The Glass Cat | |
---|---|
Real Name |
Bungle |
First Appearance |
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913) |
Original Publisher |
Reilly & Britton |
Created by |
L. Frank Baum |
Origin[]
The magician Dr. Pipt brought the Glass Cat to life in order to test his Powder of Life, and so that it would chase the mice out of his home. However, it was too proud and vain to chase mice, so the magician's wife Margolotte named it Bungle.
Margolotte and Dr. Pipt's friend, Unc Nunkie, were accidently turned to marble by the Liquid of Petrification. Although she had never ventured far from the Magician's house, Bungle set out with Ojo and the Patchwork Girl to help find the ingredients for the antidote and along the way met the Woozy and the Shaggy Man. When they arrived at the Emerald City, she decided to remain there. Her conceitedness made her disagreeable, so the Wizard of Oz temporarily removed her pink brains and replaced them with clear ones.
Through its incessant prowling throughout the Land of Oz, the Glass Cat has acquired intimate knowledge of its complex terrain; and it is generally willing to exploit this knowledge to the benefit of Dorothy and her friends. Later, The Glass Cat guided the rescue party that saved Trot and Cap'n Bill from entrapment on Magic Isle.
The usually-uncooperative Bungle found the lost Button-Bright on Glinda's bidding, because "she really feared the great Sorceress...."
In personality, Bungle is almost stereotypically catlike—cool and reserved and aloof as well as vain. The cat "is so determined not to show emotion that when implored to bring help she sets off very slowly and runs only when out of sight." the Cat is virtually invulnerable to harm, which is a great advantage in its various adventures.
Public Domain Appearances[]
- The Patchwork Girl of Oz
- The Magic of Oz
- Glinda of Oz
Notes[]
- In its first appearance, Baum refers to the character as "the glass animal" or "it" at first, but within a few pages of Bungle's introduction he refers to the creature as "she." Other writers have also tended to view the cat as female.
- While the original character who appeared in Oz books published before 1923 is in public domain, any versions published post-1923 are NOT.