Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Munchkin
A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Although a common fixture in Germanic fairy tales, they are introduced to modern audiences with the first appearance in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in Oz. The Munchkins are described as being the same height as Dorothy and they wear only shades of blue clothing, as blue is the Munchkins' favorite color. Blue is also the predominating color that officially represents the eastern quadrant in the Land of Oz. The Munchkins have appeared in various media, including the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, as well as in various other films and comedy acts.
While Baum may have written about it, there are no surviving notes for the composition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The lack of this information has resulted in speculation of the term origins he used in the book, which include the word Munchkin. Baum researcher Brian Attebery has hypothesized that there might be a connection to the Münchner Kindl, the emblem of the Bavarian city of Munich (spelled München in German). The symbol was originally a 13th-century statue of a monk, looking down from the town hall in Munich. Over the years, the image was reproduced many times, for instance as a figure on beer steins, and eventually evolved into a child wearing a pointed hood. Baum's family had German origins, suggesting that Baum could have seen one such reproduction in his childhood. It is also possible that Munchkin came from the German word Männchen, which means "mannikin" or "little figure". In 1900, Baum published a book about window displays in which he stressed the importance of mannequins in attracting customers. Another possibility is a connection to Baron Munchausen.[original research?][citation needed] This fictional character is based on a real baron who told outrageous tall tales based on his military career. Like the other Oz terms, the word Munchkin ends in a diminutive which in this case refers to the size of the natives.
"she noticed coming down toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older."
The Munchkins are first mentioned (quote shown) in an excerpt from chapter two of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, titled "The Council with the Munchkins". Dorothy initially meets only three of them, along with the Good Witch of the North. The rest of the Munchkins then come out of hiding and are shown to be grateful towards Dorothy for killing their evil ruler the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy later eventually finds the yellow brick road and along the way attends a banquet held by a Munchkin man named Boq. Sometime in the book a background story is also given about a "Munchkin maiden" (named Nimmie Amee in later books), who was the former love interest of the Tin Woodman.
Baum also included the Munchkin characters in his later works as minor and major individual characters. The Munchkin Jinjur is the main antagonist in Baum's second book The Marvelous Land of Oz, where she seeks to overthrow the Scarecrow and take over the Emerald City. Jinjur makes a brief appearance in the next book, entitled Ozma of Oz, and is brought back in Baum's twelfth book, The Tin Woodman of Oz. By this time, she is shown to be a more prominent character who is helpful and friendly to Dorothy and her friends. Two other major Munchkin characters also appear in The Tin Woodman of Oz: Tommy Kwikstep and Nimmie Amee. The former appears in the story asking for a wish for running an errand for a witch; the latter is the name given to the mystery "Munchkin maiden" from the first book, who was the former lover of the Tin Woodman. More information is revealed that tells about the Tin Woodman's origin and their tragic love story. Lastly, the Munchkin Unc Nunkie appears in Baum's seventh book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, where he is accidentally turned to stone. His Munchkin nephew Ojo successfully goes on a quest in search of an antidote while learning more about himself in the process.
L. Frank Baum died on 6 May 1919 after which other writers took up writing additional Oz stories. In some cases these books were written under Baum's name and included the Munchkins. There is at least one known Munchkin character that was created after Baum's death that appears as a major character. Zif is a Munchkin boy who appears in John R. Neill's first adaptation called The Royal Book of Oz. Zif is a student at the College of Art and Athletic Perfection; he is both respectful and resentful towards his teacher Wogglebog who considers Zif a "nobody or a nothing". The Munchkin characters that Baum had created in his lifetime also appear in these additional works.
While the 1939 film is the most well known adaptation (see section below), it was not the first outside work to show the Munchkins in film or musical format. One of the first musical adaptations of Baum's books took place in 1902; it was also dubbed The Wizard of Oz. The Munchkins make their appearance in act one, called "The Storm", in which they are shown dancing around their maypole, not noticing that Dorothy's house has fallen to earth killing the Wicked Witch of the East. The first film adaptation of Baum's works, titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was released in 1910, followed by three sequels. However, it was not until 1914 that Munchkin characters first appeared in film works. Ojo the Lucky and Unc Nunkie both appear in a film titled The Patchwork Girl of Oz (based on the book of the same name). This film stars American actress Violet MacMillan as Ojo and was produced by Baum.
The 1939 movie musical The Wizard of Oz was loosely based on Baum's novel. Notable differences of the Munchkins include their country name of Munchkinland and their clothes of many colors instead of an all-blue attire. In the musical, the Munchkins are portrayed by the thirty-odd members of the Singer Midgets, a European performing troupe made up of adult actors with dwarfism. Their numbers were swelled when a national talent search brought in a further ninety-four little men, women, and teenagers, with a few average-sized children were also included as background extras in order to make up the 124 characters requested by MGM.
