Wicked Witch of the East (Novels)

"Oh dear, oh dear!" Cried Dorothy in dismay. "Who was she?" asked the girl. "She was the Wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered the little old woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor."

―The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

"As Coroner, I must aver I thoroughly examined her, and she's not only merely dead, she's really, most sincerely dead..."

―Munchkin Coroner (1939)

The Wicked Witch of the East was one of four powerful Witches who presided over the four countries of the magical Land of Oz. She was the original owner of the charmed Silver Shoes, which helped her conquer Oz's eastern quadrant called Munchkin Country and enslave the natives called Munchkins, and keep them tightly in her bondage.

The Wicked Witch of the East was never given a name by Baum and is only known by her title of position. She was said to be much more powerful than the Good Witch of the North, who lived in the northern quadrant of Oz called Gillikin Country. But she was not near as powerful as the beautiful sorceress Glinda, the Good Witch of the South who ruled over the southern quadrant called Quadling Country. She was arguably more powerful than the Wicked Witch of the West who ruled the western quadrant called Winkie Country, but was much more private and humble. The Wicked Witch of the East was ultimately killed when Dorothy Gale of Kansas came to Oz via cyclone, her house dropping on top of her.

Oziana1992-1 — The Wicked Witch of the East Ozmopolitan 1992 edition.

History[]

The Wicked Witch of the East appeared to have a humble dwelling. In Baum's Oz book titled The Tin Woodman of Oz, published in 1918, more of her history is revealed. And instead of a giant castle or fancy mansion, she appears to have a small standard cottage house deep within the Munchkin forest and has one beautiful Munchkin maid named Nimmie Amee who did the housework and cooking. The Munchkin slaves seemed to be a happy folk, as long as they didn't displease the Wicked Witch or make her angry. Basically, you could live happily and peacefully under the reign of the Wicked Witch of the East, as long as you did everything she wanted and kept her satisfied, such as staying out of her way or obeying her orders.

The Wicked Witch of the East was not as powerful as the one in the West but she was far more experienced and educated in the art of Witchcraft. Long ago, after the fall of Oz's mortal King known as Pastoria who disappeared from Oz when the Wizard arrived via hot-air balloon and overthrew him, Oz then tried to overthrow the Wicked Witch of the West. After this he even tried to start a war with the Wicked Witch of the East. Both the Wizard's attempts were unsuccessful, and he was ran out of both quadrants each time, unable to effectively subdue their rulers, and he never tried to challenge either Wicked Witch ever again.

One day, a Munchkin woodman by the name of Nick Chopper had promised the beautiful maid of the Wicked Witch of the East who was also his secret lover, named Nimmie Amee, that he would chop down many trees to build her a pretty, comfortable home, and when the house was finished they would marry and elope by running away together to live happily ever after and away from the all their troubles. Thus, Nimmie Amee would be a servant no more. The Wicked Witch however, being a cunning creature, happened to eavesdrop on the two lovers making their escape plans. And since the the Wicked Witch was a rather lazy one, she was determined to prevent her servant from leaving her. Among her exceedingly cruel actions was the evil enchantment of Nick Chopper's handy axe which caused him to cut off all the limbs of his own body and eventually turn into the Tin Woodman aka the 'Tin Man'. This caused him to believe he no longer needed a heart with his new hollow tin body, so he never married Nimmie Amee, a belief and choice he would one day deeply regret.

About a year after, the Wicked Witch was searching for some spices and herbs in the fields and meadows in Munchkin Country. As she did, she finally met her tragic end when a cyclone released Dorothy Gale's Kansas farmhouse and let it unexpectedly fall out of the sky within Oz. As it fell, it landed right on top of the Wicked Witch, ultimately crushing her to death and putting an end to her Wickedness once and for all. When Dorothy learns what has happened to the Wicked Witch, to her horror she sees her two feet under the crashed establishment that are also said to be shod in attractive charmed Silver Shoes, that held a mysterious magic inside of them.

