“Oz” Celebrations at the Camden Public Library

The Camden Public Library will celebrate all things Oz on November 14 and November 21, with events featuring Oz expert John Fricke and Wicked author Gregory Maguire. The library will also display life-size standup cutouts of Oz characters, suitable for photo opportunities, and the famous Tik-Tok Robot of Ozma, on loan from the Oz collection of Willard Carroll and Tom Wilhite.

On Thursday, November 14, at 7:00 pm, John Fricke, the world’s leading expert on all things Oz, will hold forth on “The Wonderful World of Oz” at the library. Fricke has recently published a book by the same title, The Wonderful World of Oz, with Down East Books. The event is free; there will be several copies of the new 3D movie of “The Wizard of Oz” to be awarded as door prizes. Owl and Turtle Books will have books on hand for purchase.

And on Thursday, November 21, 7:00 pm, the library will host Gregory Maguire’s “Wicked Evening” at the Camden Opera House, about the world he created with the Wicked series.Wicked is enjoying a second life as a big-budget musical on Broadway;  the musical is celebrating its tenth anniversary this month. Tickets for “A Wicked Evening ” in Camden are $15, with a special package price of $25 which includes a copy of Wicked and the book-signing reception to follow the talk. Tickets are available at the library and online at the Camden Public Library shop. Ticket sales will benefit the “Stock the Stacks” Fund of the Camden Public Library

Tik-Tok first appears in the book Ozma of Oz (1907) where Dorothy discovers him locked up in a cave, immobilized. He becomes Dorothy’s servant and protector, despite his tendency to run down at crucial moments. That novel also introduces Tik-Tok’s monotonic, halting mode of speech: “Good morn-ing, lit-tle girl.” Tik-Tok is a round-bodied mechanical man that runs on clockwork springs which periodically need to be wound, like a wind-up toy or mechanical clock. He has separate windings for thought, action, and speech. Tik-Tok is unable to wind any of them up himself. He becomes frozen or mute or, for one memorable moment in The Road to Oz, continues to speak but utters gibberish. As Baum repeatedly mentions, Tik-Tok is not alive and feels no emotions. He therefore can no more love or be loved than a sewing machine, but as a servant he is utterly truthful and loyal.

Tik-Tok was a main character in the movie Return to Oz. His legs are very stout and he speaks with his mustache rather than his teeth. In the movie, he is the entire Royal Army of Oz, which is ironic considering his general haplessness. An acrobat, Michael Sundin, was upside-down inside in Tik-Tok with his hands operating Tik-Tok’s legs and his feet tucked behind Tik-Tok’s head.

The library’s Oz events are produced in collaboration with the Farnsworth Art Museum’s Wonderful World of Oz programs, October 2013 to March 2014.