I Smell a Rat

[vovat]

Since I started on the subject of Ozian rodents yesterday, now is as good a time as any to get around to Rachel Cosgrove's most prominent addition to the Oz canon, a character apparently considered by some to be the series' equivalent of Jar Jar Binks. Or maybe he's more like Poochie, what with his frequent usage of "cool" slang (early fifties slang, in his case, especially the term "kiddo"). I refer, of course, to that giant white rat Percy the Personality Kid, who makes his first appearance in The Hidden Valley of Oz.


Like other oversized animal characters in the Oz books, Percy has a history that involves a certain amount of magic. When Jonathan Manley, better known as Jam, plans to take an expedition using the kite he just built, he takes a few animals from his father's laboratory. When the wind blows him to Oz, he arrives there in the company of two guinea pigs and a white rat, all of whom begin talking in the fairyland. The guinea pigs are named Pinny and Gig, and have the annoying cartoon twin habit of finishing each others' sentences. They are written out pretty soon, as Jam leaves them with a Gillikin family. Percy the Rat, however, remains Jam's companion throughout his adventure, and a magic muffin from the Hidden Valley makes him grow to ten times his original size (although I would assume that's approximate, not exact). The rat is quite vocal and active, and often finds a way out of dangerous situations. Rachel, who had experience as a biologist, said she put in a rat character largely because they're intelligent animals, and Percy is indeed quite clever. I think it's more his attitude and speech patterns that make people dislike him.


When Eric Shanower illustrated Rachel's other Oz book, The Wicked Witch of Oz, he hit on another reason why people weren't too keen on Percy, which is the way Dirk Gringhuis drew him. In order to improve on this, Eric used a real rat as a model, and did indeed come up with a more attractive depiction. It also helps that there's a little more variety to Percy's slang in the text, so he comes across as a better character overall. Rachel also used him as the main character in her short story "Percy and the Shrinking Violet." For the most part, Percy doesn't appear in stories other than those written by Rachel herself, but Ray Powell apparently ignored the copyright and gave him a small but significant role in The Raggedys in Oz. In order to stir up some excitement, he frees Ruggedo from his enchantment, and is punished by being sent back to the United States to live as an ordinary rat. The version of Raggedys I read was a slightly edited one, in which Percy is forgiven, which really strikes me as more appropriate for an Oz story anyway. But the fact that Powell wanted to get rid of Percy in the first place just goes to show how unpopular he is with some Oz fans. On the other hand, he's fairly well-liked by others. I can't say I mind him, but he's not a favorite of mine either.

Comments

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Eric Shanower's version does look better. I also like his Dorothy, even though as a traditionalist I'll always prefer her in a dress (something with legs is more sensible, though!)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, seeing Dorothy in a shirt and shorts looks odd to me too, even if it is more practical. Dorothy's style sometimes changed with the times even within Neill's illustrations, though.

[dennisanfuso.livejournal.com]

No question that Eric's rat is a better rat, Eric is a better artist so it just follows. The slang is a bit annoying and dates the book, but I have always had a problem with Oz and being in fashion. Neill altered Dorothy's hair and dress, but it's still archaic to us in 2010 and seems okay. When people in Oz look too modern, (ie women in pants and T shirts) the magic seems to be somehow lessened. Steampunk things, like robots made of copper seem fine, but laptops and cell phones is all wrong.
I think we see Victorian stuff as kinda magical anyway, so it doesn't jar us the way modern technology does.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

It makes sense -- Neill updated fashions as the times changed, as you say. I have an idea ...

*looks around stealthily*

It's been in my head for awhile, and it would involve bringing Dorothy into the real world for awhile -- where she would still be wearing dresses despite it sometimes earning her odd looks. My thinking is that, despite still looking ten, at over a century old she might be getting set in her ways to a degree, and just wouldn't be comfortable wearing pants. We've talked about it before, but imagine the characterization possibilities of a 100 year old person who looks ten, and whose morals and attitudes date back to the early 1900's ...

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I agree. Dorothy born in the late 1800's, but wearing a dress designed in the 1950's, wouldn't seem all that out of place -- but Dorothy wearing Jeans and a "Cure" t-shirt would. I also maintain that she wouldn't wear pants anyway; that after a half century or so of wearing skirts, she'd feel uncomfortable dressing differently.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I think Baum was trying from the beginning to make Oz a land that was contemporary in some ways, but quaint in others. He did make the decision not to have railroads and steamships in his fairyland, even though they were common in his America.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

I agree, and I think he did a fine job with it, too. We other writers mess with that to our peril. Turning Oz into steampunk? Bad idea. (Are you listening, SF channel?)