Silver Shoes

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Silver Shoes
Illustration by W. W. Denslow in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz of Dorothy holding the Shoes
Plot element from the Land of Oz series of prose fiction
First appearance	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz 1900
Created by	L. Frank Baum
Genre	Children's books, fantasy
In-story information
Type	Magical shoes
Function	Able to send the wearer wherever they wish to go

The Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as heroine Dorothy Gale's transport home. They are originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her house lands on the Witch. At the end of the story, Dorothy uses the shoes to transport her back to her home in Kansas, but when she arrives at her destination finds the shoes have fallen off en route.

Appearances in books[]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz[]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) is the only book in the original series to feature the Silver Shoes directly. They are the property of the Wicked Witch of the East until Dorothy's house lands on and kills her. They are then given to Dorothy by the Good Witch of the North, who tells Dorothy that "there is some charm connected with them; but what it is we never knew." When Dorothy is captured by the Wicked Witch of the West, she tries to steal the shoes. She finally gets one by tricking Dorothy into tripping over an invisible iron bar. Dorothy then melts the Witch with a bucket of water and recovers the shoe. In the final chapters of the book, Glinda explains that the shoes can transport the wearer anywhere they wish. If the Silver Shoes have any other powers they are never outlined in the books, however the Witch of the West was obsessed with obtaining them, as they would give her much greater power than any other thing she possessed, suggesting the shoes hold immense magic. After saying goodbye to her friends, Dorothy knocks her heels together three times, and commands the Shoes to carry her home. When Dorothy opens her eyes, she has arrived in Kansas. She finds that the shoes are gone, having fallen off during her flight and landing somewhere in the Deadly Desert. Though they are mentioned several times in sequels, they never appear again in the original series.

The Wizard of the Emerald City[]

In Alexander Melentyevich Volkov's The Wizard of the Emerald City (1939), the Silver shoes or Serebryaniye bashmachki as they are called in the manuscript, are the source of Elly's (his version of Dorothy) protection instead of the good Witch's kiss. She is therefore attacked once by an Ogre when removing them, and afterward wears them even when she sleeps. They are not taken from the Witch's body, but rather brought by Toto from her dwelling (a dark cave). This was possibly done to avert the problem of a person wearing the shoes to be impossible to harm, since in that book the hurricane is created by the Wicked Witch to destroy mankind, and redirected upon her by the Good Witch of the North, who suffers no ill effects for harming her. It is said the Witch only wore the shoes on very special occasions. They are lost just like in Baum's book.

Dorothy of Oz[]

In Roger S. Baum's Dorothy of Oz (1989), Glinda recovers the silver shoes and presents them to Dorothy. They have enough power remaining that Dorothy can travel once more to Oz and back to Kansas.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West[]

In Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), the silver shoes are a gift to Nessarose (the Wicked Witch of the East) before she and her sister, Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) start college. They are made by her father using special glass beads another man (Turtle Heart, possibly her biological father) taught him to make, which make the shoes shiny and iridescent, not necessarily a true silver. They are later enchanted by Glinda (the Good Witch of the North) to give Nessarose the necessary balance to walk. In the Broadway musical adaption of the book, Elphaba is the one who enchants the shoes. Her spell makes the silver shoes burn red hot, turning them into the ruby slippers.

Appearances in film[]

Wizard of Oz (1925 film)[]

The shoes were absent from the 1925 movie.

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)[]

In the 1939 movie the shoes served the same purpose as in the book but were changed to red by its screenwriter Noel Langley. He gave a notably different appearance than in Denslow's illustrations. In addition to the silver shoes' powers, the Ruby slippers in the film were magically protected from being removed from the feet of the person wearing them unless said person is dead.

The Wiz[]

In The Wiz (1978), the shoes are silver high heels. This movie gives further insight into the shoes' magical protection: when Evillene (the witch of the west) tries to obtain them magically, her fingers are bent painfully backwards.

The Wizard of Oz (1982 film)[]

In the anime movie, the shoes are once again ruby slippers, though they are never referred to by that name. They are heeled shoes with pointed, slightly curled toes, similar to their appearance in Denslow's illustrations. Unlike the book, the shoes are still on Dorothy's feet when she arrives in Kansas.

Return to Oz[]

In Return to Oz (1985), the Ruby Slippers are used once again. In this movie, the slippers have more power than simply transporting people. They allow the Nome King to conquer Oz and turn every one in the Emerald City to stone. Dorothy later uses the shoes to reverse this process. This extra power is due to the fact the slippers replace the Nome King's Magic Belt. In the original draft of the script, the Nome King had refashioned the slippers into the actual Magic Belt from the novels. Upon his death, they reverted into the form of slippers. This was cut from the final filming of the movie.

The Muppets' Wizard of Oz[]

In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), the Silver Shoes are portrayed as sparkling, bejeweled, glittery Manolo Blahnik high-heels. The laws of ownership are again displayed in that the Witch of the West tries to cut off Dorothy's feet to obtain the shoes. Once again the shoes remain on Dorothy's feet when she arrives home.

Appearances in television[]

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1986 anime)[]

When first seen on the feet of the Witch of the East in the 1986 anime version, they are brown peasant's shoes. When the Witch of the North then magically transfers them to Dorothy's feet, they take on the appearance of white slip-on shoes. When Dorothy is forced to give one of the shoes to the Witch of the West, it reverts to the peasant form. After the Witch is melted and Dorothy is shown wearing it again, it has returned to its white form.

