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.
