Toto (Oz)

Toto is a fictional dog in L. Frank Baum's ''Oz'' series of children's books, and works derived from them. His name is pronounced with a long "O", a homophone of "toe toe". He was originally a small terrier drawn by W. W. Denslow for the first edition of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). He reappears in numerous adaptations, such as '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939) and ''The Wiz'' (1978).

Books

The classic books

Toto belongs to Dorothy Gale, the heroine of the first and many subsequent books. In the first book, he never spoke, although other animals, native to Oz, did. In subsequent books, other animals gained the ability to speak upon reaching Oz or similar lands, but he remained speechless. In ''Tik-Tok of Oz'', continuity is restored: he reveals that he is able to talk, just like other animals in the Land of Oz, and simply chooses not to. In ''The Lost Princess of Oz'', he often talks continuously. Other major appearances include ''The Road to Oz'', ''The Emerald City of Oz'', ''Grampa in Oz'' and ''The Magical Mimics in Oz'', in which he is the first to recognize the Mimics.

In ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', Baum did not specifically state Toto's breed, but wrote "he was a little black dog with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose." However, from the illustrations in the first book many have concluded that he is a Cairn Terrier while others believe he is a Yorkshire Terrier for reasons that are never explained, but then resumes the earlier look in later books.

Toto plays a central role in several critical points: he runs away at the beginning and end of the book and Dorothy changes plans to catch him; he pulls away the curtain to reveal the Wizard is a fake. Scholar Keri Weil analyzes the role:

Toto is the driving force behind Frank Baum’s narrative because it is Dorothy’s love for the dog that leads her to run away and escape the dreary moral landscape of Kansas and its arbiter, Miss Gulch. “It was Toto who made Dorothy laugh and saved her from growing as grey as her surroundings,” wrote Baum in the original version of the story.

Later works

In Gregory Maguire's novel '' Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West'', Toto is a minor character who is only described as being vile and annoying. In the musical adaption ''Wicked'', he is only mentioned briefly when Glinda mistakenly calls him "Dodo".

Michael Morpurgo published ''Toto: The Wizard of Oz as told by the dog'' in 2020.

Films

Terry and the MGM film

In the 1939 movie '' The Wizard of Oz'', Toto was played by a female brindle Cairn Terrier named Terry. She was paid a $125 salary each week, which was more than some of the human actors (the Singer Midgets who played the Munchkins reportedly received $50 to $100 a week).

During production, Terry's foot was broken when one of the Winkie guards accidentally stepped on it. A second dog had to be used while she healed. Due to the popularity of the movie, and because that role was the one she was most remembered for, her owner and trainer changed her official name to Toto. She actually appeared in 13 films. She died at age 11. Willard Carroll wrote her "autobiography," ''I, Toto'' (2001).

When Terry died in 1945, Carl Spitz buried her on his ranch in Studio City, California. However, the construction of the Ventura Freeway in 1958 destroyed her grave. On June 18, 2011, a permanent memorial for her was dedicated at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Later film versions

* In Disney's 1985 movie ''Return to Oz'', Toto was played by a female Border Terrier named Tansy.
* The 1978 movie version of ''The Wiz'' featured a dark gray Schnauzer

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