The Grey Area

I was thinking about the transition from the lovable Mr. Wogglebug and the unlikeable Professor Wogglebug, and how that came about. A lot of people think it began after the financial and critical failure of the musical, The Woggle-Bug; its failure made Baum turn against his creation, leading to the Professor character seen in later books. However, I think the transition began with the play itself, particularly in the Wogglebug's character. The story itself is a loose retelling of The Marvelous Land of Oz, though Glinda is replaced with Maetta and other Oz characters are excluded. The Wogglebug was elevated to title character status--but with this came a weird subplot about him falling in love with a checkered dress, and the main plot still follows Ozma, Mombi, and Jack. The whole plot about the dress tries to be comic relief, but it reminds me more of the Humbug from the Phantom Tollbooth than anything the Wogglebug would do, and it's not a surprise it failed to attract an audience. I feel like this was the beginning of the end for the Wogglebug as he premiered in Oz.