As we roll into April, we welcome the lovely 🌧 rain 🌧 showers. This makes me reflect on the underwater realms of Oz. I have already done a piece on the magical waters of Oz from last July. However, this post is going underneath the crest and into the realms of Queen Aquareine and King Anko. We will look at the how the underwater realms relate to Oz, its origins and geographical components, its residents and locales, its media legacy, and how you can bring this realm of Oz into your kingdom. As you can see from the map above, the realm of Queen Aquareine is off the shores of the Northeastern regions of Oz. King Anko can be seen swimming around near the southern shores of Oz. First up, let us discuss all the notable areas and residents introduced to us in Baum’s Oz spin-off book, The Sea Fairies of Oz. This book is intended to occur after Tik Tok of Oz and before Scarecrow of Oz.
The origins of the underwater realm, according to King Anko and Queen Aquareine, have existed even beyond the timeline of life on land. King Anko discussed knowing Adam and Eve and their sons. The realm is believed to exist around Oz in its waters. There is mention of multiple land caves, where the mermaids occasionally visit like The Giant Cave, where Mayre "Trot" Griffiths and her father's mate, Captain Bill Weedles, become mermaids and start their exploration of the underwater realm. You can follow along and learn all about these amazing underwater characters in Baum's spin-off book, The Sea Fairies. Now that we know origins, we can discuss this story’s media adaptation legacy. There are only three adaptations that I know feature elements from this book. One adapts the entire story mostly. A second uses known characters from the book while the third uses an element from the book basically. Let us start with The Oz Kids: Journey Beneath the Sea (originally aired in October 1996 and released on VHS in March 1997). This story adapts much of the book while including The Oz Kids in the place of Captain Bill and Trot. Below, you can watch the feature film in its entirety. Next up is the episode from Boomerang’s Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, “The Emerald of Zog”. In this episode, Dorothy and her friends have to find a powerful emerald for Ozma. During their journey, they run into Zog, who is after the emerald too. What will happen and who will win the emerald? You will have to check out who saves our heroes from the clutches of Zog. It is available online at Boomerang.com or through the app. The last adaptation, His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz (1914) features a quick appearance of an unnamed mermaid with a parasol when the Scarecrow is underwater. But that’s it. No name, no description of anything from the book except that she is a mermaid talking to the Scarecrow. What do you think they are saying? Who do think it is? Let me know in the comments below. Now that we have seen the limited media legacy of the Underwater Realm of Queen Aquareine and King Anko, here are some ways in which you can bring the underwater world to your neck of the woods. First, you can check out the book, Sea Fairies of Oz by L. Frank Baum in a variety of formats from a physical text to e-book to audiobook. However, you will definitely want to check out this graphic novel that is inspired by the same book, Sea Sirens: A Trot and Cap’n Bill Adventure (cover below). Of course, you can always watch the media adaptations above to enjoy this wonderful underwater realm and while you are doing that, you can put together this lovely Queen Aquareine cut-out from The Oz Club. (One of the lovely perks of having a membership, care to join?). Print the picture below on card stock, decorate, and post in the comments below (or if you are member, post on the Oz Club member board). Also, feel free to check out this lovely book, The Art of Oz, which has some awesome illustrations of the various residents of the Underwater Realm the Sea Fairies, King Anko, and the Yell-maker. Also, here is a story from a publication of The Oz Club called Oziana. Inside Ozian #38 (or Oziana 2008), Polychrome visits the Sea Fairies, and this story tells about that interaction. Check it out below. Also, check out this printable newsletter from publishers Reilly & Lee to compliment The Sea Fairies back in 1970. Well, that will be it for our awesome underwater tour of Queen Aquareine and King Anko’s realms. What did you enjoy the most in your underwater tour? Let me know in the comments below. After experiencing the waters (or “showers”) of April, you will have to come back next month to check out the Ozian ("May") flowers of Munchkin Country. Until next time, we’ll be seeing you somewhere into the Oz-verse.
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May 2024
AuthorMy name is Vinkus Ken and I have been a long time fan of many things in Oz and how their world truly does emulate much of ours. Did you know that they have a flag of their own? Or did you know that they have a law about only having 9 jurors in their courts? Also, Oz has a court system! I like to introduce facts that seem meaningless and bring meaning to them by comparing them to our world. So, come along on this journey and enjoy the ride. |