Emerald City artwork. Emerald City - \u003d Books \u003d. Great and terrible sorcerer, and also a former circus performer

A girl named Ellie lived in the vast Kansas steppe. Her father, the farmer John, worked all day in the field, and her mother, Anna, was busy with the housework.

They lived in a small van, removed from the wheels and set on the ground.

The furnishings of the house were poor: an iron stove, a wardrobe, a table, three chairs and two beds. Near the house, at the very door, a "hurricane cellar" was dug. The family sat in the cellar during storms.

Steppe hurricanes more than once toppled farmer John's light dwelling. But John did not lose heart: when the wind died down, he raised the house, the stove and the beds fell into place. Ellie collected pewter plates and mugs from the floor - and everything was in order until the next hurricane.

The steppe, flat as a tablecloth, stretched to the very horizon. In some places there were houses as poor as John's. Around them were arable land where farmers planted wheat and corn.

Ellie knew all the neighbors well for three miles around. Uncle Robert lived in the west with his sons Bob and Dick. Old Rolf lived in a house to the north. He made wonderful windmills for children.

The wide steppe did not seem dull to Ellie: it was her homeland. Ellie didn't know any other place. She saw mountains and forests only in pictures, and they did not attract her, perhaps because they were poorly drawn in the cheap books of Ellen.

When Ellie got bored, she called the funny dog \u200b\u200bToto and went to visit Dick and Bob or went to Grandpa Rolf, from whom she never returned without a homemade toy.

Totoshka barked across the steppe, chased the crows and was infinitely pleased with himself and his little mistress. Totoshka had black fur, sharp ears and small, amusingly shiny eyes. Toto never got bored and could play with the girl all day.

Ellie had a lot of worries. She helped her mother with the housework, and her father taught her to read, write and count, because the school was far away, and the girl was still too young to go there every day.

One summer evening, Ellie was sitting on the porch and reading a story aloud. Anna was washing clothes.

“And then the strong, mighty hero Arnaulf saw a wizard as tall as a tower,” Ellie chanted, running her finger along the lines. - From the mouth and nostrils of the wizard, fire flew out ... "Mom, - asked Ellie, looking up from the book, - now there are wizards?

“No, my dear. Wizards lived in the old days, and then died out. And what are they for? And without them enough trouble ...

Ellie wrinkled her nose funny.

“Still, it's boring without wizards. If I suddenly became a queen, I would definitely order that in every city and every village there should be a wizard. And so that he would perform all kinds of miracles for children.

- What, for example? - smiling, asked the mother.

- Well, what ... So that every girl and every boy, waking up in the morning, would find a big sweet gingerbread under the pillow ... Or ... - Ellie looked sadly at her rough worn shoes. “Or that all the kids have cute, light shoes.

“You’ll get the shoes without the wizard,” Anna objected. - You go with your dad to the fair, he will buy ...

While the girl was talking to her mother, the weather began to deteriorate.

Just at this very time in a distant land, behind the high mountains, the evil sorceress Gingema was conjuring in a gloomy deep cave.

It was scary in the Gingema cave. There, under the ceiling hung a stuffed huge crocodile. Large owls sat on high poles; from the ceiling hung bundles of dried mice tied to strings by their tails like onions. A long, fat snake coiled around the post and shook its flat head evenly. And many other strange and terrible things were in the vast Gingema cave.

In a large, smoked cauldron, Gingema was brewing a magic potion. She threw mice into the cauldron, tearing one by one from the bundle.

- Where did the snake heads go? Gingema grumbled angrily. - I didn't eat everything at breakfast! .. Ah, here they are, in a green pot! Well, now the potion will be great! .. These damned people will get it! I hate them! Settled around the world! Drained the swamps! Cut down the thickets! .. All the frogs were taken out! .. The snakes are being destroyed! There is nothing tasty left on earth! Unless you just eat a worm! ..

