Wizard of Oz (character)


Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs, better known as the "Wizard of Oz," is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He debuted in Baum's 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and was further popularized by a stage play and several films, including the 1939 MGM musical film.
In his first appearance in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wizard rules the Land of Oz from his palace in the Emerald City. He is exposed at the end of the novel as a conman and circus magician, but in further books of the series, he becomes a trusted and valued friend to the Oz characters.

''Oz'' books

The Wizard is the eponymous character of the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Unseen for most of the book, he is the ruler of the Land of Oz and highly venerated by his subjects. Believing he is the only man capable of solving their problems, Dorothy and her friends travel to the Emerald City, the capital of Oz, to meet him. Oz is very reluctant to meet them, but eventually each is granted an audience, one by one each day.
In each of these occasions, the Wizard appears in a different form:
  • Before Dorothy, he was a giant head.
  • Before the Scarecrow, he was a beautiful lady dressed in green silk gauze and wore a green crown of jewels on her flowing green locks.
  • Before the Tin Woodman, he was a thick woolly-haired horrible elephant-sized beast that is described to have the head of a five-eyed rhinoceros, five long arms, and five long slim legs.
  • Before the Cowardly Lion, he was a ball of fire.
When, at last, he grants an audience to all of them at once, he seems to be a disembodied voice.
Eventually, it is revealed that Oz is actually none of these things, but rather an ordinary conman from Omaha, Nebraska, who has been using elaborate magic tricks and props to make himself seem "great and powerful". Working as a magician for a circus, he wrote OZ on the side of his hot air balloon for promotional purposes. One day his balloon sailed into the Land of Oz and he found himself worshipped as a great sorcerer. As Oz had no leadership at the time, he became Supreme Ruler of the kingdom and did his best to sustain the myth.
Once exposed, he reveals that he has never had any real magic power at all and so lived in constant fear of the Wicked Witches of the East and West. When he heard that a girl capable of killing witches had appeared in the land, the cowardly "wizard" was willing to promise anything in order to manipulate her into disposing of the Wicked Witch of the West but admits that he cannot keep his promises.
He leaves Oz at the end of the novel, again in a hot air balloon. After the Wizard's departure, the Scarecrow is briefly enthroned, until Princess Ozma is freed from the witch Mombi at the end of The Marvelous Land of Oz.
In The Marvelous Land of Oz, the Wizard is described as having usurped the throne of King Pastoria and handed over the baby princess to Mombi. This did not please the readers, and in Ozma of Oz, although the character did not appear, Baum described Ozma's abduction without including the Wizard as part of it.
The Wizard returns in the novel Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. With Dorothy and the boy Zeb, he falls through a crack in the earth; in their underground journey, he acts as their guide and protector. Oz explains that his real name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs. To shorten this name, he used only the initials of his first name and his first middle name "O.Z.", since the initials of his other middle names spell out the word pinhead which he didn't want to use. When Ozma rescues them from the underground kingdoms, he recounts his story of becoming the ruler of Oz, and Ozma explains that before the witches usurped her grandfather's throne, the ruler of Oz had always been known as Oz or Ozma. Ozma then permits him to live in Oz permanently. He becomes an apprentice to Glinda. Ozma decrees that, besides herself, only The Wizard and Glinda are allowed to use magic unless the other magic users have permits.
In later books, he proves himself quite an inventor, providing devices that aid in various characters’ journeys. Some of his most elaborate devices are the balloon-powered Ozoplanes in Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz, and intelligent taxis called Scalawagons in The Scalawagons of Oz.

Possible inspiration

In The Annotated Wizard of Oz, Michael Patrick Hearn suggests that L. Frank Baum may have derived elements of the character and backstory of the Wizard from Washington Harrison Donaldson, a balloonist, ventriloquist and stage magician who worked for P. T. Barnum. On 15 July 1875, Donaldson made an ascent near Chicago and disappeared in a storm; neither he nor his balloon was ever seen again.
The Wizard is also said to have been partly inspired by inventor Thomas Edison, whom author L. Frank Baum referred to as "The Wizard". A contemporary nickname for Edison was "The Wizard of Menlo Park".