In the book, shortly after Dorothy's house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, her body crumbles to dust. She was said to be so old that, just like the Wicked Witch of the West, the blood in her body dried up long ago. Her death was cause for a great feast and lavish banquet all throughout Munchkinland. The day was officially set aside as a national Holiday forevermore. An evening party is specifically held by a rich Munchkin man named Boq, and Dorothy attends this event as an honored guest. (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

In other books[]

Malvonia was the Wicked Witch of the East. Her sister, Morella the Wicked Witch of the West, came to her for advice on how to conquer the Wizard of Oz shortly after his arrival in Winkie Country. She advised her sister to seek out Gayelette and get the Winged Monkeys from her, which she did. (How the Wizard Came to Oz)

In The Magic Book of Oz, her name is given as Quorrible, and the King of the Munchkins retain a magic whistle from her after her death.

In The Hidden History of Oz series, a backstory is given with her name being Kaliyana.

In Roger S. Baum's Lion of Oz and the Badge of Courage, the Wicked Witch of the East is the main antagonist. The book was adapted into the 2000 animated film Lion of Oz.

Book Appearances[]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
The Tin Woodman of Oz (1918)
The Royal Book of Oz (1921) (mentioned)

Other books[]

Background[]

The witch is much talked about in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (the first of many Oz books by L. Frank Baum) and later in Baum's The Tin Woodman of Oz. There is significant discrepancy between the two books with regard to the exact role played by the Wicked Witch of the East in relation to Nick Chopper and his fiancée, but what is clear in both books is that the Tin Woodman became the way he is because of the Wicked Witch's enchantments.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)[]

In the 1939 MGM Musical movie, The Wizard of Oz, the mean spirited Kansas landowner named Almira Gulch makes a hideous transformation into the Wicked Witch of the East who is briefly seen flying past Dorothy's house when it was being carried to Oz by the cyclone.

The famous sequence of the house dropping from out of the sky after being released by the storm is actually a subjective point of view shot--showing the Wicked Witch's point of view as Dorothy's house crushes her to death, killing her instantly. She is not on screen again except for her feet sticking out from under the house wearing the magic Ruby Slippers that are ultimately passed down to Dorothy, and rightfully so.

In the film's production, the Silver Shoes from the 1900 book which the movie is loosely based on were changed to "Ruby Slippers" to stand out better for the Technicolor film. Based on the death certificate prop indicating the date that the scene was filmed, she is listed as having died on May 6th, 1938.

The film also portrays the Wicked Witch of the East as being the sister of the green skinned Wicked Witch of the West, a relationship neither stated nor implied in Baum's Oz book nor its sequels.

Return to Oz[]

The Wicked Witch of the East is mentioned when Dorothy Gale (played by Fairuza Balk) and Billina the talking hen find Dorothy's old farmhouse that landed on top of her when Dorothy returns to Oz six months after her first trip.

"That's where we landed on the Wicked Witch of the East! "

―

Return to Oz (film) (1985)

Lion of Oz[]

Prior to her death under Dorothy's house, the Wicked Witch of the East encounters the Cowardly Lion who, at the time, had a medal of courage from his friend, Oscar Diggs and so was just the Lion; not Cowardly. The Wicked Witch lied and said she had Diggs captive, which lead the Lion on a quest to find the Flower of Oz. (Lion of Oz)

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz[]

Miss Piggy as the Wicked Witch of the East.

In Walt Disney's made of TV Muppet movie The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the East is played by Miss Piggy (as are all of the other three witches of Oz). The Wicked Witch of the East managed to lift Dorothy's fallen trailer up after it had fallen on her the first time long enough to threaten the Munchkins one last time before it fell back on top of her, officially killing her. (The Muppets' Wizard of Oz)

Dorothy and the Witches of Oz[]

From The Witches of Oz : Witch of the East (left) and Witch of the West (right)

The Wicked Witch of the East appears via flashbacks to Dorothy's childhood. She is prominently seen battling Glinda and Locasta just before she looks up to see Dorothy's oncoming house. Her last words are "oh dear." She is depicted with yellow skin and channels her magic via a flaming broom. As in the classic film, she is the Witch of the West's sister . (Dorothy and the Witches of Oz)

Oz: The Great and Powerful[]

See Evanora.

Magic Land[]

FA5C0AFD-C5B6-4DC4-92FA-DA400B56C55E — Gingema is brewing a hurricane potion.

