For other versions, see Glinda. |
Glinda the Good Witch of the South is the deuteragonist in the 2013 Disney fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful. She is played by Michelle Williams.
Like in the books, she rules over the Quadlings, however in this film she is the daughter of the former king of Oz and was overthrown from the throne after she was accused of killing her father.
This version is inspired by combining three previous Glinda portrayals with the 1939 film's characteristic of having a bubbly personality, Broadway's Wicked musical with having golden blonde hair & Baum's original book of wearing all white gowns adorned in solid gold and remaining the Witch of the South. The element of her being the late king's daughter may be a tribute to Ozma, who is not mentioned in the film.
Appearance[]
Oz the Great and Powerful[]
Glinda first appears as a dark, hooded figure trying to enter a cemetery in the Dark Forest. Oscar Diggs, Finley, and China Girl quickly realize that the figure must be the Wicked Witch, and watch as the figure carefully places its wand onto a pile of boxes nearby. While Finley distracts the figure, Oz sneaks over to the wand, takes it and is about to break it in two when a soothing voice stops him. The hooded figure unveils herself, revealing a beautiful face beneath it, identical to Annie. She introduces herself as Glinda and explains that the true Wicked Witch is Evanora.
She tells Oscar that Evanora, years ago, sought to rule Oz by herself and killed her father, the King, so she could rule uncontested. When rumors swelled that the Wizard of Oz would return and take his place as King, Evanora vowed to never let that happen. She'd trick the Wizard into killing Glinda who opposed her. When Glinda learned of Evanora's treachery, she left the Emerald City and spent every day at her father's, grave. Back in Emerald City, Evanora watches, in her crystal ball, as her plans to kill Glinda failed. Angered, Evanora sends out her armies to stop and kill Oz and Glinda.
Back in the graveyard, Oz, Glinda, Finley and China Girl hear the stomping of boots approaching. Evanora's army marches through the graveyard, intending to kill them. Glinda pleads with Oz to do something magical to stop the army and Oz, being nothing more than a con man illusionist, he asks her to care of it. She takes her wand and draws thick fog out of the ground, blinding the army of Winkies and baboons. The quartet finds themselves at the end of a cliff, hanging over a bottomless pit and Glinda, with no other option, leaps off the cliff. With the army quickly approaching Finley, China Girl, and finally Oz fall after her. The four appear, moments later in gigantic floating soap bubbles, which send them flying miles away. In the distance, Oz sees and inquires about a small city encapsulated within a giant, soapy bubble. Glinda explains that the bubble is a protective barrier, which keeps out anybody with evil or malcontent in their heart. Oz, being both slightly evil and malicious himself, fears that he won't be able to get through. Glinda, Finley and China Girl easily glide through the bubble barrier, but Oz, after bouncing off the of barrier a few times, is finally able to squeak through.
Later, Glinda introduces Oz to the people of the quaint city within the bubble: farmers, tinkerers, munchkins, etc. They all live in innocent, unspoiled happiness and are very excited to meet and hear from the wizard of myth and prophecy. Oz, now convinced that his rouse has gone too far takes Glinda aside and explains that he is not a real wizard and that he's a fake, a mountebank, an illusionist who can't perform real magic. Glinda, to Oz's surprise, admits that she knows. She knew from the moment she first met him, but just because she knows doesn't mean that the townspeople need to. With this new information, Oz puts on a show of confidence, convincing the townspeople that he is the wizard they hoped would return to destroy the Wicked Witch.