The shoes are used twice after they initially send Dorothy home. The first time, she is holding them in her hands when she clicks the heels and drops them. Consequently, Dorothy is transported to Oz and the shoes are left in Kansas (Glinda sends her home). The second time occurs while Dorothy is sleeping. Tik-Tok is emitting a distress signal and the shoes activate, transporting Dorothy to the Land of Ev in a beam of light. Her clothes are changed in mid flight.

The Wizard of Oz (TV series)[]

In the 1990 The Wizard of Oz television series, the Ruby Slippers are used to transport Dorothy back to Oz. They are depicted to possess other powerful magical capabilities that Dorothy did not fully understand, and as such, often served as a form of deus ex machina against hopeless situations. They are no longer depicted as high heels.

A unique concept proposed by this series is that the Ruby Slippers' magic is linked to the glow of their red coloration. Their powers only function while a dim glow of red light emanates from them, initiated by Dorothy clicking her heels; and the effects of their magic immediately cease after the shoes cease to glow. Also, the Wicked Witch was once able to annul their abilities entirely, by capturing a red Luminary (teardrop-shaped creatures who control all color in Oz) and forcing him to drain the red color from the slippers themselves. However the slippers regained their powers after the Luminary escaped.

This series also proposes that the slippers do not necessarily have to be on the user's feet for their powers to work, as Dorothy once used them by tapping the heels together when she held the shoes in her hands (since the ground's sandy surface prevented her from clicking the heels together).

Also worth noting in a single episode, is that Truckle, the series' lead Flying Monkey, was once able to wear the Ruby Slippers and thus utilize their powerful magic for his own whims. Even with his generally dim wits and reckless disregard, the slippers gave him sufficient power to overwhelm the Wicked Witch of the West's magical attacks, and temporarily reduce her to his servant. This once again demonstrates that the shoes' users need not be a skilled/knowledgeable spellcaster, in order to gain great power. The Cowardly Lion also gets to wear them briefly.

Charmed (TV Series)In the season five episode where the Halliwell sisters are jovially interfered with by fairy tale creatures due to the Wicked Queen of Snow White. Once Piper vanquishes the Queen, she is sent home from purgatory with Dorothy's slippers. They are depicted as ruby slippers, like the 1939 Film

Once Upon a Time (TV series)[]

In the Once Upon a Time television series, the Silver Slippers are first alluded to in "The Doctor", when Rumpelstiltskin sends the Mad Hatter to the Land of Oz in order to locate and retrieve the shoes so that he could travel to the Land without Magic in order to locate his lost son Balefire.

In "It's Not Easy Being Green", shortly before "The Doctor", Zelena, the woman who would eventually become the Wicked Witch of the West, goes to the Wizard in order to seek out her family. Upon discovering that she was abandoned by her mother, Cora, and that her half-sister, Regina became Queen and was being trained by Rumpelstiltskin, the Wizard gives Zelena the shoes so that she can travel to the Enchanted Forest to try and replace Regina as Rumpelstiltskin's student. Upon being rejected by him, Zelena turns green with envy. She mocks Rumpelstiltskin with the power of the Silver Slippers, thus causing his later desire to obtain them. Using the Silver Slippers again she returns to Oz and dethrones the Wizard.

In "Kansas" the Slippers appear again, as Zelena, posing as the Wizard of Oz, gives Dorothy the Silver Slippers in order to send her back to Kansas, in the hopes that it would keep Dorothy from becoming a powerful witch herself, and from defeating and replacing Zelena as the Witch of the West.

In "Our Decay", an adult Dorothy has returned to Oz via the Slippers to face down Zelena and rescue the Scarecrow from her.

In "Ruby Slippers", the Silver Slippers appear one last time, enabling travel between the Underworld and Oz so that Ruby (Red Riding Hood) can rescue Dorothy from a sleeping curse Zelena has placed her under. Zelena, who is trying to change her ways gives the Slippers over to the heroes so Ruby and Snow White can make their way back to Oz.

Appearances in other media[]

Dorothy of Oz[]

The Dorothy of Oz series completely revamps the Silver Shoes. They are instead depicted as red boots created by Selluriah, the Witch of the East. When Mara (codename Dorothy) stomps the heels of said boots, she takes on the form and powers of a witch. This power is channeled (rather inexpertly) through the staff Thrysos. The transformation is rather embarrassing, as it involves Mara being momentarily nude and various men are always apt to spot her. It is yet to be revealed if these boots will help Mara return home.

Fables[]

The shoes are shown in the DC comics Vertigo series Fables. Dorothy, who's portrayed as a cold, merciless assassin, found that she enjoyed killing after being hired by the Wizard to kill the Witch of the West. However, she loses them on the way back to Kansas over the Deadly Desert, and goes to great lengths to get them back. She has several encounters with spy Cinderella, which climaxes with them facing off in the mini-series Cinderella: Fables Are Forever. After deducing that they are actually too big to fit Dorothy, Cinderella takes them and pushes her out of an airship over the Deadly Desert to her apparent death, though her body is not seen. Cinderella then looks over the shoes and decides they're just the right size to fit her.

References[]