Gingema shook her bony withered fist into space and began tossing snake heads into the cauldron.

- Wow, hated people! So my potion is ready for your destruction! I will sprinkle the forests and fields, and a storm will rise, such as has never happened before!

Gingema grabbed the cauldron by the ears and with an effort pulled it out of the cave. She dipped a large pomelo into the cauldron and began to spill her brew around.

- Break out, hurricane! Fly around the world like a mad animal! Rip, break, smash! Knock down houses, lift them up into the air! Susaka, masaka, lema, rem, gama! .. Burido, furido, sama, pema, fema! ..

She shouted out magic words and splashed around with a disheveled broom, and the sky darkened, clouds gathered, the wind began to whistle. Lightning glittered in the distance ...

- Smash, tear, break! The witch yelled wildly. - Susaka, masaka, burido, furido! Destroy, hurricane, people, animals, birds! Just don't touch frogs, mice, snakes, spiders, hurricane! May they multiply all over the world for the joy of me, the mighty sorceress Gingema! Burido, furido, susaka, masaka!

And the whirlwind howled stronger and stronger, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled deafeningly.

Gingema whirled in wild delight on the spot, and the wind fluttered the hem of her long robe ...

Summoned by the magic of Gingema, the hurricane reached Kansas and was approaching John's house every minute. In the distance near the horizon, clouds were gathering, lightning flashed.

Toto was running restlessly, his head thrown back, and barking fervently at the clouds that were quickly rushing across the sky.

“Oh, Totoshka, how funny you are,” said Ellie. - You frighten the clouds, but you yourself are a coward!

The dog was really very afraid of thunderstorms. He had seen quite a few of them during his short life. Anna became worried.

- I chatted with you, daughter, and in fact, look, a real hurricane is approaching ...

The terrible roar of the wind was already clearly heard. The wheat in the field lay flat on the ground, and the waves rolled over it like a river. An agitated farmer John came running from the field.

- Storm, a terrible storm is coming! He shouted. - Hide quickly in the cellar, and I will run to drive the cattle into the barn!

Anna rushed to the cellar, threw back the lid.

- Ellie, Ellie! Hurry here! She shouted.

But Totoshka, frightened by the roar of the storm and the incessant peals of thunder, fled into the house and hid there under the bed, in the farthest corner. Ellie did not want to leave her pet alone and rushed after him into the van.

And at that time an amazing thing happened.

The house has turned two or three times like a merry-go-round. He found himself in the middle of a hurricane. A whirlwind whirled him, lifted him up and carried him through the air.

A frightened Ellie with Toto in her arms appeared at the door of the van. What to do? Jump to the ground? But it was too late: the house was flying high above the ground ...

The wind ruffled Anna's hair. She stood near the cellar, stretched out her arms and screamed desperately. Farmer John came running from the barn and rushed to the place where the van was. The orphaned father and mother looked for a long time into the dark sky, constantly illuminated by the flash of lightning ...

The book The Wizard of the Emerald City by Alexander Volkov has a very interesting story... Once an unusual letter came to one of the Moscow publishing houses. The author of the letter asked to republish the book, which he cannot find in any library, and even offered to send this book for a sample, if the editorial office does not have one. He intended to copy the sample by hand, since the copy he has is so old that it will not work for the editorial board. It was about the book The Wizard of the Emerald City by Alexander Volkov.

We read the book The Wizard of the Emerald City in childhood, now our children and grandchildren read it. Probably, many people remember the author of the book. This is the writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov.

A few words about the writer Alexander Volkov

The writer Alexander Volkov was born at the end of the century before last. All his life he strove to gain new knowledge. He graduated from a university and two institutes, knew several foreign languages, including Old Church Slavonic and Latin. He taught physics, mathematics, natural science, geography and history. The range of subjects taught in the best way possible speaks of the breadth of knowledge of this person. Alexander Volkov learned new languages \u200b\u200bin a peculiar way - he took a book and translated it into Russian.

