The Scarecrow of Oz
Cap'n Bill and Trot help the Scarecrow overthrow a corrupt king.
The Scarecrow of Oz is the ninth book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series, published on July 16, 1915. Baum considered it his personal favorite among the Oz books. The story follows Cap'n Bill and Trot as they journey to Oz and help the Scarecrow overthrow the corrupt King Krewl of Jinxland.
Quick Facts
- Author
- L. Frank Baum
- Illustrator
- John R. Neill
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Series
- The Oz books
- Genre
- Children's novel
- Publisher
- Reilly & Britton
- Released
- 1915
Facts from the source article.
Plot summary
Cap'n Bill, a sailor with a wooden peg-leg, and his friend Trot set out from California in a row-boat. A whirlpool capsizes them, and they are carried by unseen mermaids to a cave. There they meet a flying creature called an Ork. After passing through a dark tunnel, the three arrive on an island inhabited by Pessim the Observer. Cap'n Bill and Trot eat magic shrinking-berries to reduce their size, and the Ork carries them to the land of Mo, where they eat other berries to resume normal size. They meet the Bumpy Man, who serves sugar and molasses, and encounter Button-Bright, the lost boy from The Road to Oz. Cap'n Bill calls down talking birds and offers them growing berries so they can carry the group across the desert to Oz. They land in Jinxland, a region cut off from the rest of Oz by mountains and a bottomless crevice. Jinxland's rightful king, King Kynd, was deposed by his prime minister Phearse, who was in turn deposed by his prime minister Krewl. The wealthy Googly-Goo wants to marry Princess Gloria, but she loves Pon, the gardener's boy and son of Phearse. King Krewl and Googly-Goo hire the witch Blinkie to freeze Gloria's heart. Cap'n Bill learns of the plot, and Blinkie turns him into a grasshopper. She then freezes Gloria's heart, and when Googly-Goo proposes, Gloria scornfully declines because she no longer loves anyone.
Background
The novel is dedicated to The Uplifters of Los Angeles, a subgroup of the elite Los Angeles Athletic Club known as 'The Lofty and Exalted Order of Uplifters.' This social and fraternal organization consisted of prominent southern California businessmen and public figures. Baum had been active in the group since moving to Los Angeles in 1909, serving among the Excelsiors on the governing board, and he wrote and acted in their shows and played bass drum in their band. A small group of Uplifters were key investors in The Oz Film Manufacturing Company, organized to make movies of Baum's works, putting up $100,000. Baum was named president and received stock in payment for cinema rights. The company's first project was The Patchwork Girl of Oz; its second, released in October 1914, was His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz, produced at a cost of $23,500 with a cast of 130 according to Baum. Baum hoped the film would boost the novel, but the film did not cover its costs. The first edition sold about 14,300 copies, slightly more than Tik-Tok of Oz, though Scarecrow became one of the more popular installments. Like Tik-Tok, this book contains a significant romantic element—Gloria and Pon—unusual for earlier Oz books. This work marked the last appearance of an American child journeying to Oz in Baum's series. The Ork, voiced by Peter MacNicol, appeared in an episode of The Oz Kids.
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