This amazing make-up was done by KatieAlves she’s an extremely talented make-up artist and you all should check out her other stuff on deviant art!
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This is another great piece by EvJones of Deviant art. This is a darker re-imaging of of Return to Oz/Ozma of Oz. I really enjoyed this piece and it also helped to inspire a scene in the novel I am penning.
This AMAZING picture was done by the talented JessiBeans of deviant art. It is an updated modernized version of Dorothy Gale and I encourage everyone to check out her other work! This amazing piece inspired the character Delilah in my Oz novel.
Fact of the Day:
Near L. Frank Baum’s childhood home in New York was a yellow limestone road.
WOW Amazing Oz photography
Check out this amazing website! http://www.flickr.com/photos/xeniajoy/sets/72157629589185302/ there are amazing photos done by untothehills they are absolutely STUNNING I would post pictures on here but I unfortunately cannot because they cannot be copied or saved to my computer. Please check them out and enjoy them :)
“My people have been wearing green glasses on their eyes for so long that most of them think this really is an Emerald City.” the Wizard, ~L. Frank Baum.
In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz the little Wizard explains to Dorothy and her friends that the Emerald city is not actually made of emerald, but the glasses he mandates everyone wears makes the city appear green. In another continuity error Baum abandons the idea of green glasses half way through The Marvelous Land of Oz the second book in the Oz series and yet the Emerald City remains green.
Be it the work of magical Ozma (though that too would be problematic) or a spell by Glinda the Good, the Emerald City remains as the magnificent green capital of Oz.
“You have some queer friends, Dorothy,’ she said.
The queerness doesn’t matter, so long as they’re friends,’ was the answer” ~L. Frank Baum
I always felt through my childhood, and even now as a young adult, my truest friends could only be found on my bookshelf. Dorothy, Ozma, the Wizard, Alice, the Mad Hatter, Cheshire cat, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, Luna, Snape (the love of my life), Peter, Susan, Lucy, Edmund. These are the people who helped me in times of turmoil and strife, who I laughed at and with, who I cried over. Very rarely did I feel that deeply for any friend of flesh and blood.
Glass Slippers and Silver Shoes
There is something distinctly different about the Land of Oz. It’s nothing like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid or any of the other European fairy tales that engage us as children and come to define us as adults.
Cinderella is the focus of the tale named after her, but she not the protagonist. The Cinder Girl accomplishes nothing on her own. Yes she is the abused step daughter, and of course we feel sympathy for her, but she does nothing to help herself—at least not in the Disney-eque modern version we have all come to accept. She desperately wishes to attend the ball, and magically her wish is fulfilled (yes limitations apply). She dances with the Prince and they fall in love immediately (I doubt they talked about her personality, character, interests, political beliefs). Rushing out she looses her beautiful glass slipper (why it never turned back into her ugly pauper shoe has always confused me). From here things differ with each version. Regardless though she never asserts it was she who is the true owner of the shoe, it is slipped onto her foot because of a royal edict, or some other loop hole. And well, that’s when they live happily ever after. She is perhaps one my least favorite “typical” Princesses. She does nothing. Nothing. She is a victim of her circumstances (and allows herself to be treated horribly) and then does not actively seek her desires but rather attains her goal through passivity and magic. That would not be the message I chose to send my daughter. And yes, I know the argument—“It’s just a story”. Yes it is. And plenty of young women who heard it have gone on to accomplish great things—but in recent years especially the Disney syndrome is getting far worse. Feminists are loosing ground. Of course little girls can pretend to be princesses, and fairies, and ballerinas. But at some point we also need to legitimately encourage young women. The message needs to be clear, that being born a female does not entitle you to a life time of rescues and a Prince charming.
Oz is full of girls and women being strong, pro-active, engaging. The 1939 movie does not do a great job of showing Dorothy’s strength, but by all accounts it’s not terrible either. But lets focus on L. Frank Baums books. Dorothy, by all accounts, is an out spoken adventurer. She explorers all corners of Oz, really at the drop of a hat. She’s continually willing to put herself in danger, to save others and help friends. She’s involved in the politics of Oz, and has proven to be a number of times quite cunning. Princess Ozma the girl ruler of Oz, actually governs her people. She makes policy, settles disputes, and over all concerns herself with the prosperity of her people. Dorothy and Ozma are just the tip of iceberg. Glinda the Good witch of the South and her all female army (if you don’t get the sense feminism is being bashed over your head you’re not reading Baum correctly) General Jinjur of Oz, Trot, and Betsy. An exceptionally vain and lovely character is Princess Langwidere who has 30 heads and is continually switching them, staring at herself in the mirror, and attempting to acquire more beautiful faces. Queen Coo-eh-oh is another lovely and self absorbed female in the Oz series that is turned into a swan by her enemies. Women, men, girls, boys, animals, and even living objects (the glass cat, living saw horse, Jack Pumpkin head, etc;) fill Oz’s pages.
Oz is full of women doing something and it’s not about them—or their love life. Dorothy is motivated by the love between friends, but she’s 12 and never shows any inkling of romantic feelings. Ozma is motivated by her love for her people and her duty to protect them. There are selfish, evil women in Oz of course too (Langwidere, Mombi, Witched Witch of the East, etc;) but Baum never tries to convince us that they are anything other than what they are—self interested human beings with sometimes malicious intentions. Don’t try to convince me Cinderella is anything but self serving. Her docile and “helpful” attitude towards her Stepmother and stepsisters is not “kind” it’s stupid and weak. I’d wear Dorothy’s silver shoes any day. You couldn’t pay me to wear Cinderella’s glass slippers.
