AUNT EM

'Aunt Em' is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and married to Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas.

Contents

Oz books

Comics

Background for the character

Oz books

Em spends most of her life working on farms. In ''The Emerald City of Oz'', she states that she has raised chickens for "nearly forty years." After confessing to Dorothy that their farm was facing imminent foreclosure, Em, Henry and Dorothy all move to the land of Oz to live for good in the Emerald City. Princess Ozma appoints Em "Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz" in order to keep her busy.
Her sister is married to Bill Hugson. It is never clarified in the books whether it is she or Uncle Henry who is Dorothy's blood relative.
She is featured slightly less than Uncle Henry in the Oz books, despite having a bigger role in the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz''. Ruth Plumly Thompson gave her only two brief mentions in ''The Royal Book of Oz'' and ''Grampa in Oz''. She had somewhat larger roles in John R. Neill's ''The Wonder City of Oz'' and ''The Scalawagons of Oz'' and Jack Snow's ''The Magical Mimics in Oz''.
== The Wizard of Oz (1939 film) ==
In the film she is referred to as "Auntie Em" (real name Emily), and pushes Dorothy away when she is counting chicks. She was portrayed by Clara Blandick.
== Return to Oz ==
Piper Laurie plays Aunt Em significantly younger than Blandick. She is intolerant of Dorothy's talk of Oz and presses that they are going to have two mortgages into her mind before taking her to shock therapy administered by Dr. J.B. Worley. She mentions having a sister named Garnet who would loan them money for the therapy. Garnet may or may not have been inteded to be Bill Hugson's wife.

Comics

In the comic book ''The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles'' #1, Em takes Dorothy to Henry's grave in St. Ann's Cemetery. The gravestone has been snapped in two. Em later returned the slippers to Dorothy, having kept them safe at Glinda's insistence.

Background for the character

Aunt Em was named after Emily Ingerson "Auntie Em" Warn. Warn's niece was a cousin of L. Frank Baum.