Aunt Em
Encyclopedia
Aunt Em is a fictional character
from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale
and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm
in Kansas
. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
, she is described as having been a "young, pretty wife" when she arrived at Uncle Henry's farm, but having been greyed by her life in Kansas, implying that she appears older than one might expect from her chronological age. Baum tells us that when Dorothy first came to live with her, Em would "scream and press her hand upon her heart" when startled by Dorothy's laughter, and she appears emotionally distant to the girl at the beginning of the story. However, after Dorothy is restored to her at the end of the book, we see her true nature: she cries out, "My darling child!" and covers her with kisses.
There is no question about Dorothy's love for her aunt: indeed, her command to the magical Silver Shoes is "Take me home to Aunt Em!"
, she states that she has raised chicken
s for "nearly forty years." After confessing to Dorothy that their farm was facing imminent foreclosure, Em, Henry and Dorothy all move to the land of Oz
to live for good in the Emerald City
. Princess Ozma
appoints Em "Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz" in order to keep her busy.
Her sister is married to Bill Hugson. It is never clarified in the books whether it is she or Uncle Henry who is Dorothy's blood relative. (It is also possible that "Aunt" and "Uncle" are affectionate terms of a foster family and that Dorothy is not related to either of them.)
She is featured slightly less than Uncle Henry in the Oz books, despite having a bigger role in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
. Ruth Plumly Thompson
gave her only two brief mentions in The Royal Book of Oz
and Grampa in Oz
. She had somewhat larger roles in John R. Neill
's The Wonder City of Oz
and The Scalawagons of Oz
and Jack Snow
's The Magical Mimics in Oz
.
In The Emerald City of Oz, she shows herself particularly unamenable to Oz, asking for a back attic room, simpler clothing, and is gauche enough to tell Billina
that chickens are for broiling and eating without realizing that such a conversation would be deeply offensive. Uncle Henry has seen more of the world than she has, and is much more prepared to accept Oz as it is. In this book, unlike in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, her speech patterns and accent indicators are very similar to Sairy Ann Bilkins, the title character of Baum's Our Landlady, who, too, was quite set in her ways. Ultimately, though, she comes to the epiphany that she "ha[s] been a slave all [her] life," and is ready for her life to change.
Aunt Em appears occasionally in the works of Baum's successors in Oz literature; one notable example is Eric Shanower
's The Giant Garden of Oz
.
When Miss Gulch arrives to collect Toto, Auntie Em tells her off, saying to her: "Almira Gulch, just because you own half the county doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For twenty-three years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now... well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!" (Baum's character never mentions anything about religion beyond the implications of Sunday best clothing.) She is seen during the storm calling for Dorothy after the girl ran away, and is seen again in the crystal ball in the witch's castle still looking for Dorothy. And Dorothy is reunited with her when Dorothy awakens.
When Almira Gulch arrives at the farm she says, "Mr Gale! I'd like to speak with you and your wife right away." Since Dorothy's last name is also Gale, this implies that Henry is her blood-uncle, and Em is his wife. Auntie Em was portrayed by Clara Blandick
.
voices Aunt Em. She and Uncle Henry have a farmhand named Amos (voiced by Larry Storch
). He does not have an alter ego in Oz.
plays Aunt Em. She is worried and concerned of Dorothy's talk of Oz and presses that they are going to have two mortgages into her mind before taking her to shock therapy
administered by Dr. J.B. Worley. She mentions having a sister named Garnet who would loan them money for the therapy. Garnet may or may not have been intended to be Bill Hugson's wife. Nurse Wilson refers to her as "Mrs. Blue," which contradicts the MGM film, in which Henry's last name is Gale.
in the ABC
made-for-television movie The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
where this character owned a diner. In the VeggieTales
episode The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's
, Aunt Em and her husband Uncle Henry were substituted by a father (Dad Asparagus) to retell The Prodigal Son
, a biblical parable from the Gospel.
's insistence.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale
Dorothy Gale is the protagonist of many of the Oz novels by American author L. Frank Baum, and the best friend of Oz's ruler Princess Ozma. Dorothy first appears in Baum's classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels...
and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. Originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900, it has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of...
