Tag Archives: kimbaloo

The Offbeat Officials of Oz

The Oz books have a lot of small royal courts with unusually-titled officials. This is something we see much more often in Ruth Plumly Thompson, but L. Frank Baum did have a few examples. In John Dough and the Cherub, … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, C.S. Lewis, Characters, Chronicles of Narnia, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic Items, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’d Turn Back If I Were You

There was a second Virtual OzCon yesterday, this one with a Halloween theme, which means it addressed some of the potentially darker aspects of the series. There are some SPOILERS in here for several Oz books and the film Return … Continue reading

Posted in Cartoons, Dreams, Edward Einhorn, Eric Shanower, Halloween, Holidays, Hugh Pendexter, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Television | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

$ave! $ave! $ave!

Maybe it’s because of role-playing video games where you have to buy a bunch of stuff for your quest, but I tend to associate fantasy lands with wandering merchants. That sounds so much classier than traveling salesmen, even though I … Continue reading

Posted in Authors, Characters, Dick Martin, Economics, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, March Laumer, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson, William Shakespeare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gillikin Geography

I’ve already written about the other three (four, if you count the Emerald City territory) segments of Oz, and even though I haven’t gotten much if any response to them, I’ve had fun writing them. So here’s the last of … Continue reading

Posted in Dick Martin, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Eric Shanower, Gina Wickwar, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Maps, Melody Grandy, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Don’t Pester the Jester

Continuing with the April Fools’ theme, I thought I’d look at some court fools in the Oz series. There’s some overlap here with the poets and rhymers. For instance, the Rhyming Dictionary was the Book of Royalty’s jester until he … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, Chris Dulabone, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Marin Elizabeth Xiques, Melody Grandy, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Mystery, Ancient and Modern

I remember someone on the old Nonestica mailing list asking why it seems that no Ozites knew the history of their country, and it’s definitely a valid point. In The Lost King of Oz, we read, “Snip knew the names … Continue reading

Posted in Characters, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

No Money, Mo’ Problems

As I said back in this post, whether or not Oz uses some form of money is no more consistent than many other aspects of the series. Certainly the earlier books show money in use, with children paying for green … Continue reading

Posted in Communism, Dick Martin, Economics, Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Socialism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Forever Young

It’s pretty common in various media that characters don’t grow any older unless they have some narrative reason to do so. Bart Simpson has been ten years old for twenty-five years now, and he’s actually one of the newer ones. … Continue reading

Posted in John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Oz, Oz Authors, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments