Deep in the heart of New Orleans, there lived a woman named Molly McGee. She was known throughout the town for her mastery of voodoo magic. Some feared her, while others sought her help in desperate times. It was said that she possessed an ancient curse, a power that could bring doom upon anyone who crossed her path. Molly McGee was no ordinary woman. She had a mysterious air about her, with her dark flowing hair and piercing green eyes.

Great Characters: The Good Witch of the North

The 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz” has made that moment when Dorothy first opens her door and walks out into the Munchkin kingdom magical and iconic. It’s hard to forget that moment when sepia tones turn to bright, vivid color and then a woman descends from the heavens in a bubble to greet Dorothy. I mean, even setting aside the amazing color reveal of the world, what kind of magical person can travel by bubble?

When we first meet the Good Witch of the North in the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, she doesn’t arrive by bubble. She walks up to Dorothy like anyone else flanked by three Munchkin men. She is even dressed like them, with the same pointed hat ringed in bells that tinkle as she moves (although hers is white while everything they wear is blue). Dorothy observes that the men each appear about her Uncle Henry’s age, “but the little woman was doubtless much older: her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, an she walked rather stiffly.” And that is our first introduction to her. Sort of…

The first chapter of the book is “The Cyclone” and starts a while before we meet the Witch or see Oz at all. In the editions that Baum and Denslow designed for the original printing (and which have been reprinted many times since), like every other chapter, it starts with a splash page stating the chapter title and featuring an illustration. In this case, it happens to be opposite the dedication page, which also features an illustration. What’s interesting about these illustrations is that they work together as if related, which can hardly be an accident when Baum and Denslow designed the layout so specifically throughout the book. This pair of illustrations makes it almost look like the Good Witch of the North is controlling the cyclone. As if maybe she summoned it, and Dorothy, deliberately.

In this first (and only for several books) meeting, the Witch of the North does explain that she is a good witch, one of two – North and South – and that there are two wicked witches – East and West – of which the Eastern one is dead under Dorothy’s house. She gives the little girl the silver shoes, but by merely picking them up, shaking out the remains of the Wicked Witch of the East, and handing them to her. Her two feats of visible magic are to turn her hat into a slate and to spin around three times and disappear.

Nevertheless, this is clearly a woman of great power. Before Dorothy leaves on her yellow brick road adventure, the Witch of the North gives her a kiss on the forehead. Where she kisses Dorothy, her lips leave a “round, shining mark” and the Witch says that “no one will dare injure person who has been kissed by the Witch of the North.” And throughout the story, this appears to be true. When she meets the Wizard, he observes and asks about the kiss, but does not comment on it. It’s not until she meets the Winged Monkeys and the Witch of the West that the power it represents becomes evident.

The Wicked Witch of the West sees Dorothy and her band approaching and sends (among other sentinels) the Winged Monkeys with instructions to “destroy them all except the Lion” (whom she wants to harness like a horse). When they reach the band, though, they do not harm Dorothy. The leader “saw the mark of the Good Witch’s kiss upon her forehead and stopped short, motioning the others not to touch her.” They know they cannot harm her, so they carry her carefully to the Wicked Witch instead.

The Wicked Witch was both surprised and worried when she saw the mark on Dorothy’s forehead, for she knew well that neither the Winged Monkeys nor she, herself, dare hurt the girl in any way.

L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

What power does this kiss, and the Witch who gives it, have that holds everyone else in such fear? The Witch of the North herself claims that she is not that powerful, but one has to suspect that perhaps that is not entirely true. She certainly seems to be affecting things, even simply by kissing a little girl’s forehead, more than any other single character in the story besides perhaps Dorothy herself! Even Glinda only explains the power of the shoes, she doesn’t actually do much of anything and displays no magic powers. In fact, the Witch of the North is the only character in the entire book who actually does display magical powers!

For the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz” MGM for some reason decided to merge the two Good Witches and make Glinda the Good Witch of the North. She does not give Dorothy the protective kiss in the movie, but she does make it clear to the audience that she is watching over the companions when she makes snow fall on them to awaken them from the poppies. Gregory Maguire kept this compilation character in his book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and the sequels. It carried into the subsequent musical based on the book as well.

Other adaptions have chosen to keep the two characters separate. The musical “The Wiz” turns the matronly Good Witch of the North into Addaperle, a guide who sets Dorothy off in the right direction when she arrives in Oz. In the 1978 film version of the musical they call her “Miss One”, but the idea of the character seems the same. Several of the animated and video game adaptations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz also keep the Good Witch of the North as her own character. Even “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz”, where Miss Piggy plays all four witches, keeps the characters distinct instead of merging them.