, she is described as having been a "young, pretty wife" when she arrived at Uncle Henry's farm, but having been greyed by her life in Kansas, implying that she appears older than one might expect from her chronological age. Baum tells us that when Dorothy first came to live with her, Em would "scream and press her hand upon her heart" when startled by Dorothy's laughter, and she appears emotionally distant to the girl at the beginning of the story. However, after Dorothy is restored to her at the end of the book, we see her true nature: she cries out, "My darling child!" and covers her with kisses.
There is no question about Dorothy's love for her aunt: indeed, her command to the magical Silver Shoes is "Take me home to Aunt Em!"
Oz books
Em spends most of her life working on farms. In The Emerald City of OzThe Emerald City of Oz
The Emerald City of Oz is the sixth of L. Frank Baum's fourteen Land of Oz books. It was also adapted into a Canadian animated film in 1987. Originally published on July 20, 1910, it is the story of Dorothy Gale and her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em coming to live in Oz permanently...
, she states that she has raised chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
s for "nearly forty years." After confessing to Dorothy that their farm was facing imminent foreclosure, Em, Henry and Dorothy all move to the land of Oz
Land of Oz
Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...
to live for good in the Emerald City
Emerald City
The Emerald City is the fictional capital city of the Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
. Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma is a fictional character in the Land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the series except the first, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz .She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and L...
appoints Em "Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz" in order to keep her busy.
Her sister is married to Bill Hugson. It is never clarified in the books whether it is she or Uncle Henry who is Dorothy's blood relative. (It is also possible that "Aunt" and "Uncle" are affectionate terms of a foster family and that Dorothy is not related to either of them.)
She is featured slightly less than Uncle Henry in the Oz books, despite having a bigger role in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. Ruth Plumly Thompson
Ruth Plumly Thompson
Ruth Plumly Thompson was an American writer of children's stories.-Life and work:An avid reader of Baum's books and a lifelong children's writer, Thompson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began her writing career in 1914 when she took a job with the Philadelphia Public Ledger; she wrote...
gave her only two brief mentions in The Royal Book of Oz
The Royal Book of Oz
The Royal Book of Oz is the fifteenth in the series of Oz books, and the first to be written by Ruth Plumly Thompson after L. Frank Baum's death. Although Baum was credited as the author, it was written entirely by Thompson. Beginning in the 1980s, some editions have correctly credited Thompson,...
and Grampa in Oz
Grampa in Oz
Grampa in Oz is the eighteenth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the fourth written by Ruth Plumly Thompson.-Plot:...
. She had somewhat larger roles in John R. Neill
John R. Neill
John Rea Neill was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own. His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series...
's The Wonder City of Oz
The Wonder City of Oz
The Wonder City of Oz is the thirty-fourth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the first written and illustrated solely by John R. Neill.-Tone:...
and The Scalawagons of Oz
The Scalawagons of Oz
The Scalawagons of Oz is the thirty-fifth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and continued by his successors; it is the second volume in the series both written and illustrated by John R. Neill.-Bell-snickle:...
and Jack Snow
Jack Snow (writer)
John Frederick "Jack" Snow was an American radio writer and scholar, primarily of the works of L. Frank Baum. When Baum died in 1919, the twelve-year-old Snow offered to be the next Royal Historian of Oz, but was politely turned down by a staffer at Baum's publisher, Reilly & Lee...
's The Magical Mimics in Oz
The Magical Mimics in Oz
The Magical Mimics in Oz is the thirty-seventh in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the first written by Jack Snow. It was illustrated by Frank G. Kramer.-A new "Royal Historian":...
.
In The Emerald City of Oz, she shows herself particularly unamenable to Oz, asking for a back attic room, simpler clothing, and is gauche enough to tell Billina
Billina
Billina is a character in the Oz books of L. Frank Baum.She is a yellow hen tossed overboard in a storm with Dorothy Gale in the novel Ozma of Oz, the third Oz book, and a sequel to L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
that chickens are for broiling and eating without realizing that such a conversation would be deeply offensive. Uncle Henry has seen more of the world than she has, and is much more prepared to accept Oz as it is. In this book, unlike in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, her speech patterns and accent indicators are very similar to Sairy Ann Bilkins, the title character of Baum's Our Landlady, who, too, was quite set in her ways. Ultimately, though, she comes to the epiphany that she "ha[s] been a slave all [her] life," and is ready for her life to change.
