The Magical Mimics in Oz

Last updated
The Magical Mimics in Oz
Magical mimics cover.gif
Cover of The Magical Mimics in Oz.
Author Jack Snow
Illustrator Frank Kramer
LanguageEnglish
Series The Oz Books
Genre Fantasy
Publisher Reilly & Lee
Publication date
1946
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeprint (hardcover)
Preceded by Lucky Bucky in Oz  
Followed by The Shaggy Man of Oz  

The Magical Mimics in Oz (1946) is the thirty-seventh book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, [1] and the first written by Jack Snow. [2] It was illustrated by Frank G. Kramer. The novel was followed by The Shaggy Man of Oz (1949). The novel entered the public domain in the United States, when its copyright was not renewed as required.

Contents

Plot

Princess Ozma and Glinda the Good are planning to leave Oz, to attend the Grand Council of the fairy queen Lurline, held in the Forest of Burzee every 200 years. Dorothy Gale is surprised when Ozma appoints her to rule Oz during their absence; but Ozma reminds Dorothy that she is a princess of Oz.

Chapter 3 shifts attention to the evil Mimics in their lair in Mount Illuso. The Mimics habitually shift "from one loathsome shape to another" — an ape body with a head of an alligator, and a serpent with black butterfly wings, and a toad with a hyena's head are a few of their choices. Their rulers, King Umb and Queen Ra (a play on "umbra"), reveal their plan to counter Lurline's controlling magic and attack Oz. The shape-shifting royals and their minions fly to Oz as big black birds, and waylay Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. By stepping into their shadows, Ra and Umb take the shapes of Dorothy and the Wizard; the originals are paralyzed by the magic, and are carried off to Mount Illuso by Mimics. Ra and Umb, in their stolen forms, search Ozma's library for the antidote to Lurline's magic spell.

Umb and Ra are not capable of imitating the Wizard and Dorothy convincingly; people become suspicious, and Toto exposes them — but not before the Mimic royals find what they are looking for. Back in Mount Illuso, they conjure a gigantic red spider that spins a magic web; this negates the influence of Lurline's spell, and allows the Mimics to launch a mass attack against Oz.

Dorothy and the Wizard are imprisoned in a cave deep within Mount Illuso. There, however, they see a blaze of brilliant fairy light that restores their power of motion. The light stems from a button on the cave wall. They press the button, and a hidden door opens to expose an elevator and its attendant. Hi-Lo, [3] a living wooden puppet, takes them to the top of the mountain. There, the two Ozites discover Pineville and are led to the fairy Ozana, who had been delegated by Lurline to watch over the malicious Mimics. Ozana has spent her lonely days and years creating her Story Blossom Garden and her wooden puppet people (one of whom has escaped to the outer world, to become Charlie McCarthy). [4] Ozana is shocked to discover that the Mimics have evaded her guardianship; she leads Dorothy and the Wizard back to Oz.

The attacking Mimics arrive in Oz disguised as beautiful birds, with gorgeous plumage of "Red, blue, green and gold...." The residents are seduced by their beauty, and the Mimics quickly duplicate and paralyze them. The trick works only on humans; fierce beasts like the Cowardly Lion and Hungry Tiger are magically sedated, while the Scarecrow, the Patchwork Girl and other non-human creatures are simply tied up.

The Mimics have largely accomplished their ends when they confront the simultaneous arrivals of Ozma and Glinda, and Ozana, Dorothy, and the Wizard. Ozana's magic is powerful enough to subdue Ra and Umb and reverse their spells. The Mimics, back in their grotesque forms, are herded into the mirrored grand ballroom of Ozma's palace; good magic imprisons them in the ballroom's many mirrors, from where they are sent back to the interior of Mount Illuso. Order is restored to Oz, and celebrated with the usual concluding banquet. Ozana is rewarded with an invitation to live in Oz; her Pineville people and her Story Blossom Garden are magically transported to Oz so that she will not miss them.

Development

A new "Royal Historian"

Jack Snow was the fourth official chronicler or "Royal Historian" of Oz, after Baum himself, Ruth Plumly Thompson, and long-time Oz illustrator John R. Neill. Snow made a conscious attempt to return to Baum's inspiration for Oz; in both of the Oz books he wrote, The Magical Mimics and The Shaggy Man of Oz (1949), he deliberately avoided using any characters introduced by Thompson or Neill. [5] Snow crammed Magical Mimics with Baum's characters, sometimes presented in long rosters. [6] Little room was left for original characters; Snow's main creations were his Mimic villains, [7] plus the fairy Ozana, her kitten Felina, and her wooden puppet people the Hi-Los. [8]

Prior to their acceptance of Snow as an Oz author, publisher Reilly & Lee had solicited veteran children's-book writer Mary Dickerson Donahey for the job. Dickerson Donahey turned the publisher down, however, since she judged that "it would be too much of a struggle to keep track of all the characters and plots in the series." [9]

Snow drew upon a range of Baum's books for hints and inspirations. A talking Toto, for example, is important in Snow's narrative; Baum first made Toto speak at the end of Tik-Tok of Oz . Yet the work that Snow relied upon most heavily for Magical Mimics was Baum's sixth Oz book, The Emerald City of Oz .

