots is the only way you could save
us?"
 
David Hulan

Date: Fri, 4 Dec 98 11:23:01 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: ozzy digest
 
J.L. Bell: Ruggedo's shame at being turned into a goose who might 
lay eggs may have more to do with Nomes' fear of eggs than with fear 
of losing his own sex. // Amusing adaptation of phrase in calling the 
King of Ev "mad, bad, and dangerous to know."
 
David Hulan: You're right, it does sound as if Trot and Cap'n Bill are 
resigned to death rather than going through the pain of being pulled 
up by the roots.  Maybe they forget about the radical alternative at that 
point in the subconscious hope that more emotional pressure on the 
Wizard will stimulate him to a less painful solution.
 
Ruth Berman

Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 14:25:41 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: MAGIC OF OZ and reality
 
MAGIC comments first this time. Thinking back to Ruth Berman's and David
Hulan's comments about the Lonesome Duck, I was struck by how little Baum
anthropomorphizes it [and I believe Baum does refer to the Duck
consistently as "it"]. That increases its isolation from the book's
heroines and readers. 

  Baum's usual magic-working animals--King Dox, the fairy beavers, the
Lavender Bear, and so on--wear at least some clothing, walk upright, and
carry tools. Often their magic involves wands and human speech. The
Lonesome Duck, in contrast, grows toadstools by "waddling" and "quacky
muttering" [180-1]. It carried the diamonds for its palace "in my bill"
[204]. It walks like a duck, it talks like a duck--it's a duck. 
 
A few weeks ago we were discussing what sort of creatures the island of the
Magic Flower captured. Because the Lonesome Duck wasn't rooted there, and
because Trot and Cap'n Bill quickly flew away as bees, David Hulan
theorized that the Isle caught mammals but not birds and insects. During
this reading I therefore kept an eye out for clues on that one way or the
other. 

  Unfortunately, MAGIC's statements about the Isle are shifty. To start
with, the Glass Cat first describes it "in the north of the Munchkin
Country" [62], but she leads Trot and Cap'n into Gillikin land [102]. 

  The Cowardly Lion knows stories "about the Isle and how the Magic Flower
was placed there to entrap strangers--men or beasts. . . . if any living
thing ventures upon the Magic Isle,...that man or beast takes root in the
soil" [198-9]. Cap'n Bill decides, "it's only flesh that gets caught" on
the island [118]; "It's only a thing made of meat--like man an'
beasts--that the magic can hold an' root to the ground" [222]. Thus, on the
one hand we have "any living thing" and all "flesh," but on the other the
repeated phrase "man and beasts."

  Does that term "beasts" exclude birds and insects? The Lonesome Duck
complains, "Beasts and men are terribly clumsy" [202], but it feels just as
sour about fellow birds as about mammals. Ruggedo says, "Let us mix the
shapes of several beasts," and includes eagles among those [84-5]. Yet
there are no birds among the "beasts" assembled in the Forest of Gugu
[122]. Just as Baum uses "people" elastically in this book, the definition
of "beasts" seems fuzzy. On top of that ambiguity, the Lion is passing on a
legend and Cap'n Bill is working with limited evidence--neither
authoritative statements. 

  We do see the Lonesome Duck walk around the Isle with no problem. But we
also know that bird uses magical powers "for my own needs" [180].
Therefore, I don't think its freedom on the island necessarily extends to
other birds. 

  In the end, however, I came away thinking that the birds/mammals issue
isn't the key to Trot and Cap'n Bill's escape. Nor does their release
involve a theory I put forward before--that *pyrzqxgl* changes people
around their center of mass or their brains, so the bees started a coupla
feet off the island. Rather, the crucial variable is how long one touches
the Isle. 

