- “She is Ozma, queen and rightful ruler of Oz.”
- ―Maiden introducing Ozma
Princess Ozma is the ruler of the Land of Oz, who appears as a minor and later major character in the Oz books and a supporting character in the 1985 feature film Return to Oz.
Appearances[]
Return to Oz[]
The film, which was based loosely on the books Ozma of Oz and The Marvelous Land of Oz, reveals that Ozma's father was the king of Oz before the Wizard came, and Mombi made Ozma her slave. When the Nome King took over Oz and promised Mombi the heads of 30 women (to switch heads with) if she kept her a secret, she imprisoned her within the mirror. Somehow, she is able to appear outside Oz and talk to Dorothy at the hospital as a fellow patient. She appears to her as one of the patients to comfort her and gives her a jack o' lantern (a reference to Jack Pumpkinhead) as Halloween is coming up and disappears. After discovering that some of the patients have been damaged by Dr. Worley's machines and locked in the cellar, she rescues Dorothy from the hospital, but Nurse Wilson discovers and chases after them, resulting in them both falling into the river. Ozma vanishes, and seemingly drowns; presumably, she returns to her position in Oz, which was inside the mirror.
She later reappears to show Dorothy the way out of Mombi's mirror room when Dorothy takes the Powder of Life from Mombi's cabinet containing her real head and escapes from her castle. When Dorothy escapes, Mombi taunts Ozma in the mirror stating she is the only one who knows where she is and no one will help her escape. After the Nome King is destroyed and Oz is restored to its original state, Dorothy frees Ozma from the mirror, and she reclaims her position as the rightful ruler of Oz. She is also revealed to be the creator of Jack Pumpkinhead, who calls her his mother. She then uses the Ruby Slippers to send Dorothy back home to Kansas, saying she would look in on her from time to time and take her back to Oz if she wishes to return. Afterward, Dorothy sees her with Billina in her bedroom mirror, indicating that Oz was not a dream (as both movies initially implied).
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the original Oz books, Ozma made her first appearance as a boy named Tip. She, or rather he at the time, is the one who creates Jack Pumpkinhead and sets off on an adventure to escape the witch Mombi, who had put him to work. Upon arriving at the Emerald City and rescuing it from Mombi and General Jinjur, Tip is told by Glinda that he is in fact, Princess Ozma and the rightful ruler of Oz; transforming him back into a girl and taking her place on the throne. Later books had her meeting Dorothy and immediately becoming fast friends with her. They become almost inseparable to the point that the books explicitly imply some kind of relationship between the two of them.