Book The Wizard of the Emerald City

Once a fairy tale by the American writer Baum, published on english language... It was a story about a sage from Oz. In the process of translation, a new book was born about a wizard from the Emerald City.

All this happened before the Great patriotic war... The book was published from a distance, it was quickly sold out, and then they forgot about it, new interesting books appeared. And then came the letter mentioned above. The publishing house fulfilled the reader's request. The book about the wizard of the Emerald City was printed, followed by six sequels, written by the author not as a translation, but as completely independent works.

According to the writer Alexander Volkov himself, the main goal of his books is to show that there is nothing better and more expensive in the world than friendship and mutual gain.

If you have not read the book The Wizard of the Emerald City by Alexander Volkov, we recommend that you do this, you will enjoy it.

Alexander Melentievich Volkov - Russian Soviet writer, playwright, translator.

Born July 14, 1891 in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk in the family of a military sergeant major and a dressmaker. In the old fortress, little Sasha Volkov knew all the nooks and crannies. In his memoirs, he wrote: “I remember standing at the gates of the fortress, and the long building of the barracks was decorated with garlands of colored paper lanterns, rockets soar high into the sky and scattered there in multicolored balls, the wheels of fire revolve with hissing ...” - this is how A.M. Volkov celebration in Ust-Kamenogorsk of the coronation of Nikolai Romanov in October 1894. He learned to read at the age of three, but there were not many books in his father's house, and from the age of 8, Sasha began to masterfully bind neighbor's books, while having the opportunity to read them. Already at this age he read Mine Reed, Jules Verne and Dickens; among Russian writers he loved A.S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, N.A.Nekrasov, I.S. Nikitin. In elementary school I studied only excellently, moving from class to class only with awards. At the age of 6, Volkov was immediately admitted to the second grade of the city school, and at the age of 12 he graduated from it as the best student. In 1910, after preparatory course, entered the Tomsk Teachers' Institute, from which he graduated in 1910 with the right to teach in city and higher primary schools. Alexander Volkov began working as a teacher in the ancient Altai city of Kolyvan, and then in his hometown of Ust-Kamenogorsk, at the school where he began his education. There he independently mastered German and French.

On the eve of the revolution, Volkov tries his pen. His first poems "Nothing pleases me", "Dreams" were published in 1917 in the newspaper "Siberian Light". In 1917 - early 1918 he was a member of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Soviet of Deputies and participated in the publication of the newspaper "Friend of the People". Volkov, like many "old-regime" intellectuals, did not immediately accept the October Revolution. But inexhaustible faith in a bright future captures him, and together with everyone he participates in the construction of a new life, teaches people and learns himself. He teaches at the pedagogical courses that are opening in Ust-Kamenogorsk, at the pedagogical college. At this time, he wrote a number of plays for the children's theater. His funny comedies and plays "Eagle's Beak", "In a remote corner", "Village School", "Tolya-pioneer", "Fern Flower", "Home Teacher", "Comrade from the Center" ("Modern Inspector") and " Trading House Shneerzon & Co "went on the stages of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Yaroslavl with great success.

In the 1920s, Volkov moved to Yaroslavl as a school director. In parallel with this, he takes exams at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics as an external student. pedagogical institute... In 1929, Alexander Volkov moved to Moscow, where he worked as the head of the educational department of the workers' faculty. By the time he entered the Moscow state University, he was already a forty-year-old married man, the father of two children. There, in seven months, he mastered the entire five-year course of the mathematical faculty, after which for twenty years he was a teacher of higher mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Nonferrous Metals and Gold. There he also taught an elective course in literature for students, continued to expand his knowledge of literature, history, geography, astronomy, and was actively involved in translations.

Here the most unexpected turn in the life of Alexander Melentyevich took place. It all started with the fact that he, a great connoisseur of foreign languages, decided to learn English as well. As material for exercises, he was brought to the book by L. Frank Baum "The Amazing Wizard of Oz". He read it, told it to his two sons, and decided to translate it. But the result was not a translation, but an arrangement of the book by an American author. The writer altered something, added something. For example, I came up with a meeting with a cannibal, flooding and other adventures. Doggie Totoshka spoke to him, the girl began to be called Ellie, and the Sage from the Land of Oz acquired the name and title - the Great and Terrible Wizard Goodwin ... Many other cute, funny, sometimes almost imperceptible changes appeared. And when the translation, or, more precisely, the retelling, was completed, it suddenly became clear that this was not quite Baum's "Sage". The American fairy tale has become just a fairy tale. And her heroes began to speak Russian as naturally and cheerfully as they spoke English half a century before. Alexander Volkov worked on the manuscript for a year and entitled it "The Wizard of the Emerald City" with the subtitle "Recycling of the Fairy Tale of American Writer Frank Baum." The manuscript was sent to the famous children's writer S. Ya. Marshak, who approved it and submitted it to the publishing house, strongly advising Volkov to study literature professionally.

The black-and-white illustrations for the text were made by the artist Nikolai Radlov. The book came out of print with a circulation of twenty-five thousand copies in 1939 and immediately won the sympathy of readers. At the end of the same year, a second edition of it appeared, and soon it entered the so-called "school series", which had a circulation of 170 thousand copies. Since 1941 Volkov became a member of the USSR Writers' Union.

During the war, Alexander Volkov wrote the books "The Invisible Fighters" (1942, about mathematics in artillery and aviation) and "Aircraft at War" (1946). The creation of these works is closely related to Kazakhstan: from November 1941 to October 1943, the writer lived and worked in Alma-Ata. Here he wrote a series of radio plays on a military-patriotic theme: "Leader goes to the front", "Timurovtsy", "Patriots", "Dead at night", "Sweatshirt" and other historical essays: "Mathematics in military affairs", "Glorious pages on the history of Russian artillery ", poems:" The Red Army "," The Ballad of the Soviet Pilot "," Scouts "," Young Partisans "," Homeland ", songs:" Marching Komsomolskaya "," Song of the Timurovites ". He wrote a lot for newspapers and radio, some songs written by him were set to music by composers D. Gershfeld and O. Sandler.

In 1959, Alexander Melentievich Volkov met the novice artist Leonid Vladimirsky, and The Wizard of the Emerald City was published with new illustrations that were later recognized as classic. The book fell into the hands of the post-war generation in the early 60s, already in a revised form, and since then it has been constantly reprinted, enjoying continued success. And the young readers again set off on a journey along the road paved with yellow bricks ...

The creative collaboration between Volkov and Vladimirsky turned out to be long-term and very fruitful. Working side by side for twenty years, they practically became co-authors of the books - the sequels of The Magician. L. Vladimirsky became the "court artist" of the Emerald City, created by Volkov. He illustrated all five sequels to The Wizard.

The incredible success of the Volkov cycle, which made the author a modern classic of children's literature, largely delayed the "penetration" of the original works of F. Baum into the domestic market, despite the fact that subsequent books were no longer directly connected with F. Baum, only sometimes they flickered partial borrowings and alterations.

"The Wizard of the Emerald City" caused a large stream of letters to the author from his young readers. The children insistently demanded that the writer continue the tale of the adventures of the kind little girl Ellie and her faithful friends - the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion and the funny dog \u200b\u200bToto. Volkov responded to letters of this content with the books Urfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers and Seven Underground Kings. But letters from readers continued to come with requests to continue the story. Alexander Melentyevich had to answer his "energetic" readers: "Many guys ask me to write more stories about Ellie and her friends. I will answer: there will be no more fairy tales about Ellie ... ”And the flow of letters with persistent requests to continue the fairy tales did not diminish. And the kind wizard heeded the requests of his young fans. He wrote three more tales - "The Fiery God of the Marrans", "Yellow Mist" and "The Mystery of an Abandoned Castle". All six fairy tales about the Emerald City have been translated into many languages \u200b\u200bof the world with a total circulation of several tens of millions of copies.