Adaptations

Silent films (1908–1925)

The Wizard has appeared in nearly every silent Oz film, portrayed by different actors each time.
  • The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays : Sam 'Smiling' Jones
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz : Hobart Bosworth
  • The Patchwork Girl of Oz : Todd Wright
  • His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz : J. Charles Haydon
  • Wizard of Oz : Charles Murray

    ''The Wizard of Oz'' (1939)

In The Wizard of Oz, the Wizard's character is similar to that found in the earlier books; a bumbling "humbug". He was played by actor Frank Morgan who also played several other roles in the movie including Professor Marvel, the Doorman at the Emerald City, the Guard at the Gates to the Wizard's Castle, and the Coachman whose transport is drawn by "The Horse of a Different Color". His face was also presumably used as the projected image of the Wizard. Like Dorothy, the Wizard himself hails from Kansas, proudly stating that he is "an old Kansas man myself, born and bred in the heart of the Western Wilderness". However, the balloon says "Omaha State Fair" on it and Omaha is in Nebraska, not Kansas, reflecting that the Wizard may have originated from Omaha, Nebraska, just as in the book. In the film, the Wizard is seen only as a floating head and as a human, not in any of the other shapes that he appears in the book.
Screenwriters Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf created Professor Marvel for the Kansas sepia tone sequences.

''Oz the Great and Powerful'' (2013)

Oz the Great and Powerful serves as an unofficial prequel to the Oz series. The film centers on Oscar Diggs and follows his journey from small-time magician to the ruler of the Land of Oz. In it, he is portrayed as an overly flirtatious and overconfident con artist and stage magician who upon meeting Theodora and inadvertently sparking her obsession with him, is keen on fulfilling his role as the legendary Wizard destined to restore order to Oz. However, throughout his journey and seeing the impact of his actions both good and bad, he comes to realize how much the people of Oz need him and devises a way to use his skill in illusions to free them, using his balloon to create the idea that he has been physically killed while hiding in a caravan so that he can use smoke and a makeshift cinema to project the illusion of his face, subsequently claiming that his "death" has simply allowed him to shed his mortal form. He also forms a makeshift "family" in the form of himself, Glinda the Good Witch, Finley and the China Girl.

''Once Upon a Time'' (2014)

The Wizard of Oz appears in the Once Upon a Time episodes "New York City Serenade", "A Curious Thing" and "Kansas" portrayed by Christopher Gorham.
Originally, Walsh is from Kansas, but finds himself in the Land of Oz. Giving himself the name "Oz the Great and Terrible", he masquerades as an all-knowing wizard. This hoax upsets Glinda the Witch of the South, as she knows he only gives false hope to those who seek out his help. From behind a curtain, Walsh projects a shadow image and speaks with a booming voice to anyone who approaches his palace to seek an audience with him. He also asks for genuine magical items in exchange for help which he uses to further his deception. A woman named Zelena wants his help in finding her birth family, so he gifts a pair of silver heels to take her anywhere she desires. Zelena leaves for the Enchanted Forest to seek out family, and she returns asking to go to the past so that she can change her own fate of being abandoned by her mother. The wizard states that, even with the most powerful magic, this is not possible. Angrily, she rips off the curtain and discovers his true persona is nothing but a simple man who likes orchestrating a false image to put on a good show. Deciding to make use of him, she turns Walsh into a flying monkey as her loyal pet. Sometime later, his transformation into a flying monkey alerts Glinda to Zelena's presence. Glinda thanks Zelena for exposing him and believes time as her pet is fitting punishment for his trickery. Zelena is welcomed into Glinda's sisterhood of witches as the Witch of the West, but is "defeated" by a young girl named Dorothy Gale. Rather than become the new Witch of the West, Dorothy only wishes to go home; a desire Glinda grants by taking her back to see the Wizard, who is presumed to have reverted to his old form, since Zelena's magic has been undone. From behind the green curtain, Zelena impersonates the Wizard's voice and gives Dorothy the silver slippers to send her home.
Walsh meets Emma Swan and they begin dating. Over the course of eight months, he gets to know her as well as her son, Henry. Walsh has dishonest motives in getting close to Emma, but the nature of it is not known. During one romantic evening dinner, Walsh surprises Emma by hiding a ring on the platter of an ice cream sundae and then proposes to her. She reacts in shock by walking out of the restaurant and stating that marriage is too soon for them. Walsh agrees to be patient, as she is the one he wants to spend his life with, and promises to give her all the time to think it over. The next day, he receives a text from Henry asking him to come over to the apartment to have dinner with Emma. Walsh promptly shows up, to which Emma leads him onto the rooftop where she rejects his marriage proposal. Emma reluctantly explains the necessity for herself to go home and leave him behind because "a ghost" from her past has shown up. Walsh does his best to convince her that the life she has now is worth staying for, but Emma cannot, though she wishes it could be so. Unable to sway her otherwise, Walsh's demeanor changes and he expresses knowledge of the potion Emma previously drank, which is what restored her memories. After throwing aside a table, he charges at her, but she dodges, sending him hurling down the roof. He soars up in the form of Flying Monkey to attack her, though Emma violently shoves him away with a metal pipe. Physically wounded, he falls from the building, nearly hitting the ground, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.