Billina is a fictional character in the classic children's series of

Oz books The ''Oz'' books form a book series that begins with ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) and relates the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length ''Oz'' books. Baum ...

by American author

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...

. She is introduced in ''

Ozma of Oz ''Ozma of Oz'' was the third book of L. Frank Baum's List of Oz books, Oz series, published in 1907. Publication The full title of the first edition read ''Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, Billina the Yellow ...

'' (1907). Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; p. 17.

History

In ''Ozma of Oz'', Billina becomes

Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by the American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most o ...

's animal companion after she and the girl are on a small ship and are thrown overboard. Dorothy was traveling on an ocean voyage to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with her Uncle Henry when a violent storm hit, thus tossing the ship over the waves. The two wash up on the uncharted shores of the enchanted country of Ev in a chicken coop they had taken refuge in. Billina serves in this adventure the role that Dorothy's pet dog Toto served in the first Oz book, ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...

'' (1900). A spunky, sassy and talkative

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, Billina was originally named Bill because, she tells Dorothy, "no one could tell whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster". Dorothy insists on changing the hen's name to a feminine form. Billina endures several scares with the

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

farm girl before they defeat the

Nome King The Nome King is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum, introduced in the 1907 book ''Ozma of Oz''. The Nome King recurs in many of the ''Oz'' novels, being the most frequent antagonist in Baum's book series. Precursor ...

as only a hen can since eggs are poisonous to Nomes. At the end of the novel, Billina settles in the

Emerald City The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's ''Oz'' books, first described in '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). Fictional description Located in the center of ...

in the magical

Land of Oz The Land of Oz is a fantasy world introduced in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by William Wallace Denslow, W. W. Denslow. Oz consists of four vast quadrants, the Gillikin Countr ...

. In ''

The Road to Oz ''The Road to Oz'' is the fifth book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. It was originally published on July 10, 1909 and documents the adventures of Dorothy Gale's fourth visit to the Land of Oz. It was followed by ''The Emerald City of Oz'' (1910) ...

'' (1909), Billina accompanies Tik-Tok in welcoming Dorothy, Shaggy Man, Button-Bright, and

Polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

to Oz. Billina is later present at

Princess Ozma Princess Ozma of Oz, formally known as Tippetarius, is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears for the first time in the second Oz book, '' The Marvelous Land of Oz'' (1904), and in every ...

's royal birthday party. Later books reveal that Billina has hatched many chicks (their father unknown). She names all of them Dorothy after her young friend. Gender confusion reappears, however, and the proud mother discovers that some of those chicks will be "horrid roosters"; she changes the males' names to Daniel. One of Baum's earliest books described raising Hamburg chickens, and he drew on that expertise in depicting Billina.

Other adaptions

Billina appears in ''

The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays ''The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays'' was an early attempt to bring L. Frank Baum's Oz books to the motion picture screen. It was a mixture of live actors, hand-tinted magic lantern slides, and film. Baum himself would appear as if he were giving a ...

'' (1908) with the credit "The Yellow Hen as Herself". Presumably a real hen was used in this

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

, as a real dog was used for Toto, also credited with playing himself. In Disney's ''

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 ...

'' (1985), Billina is a main character. She is an

animatronic An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

puppet performed by Mak Wilson and voiced by

Denise Bryer Denise Bryer (5 January 1928 – 16 October 2021) was an English actress, known for her voice roles on television and radio. Career Bryer was born 5 January 1928 in Kensington, London to Claude and Susie ( Mott) Bryer. Her father was a jewelle ...

. Like the books, Billina arrived in the Land of Oz with Dorothy Gale. Later on, she hides in Jack Pumpkinhead's head. During the final battle against the Nome King in his monstrous form, Billina unintentionally lays an egg which falls into the Nome King's mouth enough to kill him. When Princess Ozma is crowned, upon being freed from the mirror by Dorothy, Billina elects to remain in the Land of Oz. Billina appears in '' Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz''. She is depicted as a red hen whose clucking can be understood by

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is 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. ...

and is often seen inside Tin Man's chest compartment.

References

External links

Billina in Return to Oz
{{Oz Oz (franchise) characters Fictional chickens Animals of Oz Fiction about talking animals Literary characters introduced in 1907 Female characters in literature

History

Other adaptions

See also

References

External links