Mombi

From Oz Wiki

Mombi is an evil old witch who lives in the Gillikin Country of the Land of Oz.

Contents 1 Character 2 History 3 Background 4 Movies 5 Adaptations 6 References

Character

Mombi is generally referred to as a witch, although since the Good Witch of the North has banned other witches from her domain she was no more than a sorceress. Her farm included corn fields, a four-horned cow, and some pigs.( The Marvelous Land of Oz)

History

When the Wizard came to Oz, he took the throne of the rightful king, Pastoria. He made three visits to Mombi, leaving with her Pastoria's daughter Ozma. Mombi kept the infant sucessfully hidden away, transforming her into a boy named Tip. As he grew, Mombi treated Tip as a slave.

One day Mombi visited a Crooked Wizard and purchased the Powder of Life from him, which she used to bring Jack Pumpkinhead to life. Tip had created Jack in order to scare her, so as punishment Mombi began brewing a potion that would turn the boy into a marble statue. That night, Tip ran away, taking Jack with him.

When General Jinjur's Army of Revolt conquered the Emerald City, Jinjur feared that the deposed Scarecrow would return with the Tin Woodman to take back the throne of the kingdom. She asked Mombi for help and the old woman agreed, planning to recapture Tip, who had joined the former King of Oz.

The Scarecrow went to Glinda to ask for her help in regaining the throne, but she refused, saying that Princess Ozma was the rightful ruler of the land. She then set out to learn the fate of Pastoria's daughter and discovered the connection to Mombi. Glinda then captured Mombi and forced her to reveal the Princess's fate. Mombi restored Ozma to her proper form, and then Glinda took away the old woman's magical powers. (The Marvelous Land of Oz)

For her continuing misdeeds, Mombi is eventually put to death in a rare case of Ozzian capital punishment. (The Lost King of Oz) The later Oz writer March Laumer reversed this, regenerating and reforming the witch into a harmless character. (A Farewell to Oz)

Background

When the backstory of Oz is referred to later in the series, Mombi is often included, despite the many variations to the tale that Baum gave to the backstory in the course of the series. She is sometimes referred to as the Wicked Witch of the North. In Ozma of Oz, she is described as having kidnapped the baby princess, dropping the Wizard's role.^[1] In Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, she is described as having kidnapped Ozma's grandfather, long before the Wizard's arrival in Oz.^[2]

Movies

In the movie Return to Oz, the character of Mombi was combined with head-exchanging Princess Langwidere from the third book in the series, Ozma of Oz. She is portrayed by Jean Marsh, the same actress who plays Nurse Wilson in the mental hospital where Dorothy is committed at the beginning of the movie.

In the 1986 anime adaption Oz no Mahōtsukai, Mombi takes on a much younger, heavier appearance.

Adaptations

Mombi and Tip also make a cameo appearance in Gregory Maguire's second Oz novel, Son of a Witch.

References

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Mombi. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Oz Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.