November 28 - Chibicoro Wizard of Oz

“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?”

~ L. Frank Baum
  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Since the Chibicoro form is rather small and quickly built, I've been looking for groups of characters to build.  Which is why I settled on these Oz characters.

The Wizard of Oz was one of the staples movies of most of our childhoods, but one of the guilty pleasures I had growing up was reading almost the entire series of L. Frank Baum Oz books.  It was a collection that my mother owned and these were the days before you could click your heels three times to get another book downloaded on your tablet, or ordered for delivery the following day.

My favorite Oz book, however - was actually written by Science Fiction/Fantasy author Philip José Farmer, Barnstormer of Oz.  It was a story of a pilot who inadvertently crossed over to Oz and took a realistic(?) look at things as they were described in the original story.  Finding fault with the tale and searching for the truths behind the story.

One such story that blew my young teen mind was that of the Tin Man.  The protagonist (name eludes me) reasoned that the Tin Man's story of rusting in the woods was false.  If you cut off a leg and replace it with a tin leg, you are still you.  If you cut off your arm and replace it, the same.  You could cut off body part after body part - but what about your heart, or your head?  At what point are you not you?  He confronted the good witch with this and she confessed that she used her magic to imbue him into the armor and left him rusted on the path for Dorothy to find on her journey.

---

Other Chibicoro balloon designs:

Show All