  At first Trot "ran up the bank"; only when the Flower's beauty makes her
stand still does she take root [113]. The Wizard, wise in the ways of
magic, quickly assumes that time matters: he suggests his axe "will chop
those roots from your feet and you can run to the raft before they grow
again" [214]. Thus, when the Wizard uses *pyrzqxgl* to transform Trot and
Cap'n Bill (whose bodies now include their roots), "up from the place where
they had been flew two bumble-bees" [219]. Given shapes with no roots and
the ability to fly, they quickly stopped touching the Isle, and were thus
free. 
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 21:09:48 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: MAGIC OF OZ and timing
 
Turning to MAGIC, Ruth Berman wrote:
<<Ruggedo's shame at being turned into a goose who might lay eggs may have
more to do with Nomes' fear of eggs than with fear of losing his own sex.>>
 
I'm sure it does, and that fear of eggs makes Ruggedo's reaction to being
transformed different from others'. It also means, unless he's amazingly
ignorant of where eggs come from, that he's *also* become a female. Baum,
old poultry expert that he was, well knew the difference between a goose
and a gander.
 
Still more MAGIC remarks: Bru the bear's name clearly derives from the word
bruin. Rango comes from orang, a point underscored on page 188 when Baum
has a character call, "O Rango!" [Like the multiple appearances of "O Ak!"
in SANTA CLAUS.] 

  Do folks see similar puns in the names of the other denizens of the
Forest of Gugu: Loo [82], Chipo, Arx, Tirrip [87], Ebu, Peeker [184-5], and
Gugu himself? 
 
I recall being intrigued by the gifts different folks were making for Ozma
early in MAGIC, but on this reading I realized I'd missed a lot about
those. 

  The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman continue their habit of thinking each
is made of the best of all possible material [68-9]. The Scarecrow has
ordered some "straw foot-decorations" (a long reach for a pun on
"strawfoot"). The tin man has made "a lovely girdle set with beautiful tin
nuggets." When I first read MAGIC in the early 1970s, I knew girdles only
as undergarments, not belts, and I remember thinking, "Wouldn't Ozma hurt
herself wearing that?"

  With a few more years under my girdle, I can also appreciate the mythic
resonance of Glinda overseeing fifty young maidens weaving a gown made of
emeralds [74]. In myths weaving and other fabric work are often associated
with female power: Penelope in the ODYSSEY, the Fates, the princess in
"Rumpelstiltsken." 

  Finally, one comment about Trot's gift makes me suspect Button-Bright was
away from the palace until shortly before Ozma's party. "Trot...allowed no
one in her room to see the beautiful blossoms except her friends, Betsy
Bobbin and Dorothy" [238]. I can't imagine Trot excluding Button-Bright
from her room when she lets in Betsy. 
 
Neill's illustrations for MAGIC follow the same pattern as in TIN WOODMAN,
including half-page illustrations within the chapters. I checked the color
plates in the Dover edition of MAGIC, and was underwhelmed. Many of them
have empty colored backgrounds, and seem to show hasty draftsmanship. They
don't set the book's mood as well as those two-page drawings of the Forest
of Gugu. 

  page 13, the drawing atop the Table of Contents: Any truth to the rumor
that in the first edition you can see the opening of CORIOLANUS on the
typewriter paper?

  17: The vertical lines in the chapter-opening frame are obviously
hand-drawn, in contrast to what I think are machine-made lines Neill used
for shading from TIK-TOK to LOST PRINCESS. 

  155, 203: Twice Neill uses sunflowers with facial expressions commenting
on the action.

  209: The Wizard's tripod and bowl here also appears on the cover, though
why Neill drew a crowned monkey there escapes me.
 
Finally, this seems a fine time to discuss the timing of MAGIC. David Hulan
wrote:
<<Baum wrote the basic story much earlier - in 1915, I believe - and only
did minor revisions to it before publication. I don't remember the exact
sequence of events, but I know that _Magic_ and _Glinda_ were written
before _Lost Princess_, and I think maybe before _Rinkitink_, and stored in
a safe deposit box to be available in case he died soon. In the event he
lived long enough to revise them somewhat - for instance, adding the
Frogman and Tin Soldier to the guests at Ozma's birthday party in _Magic_,
and the former to Ozma's councillors in _Glinda_>>
 
I noticed how Baum was careful to add the Frogman and Tin Soldier on
opposite sides of the dinner table, preserving its symmetry. 

