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A Review of a Fantasy Book, Stolen to Oz: Toto and
Miss Jennie in Oz (without Dorothy), Which is Mostly a Parody Yet an Oz book
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By: Ron Baxley, Jr. Four Stars (****)
“There are laws protecting folks against dogs that
bite,” the character Miss Gulch states in M.G.M.’s 1939 “The Wizard of Oz”.
Also, there are laws protecting parodies against corporations that bite, which
is good because this fantasy book contains many parodies of the film from which
I just quoted. Within the aforementioned film, Aunt Em states, “How would it be
if she keeps him (Toto) tied up? He’s very gentle… with gentle people, that is.”
In fact, author Alan Lindsay does tie in many parodies and even ties in Toto in
a new story in his recently released book. Toto gets to bite another non-gentle
person this time!
Stolen to Oz: Toto and Miss Jennie in Oz (without Dorothy) has a character Miss Jennie Grierson, who
parodies Miss Gulch, as an owner of a large plantation in Wamego, Kansas. Next,
the book introduces a character Doctor Fiddledog, a snake oil salesman and
entertainer who parodies Professor Marvel and perhaps O.Z. Diggs / the Wizard
of Oz himself. Presumably after Dorothy’s return from Oz, Miss Grierson, after
dognapping Toto and putting him in a basket on her bicycle, literally runs into
Doctor Fiddledog’s snake oil wagon and eventually becomes entangled, if you
will, in a plot with him that involves O.Z. Diggs’/the Wizard of Oz’s balloon
and their going to Oz. I will leave how the balloon ended up in Wamego, Kansas
to the reader and just how the balloon ends up in Oz too as well. There is an
entire, interesting mysterious sub-plot about it with the Scarecrow, Tinman
(not Tin Woodman in this book), and Cowardly Lion.
Unlike Miss Gulch in the M.G.M. film, parody character
Miss Jennie Grierson is given an excellent tragic back-story which makes her
only mostly a figurative witch and more of a sympathetic character. Miss
Grierson, unlike the seemingly completely alone spinster Miss Gulch, is also
given a niece, Claire, whose aspirations for art school have been figuratively
squashed like the Wicked Witch of the East by Miss Grierson. Unlike Professor
Marvel, Doctor Fiddledog just alludes to O.Z. Diggs a little. He is a bit of a
humbug, though. His Dickensian name alludes to his actually fiddling and I
think his having an affinity for Toto.
When the main characters arrive in Oz at a mysterious
yet familiar dark castle after the hot air balloon they end up in gets hung up
in a tree but then lost, Miss Grierson and Doctor Fiddledog do not care for each
other very much at first. With Toto’s help, they navigate the strange country in
which they have landed and cooperate. One cooperative move is having Miss
Grierson ring chickens’ necks for dinner while Doctor Fiddledog does the
cooking. This would probably make later-series-book arriver Billina the hen
faint (lunch-box trees and vegetarian options in Baum's books seem to contrast this killing
of animals, yet this adds rural realism to the fantasy from the
Kansas visitors). Next, Toto only barks and leads them to places and does not
talk to the characters there (which Baum stated Toto could opt to do after only
teasing Dorothy by not speaking like other Oz animals in The Wonderful Wizard
of Oz). Winkie Guards and Winged Monkeys, in possession of the Golden Cap
which controls them, soon make an appearance, pointing out with their physical
presence just who once owned the place. The Winged Monkeys do not appear to
speak at first but later reveal that they did not speak because no one spoke
directly to them. They also provide comic relief.
Within what the main characters eventually discover is
Winkie Country, a crabby tree growing near the dark castle ends up being more
of a multiple fruit tree and a hybrid of the ominous, talking trees from
Quadling Country that blocked Dorothy and friends from continuing to Glinda’s castle and a parody of the talking M.G.M. apple trees. Dr. Fiddledog helps the near-dying
crabby tree get water, the scarcity of which in the castle is their first clue
as to its ownership. I enjoy grumpy characters and found the crabby tree to be
most entertaining. He is a talking tree trope of sorts but one who is in a long
line of quasi-helpful side-kicks of deceased evil beings who turn to good just
out of convenience. A lot more than this occurs in the narrative, and this book
will serve as a good bridge for children and youth and adult Oz fans who are
more familiar with the M.G.M. film to books of L. Frank Baum. The golden cap
for the Winged Monkey and its attributions, the true color of the magic shoes, the
color coding of the countries of Oz, the settings of the Emerald City and
Munchkin Country (as depicted in the books), and other aspects will point the
way to them from the film it parodies at times to Baum’s books.
I enjoyed one particular character arc in the book and
enjoyed the many parodies of the M.G.M. film and the references to the Baum
books, but what I did not enjoy was the anti-climatic ending of one main
character. Also, at 109 pages with really just a start at page 11, the 87 page
fantasy fiction novel is more of a novella and might be better priced lower
than even $10 ($9.99). However, the illustrations by experienced Oz illustrator
Dennis Anfuso make it even more worth it.
The cover and interior illustrations by Anfuso are in a sketchy style
similar to that of Quentin Blake but distinctively Anfuso-ian with his eye for
the details which classic Oz illustrators such as Denslow and Neill saw in
Baum’s characters. The Scarecrow is sufficiently lop-sided with the painted-on
face, the Cowardly Lion has that one bow and soulful expression, and the Tin
Man (not Tin Woodman in this case) is nicely cylindrical yet kind looking. The
Flying Monkey leader has a golden cap drawn just as it was described or drawn
in the Baum books yet has Anfuso’s flair for realism when it comes to animals.
Toto has a warm expression and also shares this flair. The other characters are
combinations of parodies and Baum facets.
This book’s length is remedied by the great
illustrations, yet the anti-climatic ending with one main character cannot be
overlooked by me like a few errors can be (we all have a couple of those).
Nevertheless, the parodies of M.G.M. characters and the bridging of the film to
the Baum books in this book is quite an accomplishment and makes for a good,
quick read for novices of Oz and those who wish to remember what it was like to
be full of wonder like them. You may not want to put this book up… PUT IT UP!
(Sorry… I couldn’t resist.)
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