Mimics and Phanfasms

Snow based his villainous Magical Mimics on the Phanfasms in Baum's Emerald City. In the eleventh chapter of that book, Baum states that "the Erbs are the most powerful and merciless of all evil spirits, and the Phanfasms of Phantastico belong to the race of Erbs." Snow makes his Mimics another type of Erb; they live within the hollows of Mount Illuso, a peak next door to Mount Phantastico. Like the Phanfasms, the Mimics are ugly and malevolent shape-shifters; they have the additional trick of being able to copy the appearance of humans, simply by stepping into their shadows. People duplicated in this way are paralyzed by the magic, but remain conscious.

The Mimics' inherent malice orients them against all that is "good and happy and just in the world" — which makes them an obvious danger to Oz. The fairy queen Lurline foresaw this: as soon as she had enchanted Oz into a fairyland, Lurline placed one of her followers in watch over the Mimics, to forestall their mischief.

Structure and nuance

Snow also structures his story as Baum did his Emerald City. In that book, Baum expanded upon the simple narrative type he often favors to tell a double story, shifting perspective between views of the good and the evil characters. Snow does the same in Magical Mimics.

The two books are also united by subtle commonalities. One example: while General Guph is travelling to the Mountain of Phantastico in Emerald City, Chapter 11, a friendly talking squirrel advises him to "Look out!" As Dorothy and the Wizard walk to Ozana's cottage in the tenth chapter of Magical Mimics, they also encounter the advice of a friendly talking squirrel. [10]

Story Blossom Garden

One notable imaginative feature of Snow's book is Ozana's Story Blossom Garden. [11] Ozana's magically-bred human-faced talking flowers appeal to be picked, so that they can tell their stories into people's ears. Every flower tells its own unique tale, and each type of flower relates one kind of narrative. Roses tell love stories, though rambling roses tell travel stories. Tulips tell Dutch stories. Pansies yield fairy tales, while a tiger lily will recount "a thrilling story of splendid silken beasts in their sultry jungle lairs." A "spicily-scented" pink carnation can provide "an exciting story of intrigue and adventure in high places." Water lilies supply sea tales, while lotus blossoms and poppies offer their own seductive choices. Even the occasional weed offers a tale, about "Dick Superguy — greatest detective in the world!" [12]

Reception; later editions

The first edition of Magical Mimics was not a commercial success; a backlog of unsold copies delayed the next Oz book, originally projected for 1947, until 1949. [13] Kramer's illustrations for Magical Mimics have been criticized as deficient. [14]

Magical Mimics had been out of print for decades when the International Wizard of Oz Club issued a reprint in 1990, with an Afterword by Michael Gessel. Other editions followed, from Books of Wonder (1991) and Kessinger (2007).

Related Research Articles

<i>The Patchwork Girl of Oz</i> 1913 novel by L. Frank Baum

The Patchwork Girl of Oz is the seventh book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps, and others. The novel was first published on July 1, 1913, with illustrations by John R. Neill. In 1914, Baum adapted the book to film through his Oz Film Manufacturing Company. The book was followed by Tik-Tok of Oz (1914).

<i>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz</i> 1900 childrens novel by L. Frank Baum

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their home by a cyclone. Upon her arrival in the magical world of Oz, she learns she cannot return home until she has destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West.

<i>The Emerald City of Oz</i> 1910 novel by L. Frank Baum

The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently. While they are toured through the Quadling Country, the Nome King is assembling allies for an invasion of Oz. This is the first time in the Oz series that Baum made use of double plots for one of the books.

<i>Ozma of Oz</i> 1907 novel by L. Frank Baum

Ozma of Oz, published on July 30, 1907, was the third book of L. Frank Baum's Oz series. It was the first in which Baum was clearly intending a series of Oz books. It was followed by Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908).

<i>The Tin Woodman of Oz</i> Book by L. Frank Baum

The Tin Woodman of Oz: A Faithful Story of the Astonishing Adventure Undertaken by the Tin Woodman, Assisted by Woot the Wanderer, the Scarecrow of Oz, and Polychrome, the Rainbow's Daughter is the twelfth book in the Oz series written by L. Frank Baum and was originally published on May 13, 1918. The Tin Woodman is reunited with his Munchkin sweetheart Nimmie Amee from the days when he was flesh and blood. This was a back-story from Baum's 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was followed by The Magic of Oz (1919).

<i>Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz</i> 1908 novel by L. Frank Baum

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is the fourth book set in the Land of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by John R. Neill. It was published on June 18, 1908 and reunites Dorothy Gale with the humbug Wizard from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). This is one of only two of the original fourteen Oz books to be illustrated with watercolor paintings. It was followed by The Road to Oz (1909).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Gale</span> Fictional protagonist in Oz novels

Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by the American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. She is also the main character in various adaptations, notably the 1939 film adaptation of the novel, The Wizard of Oz.

