The Ghost of L. Frank Baum Visited a Fan

A devoted fan of the Wogglebug and supporter of me on my Discord server, Thomas Lomagro, shared a story of how he awoke one night completely paralyzed, and saw the ghost of L. Frank Baum approached his bedside. At first, Thomas was angry about what he had done to the Wogglebug, but then he said to him, "I wish I had written the Wogglebug the way Cynthia Hanson wrote him. I was wrong." And then he was lulled back to sleep. And the above AI-generated picture he told me is a very accurate depiction of exactly what he had seen, and that, before that night, he had been a skeptic on ghosts.

And I do indeed believe Thomas's story of seeing and hearing the ghost of L. Frank Baum. Because I have hired at least two different psychic mediums to contact Baum's spirit to ask him if he approves of what I am doing with the character he created, and both times the answer was a resounding yes, he does very much approve of it. And he should, after all, I am glorifying his creation.

And what could the ghost of L. Frank Baum meant that he was wrong? For one thing, he obviously meant that all I do for the Wogglebug in my writing is far better than anything he ever did for him. The first instance in which Baum went wrong with the Wogglebug was bringing him into the very middle of his second Oz book, instead of making him the main character of his own book in a fantasy land that wasn't Oz.

In Oz, the Wogglebug had left Professor Knowitall's schoolhouse with the desire to travel in the world and to also associate with those who are like him, as he had said himself when he told his story. Tragically, he got involved with false friends shortly after, who turned out to be arrogant and hypocritical bastards who treated him worse than dirt, and he also got unintentionally tagged along on an adventure he never wanted to go on in the first place with them. And on it, he hardly even had much opportunity to use his intellectual prowess and be a hero because of it, due to all the others getting in his way of being able to do so, and casting him in the shadows of their own egos. And it only got worse for him afterward, even though Ozma made him the Public Educator of Oz because he stayed locked up in that college almost all the time, and was essentially shunned from going on any more adventures and from having any true friendships, not even with the Frogman, whom he never even directly interacted with at all. The Frogman was likely created to rework what the Wogglebug used to be and replace what he could have become before. As sure as if the Wizard hadn't ever returned to Oz, like he wasn't originally going to, the Wogglebug could have always stayed Ozma's trusted adviser, and the Land of Oz wouldn't have become so ridiculous in how it always relied on magic more than logic and reason.

In my movie series, when the Wogglebug's new life in Genoma gets started right after he is magnified by Professor Knowitall, instead of running away from the schoolhouse when no one is looking he sticks around, knowing that the Professor will let him keep his size, as he considers him his proudest achievement and has a great plan in mind for him. Then the Professor takes him to spend time with the Taylor family, who give him his first clothes and start him out on living among humans. With them he finds he can laugh, and he also begins to learn what love is after the Taylors' children, Benita and Joshua, give him his first hug. He also adequately demonstrates his intellectual prowess in how he saves the village from an evil landlady.

Then, feeling confident in himself, he sets off for the castle, and along the way, he meets Sylvie Harnois, who was a meeting set up by Professor Knowitall because she is a person from the outside world who connects with nature and is capable of fulfilling the prophecy of saving the Enchanted Forest with Mr. Wogglebug's help. And Sylvie and Mr. Wogglebug become the best of friends and learn a lot from each other by helping each other through their adventure in saving the Enchanted Forest. For instance, Mr. Wogglebug learns he can cry when he is mocked a couple of times and starts to lose his confidence in himself, but Sylvie comforts him and assures him she still loves him and believes in him. And Sylvie learns to have confidence in herself as he guides her to do so throughout the adventure, and he automatically ends up learning humility from her as he does so, which culminates in the climax when he saves Sylvie from Antibo's spell and declares he loves her more than he could ever love himself. And so, having adequately demonstrated all of the Seven Living Values of Intelligence, he becomes the adviser to the King and Queen of Genoma. And when Sylvie returns to her own world, she is adopted by the Martins. So both their dreams came true.

And so then on his next adventure with Sylvie he reflects what she has taught him to the Frogman as they have their adventure in rescuing Professor Knowitall and finding the four Keys of Wisdom along the way, and thus the Wogglebug and Frogman become the best friends of friends in realizing they are kindred spirits with a common bond of being creations linked to Professor Knowitall and his genius. This is simply what I intended the friendship between the Wogglebug and Frogman to be all about. And nothing more.

