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Dorothy
Dorothy

Real Name

Dorothy Gale

First Appearance

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

Original Publisher

Reilly & Britton

Created by

L. Frank Baum & W.W. Denslow

Origin[]

DorothyGale

Dorothy, as depicted by John R. Neill.

Dorothy lived with her Aunt Em & Uncle Henry on a farm in Kansas where her only companion was her little black dog, Toto. One day a powerful cyclone carried her house to the Land of Oz where it landed on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. She was told by the Good Witch of the North that only the Great Oz could help her return to Kansas. The Good Witch gave her the Silver Shoes with their great mysterious powers and kissed her on the forehead for protection. With that, she set out along the Yellow Brick Road for the Emerald City. Along the way she met the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion.

The Wizard, appearing to Dorothy as a giant, floating head, commanded Dorothy to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West. After being captured by the witch, Dorothy finally did destroy her by throwing a bucket of water on her and melting her. Dorothy and her companions returned to the Emerald City, but there discovered that the Wizard was a humbug. The Wizard tried to take Dorothy home in a hot air balloon, but it floated away while Dorothy was looking for Toto.

Dorothy and her companions then traveled south to find Glinda, The Good Witch of the South. After several adventures, they arrived at her ruby red palace and she told Dorothy about the charm of the Silver Shoes she had been wearing since her arrival in the Land of Oz, which allowed her to return home to Kansas.

Because of the cyclone damage and worry over Dorothy's extended disappearance, Uncle Henry decided to take a vacation and travel to Australia with Dorothy to accompany him. During the voyage a storm washed her overboard, and she soon found herself on the shores of the Land of Ev with a yellow hen named Billina. They found a mechanical man named Tik-Tok and, after a visit to the royal palace in Evna, joined Ozma of Oz and a group from the Emerald City (including her old friends the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion) on a journey to the Nome Kingdom to liberate the royal family of Ev from the Nome King. There, she confiscated the Nome King's Magic Belt and after their mission was successfully completed, she returned with them to the Emerald City. She was made a Princess of Oz, but afterward returned to her Uncle Henry.

On their way home from Australia, Dorothy and her uncle stopped in San Francisco, California. Uncle Henry went right to Hugson's Ranch to visit his brother-in-law, Bill Hugson. Dorothy stayed with friends in 'Frisco for a week, then traveled by train to Hugson's Siding, where she met her cousin Zeb. On their way from the siding to Hugson's Ranch, a great earthquake opened the ground in front of them and they fell in, carriage and all. After many adventures they found themselves in Oz where Dorothy and her friends were welcomed warmly. After a brief stay, Dorothy returned home to Kansas.

A Shaggy Man appeared at the Kansas farm and asked Dorothy for directions. While showing him the road they became inexplicably lost. After a long journey, during which they met Button-Bright and Polychrome, they arrived in Oz just in time for Ozma's birthday party. When the celebration ended Dorothy returned once more to Kansas.

When her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em were facing foreclosure on their farm, Dorothy went to Ozma who suggested that Dorothy move to Oz permanently, along with her aunt and uncle. She introduced her family to all her friends in Oz and took them on a tour of some of the unusual sights. Upon the party's return to the Emerald City, they learned of the Nome King's impending invasion, which the Scarecrow and Ozma managed to halt. Nevertheless, Glinda the Good decided to make Oz invisible to the rest of the world to prevent further invasions, and Dorothy wrote a final letter to L. Frank Baum to explain that he would never hear from Oz again.

After getting settled into her life as a Princess of Oz, Dorothy assisted in the search for ingredients that would contribute to a potion capable of reversing the spell of petrification on Unc Nunkie and Margolotte, wife of Dr. Pipt.

Shortly after, two girls arrived from America who soon became fast friends with Dorothy: Betsy Bobbin and Mayre "Trot" Griffiths.

Dorothy watched the adventures of Prince Inga of Pingaree in Ozma's Magic Picture and, along with the Wizard, rescued Inga and his companions from Kaliko, the new Nome King.

When Ozma was stolen, Dorothy was part of a party that went out to find out what had happened to her. They searched various parts of Winkie Country before they found out that Ozma had been stolen by Ugu the Shoemaker. They ventured to the Shoemaker's new wicker castle and after the Wizard helped them get past some magical resistance, they got inside. There, Ugu rendered most of the party powerless, except for Dorothy, who had the Magic Belt from the Nome King. She had a magic duel with Ugu, during which she turned him into a pigeon and he escaped.