<i>The Lost Princess of Oz</i> Book by L. Frank Baum

The Lost Princess of Oz is the eleventh book in the Oz series written by L. Frank Baum. Published on June 5, 1917, it begins with the disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz and covers Dorothy and the Wizard's efforts to find her. The introduction to the novel states that its inspiration was a letter a young girl had written to Baum: "I suppose if Ozma ever got hurt or losted, everybody would be sorry." It was followed by The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Ozma</span> Fictional character from Land of Oz

Princess Ozma is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears for the first time in the second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and in every Oz book thereafter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glinda</span> The Wonderful Wizard of Oz character

Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country South of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land of Oz</span> Fantasy land created by L. Frank Baum

The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nome King</span> Fictional character and antagonist in American author L. Frank Baums Oz series.

The Nome King is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is introduced in Baum's third Oz book Ozma of Oz (1907). He also appears in many of the continuing sequel Oz novels also written by Baum. Although the character of the Wicked Witch of the West is the most notable and famous Oz villain, it is actually the Nome King who is the most frequent antagonist in the book series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mombi</span> Fictional character

Mombi is a fictional character in L. Frank Baum's classic children's series of Oz Books. She is the most significant antagonist in the second Oz book The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and is alluded to in other works. Mombi plays a very important role in the fictional history of Oz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billina</span> Fictional character

Billina is a fictional character in the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. She is introduced in Ozma of Oz (1907).

<i>The Shaggy Man of Oz</i> Book by Jack Snow

The Shaggy Man of Oz (1949) is the thirty-eighth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the second and last by Jack Snow. It was illustrated by Frank G. Kramer. The book was followed by The Hidden Valley of Oz (1951). The novel entered the public domain in the United States when its copyright was not renewed as required.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pastoria</span> Fictional character from L. Frank Baums Oz-series

King Pastoria is a fictional character mentioned in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. He was the rightful ruler and King of the undiscovered Land of Oz, but was mysteriously removed from his position when the Wizard of Oz unexpectedly came to the country and took the throne, proclaiming himself as the new dominant ruler of Oz. Shortly after, Pastoria's only child and heir, Princess Ozma, suddenly vanished, leaving not a single clue of her whereabouts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle Henry</span> Fictional character from L. Frank Baums Oz-series

Uncle Henry is a fictional character from The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum. He is the uncle of Dorothy Gale and husband of Aunt Em, and lived with them on a farm in Kansas.

<i>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz</i> (TV series) 1986 TV series

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, known in Japan as Ozu no Mahōtsukai (オズの魔法使い), is a Japanese anime television series adaptation based on four of the original early 20th century Oz books by L. Frank Baum. In Japan, the series aired on TV Tokyo from 1986 to 1987. It consists of 52 episodes, which explain other parts of the Oz stories, including the events that happened after Dorothy returned home.

The Soldier with the Green Whiskers is a character from the fictional Land of Oz who appears in the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum and his successors. He is introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). His name is Omby Amby, but this was so obliquely stated that he also became known briefly as Wantowin Battles.

References

  1. ↑ John Neill's The Runaway in Oz was intended to be the thirty-seventh Oz book, but its publication was delayed until 1995.
  2. ↑ Simpson, Paul (2013). A Brief Guide to Oz. Constable & Robinson Ltd. pp. 61–62. ISBN   978-1-47210-988-0 . Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  3. ↑ For the name, compare "Earl Highlough" in Baum's short story "The Runaway Shadows."
  4. ↑ The Magical Mimics in Oz, p. 98.
  5. ↑ David L. Greene and Dick Martin, The Oz Scrapbook, New York, Random House, 1977; p. 79.
  6. ↑ Jack Snow, The Magical Mimics in Oz, Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1946; pp. 32, 179-86, 237.
  7. ↑ Jack Snow, Who's Who in Oz, Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; pp. 175, 226.
  8. ↑ Who's Who in Oz, pp. 67, 94, 150-1.
  9. ↑ Jack Snow, The Magical Mimics in Oz, with an Afterword by Michael Gessel, Kinderhook, IL, International Wizard of Oz Club, 1990; Afterword, p. 246.
  10. ↑ Magical Mimics, pp. 102-4.
  11. ↑ Gessel, Afterword, Magical Mimics, 1990, p. 248.
  12. ↑ Magical Mimics, pp. 127-38.
  13. ↑ Gessel, Afterword, Magical Mimics, 1990, pp. 250-1.
  14. ↑ Gessel, Afterword, Magical Mimics, 1990, p. 249.
The Oz books
Previous book:
Lucky Bucky in Oz 		The Magical Mimics in Oz
1946		Next book:
The Shaggy Man of Oz
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.