Wicked Witch of the East

Infobox character
colour = blue
name = Wicked Witch of the East
first = "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900)
last = "The Tin Woodman of Oz" (1918)
species = human (witch)
gender = female
age = unknown
born = unknown
death = opening of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"
occupation = Ruler of the Munchkin Country
title = Wicked Witch of the East
spouse = none
children = none
residence = Somewhere in the Munchkin Country
creator = L. Frank Baum

The Wicked Witch of the East is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his classic books. Although not verifiably seen (except for her feet), the 1939 film helped to further the popularity of the character. The Witch is the ruler of Munchkin Country. For her political role, see Political interpretations of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".

The classic books

In "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (the first of many Oz books), Dorothy Gale is blown into Oz by a tornado. The young girl's house lands on top of The Witch. The Witch, who had been ruling over the Munchkins, is killed instantly with only her feet sticking out from under the house. The Witch was wearing magical shoes (made of silver in the book) at the time of her death. Dorothy, on the advice of The Good Witch of the North, takes the shoes. These shoes have the power to transport anyone anywhere, simply by knocking the heels together three times and giving them the command where to go. Not knowing this, Dorothy travels to see the famous ruler of the Emerald City, The Wizard, to ask for his help in trying to return to her Kansas farm. In the novel, The Wicked Witch of the East is also responsible for the creation of the Tin Woodman and, in flashbacks in "The Tin Woodman of Oz", the Tin Soldier, who each had their blades enchanted to prevent them from marrying the Witch's maid.

The 1939 movie

In the 1939 movie, "The Wizard of Oz", The Wicked Witch of the East is not verifiably seen except for her stockinged feet. In the movie, the shoes were changed to "ruby slippers" to look better for the Technicolor film. The film portrays The Witch as being the sister of The Wicked Witch of the West, a relationship neither stated nor implied in Baum's books. The famous sequence of the house dropping from the cyclone is actually a subjective point of view shot, showing the witch's view as the house crushes her.

There is a school of thought that the witch seen in the tornado, transformed from Miss Gulch, is actually the Wicked Witch of the East and not her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West. Arguments have been made which seem to support this theory:
*A glint of light off her slippers is visible. The segment is black and white, so the color cannot be verified, but it seems to indicate that she was wearing something shiny on her feet, which the Wicked Witch of the West was not. (Although a point seems to be made of "showing" her shoes, the DVD cannot necessarily be said to definitively prove the shoes were "shiny".)
*Dorothy sings of the storm and of the witch "thumbing for a hitch", and the Munchkins sing, "what happened then was rich", with the clear assumption that it was the Wicked Witch of the East that Dorothy saw and who ended up under Dorothy's house. (There is no question that Dorothy "believes" the Witch of the East was who she saw while up inside the tornado.)
*The witch in the black and white scene is clearly Margaret Hamilton (who plays The Wicked Witch of the West), but the two witches are sisters, so they might be assumed to look and act similarly.
*The witch shown in the tornado is wearing her hair down, whereas whenever The Wicked Witch of the West is shown, her hair is always tied in a bun (however, Miss Gulch also wore her hair in a bun).Beside the witch in the tornado has a cape and The Wicked Witch of the West didnt use a cape
*The screenplay is no help, since it merely says "a witch" and there is no screen credit for the Wicked Witch of the East.
*The Witches are identical twins

Undermining this theoretical argument is the obvious fact that the character of the Witch of the "West" is the (exaggerated) counterpart to Miss Gulch, Dorothy's nemesis in Kansas. Additionally, the witch in the tornado is not wearing the striped stockings that we see under the house.

It is fair to conclude that this apparent fuzziness in continuity is no different from other more-obvious continuity problems in the classic film, which observers have pointed out over the years.

Modern works

In the Broadway musical, "The Wiz", The Wicked Witch of the East is named Evamene and terrorizes the Munchkins.

In the more recent novel, "" by author Gregory Maguire, The Wicked Witch of the East is known as Nessarose and is born unable to walk and without arms — she is later able to walk however, by the use of the well-known shoes. Her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West whose name is Elphaba, had been waiting for the shoes for seven years. In "Wicked", the Broadway musical based on Maguire's novel, Nessarose is unable to walk and uses a wheelchair. In both the book and musical, the character is portrayed in a less negative light than in the Baum books or earlier movie.

In Roger S. Baum's "Lion of Oz and the Badge of Courage", the Wicked Witch of the East is the main antagonist. The book was adapted into the 2000 animated film "Lion of Oz".

In 2007, Turner Entertainment partnered with Madame Alexander to create a series of McDonald's Happy Meal toys centered on the main characters from the 1939 movie, one of which was the Wicked Witch of the East. She is depicted as having blonde hair, a red shirt with a green belt and a burgundy dress over her distinguishable striped stockings and ruby slippers. She also is wearing a hat similar to the Witch of the West's, although it is colored red.

In "The Muppet's Wizard of Oz", the Wicked Witch of the East is played by Miss Piggy (as are all of the other witches/fairies). She manages to lift the house long enough to threaten the Munchkins before it falls back on top of her, killing her this time.