Patchwork Girl
| Scraps, the Patchwork Girl | |
|---|---|
| Oz character | |
|
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| First appearance | The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1913) |
| Created by | L. Frank Baum |
| Information | |
| Species | Animated Rag Doll |
| Gender | female in expression |
| Occupation | poet |
| Nationality | Munchkin |
The Patchwork Girl (a.k.a. Scraps) is a character from the fantasy Oz Book series by L. Frank Baum. She first appeared in The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
Scraps is a teenaged (possibly fourteen) living rag doll made of patchwork, button eyes, brown yarn hair, a felt tongue, and pearl teeth. She was originally brought to life by a Munchkin magician named Dr. Pipt by means of his Powder of Life formula to be a servant for his wife Margolotte. Ojo,concerned that Margolotte gave her only enough brains to make her an obedient,unquestioning servant, overloaded her with magic brains in the process of bringing her to life, and as she happily jumped around she accidentally spilled the Liquid of Petrifaction on Mrs. Pipt and Ojo's uncle turning them to stone. Much of their first adventure is gathering the ingredients to find a counterspell.
She later became the companion of the Scarecrow who found her quite beautiful.
She had major roles in such Oz books as The Gnome King of Oz and The Wonder City of Oz, and was the title character in A Runaway in Oz.
The Patchwork Girl was likely influenced by the character of Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin, and she may have influenced the character of Raggedy Ann.
Despite her popularity, to the point that her image was used in at least two advertisements for student desks, she has appeared in only five film productions, two of which were made for television. When Baum produced a film version of the title story, he was not able to find a woman of athleticism suitable to play the role, and therefore cast the male French acrobat Pierre Couderc. She was portrayed by Doreen Tracy on the 4th Anniversary episode of Disneyland.
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