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Reading The Original Source
Jul. 26th, 2008 07:47 amIt occurred to me recently that for all I'm a fan of The Wizard of Oz movie and the Wicked novels and musical, I unbelievably had never read the canon. Really. Never cracked even the first book of the series. Kind of inconsistent for someone who's LJ is even decorated on a loose wicked witch theme. So now I have done.
I'm amazed at how different it is from the derivative works it later inspired. In fact, the vast majority of the original book was left out of the 1939 movie (out of necessity, obviously) and it didn't occur to me how much more there was in the book.
I enjoyed the book's art nouveau-inspired illustrations, but some of them are scary. Among many other things that struck me is how, with each incarnation of this story, the Wicked Witch of The West has gotten less ugly.
In the original book, the Wicked Witch of The West is almost indescribably hideous and frightening in a way that would keep a child awake and screaming all night. She looks like a half-bald old man with stick-out braids and one pop-eye, kind of a scary clown/pirate/psych ward freak thing. Margaret Hamilton's green movie Witch looked shrewish and beak-faced, but fell rather short of certifiable hideousness. The Wicked novel's green teen Elphaba is plain by her own choosing, unaware and uninterested in her non-traditional comeliness. And the musical's Elphaba radiates a defiant beauty once she decides who she is. If they ever make a movie musical, I can only guess how much sexier a wicked witch could possibly get.
In the case of Wicked, it goes without saying that the author had to de-uglify her to the extent that readers could sympathize with her. I guess I've left out Eviline from the 1970s The Wiz, who I only remember as being rotund and bossy, but otherwise not so much scary as imperious.
Anyway, I'm glad I now know what I missed in the canon. I don't think I'll have the time to read the rest of the series any time soon, but I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually.
I'm amazed at how different it is from the derivative works it later inspired. In fact, the vast majority of the original book was left out of the 1939 movie (out of necessity, obviously) and it didn't occur to me how much more there was in the book.
I enjoyed the book's art nouveau-inspired illustrations, but some of them are scary. Among many other things that struck me is how, with each incarnation of this story, the Wicked Witch of The West has gotten less ugly.
In the original book, the Wicked Witch of The West is almost indescribably hideous and frightening in a way that would keep a child awake and screaming all night. She looks like a half-bald old man with stick-out braids and one pop-eye, kind of a scary clown/pirate/psych ward freak thing. Margaret Hamilton's green movie Witch looked shrewish and beak-faced, but fell rather short of certifiable hideousness. The Wicked novel's green teen Elphaba is plain by her own choosing, unaware and uninterested in her non-traditional comeliness. And the musical's Elphaba radiates a defiant beauty once she decides who she is. If they ever make a movie musical, I can only guess how much sexier a wicked witch could possibly get.
In the case of Wicked, it goes without saying that the author had to de-uglify her to the extent that readers could sympathize with her. I guess I've left out Eviline from the 1970s The Wiz, who I only remember as being rotund and bossy, but otherwise not so much scary as imperious.
Anyway, I'm glad I now know what I missed in the canon. I don't think I'll have the time to read the rest of the series any time soon, but I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually.