The Patchwork Girl (a.k.a. Scraps) is a character from the fantasy Oz Book series by

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

. She first appeared in ''

The Patchwork Girl of Oz ''The Patchwork Girl of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum is a children's novel, the seventh in the Oz series. Characters include the Woozy, Ojo "the Unlucky", Unc Nunkie, Dr. Pipt, Scraps (the patchwork girl), and others. The book was first published o ...

''.

History

Scraps is a teenaged (possibly fourteen) living rag doll made of

patchwork Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes (which can be different colors) ...

, button eyes, brown yarn hair, a felt tongue, and pearl teeth. She was originally brought to life by a

Munchkin A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. They first appear in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in ...

magician named Dr. Pipt by means of his Powder of Life formula to be a servant for his wife Margolotte. Ojo overloaded her with magic brains in the process of bringing her to life, and as she happily jumped around she accidentally spilled the Liquid of Petrifaction on Mrs. Pipt and Ojo's uncle, consequently turning them to stone. Much of their first adventure is gathering the ingredients to find a counterspell. She later became the companion of the

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

who found her quite beautiful. She had major roles in such Oz books as ''

The Gnome King of Oz ''The Gnome King of Oz'' (1927) is the twenty-first in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the seventh by Ruth Plumly Thompson. Like nineteen of the twenty previous books, it was illustrated by John R. Neill. ...

'' and ''

The Wonder City of Oz ''The Wonder City of Oz'' (1940) is the thirty-fourth in the series of Oz books created by L. Frank Baum and his successors, and the first written and illustrated solely by John R. Neill. Tone With ''The Wonder City of Oz'', Neill introduced a ...

'', and was the title character in '' A Runaway in Oz''. The Patchwork Girl was likely influenced by the character of Topsy in ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

'', and she may have influenced the character of

Raggedy Ann Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. Gruelle r ...

.Robin Bernstein
''Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights,''
(New York: New York University Press, 2011), 163-172.

Scraps in other media

Despite her popularity, to the point that her image was used in at least two advertisements for student desks, she has appeared in only five film productions, two of which were made for television. When Baum produced a film version of the title story, he was not able to find a woman of athleticism suitable to play the role, and therefore cast the male French acrobat

Pierre Couderc Pierre Couderc (18 November 1896 – 6 October 1966) was a French screenwriter, actor, acrobat, and film producer. He wrote for 34 films between 1925 and 1930. He also appeared in ten films between 1914 and 1934. He was born in Paris, Franc ...

. She was portrayed by Doreen Tracy on the 4th Anniversary episode of ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

''. Patchwork Girl appears in ''

Return to Oz ''Return to Oz'' is a 1985 dark fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures, co-written and directed by Walter Murch. It stars Nicol Williamson, Jean Marsh, Piper Laurie, and Fairuza Balk as Dorothy Gale in her first screen role. The film is ...

''. She is seen in the background at Princess Ozma's coronation. On '' The Oz Kids'', she was voiced by

Lori Alan Lori Alan (born July 18, 1966) is an American actress and voice actress. She has played a long-running role as Pearl Krabs on the animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. She also voiced Diane Simmons on ''Family Guy'', the Invisible ...

and had numerous infant patchwork kids. She also appeared in

Walter Murch Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is an American film editor, director, writer and sound designer. With a career stretching back to 1969, including work on '' THX 1138'', ''Apocalypse Now'', '' The Godfather I'', '' II'', and '' III'', ''Am ...

's ''

'' as an unbilled extra. Thundertoad Animation's comparatively primitive CGI version from 2005 featured Cyndi Hotopp in the title role. There were at least two versions of the above-mentioned advertisement, a classroom poster issued by

American Seating American Seating Inc. is a company specializing in the production of chairs and other seating, including seats for rail transport and public transportation, schools and churches. Founded in 1886 as the Grand Rapids School Furniture Company, the ...

Company. They were not bootlegs and were authorized by the publishers. They include the statement "These quaint characters are quoted from the famous Oz books and were created by L. Frank Baum. Used by permission of Reilly and Lee Company, the publishers." However this appears in very fine print and is easy to miss, especially on a small photo or reproduction of the poster. An earlier version of the poster is printed mostly in green and orange, a later version has more colors. A picture of a girl sitting at a desk in the lower right corner is also different in these two versions. Scraps stood alongside her friends when they rallied against a "new" Witch trying to obliterate the entirety of Oz in the comic book The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles. The Patchwork Girl also appeared in a leading role in the unaired television pilot '' Lost in Oz''. In this version, her name is Serena and it is implied that she was once human. After her best friend became the new

Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...

, she was literally ripped apart, but later repaired by an unknown person. The Witch also killed her family, and for this she has sworn vengeance against her former friend. Physically, she is very different from her book counterpart. She is extremely athletic, and looks like a pale human with dark hair. However, after her outfit is damaged, it is revealed that she is made of fabric underneath. The actress also portrayed the best friend of the heroine, Alex, at the beginning of the episode, a nod to the 1939 film in which Dorothy's comrades were portrayed by her friends. In '' Emerald City Confidential'', she owns a general store located next to Petra's office. She is also part of

Frogman A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, com ...

's smuggling ring. In '' Talking With...'', the second monologue is about a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

who dresses up as Scraps to escape her mundane life. Patchwork Girl is a supporting character in ''

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz ''Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz'' is an American animated children's television series loosely based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its subsequent books, as well as its 1939 film adaptation. The series debute ...

,'' voiced by

Jessica DiCicco Jessica Sonya DiCicco (; born June 10, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for voicing in animated television series and video games. Her first voice role was the announcer for Nickelodeon's educational channel Noggin. DiCicco has since v ...

. Just like the books, Scarecrow found her quite beautiful.

References

{{Oz Oz (franchise) characters Fictional dolls and dummies Literary characters introduced in 1913 Female characters in literature Rag dolls Teenage characters in literature Sentient toys in fiction Public domain characters in the United States