Based on The Wizard of the Emerald City, the writer in 1940 wrote a play of the same name, which was staged in puppet theaters in Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities. In the sixties, A.M. Volkov created a version of the play for the theaters of a young spectator. In 1968 and subsequent years, according to a new scenario, "The Wizard of the Emerald City" was staged by numerous theaters in the country. The play "Oorfene Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers" was shown in puppet theaters under the names "Oorfene Deuce", "Defeated Oorfene Deuce" and "Heart, Mind and Courage". In 1973, the Ekran association shot a ten-episode puppet film based on AM Volkov's fairy tales “The Wizard of the Emerald City”, “Urfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers” and “Seven Underground Kings”, which was shown several times on All-Union television. Even earlier, the Moscow Filmstrip Studio created filmstrips based on the fairy tales "The Wizard of the Emerald City" and "Urfin Deuce and His Wooden Soldiers."

Anton Semenovich Makarenko, who had just moved to Moscow, where he completely devoted himself to scientific and literary work, took a large part in the publication of AM Volkov's second book, The Wonderful Ball, which the author in the initial versions called “The First Aeronaut”. The Wonderful Balloon is a historical novel about the first Russian balloonist. The impetus for its writing was a short story with a tragic end, found by the author in an ancient chronicle. Others were equally popular in the country. historical works Aleksandra Melentievich Volkov - “Two Brothers”, “Architects”, “Wanderings”, “Tsargrad Captive”, collection “Trace behind the stern” (1960), dedicated to the history of navigation, primitive times, the death of Atlantis and the discovery of America by the Vikings.

In addition, Alexander Volkov has published several popular science books about nature, fishing, and the history of science. The most popular of them - "Earth and Sky" (1957), which introduces children to the world of geography and astronomy, has withstood multiple reprints.

Volkov was engaged in translations of Jules Verne ("The Unusual Adventures of the Barsak Expedition" and "The Danube Pilot"), he wrote the fantastic novels "The Adventure of Two Friends in the Country of the Past" (1963, pamphlet), "Travelers in the Third Millennium" (1960), short stories and essays "The Journey of Petya Ivanov to an Extraterrestrial Station", "In the Altai Mountains", "Lopatinsky Bay", "On the Buzha River", "Birthmark", "Lucky Day", "By the Fire", the story "And Lena Was Crimson with Blood" ( 1975, unpublished?), And many other works.

But his books about the Magic Land are relentlessly republished in large editions, delighting all new generations of young readers ... In our country, this cycle has become so popular that in the 90s its sequels began to be created. This was started by Yuri Kuznetsov, who decided to continue the epic and wrote a new story - “ Emerald rain"(1992). Children's writer Sergei Sukhinov, since 1997, has already published more than 20 books of the series " Emerald City". In 1996 Leonid Vladimirsky, the illustrator of A. Volkov and A. Tolstoy's books, linked his two favorite characters in the book "Buratino in the Emerald City".

We all read in childhood the fairy tale by Alexander Volkov "The Wizard of the Emerald City". But at that time it did not matter at all where our favorite heroes came to us - Ellie with the dog Toto, and her friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion. Together they walked merrily along the yellow brick road to the Emerald City to the Great and Terrible Wizard Goodwin. He had to bring the girl back to her native Kansas. The fact that Kansas was too exotic for us then, we also did not think - a fairy tale!

But now, when we have already become adults, it is probably interesting to learn about the origins of the Emerald City.

"The Wizard of the Emerald City" is a very successful (as they would say now) "localization" of the fairy tale by the American writer Lyman Frank Baum "The Amazing Wizard of Oz", written in 1900. America loves this fairy tale just as we adore Volkov's text. She even filmed a musical, which is considered the most successful and best adaptation of Baum.

