Since it’s never mentioned in the movie, does the book say?
Was she killed by the tornado while bicycling back to her home? Or will the Gales be paid another visit by her looking to take the doggie away again?
MODERATOR COMMENT: Please note that this thread is from 2001, until revived in Nov 2013 in Post #14. If you’re replying to one of the earlier posts, just be aware that they’re from 12 years ago. – CKDH
There is a web page for everyting!
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/6396/msgulch.htm
Her fate in the movie is a matter of opinion; I have to say that the analysis by that web site makes sense:
She did die because all characters in the real world had their counterparts in the dream one. So: ding-dong the Gulch is dead!
BTW, Miss Gulch never appeared in the original book:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6188/oz-books.html
She either was a Hollywood creation or she was created for the theater play first.
According to the play, a telegraph pole landed on her and broke her leg. Since her leg was in a cast, she was unable to bother Dorothy for a few weeks… but, ultimately (my prediction), Miss Gulch gets her way, takes the Gail’s farm, and Dorothy grows up to be a traumatized teenager living in the big city, and, ultimately, commits suicide in a bout of hopeless depression.
I didn’t like working on that play. No, not one bit.
Ya know, I never could figure out why Dorothy wanted to go back there so bad. Knowing Miss Gulch died in the twister would make it worth the trip, though.
Chris W
Because, ultimately, Dorothy was an absolute and total imbecile.
She missed her Auntie Em, people…
This came up during the weekend. MilliCal asked for The Wizard of Oz to be put on for the zillionth time, and it hit me.
CalMeacham: Hey! Why is everyone happy at the end? Toto’s still under a Sentence of Death!
Pepper Mill: No, he isn’t. Miss Gulch gets killed.
CM: They never say that, though.
PM: She did. Remember when she’s in the tornado?
CM: That’s just a dream.
PM: It doesn’t matter. She’s dead. It’s the only way to have a happy ending.
I guess it’s true, at least as far as the movie logic goes. There’s no way you could leave that end dangling (“Welcome home, Dorothy! Here comes the sheriff for your dog!”), and you don’t want to make your audience do a moral doubletake at the Happy Ending (“Oh, and by the way, Miss Gulch is dead!” “Yay!!!”).
Technically, though, I still don’t think this would save Toto – the paper work had already gone through.
Damn! Don’t you people know anything? She went on to sell Maxwell House coffee - didn’t you see the commercials.
Some people - you have to hit them over the head with everything.
Speaking of which, Clara Blandick did commit suicide in 1962.
Not to hijack, but here’s an oddity I’ve never had explained to me:
After the Wicked Witch of the West disappears in a cloud of red smoke in Munchkinland, Glinda sez: “It’s all right. You can get up. She’s gone. It’s all right. You can all get up. Pooh – what a smell of sulphur!”
What’s with the “sulphur” line?!?! I’ve probably posted this a dozen times over the past years, and have never received a good answer…
Really? I never noticed this! After all these years we’re still finding little odd bits in this movie. I’ll have to check our copy of it and see.
If she does say it, it’s because sulphur (actually Hydrogen Sulfide) has a very bad odor, usually described as “rotten eggs”, but also similar to intestinal gas. It’s the odor of biblical “brimstone”, and is associated with the Devil. Demons and devils are often said to disappear in a cloud of brimstone, but whether that’s a genuine legend or only the recent addition of fantasy writers I do not know. In any event, it’s wholly in keeping with the Wicked Witch of the West.
Of course, the audience of TWOO couldn’t smell this, so Glinda or someone has to give the impression, probably by holding their nose (I’ll have to check the film for that, too), or by making comment. The comment is as subtle as a sledgehammer, though, and probably going overboard.
Hmmm. Well, I suspect that’s as good a theory as any.
When compared with the rest of the script (and I practically know it by heart, though not voluntarily), this particular line seems most odd. Perhaps it was an inside joke.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Crafter_Man *
**
Never mind that – what’s Pooh doing in Oz? :eek: 
Sulphur and brimstone, traditionally associated with Hell or Satan. As in “there’s a whiff of brimstone about that plan…” etc
Of course, she might have farted as she died…
Oh - did I say that out loud?
Redboss
Even absolute and total imbeciles miss their Aunt Em. 
Hah!
It took me until the zillionth time watching before this struck me as well. Just now, my two youngest were watching the movie and it occurred to me. I guess there is no satisfactory definitive answer or someone on the SDMB would have figured it out.
Far worse than that if you read the books, which are batshit insane.
To be fair, though, Book-Dorothy is like 7.
These days Miss Gultch has a taste for BRAIIIIIIIIINS
or she would if she hadn’t been melted by Dorothy. She was the WWotW. You even see her change forms during the twister. All a dream, feh, yeah right.
You and the Scarecrow both:
Miss Almira Gulch was riding a bicycle through the Kansas countryside when a tornado came ripping up the path she was riding down.