• Billie Burke as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz”
• Thelma Carpenter as Miss One in the 1978 film “The Wiz”
• The Good Witch of the North in the 1986 Anime “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”
• Miss Piggy as the Good Witch of the North in the 2005 film “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz”
• Karen Holness as the Good Witch of the North in the television series “Once Upon a Time”
• Amber Riley as Addaperle in the 2015 file “The Wiz Live!”

L. Frank Baum didn’t even give the Good Witch of the North a name in the books. He did call her Locasta in his 1902 stage musical version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but the name never appeared in the books. Ruth Plumly Thompson named her Tattypoo. Adaptations have had a range of names for her. But for a character with no definitive name, she has a big impact!

Not only does the Good Witch of the North display the only true magical powers not tied to a magical object in the original book, but her power is impressive and lasts. Indeed, that kiss on Dorothy’s forehead is still there twenty-nine books later in 1935’s The Wishing Horse of Oz. That’s an impressive kiss!

I love how understated the Good Witch of the North is. She clearly has great power and is likely causing and guiding a huge amount of what happens in the story, but she takes no credit for anything. Indeed, her touch is so light that it’s not actually clear how much she is involved in the story at all! I love the mystery of her and the glimpse she gives of actual magical power. She’s a wonderful grandmotherly figure, unlike the rest of the witches, which helps her fly so far under the radar that many people forget she existed at all. And that’s real power.

Film / The Wiz

Motown and Universal produced a movie adaptation of the Broadway musical The Wiz, an all-African-American retelling of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in 1978. It was directed by Sidney Lumet and Joel Schumacher wrote the screenplay. In addition to the Race Lifting, this added a further, big twist to the Oz tale: Instead of turn-of-the-20th-century Kansas, the story begins in modern Harlem and Dorothy is a shy schoolteacher in her 20s who has never ventured beyond it — a change made to accommodate the casting of Diana Ross (in her 30s at the time) in the role, as she had campaigned heavily for it . It's a blizzard that sweeps her to Oz, a fantasy version of the rest of New York City. The Tin Woodman is now a forgotten amusement park robot, the Cowardly Lion masquerades as a statue outside the Public Library, the Wicked Witch of the West (here named Evillene) runs a sweatshop, etc. It remains notable for marking the end of Blaxploitation in cinema, and for its All-Star Cast of African-American talent, from Richard Pryor as the Wiz himself to Lena Horne as Glinda to a 19-year-old Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow (his only major film role, not counting the anthology Moonwalker and his cameo in Men in Black II) note Jackson's casting in the film brought him to the attention of its music producer, Quincy Jones, who convinced Jackson to let him produce what would become his three most successful albums: Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad .

Not to be confused with The Wizard. Also, information about the 2015 TV special The Wiz Live! can be found on the same page as the Broadway musical.

She had a mysterious air about her, with her dark flowing hair and piercing green eyes. Many believed that she could communicate with spirits and harness their energy to cast her spells. But it was her voodoo curse that intrigued the townspeople the most.

This movie provides examples of:

• Adaptation Name Change: Probably due to how hard it is to pronounce, Addaperle the Good Witch of the North is called "Miss One" here.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: The movie depicts Dorothy as having a fear of leaving the safety of her Aunt Em's house to venture into the outside world.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Nipsey Russell's Tin Man lacks the mean remarks of his stage counterpart and is more of a compassionate Team Dad figure.
• Adaptational Ugliness: In the original Broadway production, Evillene wasn't necessarily ugly, just garishly dressed. The film makes use of heavy prosthetic makeup in order give her a more grotesque appearance.
• Age Lift: Dorothy, in the play, is depicted as a young girl, but in the movie, is turned into a 20 something schoolteacher. It becomes awkward when Dorothy still frequently cries and behaves like someone much younger.
• All Bikers are Hells Angels: Subverted: The Flying Monkeys are a motorcycle gang. Once Evillene is defeated they gladly take Dorothy and her friends back to the Emerald City. Interestingly, the biker gang concept also appeared in the Muppet version of this story in 2005.
• Amusement Park: In the movie, the Tin Man is found at a deserted amusement park; he was one of the animatronics, abandoned when the park closed. The park is represented by Coney Island's famous Cyclone roller coaster.
• And Starring: From the opening credits, "Lena Horne as Glinda the Good and Richard Pryor as The Wiz".
• The Artifact: Despite this version depicting the Tin Man as always being a robot, instead of a human turned into a tin man, he still sings - or rather, talk-sings - about wanting to have human feelings "again". It might seem similarly awkward to see the grown-up Dorothy sing the lines, "And maybe I can convince time to slow up/Giving me enough time in my life to grow up", during the song "Home", but it's somewhat subverted by Dorothy's initial depiction in Harlem as a grown, working woman still living with her aunt and uncle and reluctant to strike out on her own.
• Artistic Title: The opening credits appear over a mural of Glinda watching over Harlem from the heavens.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Undoing a change from Baum's book made for the play, Toto accompanies Dorothy on her journey through Oz, instead of just waiting with Aunt Em for Dorothy to come home.
  • In the book and the play, Glinda only appeared near the end of the story, to tell Dorothy how to use the Silver Slippers to go home. The movie gives her a larger role, by showing her conjuring up the storm that blows Dorothy and Toto away to Oz.
  • The Cowardly Lion reveals his name as Fleetwood Coupe de Ville, or "Fleet" for short. However, his friends call him simply, "Lion".
  • The leader of the Flying Monkeys goes by, "Cheetah".
  • After Dorothy and her friends discover the Wiz as a sham, he reveals himself as a second-rate Atlantic City politician named, "Herman Smith".