In Alexander Melentyevich Volkov's The Wizard of the Emerald City, the Witch's name is Gingema. Like in the 1939 movie, the two Wicked Witches are sisters. The book begins with her summoning a magical hurricane to destroy all humanity (since people, in her opinion, exterminate her food). However, Villina learns of her schemes, and changes the spell to only affect one house (her magic book told her it was always empty during storms) and drop it on Gingema's head. Unlike in Baum's books, while being the formal ruler of the Munchkins, she interfered little in their lives, and only demanded that people collect food for her. Since her food was snakes, leeches, spiders, and other similarly disgusting creatures which the Munchkins were afraid of, that was nevertheless a heavy burden for them.

The Wiz[]

In both the Broadway musical, The Wiz, and the Motown production of the same name the Wicked Witch of the East is named Evamene who rules and terrorizes the Munchkins.

In the film version , Evamene was the Muchkinland Park's Department commissioner and she transformed all the Munchkins to works of graffiti as punishment for spray painting on her playground walls. When Dorothy arrived and killed her in the process, the Munchkins were set free from the curse and turned back to normal.

Wicked[]

In the more recent novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by author Gregory Maguire, The Wicked Witch of the East is known as Nessarose Thropp. She is the beautiful but physically handicapped (born with no arms in the book and paraplegic in musical) sister of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West). She is bald in the books and this is why the Nessa actress in the musical is the only actress without a wig. She gains the ability to walk unsupported thanks to the enchanted silver/ruby shoes. In both the book and musical, the character is portrayed in a less negative light than in the Baum books or earlier movie, although she becomes fanatical, (something of a religious "nut-job" in the books and desperately and manipulatively dependent on the munchkin Boq in musicals) so much so that she limits the rights of the Munchkins and ends up being referred to as a 'wicked witch'.

Emerald City[]

East was one of the Cardinal Witches of Oz, together with her sisters: Glinda and West. She died when Dorothy arrived in Oz. She is also called The Mistress of the Eastern Wood, The Most Merciful and Stern.

She's the creator of the Prison of the Abject. The ability to lock and unlock the prison died with her, as each Witches' spells are their own.

She didn't have an apprentice to pass on the fruits of her tongue, because the Wizard made magic illegal.

East seemingly died by being hit by a police car when Dorothy arrived in Oz, but survived the impact in death-like stupor. Once she woke up, she wanted to take revenge on Dorothy as she woke up 'with a strange taste in her mouth' - Dorothy. She found the girl on the Brick Road and went on to torment her by imprisoning her mind in the Prison of the Abject.

East can control the weather and create tornadoes at will. She can also move objects and has the power to imprison a person, at least mentally, in the Prison of the Abject.

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz[]

She is ignored for seasons 1+2, but midway through season 3 in Oz on Ice the West Witch has a vision of the East Witch's spirit.

She plays a role similar to Jacob Marley in "A Christmas Carol".

She warns the West Witch (analogous to Scrooge) to change her ways.

Her ghost is small, and surrounded by a red aura.

She has green skin similar to the other witches in the series.

This is eventually revealed to have been Dorothy in disguise, though it remains unclear how Dorothy knew how to disguise herself, given that in the film preceding the series she never actually saw her face, only briefly her feet before they shriveled up, leaving the ruby slippers behind.

In part one of the season 3 finale Battle for the Silver Slippers when West follows Dorothy back to the Silver Fortress, East is released from a hidden chamber, which surprises everyone involved.

Dorothy appears to recognize who it is (she says her name) and West calls her sister, the first indication that they are siblings.

In part two, it's clarified she isn't Wilhelmina's mom, calling Wil "niece" and Wil saying "aunties" plurally. West also appears to be competetive, calling East "less talented".

East is still dead (though Ozma avoids using the word, saying "y'know" instead) but her spirit is able to partly solidify so long as West wears the silver slippers. East however wants to regain her ruby slippers to fully return to life permanently, due to her special bond with them.

She is voiced by Tom Kenny.

Other Siblings[]

The Witch is not mentioned frequently in the 2014 CGI film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. The Jester, the antagonist of the film, is her younger brother.

Merchandise[]

In 2007, Turner Entertainment collaborated with Madame Alexander to create a series of McDonald's Happy Meal toys centered on the main characters from the 1939 movie, one of which was the Wicked Witch of the East. She is depicted as having blonde hair, a red shirt with a green belt and a burgundy dress over her distinguishable striped stockings and ruby slippers. She also is wearing a hat similar to the Witch of the West's, although it is colored red.