Movie poster "The Wizard of Oz"

The Wizard of Oz turns 75 this year and became the first children's film in color.He is dearly loved by American audiences and is even listed by the UN as a UNESCO World Heritage Site! We, unfortunately, do not have a comparable adaptation of our favorite fairy tale (except perhaps a puppet cartoon). But our imagination was helped by wonderful illustrations by the artist Leonid Vladimirsky

They say it's better to see once. Let's see how these tales and the characters themselves differ.

1. The plot in both versions is the same, they differ emotional background, subtext and various details. In the original book, the girl's name is not Ellie, but Dorothy. She is an orphan and lives with her uncle and aunt.

2. Baum describes Dorothy's life in dull and gray Kansas very darkly. In the musical, this is perfectly conveyed by the color and musical solution. While in Kansas, Dorothy dreams of a vibrant life and adventure. She so wants to escape from her gray existence that she sings the song Over the Rainbow - There, above the rainbow. This song won the Oscar for Best Song of the Year. You probably know her.

3. There is one more significant difference. Moreover, the film is from both fairy tales. In the books, both girls wear silver shoes, which they received as a reward for destroying the evil sorceress.

Ellie and Totoshka. Illustration by Leonid Vladimirsky in the book by A. Volkov "The Wizard of the Emerald City"

And in the film, the shoes are red!

It was a very interesting directorial idea - to increase the surprise effect. After all, this musical was the first children's film in color! And even more so a fairy tale!

4. Our Toto in the Magic Land becomes speechless, with Baum he remains speechless, and in the film he is generally played by the Cairn Terrier dog Terry.

Doll Adora Dorothy. 75th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz

On the left is a still from the movie "The Wizard of Oz", on the right - an illustration from the book "The Wizard of the Emerald City"

5. Ellie gets a prediction from Volkov that she should help to fulfill cherished desires three beings, then she can return home. Dorothy is simply advised to go to the Emerald City to the powerful wizard ruling there, she meets three friends along the way and takes them with her just like that.

Illustration by Leonid Vladimirsky for the book by A. Volkov "The Wizard of the Emerald City"

6. When meeting a good sorceress, Dorothy says: "I thought all sorceresses were evil." Moreover, despite the fact that in English there is an analogue of the word "sorceress", all sorceresses of the Land of Oz (and even good ones) are called "witches".

In our fairy tale, even evil witches are called sorceresses.

Ellie and Sorceress Stella. Illustration by L.Vladimirsky from the book by A.Volkov "The Wizard of the Emerald City"

7. At Baum, all witches, except Glinda, are nameless, while Volkov gives them names. The Wicked Witch of the West is matched by the wicked sorceress Bastinda.

The evil sorceress Bastinda. Illustrations by L. Vladimirsky

And the Good Witch of the South (Glinda) is named the Good Witch Stella.

Doll Adora Glinda good witch - Wizard of Oz

8. Wolves also calls the wizard Goodwin (maybe from the English "good win" - a good victory), Baum's name is the same as the country - Oz.

What is "Oz" is not very clear, and there are several versions of how Baum came up with such a name: O-Z was on the drawer with a file cabinet, Oz is an abbreviation for the unit of weight "ounce", Oz is an interjection, consonant with ahams and ohams.

Goodwin. Illustrations by L. Vladimirsky

9. In the original, the Lumberjack was made of tin, i.e. he is not Iron, as we are accustomed to, but Tin Man. In both books, the Wizard solders a soft heart made of silk into the Lumberjack's chest, and in the film he only gives a heart-shaped watch.

Tin Woodman. Illustrations by L. Vladimirsky

10. At Baum the Scarecrow, when he becomes the ruler of the Emerald City, does not change at all - and remains in the clothes of the scarecrow: in a shabby blue caftan and worn out boots, with Volkov, the Scarecrow becomes a dandy and his transformation begins with a renewal of the costume.