Glinda then introduces him to the different groups of her people who will make up his 'army'- the Quadling farmers, the Tinkers and the Munchkins. Oscar is incredulous that she wants him to lead an army that is not only inexperienced, but 'forbidden to kill' but Glinda replies, "If it were easy, we wouldn't need a wizard, now would we?" Suddenly a mysterious storm cloud appears over Glinda's town. A red-hot light at the center of the cloud pounds against the "impenetrable" bubble surrounding the town. The cloud pounds against the bubble again and again until it breaks. The red-hot light beams into the city, landing like a meteor in the town square. As a fire tornado ensues in it, a glowing evil figure emerges -- Theodora, transfigured into a green-skinned, black-suited wicked witch. She confronts Oz, and explains that she has become a truly Wicked Witch because of his treachery. She tries to attack him, but Glinda holds her off and tries to reason with her. Scorning Glinda for her naivete, Theodora announces that she, Evanora and their army will annihilate them all and break their faith in the 'wizard' whom she knows to be an imposter. She steals a broom from a townsperson and rides away, leaving a trail of black smoke behind her.
Amidst the chaos, Glinda searches for Oz, but finds that he's run off. She confronts him in his quarters, where he's quickly packing his bags for a hasty escape. Glinda tries giving Oz the confidence to believe in himself, and to look past the fact that he's not a real wizard. Through soul-searching, Oz formulates a plan. He tells Glinda to gather the town's smartest and strongest. Oz meets with the town's Master Tinker (Bill Cobbs) and his men, the appointed scientists of the city, and together they plan an illusion to trick Theodora and Evanora out of the city. Under Oz's guidance the townspeople create elaborate mechanisms for the show. Oz shows the tinkers how to create a movie projector, how to create black powder, and finally how to build a hot-air balloon. Oz asks the head Tinker to keep the balloon a secret. He and Glinda, together, form a battle plan. They look at a map of the Emerald City and its outlying areas. Oz suggests that they enter the city through the Poppy fields, but Glinda explains that the poppy fields will put anyone who breaths in their spores, into an inescapable deep sleep. Oz thinks of a way to use this to their advantage. Glinda then reveals that she has a contact to get them into the city unnoticed. Knuck, AKA Sour puss, appears and reveals himself to be their inside man.
The assault on Emerald City begins. Oz, along with Knuck and other munchkins, disguise themselves and sneak passed an unwitting Winkie Gate Keeper (Bruce Campbell). They sneak the carriage, filled with the projection equipment and Oz's balloon, into the city. As soon as they pass through the gate, Oz separates himself from the group, with the balloon, and sneaks up to the King's vault, and begins filling the hot-air balloon's basket with gold. Down on the ground, Finley, Knuck and the Master Tinker see that Oz has betrayed them, in favor of escaping with a balloon full of gold, but continue with the plan. Out at the edge of the city Glinda casts a spell which send thick fog across the landscape. Theodora and Evanora, distracted by the thick blanket of fog, watch as an army of soldiers stomps through the fog, toward the city. The pair of witches sends out their entire army of baboons to stop the incoming force. The baboons tear-into the soldiers, but are shocked to find that they're full of hay. The fog dissipates, revealing that the soldiers are mechanical scarecrows, built by the townspeople, and to make matters worse, the fog was covering the poppy field. Almost all of the baboons fall into a deep sleep, leaving the city defenseless apart from the Winkee garrison. As the townspeople retreat, Glinda is suddenly taken hostage by a pair of surviving baboons.
She drops her wand into the field and is taken up into the center of the city. Evanora searches the grass for the wand, but thanks to China Girl, is unable to find it. Evanora flies back into the city, and at its center is met by Theodora. The pair stand on either side of Glinda, who has been chained to a pair of posts. The angry citizens of Emerald City watch on in horror as Evanora and Theodora torture Glinda with lightning and fire attacks. Above them, Oz's balloon appears. Theodora points at the balloon, and exposes Oz as a greedy fraud, trying to escape with the town's riches instead of defending the town as the prophecy foretold. Theodora angrily shoots fire at the hot air balloon, exploding it, and sending the riches crashing down to the ground in a giant plume of black smoke. Glinda, shocked by Oz's death, cries, and prepares to die. Suddenly a booming voice echoes throughout the city and Oz's ghostly face appears on a plume of smoke.
