1. Although the movie The Wizard of Oz refers to him as the Tin Man, his official name (in the Oz book series) is the Tin Woodman. (Names are important, people!)
2. Oh, and the Tin Woodman’s “real” name is Nick Chopper.
3. Mannequins made all of partially out of tin or other metals were sometimes used in store window displays (and some newspaper ads) in the late nineteenth century and Oz creator L. Frank Baum is said to have been inspired by these to create the Tin Woodman.
4. Nick wasn’t always made of tin. He was originally a flesh-and-blood regular guy, but the Wicked Witch of the East enchanted his ax so that it kept cutting off various body parts. Fortunately, it happened slowly enough that he was able to replace each severed part with a tin piece. (Yeah, fairytales can be kind of gross when you think about them.)
5. At the end of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Tin Woodman goes to the land of the Winkies, where he replaces the now-dead Wicked Witch of the West as ruler. (He even gets a new castle built, made out of – wait for it – tin.)
6. In The Tin Woodman of Oz, our hero comes across another man made entirely of tin – a Tin Solider. He got that way when the Wicked Witch of the East enchanted his sword to cut him up as Nick’s ax had done earlier. (Both of them got this way due to their love of the same woman. Draw your own conclusions.)
7. Buddy Ebsen, of course, was cast to play the TinMan in the classic 1939 film, but the dust from the original make-up felled him, necessitating replacement with Jack Haley.
8. The Tin Woodman appeared promoting heart health in a series of educational films from the 1970s. (I never saw any of these. Anyone out there see them?)
9. Although the America song “Tin Man” tells us that “Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man/That he didn’t, didn’t already have,” the rest of the song does not refer to the character.
10. The Russian translation of the book changed the character to the Iron Woodchopper. (Makes sense. The Tin Woodman is often getting rusted, but tin doesn’t rust; iron does.)
kelleychisholm
Nov 29, 2012 @ 01:34:59
What a great book/movie. Still one of my favorites after all of these years!
shermangerherd
Nov 29, 2012 @ 10:54:31
x-cell-ent report. keep it up.
asiapasek
Nov 29, 2012 @ 11:10:46
And who was the woman Tin Woodman loved? I can’t remember this story!
rorypond2020
Nov 29, 2012 @ 14:03:29
That would be Nimmie Amee.
Blog Award! « granny reports
Nov 29, 2012 @ 22:04:19
grannyK
Nov 29, 2012 @ 22:10:13
I nominated you for the Blog of the Year 2012 Award
http://wp.me/p2E0IW-8K
rorypond2020
Nov 30, 2012 @ 10:55:04
Wow – thank you!
Joseph Nebus
Nov 29, 2012 @ 23:09:02
Among the silent movie versions of Oz stories (around 1914) was His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz, which includes some scenes set in the Tin Woodsman’s Tin Castle. It’s also got a lot of very strange and shocking scenes, including one where the Tin Man does chop off a witch’s head. She picks it back up again but, still, wow. It’s an amazing production and I honestly recommend it.
rorypond2020
Nov 30, 2012 @ 10:55:31
Thanks – I’ve heard ofm the film but have never seen it. Sounds bizarre and fascinating.
bck1402
Dec 01, 2012 @ 11:44:51
Still enjoy the 1933 Wizard of Oz film, and I have a strange fondness for the Sci-Fi miniseries, Tin Man, which had a human as a kind of law-enforcer (or “Tin Man”) in Oz. It also had Zooey Daschenel as a Dorothy.
10 Facts About the Tin Man of Oz « palisadespete – literodditi
Dec 03, 2012 @ 00:07:06
The Tin Man, aka The Tin Woodman, aka Nick Chopper – literodditi
Dec 03, 2012 @ 08:05:44