AHHHHHH! A headless woman!!! Run!!! Oh wow, that was close. Now, that we have caught our breath, we can check out the villain of this spooky month: Princess Langwidere and her removable heads. You heard me right! In Oz, there is a princess in the Land of Ev who can remove her heads by choice as well as decapitate others' heads whom she will want to wear. So, in this post, we will learn this characters possible origin story, her reign of terror, her media legacy, and how you can bring this deformed debutante to your neck of the woods. This headless horror is first introduced in Baum's third book, Ozma of Oz. In the story, Ozma is on a royal tour of Oz and its surrounding areas when she comes upon the Land of Ev and its only surviving princess, Langwidere. Her story starts with her uncle, King Evoldo. After he sold his family to the Nome King, this left her in charge of the kingdom of Ev (seen below), even though she didn't want it. After Dorothy landed in Ev, she ended up being captured by Langwidere. When Ozma found out about this, she and Dorothy's friends went to rescue her and promised to save her family from the Nome King. Oh, scandalous! Her reign of terror was only but a moment but the horror of her deheading is what really sicks out with this villain. When Dorothy initially came upon Langwidere's palace, the princess was enamored with Dorothy's head. She insisted that Dorothy give up her head, but when she would part with it (understandably so), she was jailed. Dorothy would not be released until Ozma and friends came to rescue her. Unfortunately, the young girl's release came with the condition that Langwidere's family was returned. This means that her reign did not end there. Aside from Dorothy's curiosity getting her in Langwidere's clutches, Dorothy and friends would not have been in this situation if Langwidere had just took up the mantle and tried to get her family back herself, then no one would have to deal with the no-good Nome King. Now understanding Langwidere's vivaciousness, there has been a lot of adaptations regarding her rule and position in Oz. Her very first media appearance came in 1985 when Langwidere was renamed Mombi, but still kept her heinous head collection in Disney's Return to Oz (see top of post). Then, in 1987, Langwidere returns again with another name change, Princess Lulu, in Panmedia's Wonderful Wizard of Oz (episode 32 - "The Kidnapped Prince). It would be almost 30 years later when Langwidere would return in a few other adaptations such as:
In addition to those iterations, there have also been some other media forms (comics, radio plays, etc.) where she would premiere as well. In 2011, Marvel would release illustrated comics of the first six Oz books and Langwidere made her appearance in Marvel's Ozma of Oz (see below). Of course, there are countless illustrations from various books done of the Ozma of Oz story. Langwidere went audio in some notable radio plays from the Colonial Radio Theatre and Crossover Productions, where each brought Langwidere to life in their own way. The most recent appearance of Langwidere appeared in Maguire's fourth Wicked Book, Out of Oz, which makes a brief mention of Langwidere. Where will Langwidere's hideous heads appear next? Who knows? But, as you can see, she has made her mark on various media outlets and in the Land of Oz. So, a few ways you can bring this majestic monarch to your neck of the woods include getting a copy of any of the adaptations mentioned above or one of the tons of artworks that feature this bombastic beauty or even some great Return to Oz merchandise that will feature Langwidere as Mombi like this awesome T-shirt. So, however you choose to connect with this malevolent matriarch this Halloween is up to you; and until next time, I'll be seeing you somewhere in the Oz-verse.
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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. |