Aunt Em appears occasionally in the works of Baum's successors in Oz literature; one notable example is Eric Shanower
Eric Shanower
Eric James Shanower is an American comics artist and writer, best known for his Oz novels and comics and the on-going retelling of the Trojan War as Age of Bronze.-Biography:...
's The Giant Garden of Oz
The Giant Garden of Oz
The Giant Garden of Oz is a novel written and illustrated by Eric Shanower, first published in 1993 by Emerald City Press, a division of Books of Wonder. As its title indicates, the novel is a volume in the ever-growing literature on the Land of Oz, written by L...
.
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
In the film she is referred to as "Auntie Em" (real name Emily), and pushes Dorothy away when she and Uncle Henry are counting chicks. Hickory addresses her as "Mrs. Gale" just before she offers crullers to the three farmhands, and Hunk does so just afterward. As many women of her time, she is a knitter.When Miss Gulch arrives to collect Toto, Auntie Em tells her off, saying to her: "Almira Gulch, just because you own half the county doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For twenty-three years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now... well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!" (Baum's character never mentions anything about religion beyond the implications of Sunday best clothing.) She is seen during the storm calling for Dorothy after the girl ran away, and is seen again in the crystal ball in the witch's castle still looking for Dorothy. And Dorothy is reunited with her when Dorothy awakens.
When Almira Gulch arrives at the farm she says, "Mr Gale! I'd like to speak with you and your wife right away." Since Dorothy's last name is also Gale, this implies that Henry is her blood-uncle, and Em is his wife. Auntie Em was portrayed by Clara Blandick
Clara Blandick
Clara Blandick was an American actress. Her many film appearances include the role of Auntie Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:She was born Clara Dickey, the daughter of Isaac B...
.
Journey Back to Oz (1974 animated film)
Margaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
voices Aunt Em. She and Uncle Henry have a farmhand named Amos (voiced by Larry Storch
Larry Storch
Lawrence Samuel "Larry" Storch is an American actor best known for his comic television roles, including voice-over work for top cartoon shows, including Mr...
). He does not have an alter ego in Oz.
Return to Oz (1985 film)
Piper LauriePiper Laurie
Piper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
plays Aunt Em. She is worried and concerned of Dorothy's talk of Oz and presses that they are going to have two mortgages into her mind before taking her to shock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
administered by Dr. J.B. Worley. She mentions having a sister named Garnet who would loan them money for the therapy. Garnet may or may not have been intended to be Bill Hugson's wife. Nurse Wilson refers to her as "Mrs. Blue," which contradicts the MGM film, in which Henry's last name is Gale.
Other adaptations
Em was played by Queen LatifahQueen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...
in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
made-for-television movie The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz is a 2005 musical telefilm directed by Kirk Thatcher and starring Ashanti and The Muppets. The film was produced by Bill Barretta and written by Debra Frank, Steve L. Hayes, Tom Martin, and Adam F...
where this character owned a diner. In the VeggieTales
VeggieTales
VeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity...
episode The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's
The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's
The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's is the 33rd episode in the VeggieTales series, and was released on DVD on October 6, 2007 in Christian Bookstores and on October 9, 2007 in other stores. It is based on the parable from the Bible, The Prodigal Son, and a parody of The Wizard of Oz film adaptation...
, Aunt Em and her husband Uncle Henry were substituted by a father (Dad Asparagus) to retell The Prodigal Son
Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Prodigal Son, also known as the Lost Son and the Prodigal Father, is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament. According to the Gospel of Luke a father extravagantly gives his sons their inheritance before he dies...
, a biblical parable from the Gospel.
Comics
In the comic book The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #1, Em takes Dorothy to Henry's grave in St. Ann's Cemetery. The gravestone has been snapped in two. Em later returned the slippers to Dorothy, having kept them safe at GlindaGlinda
Glinda is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.- Literature :Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
's insistence.