It's An Umbrella, Not A Broom

Because everyone instantly thinks of the MGM movie when you say “Wizard of Oz” I had told myself that I had to be careful with how I was constructing the story for Say Goodbye Toto. The safest thing to do would be to stick solely to the book. If an element is in the movie, and not in the book, then I can’t use it. Which is why there will be no ruby slippers running around Say Goodbye Toto. The shoes are silver in the book. Not sure if they’ll be silver in the play, but they’re definitely not going to be red.

This link has been my most valuable resource. Those are W.W. Denslow’s original illustrations going along with the text. As you can see, the Wicked Witch is a very strange looking woman, but what is she carrying? An umbrella. Not a broom. In fact, she never carries a broom, or flies on a broom, even though she’s entitled to do so because she’s a witch, and that’s what witches do, right?

The broom was added for the movie. I suppose very technically, I could get away with having a broom for the Wicked Witch in Say Goodbye Toto, as long as she didn’t skywrite Surrender Dorothy (which would be difficult to do in a theater anyway.)

But it’s a little weird for a Wicked Witch to be carrying around an umbrella, right? Until you realize the genius of W.W. Denslow’s illustrations. Because we all know what happens to the Wicked Witch, right? She gets melted from what? A bucket of water. So it’s absolutely logical that the witch would carry around an umbrella, not a broom (even if it doesn’t save her in the end.)

The umbrella is never mentioned in the text, W.W. Denslow thought it up all on his own. These little discoveries make the whole researching process worthwhile.

- Amy Heidish

Ask Toto A Question # 6

Dear Toto,

I have been a fan of THE WIZARD OF OZ since I was first old enough to watch movies! It all looks so real and magical, there's something I've always wanted to ask you.

Gay marriage. Your thoughts?

Bill in Studio City

Hi Bill!

Okay, first of all, I have to say that marriage is a concept I don’t understand. I understand Owner/Pet. I understand Human/Dog. But what is marriage? I mean, I’ve been with Dorothy ever since I was a pup. I am never never never leaving her side. Why doesn’t that make us married? I wear a type of ring called a collar, though she doesn’t wear one back (that’d be cool if she did, though.)

But why doesn’t that make us married? We love each other, we’re going to be together forever, isn’t that what marriage is? Loving and staying with the same person for the rest of your life, forsaking all others, la la laaaaaaa.

Now gay marriage. Well, aren’t ALL marriages supposed to be gay? Laughing, singing, dancing, tra la la la? Marriages are happy, loving, fun, and a gay old time.

So even if I don’t understand marriage, I think gay marriage is practically a requirement. Because if you’re not happy and gay in your marriage, what’s the point? Thanks for the question!

Ask Toto A Question runs every other week until the questions run out. Don’t let that happen! Send Toto your queries at thedogtoto@yahoo.com.

Yes, there was a slight interruption

Hi everyone,

Many apologies for not posting as I should have been. My first produced feature film script: Two Million Stupid Women made its world premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose, California two weeks ago, and it took up a large part of my time. Let's see if I can embed the trailer here:



As if you couldn't tell from the title or trailer, the film's a comedy (weird as it is, some people couldn't tell. Like anyone would make a film called Two Million Stupid Women that was LITERALLY about Two Million Stupid Women? Who would do that? Honestly? Please remove the stick from your ass and go get a sense of humor) You can find out more information about it on our website:

http://twomillionstupidwomen.com

And here's an interview we did to support the film. Let's see if this one turns out:



So I promise to get back to a regular posting schedule now. Toto has been very pouty at the lack of attention, even though I left him with my roommates who fed him fine. Keep the questions coming. Mr. Narcissist loves 'em, ha ha ha.