Deadly Desert

"...if this is the Land of Oz, then this is the Deadly Desert. It surrounds Oz. Last time me and Toto flew over it in the old house. Anything living that touches it; turns to sand..."

―Return to Oz (1985)

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The Sawhorse reads the Deserts' Deadly Warning Sign!

"I am anxious to get back home, or I am sure my poor Aunt Em and hardworking Uncle Henry will worry about me and Toto. Can you help me find my way?" Asked Dorothy. The Munchkins and the Good Witch of the North first looked at one another, and then at Dorothy, and then shook their heads. "At the East, not far from here," said one, "there is a great Deadly Desert, and none could live to cross it." "It is the same at the South," said another, "for I have been there and seen it. The South is the country of the Quadlings. "I am told," said the third man, "that it is the same at the West. And that country, where the Winkies live, is ruled by the Wicked Witch of the West, who would make you her slave if you passed her way." "The North is my home," said the old lady, "and at its edge of the country of the Gillikins, is the same dangerous desert that surrounds this realm of the Land of Oz. "

―The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

"I've lost my Magic Belt. That annoying little girl named Dorothy Gale who was here with that preposterous Princess Ozma of Oz, stole my Magic Belt and carried it away with her," said the Nome King, grinding his teeth with rage. "She captured it in a fair fight," Kaliko ventured to say. "But I want it! I must have it! Half my power is gone without that Magic Belt, and I want it back, now!" roared the King. "You will have to go to the Land of Oz to recover it, and your Majesty can't get to Oz in any possible way," said the Steward, yawning because he had been on duty ninety-six hours, and was very sleepy. "Why not?" Groaned the King. "Because there is a vast Deadly Desert all around that country, which no one is able to cross. You know that fact as well as I do, your Majesty."

―The Emerald City of Oz (1910)

The Deadly Desert

Ozma makes a magic rug to safely cross over the Deadly Desert.

The Deadly Desert is the magically cursed desert that completely surrounds the enchanted Land of Oz. On maps, the Eastern quadrant of the desert is called the Deadly Desert, while the other three quadrants of desert are called the Shifting Sands, the Impassable Desert, and the Great Sandy Waste. Despite the different names given, each desert is as dangerous as hot lava, anyone who sets foot into the sand of any of these deserts instantly dies within a matter of seconds. First there will be many disagreeable fumes and then smoke and other gases will rise from the sands right after as the victim quickly disintegrates and becomes part of the desert forever.

Return to Oz Deadly Desert.

Notable Crossings

• Dorothy Gale was carried over the desert into Oz in her house by a cyclone, and back by her Silver Shoes. ("The Wonderful Wizard of Oz")
• The Wizard of Oz arrived in and left Oz in a hot air balloon. ("The Wonderful Wizard of Oz")
• Tip and his companions crossed the desert twice in a flying sofa. ("The Marvelous Land of Oz")
• Ozma, the ruler of Oz, crossed the desert with her whole court by use of a magical infinitely unrolling carpet. ("Ozma of Oz")
• Dorothy Gale, Shaggy Man, and Button-Bright crossed the desert into Oz by use of a sand ship built by Johnny Dooit. ("The Road to Oz")
• The Nome King dug a tunnel underneath the desert. ("The Emerald City of Oz")
• Trot, Cap'n Bill, and Button-Bright flew over the desert carried by birds and led by Flipper the Ork. ("The Scarecrow of Oz")
• Kiki Aru transformed himself into a bird and flew over from Oz, exploring the various countries of Nonestica. ("The Magic of Oz")
• A giant Ruggedo hopped right over the desert, and ran back to his mountain in Ev. ("Kabumpo in Oz")
• Kabumpo, Peg Amy, Pompadore, and Wag crossed over on a runaway country. ("Kabumpo in Oz")

Other Deadly Deserts...

The horrifying effects of the Deadly Desert.

The desert was originally merely a desert, being as dangerous as any natural desert but no more. Indeed, in The Marvelous Land of Oz, Mombi tries to escape through it and Glinda chases her over the sands, but in Ozma of Oz, it has become a magical desert with life-destroying sands, a feature that remained constant through the rest of the series.

Deadly Desert of Oz.

The desert is used as a literary device to explain why Oz is essentially cut off from the rest of the world. However, it has been crossed several times by people from within Oz and the outside world.

Return to Oz Deadly Desert.

In the 1985 Disney film Return to Oz, Dorothy Gale crosses over from Kansas to Oz in a chicken coop with Billina the farm hen. Later on, the pack of Wheelers chase after Dorothy who escaped from Princess Mombi by creating the flying Gump. The Wheelers fail to get across in pursuit of Dorothy and Billina who are by then accompanied by Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead. The party successfully crosses over the desert to reach the Nome King's mountain to rescue the Scarecrow. But half of the pack of Wheelers unfortunately fall into the desert when they reach Oz's border and are subsequently turned into sand and killed. The rest of the Wheelers later return with Princess Mombi and cross the desert through the tunnel dug underneath the desert to reach the Nome Kingdom.

In the Magic Land, the life-destroying property of the sand is absent. However, it is revealed in the second book that Gingema has placed a ring of giant black rocks around the land. These rocks attract any stranger attempting to enter the Magic Land (natives are unaffected), dooming them to death by thirst. The effect can be countered by eating magic grapes growing in a remote part of the Magic Land. It is also possible (although risky) to try slipping in the middle between two stones, where their powers cancel each other out.

L. Frank Baum's dying words reportedly were, "Now we can cross the shifting sands."