Munchkin

For other uses, see Munchkin (disambiguation).

Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue. Later books never note anything unusual about Munchkin height but emphasize the color preference.

They are probably better known from their depiction in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, in which they are played by adult proportional midgets and dress in brightly multicolored outfits. On November 20 2007, the Munchkins were given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Seven of the surviving Munchkins actors from the film were present."Munchkin actors get star on Walk of Fame", Cable News Network / Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., 2007-11-21. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.  As a result of the popularity of the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, the word "munchkin" has entered the English language as a reference to small children, dwarfs, or anything of diminutive stature. (2004) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. 

Appearance

The following is an excerpt from chapter two of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy first meets three Munchkins and the Good Witch of the North:

". . . she noticed her coming down toward her a group of the queerest people she had ever seen. They were not as big as the grown folk she had always been used to; but neither were they very small. In fact, they seemed about as tall as Dorothy, who was a well-grown child for her age, although they were, so far as looks go, many years older.

Origin of the Term

Baum never explained where the term came from, but Baum researcher Brian Attebery has hypothesized that there might be a connection to the emblem of the Bavarian city of Munich, known as the Münchner Kindl (Munich Child).^{[citation needed]} The symbol was originally a 13th century statue of a monk, looking down from the town hall in Munich. Over the years the image was reproduced many times, for instance as a figure on Beer steins, and eventually evolved into a child wearing a pointed hood. Baum\'s family had German origins: Baum could have seen one such reproduction in his childhood, and woven his story around it.^{[citation needed]}

Notable Munchkins

Fictional

• Nimmie Amee
• Bini Aru
• Kiki Aru
• Boq
• King Cheeriobed
• Margolotte
• Ojo the Lucky
• Queen Orin of the Ozure Isles
• Dr. Pipt
• Realbad the Bandit
• Unc Nunkie
• Charlotte Pumpkin Ridge
• Prof Byford
• Uncle Tomlin

Film actors

• The Singer Midgets
• Merciless Sara Herandi
• Amirpashaie Family
• Gracie, Harry, Daisy and Tiny Earles
• Meinhardt Raabe
• Margaret Pellegrini
• Jerry Maren
• Mickey Carroll
• Ruth Duccini
• Karl Slover
• Clarence Swensen

References

Footnotes and citations

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