The Wicked Witch of the West rocks.
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
No offense Czar, but couldn’t you have said “Off to see Cafe Society”? 
Thematic moderating, it’s all the rage.
I am pretty surprised so far at the results. I didn’t specify characters because I know how it is to like the 3rd munchkin on the left of the sunflower type of thingy.
Scarecrow. His is the best of the three “If I Only Had…” songs (Tin Man’s is too whiney and sentimental schlock, and while Lion’s has potential, it’s half the length of the others before it transitions into the mission statement for the group). I also liked Bolger’s loose-limbed vaudevillian physical mannerisms.
[Krusty]
And when it’s time to do the dishes, where’s Ray Bolger? I’ll tell ya! Ray Bolger is looking out for Ray Bolger!
[/Krusty]
I like The Tin Man. Favorite part of the whole show is where he does his little dance, thumps his chest like a drum, then toots steam out of his funnel cap.
My second fave is the Munchkin Coroner. “She’s not only merely dead, she’s really most sincerely dead.”
If we’re talking about the books, I tend to favor the Sawhorse whenever he appears. Tiktok comes in at a close second.
If we’re talking about the movie… I dunno. The Witch, maybe.
The only truly memorable character in the whole thing is Miss Gultch / The Wicked Witch of The West. I’ll bet everyone here remembers her first lines and last lines.
Forgot to add: she’s the only character with her own theme song. (Everyone here remembers that, too.)
In later books, Dorothy does move to Oz to live there.
Movie I struggle between the Tin Man and Scarecrow, it is a close call for me because the gentleness of the Tin Man is very touching, but the Scarecrow is such a dependable individual who takes charge in a nice way.
Books: Really like Tick-tock a LOT.
Princess Ozma/Tip.
Flying monkey #7.
You know, Eve, as many times as I’ve read the Oz books, the resonance of Tip/Ozma to transsexuals had never occurred to me. Thank you for pointing it out…it adds a new layer of meaning to the whole thing.
The Glass Cat. And the Woozy.
Purely for his name…
The First and Foremost of the Phanfasms
For the movie, I gotta agree with the Scarecrow.
Yesterday at the fabric store, I mentioned that I was getting something for my halloween costume. The clerk asked what that costume was.
“I’ll be dressed as Dorothy. Attached to me with PVC pipes will be jointed mannequins dressed as the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion. . . . Some how I don’t think I’ll be picking up any chicks this halloween.”
Back To The OP
I’ve actually been meaning to re-read the first book. I remember it being much more fun and inventive than the film.
Re Ray Bolger
That line was said by Homer, not Krusty.
Re Alice In Wonderland
OTTOMH, Professor Doodlebug, Tick Tock, or the Gump would all be more at home in Wonderland than Glinda. The Gump is IIRC a moosehead attached to a sofa who flies by beating his palm fronds against the air. Right at home with hookah smoking caterpillars and cards who play polo with flamingoes (or was it dodoes?)
Scarecrow, since I was old enough to notice that he really was the brains of the outfit.
Tin Man in the book.
Scarecrow in the movie.
Jack Pumpkinhead in the movie Return to Oz.
Nah. H. M. Wogglebug, T.E., Tiktok (or Tik-Tok) and the Gump always seemed much less menacing to me than the characters in Alice. As a kiddo, the only slightly frightening Oz characters (very slight, mind you) I thought, were the Phanfasms. (And maybe the Whimsies. I can’t recall.)
Of course it was. My defense is, umm, both are voiced by Castelanetta. Yeah, that’s it. Not that I just stupidly said one instead of the other.