  What the Good Witch of the North Told Dorothy

  At the beginning of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s Kansas farmhouse is uprooted by a tornado and is carried along by the twister over the rainbow, to the Land of Oz. Dorothy learns that her house has landed right on top of the Wicked Witch of the East. Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, arrives in a beautiful pink bubble and thanks Dorothy for killing the evil witch, thereby saving the Munchkins from the evil witch’s tyranny. Then, magically, she transfers the dead witch’s ruby slippers onto Dorothy’s feet.

  Actually, the slippers in the original story were silver, but the people who produced the film in 1939 changed them to ruby, because silver ones looked washed out amid the riot of color in the Oz set. There were several pairs made for the filming, each one a white silk shoe dyed red, then covered with burgundy sequins, since true red ones would have appeared orange on the screen, due to the limitations of early Technicolor. But I digress.

  Dorothy meets up with the Scarecrow, the Lion and the Tin Man, who are looking for a brain, courage, and a heart, in that order, and the four new friends decide to pay a visit to the Wizard of Oz, who is touted as the only one who can take Dorothy back home to Kansas. Surely, the great and powerful Oz can also produce a brain, courage, and a heart, as well.

  Along the way, Dorothy and her friends encounter an enchanted forest, where the trees fight back when they try to pick apples from them. The Wicked Witch threatens to set the Scarecrow on fire, and creates a field of poppies to lull Dorothy into a poisoned sleep. The Wicked Witch’s flying monkeys finally catch Dorothy and her friends, and bring Dorothy into the witch’s castle, where she is imprisoned. Her three friends ably demonstrate their brains, courage and heart as they formulate and execute a plan to get Dorothy out of the castle. The Wicked Witch is finally melted with plain old water (surprise!).

  When the friends bring the witch’s broomstick to the Wizard of Oz, he admits that he is not really powerful enough to grant their wishes. However, he awards the Scarecrow with a diploma, gives the Lion a medal for courage, and presents the Tin Man with a ticking clock in the shape of a heart. He then agrees to take Dorothy back to Kansas, having come from there himself, and has the hot-air balloon that he arrived in made ready. A great throng of people gather round to see the wizard and Dorothy off, but Dorothy’s dog, Toto, escapes from her arms, and Dorothy climbs out of the balloon to catch him. Meanwhile, the tethers that hold the balloon in place are broken, and the wizard sails away in his balloon without Dorothy.

  Once more, Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, comes to the rescue in her shiny pink bubble. Dorothy explains to her that the wizard was going to take her home, but that he is gone, and she will never be able to get back to Kansas. That’s when Glinda points with her wand to the ruby slippers, which have been on Dorothy’s feet the whole time she’s been in Oz.

  “You had the power all along, my dear,” she tells Dorothy.

  After an emotional farewell to her three new friends, Dorothy closes her eyes, clicks her heels three times, and repeats, “There’s no place like home.” When she opens her eyes, she is surrounded by her beloved Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, and the three farm hands, who look suspiciously like the Scarecrow, the Lion and the Tin Man.

  I always wondered why Glinda never told Dorothy about the slippers when she first put them on Dorothy’s feet. When the Wicked Witch of the West demands that Dorothy give her dead sister’s slippers to her, Glinda says, “Their magic must be very powerful, or she wouldn’t want them so badly.” Still, she never tells Dorothy about their true power.

