- "This funny man of tin" she answered, "killed the Wildcat and saved my life. So hereafter you must all serve him, and obey his slightest wish... "
- ―The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
The Queen and her mice subjects of Oz 1900
The Field Mice who live in the magical Land of Oz are a very unique race of rodents who can talk and live on the outskirts between the Munchkin Country border and the Emerald City. The mice all live very close to the field of deadly Poppies and mostly stay underground. They are all ruled by a Mouse Queen. The mice appear in L. Frank Baum's first Oz book titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz published in 1900. They appear in the ninth chapter of the book titled The Queen of the Field Mice. Despite being a rather important part of the original story, who help save the lives of Dorothy Gale, the Field Mice of Oz have yet to make an appearance in the Oz movies.
The Field Mice help rescue Cowardly Lion. By W. W. Denslow 1900.
History
The Queen of Field Mice in the Marvel Comic.
In the book by Baum, when Dorothy Gale, Toto and the Cowardly Lion fall under the deadly spell of poppy flowers, they are not rescued by Glinda the Good Witch as it was portrayed in the classic MGM film of 1939. The field mice are the original ones who save her, and her friends. When the Tin Woodman rescued the Queen of the Field Mice from a wildcat who was trying to eat her as a snack, the Tin Woodman used his handy axe and cut of the wild animals' head clean off, stopping him. To thank the Tin Woodman for saving her life, she and her subjects agreed to help him and Scarecrow rescue the Cowardly Lion as he was too heavy to lift up and carry out of the poppy field like they both did with Dorothy and Toto. Thousands of tiny mice, working together, managed to pull a wooden truck carrying the great beast out of the poppy field and into the green meadow beyond. When Dorothy Gale awakens as the poppies magic wears off she is given a gift by the Mouse Queen. The gift was a whistle that if ever blown, the Field Mice would immediately appear if she was in need of help and assistance. (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
Dorothy awakens 1900
They later helped the Scarecrow retake the Emerald City after it had been conquered by General Jinjur. (The Marvelous Land of Oz)
Non-Canon
In Family of Oz (2011), by James C. Wallace II, the entire population of Field Mice were driven from their home in the fields near Emerald City when Cobbler the Dog, a mechanical dog created by Prof. H.M. Wogglebug T.E., as a pet for Tik-Tok, ran amok in the fields while he was red-hot, setting the fields on fire. Later, the entire population of Field Mice, commanded by the Queen of the Field Mice, engaged in a final battle with the Army of Cards, against Cobbler the Dog, defeating him and thus rescuing him from the Evil remains of the Wicked Witch of the East which had possessed him.
In Bungle of Oz (2013), the field mice have started a business providing safe travel across the Poppies outside the Emerald City called The Poppy Passage Limited Liability Company.
Appearances
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (first appearance)
- The Marvelous Land of Oz
In Movies
Journey Back to Oz
After Mombi's Magical Green Elephants had conquered the Emerald City, Glinda gave Dorothy Gale a special box, to open only when inside the Emerald City. Dorothy opened it when surrounded by green elephants, and mice darted out, frightening away the elephants. (Journey Back to Oz)
- This is based on the scene in The Land of Oz when the Scarecrow sneaks field mice into the Emerald City and uses them to frighten General Jinjur's army.
The Wiz
The field mice appear as the mice squad in The Wiz.