Toto (Oz)
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- For other meanings of the word, see Toto.
Toto is the name of a fictional dog in L. Frank Baum's Oz series of children's books, and works derived from them. The name is pronounced with a long "O", a homonym of "toe toe".
Toto belongs to Dorothy Gale, the heroine of the first and many subsequent books. In the first book, Toto never spoke, although other animals, native to Oz, did. In subsequent books, other animals gained the ability to speak on reaching Oz or similar lands, but Toto remained speechless. In Tik-Tok of Oz, continuity is restored: Toto reveals that he is able to talk, just like other animals in the land of Oz, and simply chooses not to. In The Lost Princess of Oz, he talks a great deal. Other major appearances include The Road to Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, Grampa in Oz and The Magical Mimics in Oz, in which he is the first to recognize the Mimics.
In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Baum did not specifically state Toto's breed, but describes him as "a little black dog, with long, silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose". However, from the illustrations in the first book many have concluded that Toto is a Cairn Terrier while others believe the dog is a Yorkshire Terrier as this breed was very popular at the time. In subsequent books Toto becomes a Boston Terrier for reasons that are never explained.
In the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy and Toto don't appear until the end of the book. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, had this dog called Killyjoy, but when the Tin Woodman killed him, Elphaba was very sad. Her other animals were killed, too. Toto made her think of Killyjoy. She "cared less about the bees and the crows, but Killyjoy was her special pet." She later used Toto as a lure to get the Cowardly Lion out of the room so she could talk to Dorothy.
In the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, Toto was played by a black Cairn Terrier whose real name was Terry. Terry was paid a $125.00 salary each week, which was far more than many of the human actors (the Singer Midgets only received $50.00 a week). Also, Terry was stepped on by one of the witch's guards, and a double had to be used because her foot was broken. The popularity of the movie actually changed her name to Toto, because that was the role she was most remembered for. However, The Wizard of Oz wasn't the only film that Terry played a role. She actually starred in 13 films. She died at age 10.
In the 1985 movie Return To Oz, Toto was played by a Border Terrier. In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, Toto is played by Pepe the Prawn.
