My Mental Oz

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but now I've finally had the motivation to actually do it.

Basically, I thought it would be interesting (for me at least, not necessarily you) to give you an idea of how I envision each province of Oz and a few other things.

Now, you may not agree, and if that's the case, I'd like to hear your opinion! Also, many of my mental images may differ from the information we're given in different sources; and that is mainly a result of me seeing the musical before reading the book and having seen The Wizard of Oz 1000 times before seeing Wicked.

For example, I know the Vinkus in the book is largely grasslands and desert. But again, I saw the musical before knowing anything of the book; and although I have the grasslands in my mental "Vinkus"- because it's also featured on the musical map, I still see the Vinkus as I first did upon watching Wicked.

I also have to stress that I haven't actually been to most of these places, so my mental images mostly come from pictures I've seen and movies/TV shows, etc. Also, the pictures used aren't exact, obviously. Just to give you an idea.

So, here we go:

Munchkinland:

Munchkinland is a tricky one, because I actually have two sources. One of course, is The Wizard of Oz movie, as Munchkinland is the first place in Oz we see. Although The WoO mostly forms my basis for Munchkin City itself, combined with sort of just the typical country town.

For the rest of the province, I mostly envision where I've been living the past 3 years- the Australian countryside. Lots of green, lots of farmland, lots of sheep.

And to be honest, maybe a little bit like The Shire from Lord of the Rings.











The Governor's Mansion:

The Governor's mansion is the sole exception to this picture, and it's very similar to what I picture for Gilikin, as you'll see in the next paragraph.
Basically it's a big white house. And for some reason, it's always on the top of a hill.

This is the Governor's Mansion in Alabama. LOOK AT THAT STAIRCASE!!! *swoon*
(I have this weird thing about staircases. Love them)

Gilikin:

My vision of Gilikin comes from certain American states. You know the big plantation houses? That's what I picture. Like Gone With the Wind kind of stuff. Very green, lots of trees....





The Emerald City:

Basically, early 1900s New York, but green. I watch a lot of movies set in early 1900s New York. Or just early 1900s.



The Vinkus:

Again, I know- deserts and grasslands. What do I picture? Germany. Why? Excellent question. I don't know.





Kiamo Ko:

There's some really pretty German castles, and that's how I picture Kiamo Ko.



Shiz:

For Shiz, I mostly think of the big Ivy League colleges- namely, Harvard. Very old and lots of stone work....



Quadling Country:

Quadling Country was a hard one, and one I've only written once so far. All I knew about Quadling Country in the beginning was "marshland" and they were poor. This is what I think of.





The Glikkus:

The Glikkus is a place I haven't written yet. All I knew about that was this is where they mine the Emeralds for the Emerald City, and aside from Australia the only place I know Emeralds come from is Russia.

So, yeah, I tend to think of Russia.






I think that's everything... there's also Ugabu of course, but that's disputed and I haven't written that either so I don't think about it much.

Ozian Technology Question

I have a question for research for a fic. I can't explain why, just go with it.

So, as I've mentioned before, I set my Oz no later than 1939. But if you were to write about an Oz 100 years after Elphaba's time, just where would technology sit?

100 years makes it 2039, so even further ahead than us. So, I guess the question is: "how fast would technology is Oz progress?"

Would it be advanced? Do I split the technology and make it the technological equivalent of the 1980s?

Let me know what you guys think on this matter please!

Technology in Oz

I know there's always a lot of discussion about the time setting of Wicked. Everyone has their own opinion on the time period, the technology, the fashion, etc.
And honestly the book and musical don't give us a lot to go on. I've stated before the theory I use when writing my own Oz fiction- The Wizard of Oz was released 1939, which is Act 2 of the musical. I figure there were about 2 years between Acts 1 and 2, which would mean that Elphaba and Nessarose began Shiz in the fall of 1936-37 (I say '36 because I like to think some time passed between when they started and then Fiyero turning up, and the Lion cub, etc).

I was reading an article today on Cracked.com about 5 simple problems technology should have fixed by now and I was amazed to read that the fax machine was invented in 1843. Which means, by my timeline, there's every chance that Elphaba and co could be sending faxes to one another. That got me thinking about what other technology I never considered could be in Oz.

Here's some of the things I found:

• escalator (1900)
• vacuum cleaner (1901)
• air conditioner (1902)
• motion pictures (1910)
• pop up toaster (1919)
• notebooks with spiral binders (1924) [I know, right?]
• FM radio (1933)
• stereo records (1933)
• drive in movie theatres (1933)
• photocopier (1937)

There's also stuff like frozen food, instant coffee, self-winding watches, crayons, cellophane and even Monopoly. It's funny how you don't realise how old little things in life are until you actually look them up. 

Historical lesson!

Time is a funny thing in Oz. It's hard to discern just what kind of era it's set in, in terms of fashion and technology.

Now, most people probably don't really care about that, but as a writer, I want to get these things write- even just for fanfiction. It honestly bugs me a little when people have Elphaba and Galinda wearing jeans and using laptops and mobile phones (cell phones for you Americans), because it just doesn't sit well with me.

Don't get me wrong, if I like the story I'll read it nonetheless and if it's a modern adaptation of Wicked that's different.

We don't have many clues as to the time period. I always picture it sometime around the 1900-1940s era. I have a feeling this is mostly because the book of The Wizard of Oz was written in 1900 and the movie came out in 1939, but also because some of the costumes (Elphaba's act 2 dress, Fiyero's Shiz uniform in the Lion Cub scene) just remind me of that kind of era (probably closer to 1900 than 1940).

And then there's the fact that time in Oz seems to be different than our world. Of course, my only foundation for this is that in Out of Oz when Dorothy comes back to Oz she's about 18 (I haven't actually read the book yet, but I've read a summary) whilst the book focuses on Elphaba's granddaughter.

Given that the majority of my stories are set at Shiz, technology isn't a huge problem for me. But occassionally I have to write something, and I have to think "would they have these in Oz?"

Like, for example, a refrigerator.

Well, I'm going to say yes.

Did you know, the first refrigerator for home and domestic use was invented in 1913? And they began to be mass produced in 1918?

Of course, "These home units usually required the installation of the mechanical parts, motor and compressor, in the basement or an adjacent room while the cold box was located in the kitchen." (according to Wikipedia. Not usually the most academic source of information, I know. But for fanfiction, I'm going to allow it). This changed in 1922-23 when they became more self-contained and compact although they were about $700, which was more than a car at the time!

So there's your fun fact for the day! 

Now I feel incredibly boring. I actually find this kind of interesting. You probably do not.