  I continue to be puzzled about (a) why, if Baum had MAGIC and GLINDA
nearly ready to publish, he instead worked on RINKITINK, LOST PRINCESS,
and/or TIN WOODMAN; and (b) when he would have found the time to write
those two held-back manuscripts. 

  At the end of SCARECROW Baum promised a story about Dorothy, Trot, and
Betsy together--the story that became LOST PRINCESS. He was almost
apologetic about giving readers RINKITINK instead. Eviscerating the end of
KING RINKITINK to make it an Oz book implies that Baum hadn't completed the
book he wanted, was up against a deadline, and saw no better solution. But
if he'd written MAGIC (with plots for Dorothy and Trot) or GLINDA (in which
Betsy, Trot, and Button-Bright all leave the capital to rescue Dorothy)
before LOST PRINCESS, either of those would have fulfilled his promise
better than Inga's story. 

  One possible scenario: Baum got bogged down in LOST PRINCESS, noodled
around with MAGIC and GLINDA as alternatives, and finally realized he had
to adapt RINKITINK to make his deadline. All that work gave him a head
start for the next year, and the failure of the Oz Film Company gave him
more time. He finished MAGIC, GLINDA, and LOST PRINCESS by his next
deadline, and chose to polish and publish LOST PRINCESS first since it was
what he'd promised readers. That composition would make the three stories
oddly contemporaneous, not sequential; i.e., any one of them could have
"taken place first."

  Peter Hanff reported how the handwriting on the TIN WOODMAN manuscript
looks much shakier than on MAGIC and GLINDA. Baum was clearly feeling the
effects of ill health [which I think is reflected in the book itself]. With
MAGIC and GLINDA complete, or nearly so, he could have slowed the writing
of TIN WOODMAN. That he didn't implies he felt a powerful need to finish
that book--maybe because it addressed a loose end about one of his oldest
and most popular Oz characters, maybe because the book had crucial things
to say about Oz's origins, maybe because its themes spoke to him, or maybe
because he needed to accomplish one more big project in his lifetime. 
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com

Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 23:51:58 GMT
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-03-98
 
12/3:
J.L.:
>  One special case is Ruggedo, who's "dreadfully ashamed" of being turned
>into a goose who "might lay an egg!" [158] That implies he's a gender other
>than gander--quite a change.
 
No more so than transforming Gugu into a Gillikin woman.
 
David Hulan

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 00:16:05 GMT
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-10-98
 
12/10:
J.L.:
>The tin man has made "a lovely girdle set with beautiful tin
>nuggets." When I first read MAGIC in the early 1970s, I knew girdles only
>as undergarments, not belts, and I remember thinking, "Wouldn't Ozma hurt
>herself wearing that?"
 
Reminds me of a misconception I had back when I first read the Oz books,
not that it connected  with them uniquely - I knew the term "girdle" as a
belt from my reading, but I'd never seen the undergarment's name written
out, and thought it would be spelled "gertle." Had to be some way to
distinguish such distinct concepts, right?
 
David Hulan

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 13:54:21 +1100
To: DaveH47 at mindspring.com
From: calamity at eureka.lk
Subject: The Magic of Oz
 
Thhere are lots of un-fit facts in Magic of Oz.Here are a few:
 
1.In-Patchwork Girl-The Wizard replaces Bungle's pink brains with new,more
humble ones.(Did he do the same to her heart)?But in-Magic-she's as vain and
selfish as before and she has the pink brains.

2.Ozma only invites her close friends for her birthday.(She Doesn't even
invite the Good witch of the North)

3.Baum does not identify the Glass cat as Bungle anywhere.

4.Dorothy didn't ask Betsy what her present was.

5.Ruggedo says that Dorothy and Ozma and the Oz folk drove him out of
Nomeland.But it was actually  The Great Jinjin.

6.In the previous books,the Oz folk are called Ozmies.But in-Magic-they are
called Ozmies.
??????????????????????????????????????????????
 