Cowardly lion. Illustration by L. Vladimirsky

12. In both books the girl is coming home after a real adventure. Differences arise only in the continuation of the tale. With Volkov, Ellie remains forever in Kansas, and access to the Magic Land is closed to her, while Baum, on the contrary, Dorothy moves to live in the Land of Oz. And only in the film, the amazing country was just a dream of a sick girl who wakes up, recovers and understands: "There is no other place like home in the world."

Doll Dorothy Home Is Where The Heart Is

If we discard minor inconsistencies and look at the two books as a whole, then the sensations after reading the tales of Baum and Volkov will also not coincide.

Despite the fact that Baum's text in particular is rather harsh in the narrative, it is still more frivolous and hilarious. Our compatriot Fairyland is almost not magical, everything is quite serious there, and in the six books of the continuation of the tale, this feeling only intensifies.

Baum also wrote sequels to his tale (as many as 13 books!), And they, too, continue the original trend of slight extravagance and absurdity. From this point of view, Baum's books are more fun and fun to read.

And in any case, it is interesting to get acquainted with the book that inspired Volkov to write one of the most beloved books of our childhood.

Year: 1939 Genre: story

Main characters: Ellie's girl, Totoshka the dog, Goodwin the wizard

The girl named Ellie lives in Kansas. She has both a father and a mother. They are farmers. The whole family lives in a small, but roomy enough van. Once a strong whirlwind rushes into their territory, which carries the girl along with the van and her dog, whose name is Totoshka.

They find themselves in an unusual land - a magical one. There are magical creatures. Plus there are good characters and bad characters. And the little girl has to fight with many bad personalities, but she soon finds friends who are missing something in life. They all go to the Emerald City to ask the Wizard, the ruler of that country, for what they want to have. Ellie, for example, really wants to go home.

Summary of the Wizard of the Emerald City Volkov

The main character of the work is a girl named Ellie. She has a faithful friend - a dog named Totoshka. One day, the girl, together with Totoshka, find themselves in an unusual mysterious country. Although Ellie loves this magical place, where everything is built differently from the usual world, the main character really wants to return home. In this she is helped by a kind sorceress, who gives the young heroine practical advice.

It turns out that a wizard named Goodwin lives in this amazing country. Only he can help Ellie and her friend Toto return home. But before asking Goodwin for help, you need to find him. The kind sorceress tells the main character that this great wizard lives in the beautiful Emerald City. After that, Ellie sets off on her journey, which is filled with various adventures. On the way to Goodwin, the girl will meet many new friends who will help her get to the Emerald City.

Ellie's very first acquaintance is the woodcutter. He has one long-standing dream, he wants to get a heart in order to become kind. Later, on the girl's path, she meets a lion who dreams of courage incredibly. After a while, Ellie meets a scarecrow who also has one desire. The scarecrow dreamed of getting a brain.

Having met and made friends, Ellie, the scarecrow, the lion and the woodcutter continue their journey. Finally reaching the Emerald City, they find a woodcutter there. It soon turns out that he is not a magician at all, so he cannot fulfill them in any way. cherished dreams... Goodwin got to the magic land with the help of the ball and now he cannot return home. But this is where the tests of the main characters only begin. Ellie and her new friends will successfully overcome all difficulties. And soon the lion, the scarecrow and the woodcutter will get what they have long dreamed of.

After a while, Goodwin decides to fix the balloon in order to return home with Ellie. But a strong wind breaks the rope, by which the ball was holding and the "magician" flies away without the girl. But Ellie doesn't despair. She learns that there is a kind sorceress in the Pink Land who can do everything that the girl returned home. Once in this country and finding a sorceress, the main character learns a big secret. It turns out that the magic silver shoes she wears can return her home. After that, Ellie safely returns to her home.