He explains that his death was necessary to become the true Wizard of Oz, and that he is now immortal and all-powerful. Evanora and Theodora are speechless. Theodora shoots fireballs into Oz's ghostly facade, but they do nothing. Secretly, Oz, Knuck, Finley, and the Master Tinker sit huddled in the caravan at the center of the city, projecting a moving image onto the black smoke, putting-on a spectacular illusion. Oz then puts up a fireworks display to scare the witches away. Seeing the wizard's might, Evanora escapes into the castle, leaving Theodora alone to deal with the town. Theodora tries to finish off Glinda, but while distracted, the China Girl sneaks Glinda her wand and manages to break her free. Upon finding Glinda gone, the townspeople turning on her, and fireworks coming down onto her, Theodora escapes on her broom. As she trails into the distance, she promises to return and stop Oz for good.
Evanora, attempting to escape the city, is confronted by Glinda seated in her father's throne. Intending to put her father to rest once and for all by ending Evanora's terror, Glinda and Evanora starts to fight, Evanora shoots lightning at Glinda, but Glinda deflects the attacks with her wand. The fight starts on the ground but ends in the air. Evanora grabs Glinda by the throat, and Glinda grasps Evanora's neck. Their attacks rebound off one another and Glinda falls, painfully, on the ground. Evanora prepares to deliver the killing blow, but finds herself in a weakened state. She reaches for her neck and finds her emerald necklace, the source of her power, is gone, crushed into pieces by Glinda. Evanora suddenly kneels over. Her beautiful features disappear. Her nails grow long and dirty, her skin becomes wrinkled and liver-spotted, and an old hag appears in her place. The old, true Evanora lunges at Glinda, but Glinda, with wand in hand, repels her attack, sends her flying through the castle window, and forever banishes her from the Emerald City. Evanora then is caught by a pair of surviving flying baboons and is carried off into the distance with the remnants of her army.
The Emerald City, now freed of tyranny, celebrates. Glinda walks into the throne room and is greeted by the smokey visage of Oz, hovering over the throne. Finley latches the door. China Girl and Knuck close the curtains and once the coast is clear, Master Tinker switches-off the mechanism and out steps Oz, in the flesh. As thanks for their exemplary work, Oz gives each of them a gift. To Master Tinker, he gives a swiss -army knife, complete with a fork and spoon. To Knuck, AKA Sour Puss, he gives a novelty mask with a smile painted on it. To Finley he gives his top hat and friendship, and to China Girl he offers themselves as her new family. Finally, Glinda is taken behind the curtain by Oz and happy that he has finally become "good", they kiss.
Powers and Abilities []
Basic Powers[]
- Spell Casting: Glinda can generate spells or curses depending on her intension.
- Potion Making: Glinda can brew and concoct magical elixirs and potions with mystical properties.
Individual Powers[]
- Hydrokinesis: Glinda can create, shape and manipulate water in any shape or form including fog and bubbles.
- Levitation/Flight: Glinda can allow herself and others to carelessly float in the air and prevent their bodies from making contact with the ground below.
- Telekinesis: She can move objects with her mind, as seen in the movie when she moved the gate and bended some trees.
- Photokinesis: Glinda is capable of shooting powerful beams of light through her wand..
- Enhanced Durability: Glinda appears to possess a great degree of resilience. She was able to survive getting flung back by a blast from Evanora that flew her backwards to her father's throne. She was also able to survive getting overpowered by Evanora and she got blasted through the wall with tremendous force and she fell down the stairs without even sustaining any fatal injuries and even death.
Trivia[]
Glinda has no relation to the wicked witches in this movie.
Glinda is the former king's daughter in this movie.
- Like Theodora's ring and Evanora's amulet, Glinda's wand is the source of her magic.
- According to the character info on her doll package by Disney, she has the power over water.
- In the original Wizard of Oz novel, there were two good witches and two wicked witches. Both Glinda and the Good Witch of the North are combined into one character in the 1939 film. This portrayal of Glinda stays in league to the original novel, while The Good Witch of the North is never shown or mentioned in this film.