Hub AI
Munchkin AI simulator
(@Munchkin_simulator)
Munchkin
A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Although a common fixture in Germanic fairy tales, they are introduced to modern audiences with the first appearance in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in Oz. The Munchkins are described as being the same height as Dorothy and they wear only shades of blue clothing, as blue is the Munchkins' favorite color. Blue is also the predominating color that officially represents the eastern quadrant in the Land of Oz. The Munchkins have appeared in various media, including the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, as well as in various other films and comedy acts.
While Baum may have written about it, there are no surviving notes for the composition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The lack of this information has resulted in speculation of the term origins he used in the book, which include the word Munchkin. Baum researcher Brian Attebery has hypothesized that there might be a connection to the Münchner Kindl, the emblem of the Bavarian city of Munich (spelled München in German). The symbol was originally a 13th-century statue of a monk, looking down from the town hall in Munich. Over the years, the image was reproduced many times, for instance as a figure on beer steins, and eventually evolved into a child wearing a pointed hood. Baum's family had German origins, suggesting that Baum could have seen one such reproduction in his childhood. It is also possible that Munchkin came from the German word Männchen, which means "mannikin" or "little figure". In 1900, Baum published a book about window displays in which he stressed the importance of mannequins in attracting customers. Another possibility is a connection to Baron Munchausen.[original research?][citation needed] This fictional character is based on a real baron who told outrageous tall tales based on his military career. Like the other Oz terms, the word Munchkin ends in a diminutive which in this case refers to the size of the natives.
"she noticed coming down toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older."
The Munchkins are first mentioned (quote shown) in an excerpt from chapter two of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, titled "The Council with the Munchkins". Dorothy initially meets only three of them, along with the Good Witch of the North. The rest of the Munchkins then come out of hiding and are shown to be grateful towards Dorothy for killing their evil ruler the Wicked Witch of the East. Dorothy later eventually finds the yellow brick road and along the way attends a banquet held by a Munchkin man named Boq. Sometime in the book a background story is also given about a "Munchkin maiden" (named Nimmie Amee in later books), who was the former love interest of the Tin Woodman.
Baum also included the Munchkin characters in his later works as minor and major individual characters. The Munchkin Jinjur is the main antagonist in Baum's second book The Marvelous Land of Oz, where she seeks to overthrow the Scarecrow and take over the Emerald City. Jinjur makes a brief appearance in the next book, entitled Ozma of Oz, and is brought back in Baum's twelfth book, The Tin Woodman of Oz. By this time, she is shown to be a more prominent character who is helpful and friendly to Dorothy and her friends. Two other major Munchkin characters also appear in The Tin Woodman of Oz: Tommy Kwikstep and Nimmie Amee. The former appears in the story asking for a wish for running an errand for a witch; the latter is the name given to the mystery "Munchkin maiden" from the first book, who was the former lover of the Tin Woodman. More information is revealed that tells about the Tin Woodman's origin and their tragic love story. Lastly, the Munchkin Unc Nunkie appears in Baum's seventh book, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, where he is accidentally turned to stone. His Munchkin nephew Ojo successfully goes on a quest in search of an antidote while learning more about himself in the process.
L. Frank Baum died on 6 May 1919 after which other writers took up writing additional Oz stories. In some cases these books were written under Baum's name and included the Munchkins. There is at least one known Munchkin character that was created after Baum's death that appears as a major character. Zif is a Munchkin boy who appears in John R. Neill's first adaptation called The Royal Book of Oz. Zif is a student at the College of Art and Athletic Perfection; he is both respectful and resentful towards his teacher Wogglebog who considers Zif a "nobody or a nothing". The Munchkin characters that Baum had created in his lifetime also appear in these additional works.
While the 1939 film is the most well known adaptation (see section below), it was not the first outside work to show the Munchkins in film or musical format. One of the first musical adaptations of Baum's books took place in 1902; it was also dubbed The Wizard of Oz. The Munchkins make their appearance in act one, called "The Storm", in which they are shown dancing around their maypole, not noticing that Dorothy's house has fallen to earth killing the Wicked Witch of the East. The first film adaptation of Baum's works, titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was released in 1910, followed by three sequels. However, it was not until 1914 that Munchkin characters first appeared in film works. Ojo the Lucky and Unc Nunkie both appear in a film titled The Patchwork Girl of Oz (based on the book of the same name). This film stars American actress Violet MacMillan as Ojo and was produced by Baum.
The 1939 movie musical The Wizard of Oz was loosely based on Baum's novel. Notable differences of the Munchkins include their country name of Munchkinland and their clothes of many colors instead of an all-blue attire. In the musical, the Munchkins are portrayed by the thirty-odd members of the Singer Midgets, a European performing troupe made up of adult actors with dwarfism. Their numbers were swelled when a national talent search brought in a further ninety-four little men, women, and teenagers, with a few average-sized children were also included as background extras in order to make up the 124 characters requested by MGM.