Their next adventure starts when Wogglebug misplaces his handkerchief, retraces his steps from the day before, and Sylvie makes sure he finds it just in time, and thus he receives a little loving dose of humility from her. And being who he is, he has to take what he has learned from it to the next level and invents a theory-detector that helps find anything that is lost no matter what it is. And he brings it along on their journey to find what each one of a band of pirates is looking for. And in the end, he learns that while his invention is very useful and beneficial, he must still use his own natural intellect to solve problems in the end. This is a valuable lesson for many of today with the rise of artificial intelligence, including myself.

Next, he has an adventure in New York City, where he is initially like a fish out of water, but this doesn't stop him from making a big and positive difference in the lives of the McCarlson Family, who take him in. Then he gains insight into what romantic love is when he becomes infatuated with Mindy Mitchell due to her wearing bright plaid. In the end, Mindy falls in love with Dr. Henry McCarlson, and the Woggleug is heartbroken, but before he returns to Genoma, Henry's two daughters, Eleanor and Tasha, comfort him and assure him they love him because of all the good he has done for them. And it's then he sees what the meaning of true love is, no matter what kind it is. So The Wogglebug's Adventure in New York is rather a modern-day retelling of Baum's The Wogglebug Book, which I was inspired by in addition to a few modern-day fantasy/family movies that have a similar plot.

In his next adventure, he enters the dimension of the world of cartoons through a magical portal in a TV set, and through finding out how to save four different shows from cancellation by discovering how they all interconnect with each other it sets him up for his next epic adventure. Which is when he returns to New York City and reunites with the McCarlsons when Sylvie brings him in. And when two evil figures from Genoma and New York unite to destroy the world, the Wogglebug and all his friends in both dimensions unite to rally all of the magical beings of Genoma and Earth to save them. And at the end, as the Wogglebug makes sure Dr. McCarlson is acquitted by defending him as his lawyer, all is made right with both worlds in complete harmony with each other. Then Professor Knowitall is so proud of Wogglebug for his achievements that he passes on the torch of Public Educator in Genoma to him the day before he passes away in his sleep of old age. Then Wogglebug finds the dimension of the Insect Kingdom, where his education in love culminates when he meets and falls in love at first sight with the Beetle Princess Wagneria. After they both use their combined wisdom and love to save the Insect Kingdom, they marry each other. Then in the last installment of the series, Wogglebug puts everything he has ever learned to use when he is called back to Earth and saves the whole galaxy from an impending doom from an evil entity that is draining all of the colors from it. And the speech he gives in front of the world's leaders at the end sums up everything perfectly as it is met with thunderous applause.

I know a lot of Oz fans would be likely to disagree with me on this, but the Wogglebug was always as lovable in The Marvelous Land of Oz as he is in my movie series set in Genoma. He is simply in a better place for him now. As his name means, as Professor Knowitall explained, it does, is wisdom and love in a combined sense and implies they go one way or another depending on which is nurtured most. And in Genoma, Professor Knowitall acts as a loving and nurturing fatherly and mentor figure to the Wogglebug every step of his journey to heroism. And Sylvie Harnois looks to the Wogglebug as a sort of fatherly figure in the realm of fantasy, which is the start of his discovering the hidden links between Earth and Genoma and bringing harmony to both worlds. So, in his new life in Genoma, the Wogglebug lives the life of adventure and friendship he always desired and always deserved to have.

I distinctly remember when an older woman named Anne Blair, who was one of the main persons responsible for there being so many cyber-trolls surrounding me and my fandom, had told me she read in a review I wrote of the Oz books that I love the Wogglebug, and I know what is best for him, she said, “a view L. Frank Baum would have laughed at.” I don't know if she would believe the story Thomas Lomagro told me and my Discord fans that I related at the beginning, but I personally have all the validity for it that I need to know Thomas was telling the truth about what he saw and heard that night.

And for years before then, I had read the cyber-trolls who taunted me and my passion for my dreams to make the Wogglebug into a famous icon and beloved household name in children's educational entertainment, and how I am making them come true against their expectations, said among each other, “L. Frank Baum must be turning over in his grave.” But I now know he isn't, at least not like how they must have meant. And he may rest in peace as I continue to right what he did wrong, and fulfill my destiny to the next level.