The Story Behind the Wizard of Oz Quiz

Answer: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"

Baum's manuscript was originally called "The City of Oz". The publishers rejected a second proposed title, "The Emerald City", citing an old belief that any book with the name of a gem in the title was bad luck. The other incorrect answers were proposed titles as well. Ultimately, the book was published as "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The word "wonderful" was dropped for the first stage production in 1908.

Baum wrote 55 books in all, most of them for children, and 14 were set in Oz. His place names and character names are among the most expressive in literature, including: Mr. and Mrs. Yoop, Kwytoffle the Magician, the Woggle-Bug, King Dox of Foxville, Rinkitink, Woot, and Queen Zixi of Ix.

Answer: The Tin Man.

In one of many early career attempts, Baum owned a hardware store. His favorite aspect of it was designing window displays, and in one he built a tin man, with a torso made of a washtub, arms and legs made of stovepipes, a cooking pan face, and a funnel hat. When he began writing the Oz stories, he remembered this creation and gave it a place in his story.

The Tin Man (or Tin Woodman, as he is called in the book) was once an ordinary man. Unfortunately, due to the evil machinations of the Wicked Witch of the East, he was forced to have all his body parts gradually replaced with tin -- except, of course, his heart. Baum tells us, "The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything." In a later book, "The Marvelous Land of Oz," we learn that his name is Nick Chopper.

Answer: We are never told.

No age is given in the book, but the illustrations by William Wallace Denslow in the first edition show her to be very young, perhaps 5 or 6.

Despite her tender age, Dorothy displays a good deal of strength. When she is lifted and jostled about by the cyclone, for example, she chooses not to be overcome by fear. Baum says, "At first she had wondered if she would be dashed to pieces... but as the hours passed and nothing terrible happened, she stopped worrying and resolved to wait calmly and see what the future would bring." Similarly, she is undaunted by the lion leaping out of the forest, only scolding him for his bad behavior. And, although warned that the Wizard might be dangerous, she insists on seeing him, since he seems to be her best chance of getting home.

Some readers have seen a feminist theme in the book, and, although it is not stated explicitly, it is very likely intentional on Baum's part. Baum's mother-in-law, Mildred Gage, was a well-known suffragist who had a profound effect on Baum's thinking. The editorials he wrote as a young man were often passionate calls for women's suffrage.

Answer: Mice

The Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow never slept, so the poppies were no threat to them and they were able to carry Dorothy and Toto to safety. However, the sleeping Lion was too heavy. Luckily, the Queen of the Mice owed the Tin Woodman a favor. She ordered her people, numbering in the thousands, to haul the Lion out of danger on a wheeled wooden platform.

The first stage production changed the method of rescue to a snowstorm sent by Glinda the Good Witch. In that show, the poppies were represented by dancing women in red hats whose costumes somehow changed, through the magic of theater, to cool blues and greens.

Answer: A new green dress

On her first morning in the Emerald City, Dorothy was given a green brocade satin dress with a green silk apron for her reception in the Throne Room of the Great Oz. Toto received a green ribbon. Previously, Dorothy had worn a blue and white checked dress from home, which the Munchkins found reassuring for two reasons: blue was their favorite color, and only good witches and sorceresses wore white.

Upon leaving the Emerald City, Dorothy's dress and Toto's ribbon turned pure white. Actually, it's possible that the dress was always white. Inside the Emerald City, everyone was required to wear glasses with green lenses which were, in fact, locked in place. The official explanation was that they protected the eyes from the splendor of the place. When the Wizard's duplicity was exposed, however, he admitted that their purpose was to make everything look green.

Answer: They were required by an old curse to do the Wicked Witch's bidding.

Generations before, the Winged Monkeys had played a joke on a powerful princess. Having little sense of humor, the princess decreed that the monkeys must do the bidding of anyone who possessed her mysterious golden cap. At the time of our story, that was the Wicked Witch.

The Winged Monkeys were formidable foes of Dorothy at first, but eventually she acquired the golden cap herself, and the monkeys turned out to be quite helpful, delivering our friends to their desired destinations and making friendly conversation along the way.

Answer: To the Dainty China Country

All the answers are places in the Oz stories, but only the Dainty China Country is in this one.

After the shocking departure of the Wizard, Dorothy and her friends decided to find their way to Glinda. On the way they passed through a land with "a floor as smooth and shining and white as the bottom of a big platter," inhabited by little porcelain figurines. It was all very pretty, but they were eager to leave, since everything there was fragile. The Scarecrow remarked that he was glad he was stuffed with straw and couldn't be shattered.

Answer: In the Emerald City, the Land of the Winkies, and the forest, respectively

The Scarecrow, because of his new-found wisdom, was designated by the Wizard to succeed him as ruler of Oz. The Tin Man, being fond of the Winkies, became their ruler in place of the Wicked Witch of the West. The Lion -- no longer cowardly -- was unanimously acclaimed King of the Forest by the animals who lived there.

Dorothy, of course, returned to Kansas, running joyfully into the arms of Aunt Em -- and it was most definitely not a dream!

Answer: No, it's simply a children's story.

Baum often said that his only purpose in writing his stories was to nurture children's imaginations. The book itself expresses no political meaning at all. However, the belief that it has political significance has an early origin. The first stage presentation, in 1908 (which was not entirely under Baum's control) included topical jokes about such then-prominent figures as Theodore Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller. Eventually, in the 1960s, a theory emerged claiming that the whole story was an allegory, with Dorothy as the victimized American public, the scarecrow as the American farmer, the wizard as a scheming politician, etc.

The writer who proposed this theory later explained that he did not mean to comment on Baum's intentions, but only to provide vivid imagery for a history lesson; nevertheless, the idea has persisted. Baum himself described his motivation by saying, "To please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own rewards."

Answer: Yes, Kansas is gray and Oz is colorful.

The lack of color in Kansas is unmistakable. Baum says, "The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere." Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are gray, too. However: "It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as gray as her other surroundings. Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily..." Furthermore, color is always prominently mentioned in descriptions of Oz. Munchkins favor blue, and other countries are dominated by other colors: that of the Winkies, for example, by yellow, and that of the Quadlings by red.

A delightful conversation in the book between Dorothy and the Scarecrow is all about this contrast. Although Oz is admittedly beautiful, Dorothy explains, "No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country... There is no place like home."