  It’s been over fifty years since I first heard that story, and I now realize that if Dorothy had simply gone back home right away, she wouldn’t have appreciated her home as much as she did at the end. She wouldn’t have made friends with the Scarecrow, the Lion and the Tin Man, who showed her that she needed wisdom, courage and love to get through problems in life. She wouldn’t have had the experience of victory over wickedness. She wouldn’t have learned to demonstrate her own power to solve her problems. She wouldn’t have learned that sometimes the solution to a problem is something simple that you already have in your possession (water!).

  L Frank Baum’s story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a classic for a very good reason. It is the story of life. Souls come into physical embodiment and have to learn the rules of each place they find themselves in. We make friends with others who demonstrate qualities that we have to learn to manifest for ourselves. Along the way, we are beset by problems, some of which we can solve by ourselves, and others for which we need the help of our friends. Sometimes our help comes from unseen forces, and we never realize it. Through it all, God is in the background, allowing us to work through our problems, because God knows that Souls learn best by experience. Dealing with our problems forces us to grow. Not until we come to understand our true nature as Soul do we realize our power to create the events and relationships of our lives. Unlike the film, we don’t have to wait until we get to our final destination to come to this realization. If we are lucky, we tumble to it while we are on the journey. 🙂

  

  Legend had it that Molly McGee had been hexed by a rival witch, a curse that would leave a trail of misfortune and despair wherever she went. Those who crossed her or tried to harm her would face the wrath of the voodoo curse. It was believed that her curse could bring illness, financial ruin, or even death to those who dared to cross her. Despite the rumors and warnings, there were still those who sought her out in hopes of gaining her favor or using her powers to their advantage. Some came seeking love, others wanted revenge. But they soon discovered that Molly's voodoo curse was not to be taken lightly. One man, in particular, thought he could outsmart the curse and use it to his advantage. He hired Molly McGee to cast a hex on his business rival, hoping to bring him down and secure his own success. Little did he know the consequences that would follow. In the days that followed, the man's life began to crumble. His business went bankrupt, his wife left him, and his health deteriorated rapidly. He realized too late the power of the voodoo curse and the price he would pay for his greed and deceit. Molly McGee had warned him of the dangers, but he had foolishly ignored her words. It was a lesson that would not be forgotten. The voodoo curse of Molly McGee served as a reminder to all who crossed her path that actions have consequences, and the power of magic should never be underestimated. To this day, the legend of Molly McGee and her voodoo curse lives on in the streets of New Orleans. Her story serves as a cautionary tale, a reminder of the dangers that lie beneath the surface of the mystical world. The voodoo curse of Molly McGee continues to captivate the imaginations of those who hear it, ensuring that her legacy will live on forever..

  Reviews for "The Tragic Story of Molly McGee and Her Voodoo Curse"

  1. Sarah - 2/5 - I was really disappointed with "The Voodoo Curse of Molly McGee". The plot was confusing and hard to follow, and the characters lacked depth and development. I found myself struggling to stay engaged throughout the whole movie. The animation was also below par, with stiff and unnatural movements. Overall, it felt like a rushed and poorly executed project. I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone looking for a captivating and well-crafted animated movie.

  2. John - 3/5 - While "The Voodoo Curse of Molly McGee" had an interesting concept, I felt that it was let down by the execution. The story started off strong, but as it progressed, it became convoluted and difficult to understand. The pacing was also inconsistent, with some scenes dragging on for too long, and others feeling rushed. The animation seemed average, nothing exceptional, and the characters lacked depth and complexity. It had its moments, but overall, I don't think it lived up to its potential.

  3. Emily - 2/5 - "The Voodoo Curse of Molly McGee" was a disappointment for me. The plot was confusing, and I found myself struggling to connect with the characters. The humor fell flat, and the jokes seemed forced and predictable. The animation was decent, but it didn't make up for the lackluster story and uninteresting characters. I was expecting more from a film with such an intriguing title, but unfortunately, it failed to deliver.

  4. Mike - 1/5 - I couldn't even finish watching "The Voodoo Curse of Molly McGee". The story was all over the place, and the characters were forgettable and unrelatable. The animation was subpar, with choppy movements and lack of attention to detail. It felt like a cheap knockoff of better animated movies. I wouldn't waste my time on this one.

  5. Jessica - 2/5 - I had high hopes for "The Voodoo Curse of Molly McGee", but it fell short of my expectations. The story lacked coherence and failed to capture my interest. The characters were one-dimensional and lacked depth, making it difficult to care about their journeys. The animation quality was average at best, and there were times when the visuals felt rushed and inconsistent. Overall, it was a forgettable movie experience for me.

  Solving the Riddle of Molly McGee's Voodoo Curse