Author | John R. Neill |
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Illustrator | John R. Neill |
Language | English |
Series | The Oz Books |
Genre | Children's novel Fantasy |
Publisher | Reilly & Lee |
Publication date | 1940 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 318 pp. |
Preceded by | Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz |
Followed by | The Scalawagons of Oz |
The Wonder City of Oz (1940) is the thirty-fourth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the first written and illustrated solely by John R. Neill [1] Neill introduced a modern-day reimagining change in tone that continued through his subsequent books, according to David L. Greene and Dick Martin of The Oz Scrapbook; "(His Oz entries) ...are highly imaginative, but the imagination is undisciplined; each book, in fact, has enough ideas to fill several." [2] In Neill's interpretation; Emerald City has skyscrapers and gas stations. Normally inanimate objects act alive: houses talk and fight, shoes sing (they have tongues), and clocks run. The book was followed by Neill's The Scalawagons of Oz (1941).
Jenny Jump captures a leprechaun named Siko Pompus (apparently a pun on "psychopomp") and forces him to make her into a fairy; but he only does half the job before escaping. Jenny then jumps to Oz using her half-fairy gifts. She lands in the carriage of Princess Ozma during a parade — and quickly expresses her desire to be a queen herself.
Jenny displays a bold and tempestuous nature; when she loses her temper she spits flames from her mouth. Yet she is also enterprising and resourceful; she soon sets up a Style Shop with a magic turnstile which gives fashion makeovers (the turnstile turns styles). Jenny half-adopts a Munchkin boy called Number Nine (he's the ninth of fourteen children) who is overwhelmed by the force of her personality, and she treats him like a slave.
Jenny's disruptive nature quickly becomes apparent. In response, the Wizard removes her fairy abilities and starts making her younger. Jenny has her good points too: she saves the Emerald City from conquest by an army of chocolate soldiers. Yet her ambition lures her into running against Ozma in an Ozlection to become ruler of the Land of Oz. It is clear that Ozma will win any fair election by a landslide — but a landslide is a terribly dangerous thing to have in the Emerald City. So Prof. Wogglebug cooks up a more random choice, in which citizens are weighed on scales to determine their votes. In the end, the Ozlection is exactly a tie, with a precisely equal number of votes cast for Ozma and for Jenny Jump. Only one person has yet to vote: the leprechaun Siko Pompus. He assures Jenny that he is her friend, and then he steps forward to cast the deciding vote...for Ozma. He claims it's for Jenny's own good, to save her "a heap of responsibility."
Jenny is so irate at this outcome that she causes chaos in the city: she releases the tigers from tiger-lilies, the bulls from bullrushes, the lions from dandy-lions, etc., to rampage through the streets. The Wizard resolves matters with his magic: he extracts Jenny's bad temper, envy, and ambition, so that these faults no longer plague her. He makes these faults visible for Number Nine, Dorothy, and other assembled friends: bad temper is a black wasp, envy is a green snake, and ambition is a fat red toad. Jenny is delighted with the change in her by quoting "How grand I feel!" Ozma and Glinda make Jenny a Duchess of Oz and she is now young and carefree enough to be a fitting companion for Number Nine.
Finally, Jenny's leprechaun godfather gives her back her fairy gifts, in externalized and material forms: "an ivory-handled eyeglass for one eye" that provides fairy sight, and a pair of rose-colored gloves, "a golden slipper for her left foot, and a pair of thistle-down earmuffs" that enable her other fairy powers, whenever she needs them.
The Ozlection storyline, with its shoes-as-votes scenario, was not written by Neill but by an anonymous editor who found portions of Neill's version of the book inadequate. None of the incidents in this plot thread are illustrated by Neill. [3] Baum biographer Katharine M. Rogers points out this storyline as a particular example of the unbelievable situations in Neill's books. [4]
In a prefatory note addressed to the book's child readers, Neill states that he and his family live in Flanders, New Jersey, which he describes as "on top of the Schooley Mountains and the Jenny Jump Mountains are really truly mountains right next to us." He characterizes them as "wonderful mountains for fairies to hide in." As Neill indicates, Jenny Jump Mountain is a real place, located in northwestern New Jersey in the Jenny Jump State Forest.
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).
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.
The Road to Oz is the fifth book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. It was originally published on July 10, 1909 and documents the adventures of Dorothy Gale's fourth visit to the Land of Oz. It was followed by The Emerald City of Oz (1910).
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published in July 1904, is the second book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). This and the following 34 books in the series were illustrated by John R. Neill. It was followed by Ozma of Oz (1907).
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).
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).
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.
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.
Jack Pumpkinhead is a fictional character from the Land of Oz who appears in several of the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Jack first appeared as a main character in the second Oz book by Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and returned often in subsequent books. He got the starring role in Ruth Plumly Thompson's 1929 book Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz.
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.
Kabumpo in Oz (1922) is the sixteenth book in the Oz series, and the second written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was the first Oz book fully credited to her. It was followed by The Cowardly Lion of Oz (1923).
The Hungry Tiger of Oz (1926) is the twentieth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the sixth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. It was illustrated by John R. Neill. The novel was followed by The Gnome King of Oz (1927).
The Magical Mimics in Oz (1946) is the thirty-seventh book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the first written by Jack Snow. 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.
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.
The Scalawagons of Oz (1941) is the thirty-fifth book in the Oz series created by L. Frank Baum and continued by his successors; it is the second volume in the series both written and illustrated by John R. Neill. The novel was followed by Lucky Bucky in Oz (1942).
The Runaway in Oz is an unofficial follow-up to the Oz series by long-time Oz illustrator John R. Neill, published posthumuously in 1995. It was originally written in 1943, and was meant to be the thirty-seventh novel entry in the Oz series, but Neill died before editing or illustrating the book. Oz publisher Reilly & Lee decided not to publish the book due to shortages caused by World War II. The text remained a possession of Neill's family.
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.
Little Wizard Stories of Oz is a set of six short stories written for young children by L. Frank Baum, the creator of the Oz books. The six tales were published in separate small booklets, "Oz books in miniature," in 1913, and then in a collected edition in 1914 with illustrations by John R. Neill. The stories were issued to promote the new Oz novel, The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Each booklet is 29 pages long, and printed in blue ink rather than black.
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