Dorothy went with Ozma to Jinjur's house, where the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, Woot the Wanderer, and Polychrome had been transformed into unnatural forms. Ozma transformed them back, and afterwards Dorothy hoped to join the Tin Man's party to go meet Nimmie Amee, and she hinted such; but the Tin Man didn't take the hint, so Dorothy returned to the Emerald City instead.

One day, Dorothy and Ozma took the Red Wagon to visit Glinda in her palace in Quadling Country, where she learned from the Great Book of Records that the Flatheads had gone to war with the Skeezers. Ozma set out to go and resolve the war, and Dorothy asked to go with her. The two girls journeyed to the FLatheads' mountain, where they met the Supreme Dictator, who refused to submit to Ozma's rule. They escaped and met the Skeezers, where Queen Coo-ee-oh also refused Ozma and took the two girls prisoner. Dorothy was quite indignant at Coo-ee-oh's rude treatment of Ozma but could do nothing about it. When Coo-ee-oh submerged the city and left to attack the Flatheads, she was transformed into a swan, leaving Dorothy and Ozma stranded in the underwater city until Glinda and her party came to rescue them.

When the Scarecrow left to find his family tree, Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion went to try and find him. They went to the Scarecrow's mansion, where they learned he hadn't returned. When they tried to get back to the Emerald City, they got lost, finding themselves in Pokes, where they met Sir Hokus of Pokes, who joined their party. The three encountered many adventures as they traveled across Oz, finally arriving at the Deadly Desert where they met the Doubtful Dromedary and Comfortable Camel. The party then found Wish Way, which allowed their wishes to come true. Dorothy wished the rest of the party would stop wishing, and then she wished for them all to be where the Scarecrow was. They found him on the Silver Islands, where he was emperor; together the party tried to escape but found they couldn't climb the bean pole back to Oz without leaving the animals behind. So they faced the Scarecrow's people and told them he would abdicate the throne. The people refused, and the Gheewizard prepared to turn the Scarecrow into his human form. But Dorothy opened her magic parasol, and accidentally deflected the Gheewizard's potion onto the three princes. Soon after, Dorothy used her parasol to take the party home, and after that, to rescue Sir Hokus, who had grown onto the Scarecrow's bean pole.

Public Domain Appearances[]

Books:

  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
  • The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904, mention only)
  • Ozma of Oz (1907)
  • Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908)
  • The Road to Oz (1909)
  • The Emerald City of Oz (1910)
  • Little Wizard Stories of Oz
  • The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913)
  • Tik-Tok of Oz (1914)
  • The Scarecrow of Oz (1915)
  • Rinkitink in Oz (1916)
  • The Lost Princess of Oz (1917)
  • The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)
  • The Magic of Oz (1919)
  • Glinda of Oz (1920)
  • The Royal Book of Oz (1921)
  • Kabumpo in Oz (1922)
  • The Cowardly Lion of Oz (1923)
  • Grampa in Oz (1924)
  • The Lost King of Oz (1925)
  • The Hungry Tiger of Oz (1926)
  • The Gnome King of Oz (1927)
  • The Giant Horse of Oz (1928)
  • The Wishing Horse of Oz (1935)
  • Handy Mandy in Oz (1937)
  • Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz (1939)
  • The Magical Mimics in Oz (1946)
  • The Shaggy Man of Oz (1949)

Film:

  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  • Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz
  • The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays
  • His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz
  • The Wizard of Oz (1925)
  • The Land of Oz
  • The Wizard of Oz (1933)

Comics:

  • Denslow's Scarecrow and the Tinman (1904-5)
  • Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz (1904-5)
  • Dell Junior Treasury #5

Notes[]

  • While "Gale" is popularly accepted as her last name, Baum never stated that outright in any medium. In fact: the name "Gale" never appeared in any of Baum's written works, having only appeared in his 1902 stage production! When asked her name, Dorothy merely replies, "I'm Dorothy... Dorothy Gale," leaving it open to ambiguity: Was "Gale" her last name or her middle name or the second part of her first name (ex: girls named "Anne... Anne Marie" or "Peggy... Peggy Sue" etc.)?
    • Interesting to note (hence this being in the "Notes" section): a "gale" is a very strong wind.
  • The ruby slippers of the MGM feature film are NOT in the public domain! The original novel presents silver slippers. In the aforementioned 1902 stage production, however, she did acquire a "ruby ring" with no slippers of any color making an appearance!
  • Being a "Friend of Dorothy" has become a slang term for gay men.

See Also[]

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