Gehan Cooray

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 23:27:12 -0500
From: Tyler Jones <tnj at compuserve.com>
Subject: Oz
 
Gehan:
The Nome King's shifting of the blame in _Magic_ is wasily explained. He's
always had it in for the Oz folk, and he wouldn't hesitate to add to their
list of "crimes" to make them look bad, even if it wasn't true.
 
Tyler Jones

Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 15:51:41 GMT
From: David Hulan <davidhulan at ntsource.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-13-98
 
Gehan:
>1.In-Patchwork Girl-The Wizard replaces Bungle's pink brains with new,more
>humble ones.(Did he do the same to her heart)?But in-Magic-she's as vain and
>selfish as before and she has the pink brains.
 
Literature POV: Baum probably forgot that he'd taken away her pink brains.
History POV: She persuaded the Wizard to give her back the pink brains,
since it's unnatural for a cat to be humble.
 
>5.Ruggedo says that Dorothy and Ozma and the Oz folk drove him out of
>Nomeland.But it was actually  The Great Jinjin.
 
True, as far as we know. Although...at the end of _Tik-Tok_ Ruggedo is
still in the Nome Kingdom; might it be that Dorothy and Ozma paid another
visit there, unrecorded by any Royal Historian, found that Ruggedo had
become an _eminence grise_ and was persuading Kaliko to behave naughtily
(as in _Rinkitink_), and made Kaliko kick him out permanently? Could have
happened, and would resolve that misstatement.
 
>6.In the previous books,the Oz folk are called Ozmies.But in-Magic-they are
>called Ozmies.
 
I think you meant "Ozites" in your first sentence. I think Baum's intention
was that "Ozmies" were the inhabitants of the Emerald City, while "Ozites"
applied to all inhabitants of Oz. (There's a Mysterious Asterisk when the
term "Ozites" first appears in _DotWiz_, but no associated footnote.)
"Emerald Cityites" doesn't have much of a ring to it.
 
David Hulan

Date: Fri, 18 Dec 98 09:17:58 CST
From: "Ruth Berman" <berma005 at maroon.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: recent ozzy digests
 
J.L. Bell: I wonder if "Gugu" might be meant to suggest the leopard's 
growl.

   Your suggestion that Trot would surely have let Button Bright, as 
well as Dorothy and Betsy, get an advance look at her gift for Ozma 
and therefore he must have been away -- perhaps he likewise went 
looking for a present to give Ozma and didn't get back until just 
before the party, because he got lost as per usual?
 
Ruth Berman

From: "Nathan Mulac DeHoff" <xornom at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Ozzy Digest, 12-16-98
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 13:01:50 PST
 
David Hulan:
>I think Baum's intention
>was that "Ozmies" were the inhabitants of the Emerald City, while 
>"Ozites"
>applied to all inhabitants of Oz. (There's a Mysterious Asterisk when 
>the
>term "Ozites" first appears in _DotWiz_, but no associated footnote.)
>"Emerald Cityites" doesn't have much of a ring to it.
 
Both Thompson and the McGraws use that term, however (the former in 
_Handy Mandy_, and the latter in _Forbidden Fountain_).
 
Nathan Mulac DeHoff

Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 22:14:00 -0500
From: "J. L. Bell" <JnoLBell at compuserve.com>
Subject: shopping in Oz
 
About Button-Bright in MAGIC, Ruth Berman wrote:
<<perhaps he likewise went looking for a present to give Ozma and didn't
get back until just before the party, because he got lost as per usual?>>
 
I find I've written two Oz tales in which Button-Bright gives birthday
gifts--in one he chooses something out of his pockets just before the
party; in the other he selects a gift (forgetting he's given this person
the same thing before), wraps it, puts it in a pocket, and forgets it until
the party. I mention these details only so you can see how much respect I
have for the lad's planning ability. But perhaps Ojo--who's sitting beside
Button-Bright at Ozma's party in MAGIC, and who doesn't attend with Unc
Nunkie--helped him find a joint present. 

  [Having sniped at Button-Bright, I should acknowledge not being close to
completing my New Year's gift choices myself.]
 
J. L. Bell                  JnoLBell at compuserve.com