The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 25mm

With my daughter Maja's love of all things Wizard of Oz, I have done some research to put together a miniatures version of it, as well of Oz: Great and Powerful and the Legends of Oz cartoon that came out this Spring.  (Quick review:  Legends of Oz had the voice talent of a major production, but the plot and animation gave it a tiny step above direct-to-DVD.  My kids liked it, although I have developed an all-out hatred of all things Martin Short post-Three Amigos.)

So why a new post about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?   Because that's the name of the actual book the classic movie is derived from.  I started reading Maja that as part of her new bedtime routine in the new house and I've discovered (a) it worked great and (b) the book is even more wildly different than I was led to believe.   I knew years ago that Dorothy wore silver slippers in the book, but that producers changed them to ruby in the movie to better use the "Power of TECHNICOLOR."   The rest, like Dorothy not meeting Glinda for the first time until the very end of the story, have been pretty recent revelations.

I'm not going to be obsessively comprehensive.  Please refer to my movie posts

Dorothy Gales of Kansas... and her little dog too!
Outside of the Post-Apocalyptic crowd, a suitable Dorothy figure has been one of my main difficulties.

Let's try the eldest girl in Reaper Miniature's Townsfolk Children 3233:

Possibly Tip, Billina, and Button Bright from the later books?

I've just got to figure out where they discovered the Dorothy figure from the Historicon 2014 game.

And remember, Dorothy's hair in the books is blonde, and she's definitely not as old Judy Garland's character in the movie.

For Toto, I would shoot a bit larger than the scale suggests, simply because the canine companion will be used and moved around a LOT.  I might suggest a Terrier from the Gnome Wars British Dog Handler:

I have seen some weiner dog medics on the Gnome Wars tables, and I'm afraid those guys are way too small for such an important character.  Might as well make it bigger.

Munchkinland

Despite the militarized element in the movie, the Munchkins are rather pacifistic.

I would recommend using the German Peasants from Gnome War.

The Good Witch of the North -

In the book, she is certainly NOT Glinda.  More akin to a fairy godmother than even a good witch.

The Wicked Witch

The Wicked Witch in the books is known for her magical golden cap, which she uses to summon the flying monkeys, her eyepatch and her magical telescopic sight.    This truly limits the available minis, so I'm going to say the heck with it.

Reaper 60178: Enora, Iconic Arcanist ($6.49)

She's small, the cloak could hide or be designed to look like the the golden cap, and a tiny bit of putty could give her an eye patch.  Not old and decrepit, but closer to the book than the movie version

The Cowardly Lion

In the book the Lion is most certainly a lion, not anthropomorphic creature like the movie.  The illustrations in the book had him ridiculously big when compared to the rest of the party, especially Dorothy.  That being said, a 40+mm figure or even a toy isn't out of the question.  The Celestial Lion from Reaper (#14133) appears to do the trick.

Wolves

Any old 25mm wolf minis should do, Nick Chopper is just going to kill them all anyway.

Stand of Bees

Instead of crafting a stand of bees, I would recommend creating a half-circle stand-up with bees drawn on it. 

Flying Monkeys

Eureka Miniatures are perfect for them, just use the feathery wings and not the leather ones.

Winkie

In this case, despite having a very Franco-Prussian fantasy vibe, I'm going to default to the movie version on the previous post use Old Glory Voynuk Infantry with Halberds

Hammerheads

The Hammerheads are an unusual race without many uses outside defending their hill.  This would be my second recommendation for a half-circle stand-up. 

Kalidahs

These supposedly brutal creatures are better off represented with a tiger with a bear/tiger paint scheme.

The Emerald City

Long bearded guard is pretty much the only martial presence in the book, outside the Winkie Guards.   Any help in finding a figure like this would be appreciated.

Giant Spider:
The Cowardly Lion kills the Giant Spider to become King of the Forest.  This Reaper one is available in its Bones material

Fighting Trees

Again, more Reaper

Glinda of Oz:

 

So I see nothing wrong with taking a figure like this Reaper Fairy mini, removing the wings and using some putty to scupt a dress right out of the 80's.

Reaper 2793:  Arianna Princess Fairy