A Look at Disney: Villains Profile: Mombi

While there have been many adaptions of Baum’s world of Oz, they often go back to the MGM movie yet there are so many more books in this series that rarely get adapted. The 1985 movie, Return to Oz is one of the rare examples of an adaption going beyond the first book and adapting other characters such as who I am looking at, Princess Mombi. The Wicked Witch of the West is iconic but she is not the only villain Baum created.

Speaking of the Judy Garland movie, this 1985 movie kind of serves as a spiritual sequel to that classic but has a rather different tone.  The classic movie is light and fun with a few scary moments whereas I’d describe this movie as more of a dark fantasy with moments of levity. In fact, I think you could describe the depiction of Oz in this movie as almost dystopian. This is first seen when Dorthy comes across a ruined Yellow Brick Road. I also believe the darker elements are meant to serve as a message that is not the same as the original movie. This is fine as all types of adaptions of Oz should be welcomed. This wouldn’t be the last time Disney released an Oz movie in theaters, though the later attempt hues even closer to the MGM movie.

First Appearance

Technically, Mombi herself doesn’t appear until around the forty minute mark in the movie but this movie pulls the same trick as the classic of the Ozians having Kansas counterparts. And Mombi’s counterpart is seen at a psych ward that Aunt Em takes her to after feeling concern for her niece as she keeps talking about her time in Oz and believing she is delusional.

 

 

Aunt Em means well but the people at the psych ward do not as we see Dorthy having to escape after the doctor wanting to fry his brain. And the Mombi counterpart is a mean and cold nurse that has terrible bedside manner.

 

I want to unpack this a bit as mental health is something very important to me especially as I’ve started seeing a therapist. I understand that this is a movie from a different time set during an even further back period of time but vilifying people who work in the mental health field while a common trope is also an uncomfortable one.  Like it or not, fiction can affect reality and I feel as though someone seeing this could scare them off from getting the help they need.

I am not saying mental health institutions don’t treat patients like shit as there are enough stories to disprove that notion. And while children’s movies can have horror elements, this left a sour taste in my mouth. Perhaps I’m being too soft and parlaying my mental health struggles onto something that happens to a fictional character but it’s how I feel.

Now as Mombi herself, I mentioned we don’t see the actual Mombi until the forty minute mark and this is a horror I’m more comfortable with as it pulls scares from things that while scary aren’t demonizing people.

Mombi beheads people she doesn’t like and keeps them in a collection and wears them like hats. Okay yes, beheadings are a real thing that can happen but it is taken to such an extreme that makes it fantastical. This is something I am more comfortable with but again I might be weird for that complaint considering my love of the Scream franchise.

Personality

I do enjoy Mombi as a character and I think the best word to describe her is campy. While her collection of heads is terrifying, Mombi herself is not. She chews up the scenery whenever she’s onscreen and it is so delightful. Also we see a fearful and groveling side of her as she’s only the secondary antagonist serving under The Nome King.

At the same time, we see her get fed up with The Nome King when he points out Dorothy had already come to him.  I I imagine Mombi’s personality being so campy is meant to contrast the rather cold and stoic nature of the nurse.

Grand Desire/Most Evil Deed

Again, Mombi serves The Nome King who is the main antagonist but she has desires of her own. One of the minor ones is hoping to add Dorothy’s head to her collection once the girl comes of age.

The other one and is a bigger one and why I’ve combined these two categories is that she hopes to rule over Oz and she’s halfway there as she has enslaved Oz’s rightful ruler, Ozma. I don’t feel this is the right place to discuss it as Ozma only presents as a girl in the movie but many people look to the book character of Ozma as a trans character considering in her first appearance, she was introduced as a farm boy named Tip. She was turned into a boy as a baby to protect her but at the end of the book, she agrees to be Ozma again and rule over Oz.

 

Ozma is another character we meet in Kansas but I believe it is actually her and she serves to help Dorothy escape. Having been enslaved by Mombi for so long, Ozma had to know how bad things had gotten in her land and they needed the help of Dorothy.

Lackeys

Wheelers

 

While I believe this horde mostly works for The Nome King, Mombi also takes advantage of them. And from the first interaction, they had with Dorothy, they are pants to be darkened scary. A big part of it comes from the uncanny design of them having wheels on their bodies but human heads. It looks off and disturbs you.

I find this fascinating as it again shows how Oz can be scary. I know people have said they found the Flying Monkeys in the classic movie and I can see that but over time, their appearance has become sanitized by how merchandisable they are. The upcoming Wicked has an adorable Flying Monkey plush (and yes I want it)

 

Whereas with the Wheelers, I think while they might be marketable in a nostalgic sense, there is no way to sanitize the image of them. This is rather ironic as looking on the Oz Wiki, the book Wheelers look much more goofy.

 

That is interesting considering the darker nature of this movie compared to what this movie was going for.

Demise

The start of Mombi’s demise comes when The Nome King gets mad as Dorothy starts to find her friends and bring them back to life. Even though he knew she was there, The Nome King gets mad that Mombi led her to him and places her inside a cage. We later see Mombi being paraded around in a cage in a celebration for Dorothy. And Dorothy had taken away her magic, which as the movie states is the worst fate for a witch.

 

That’s something to consider, for many death would be the ultimate fate but a witch losing their power strips them of a big part of who they are. Their magic is a core part of their identity, losing their magic could make one feel lesser as a defining trait has been taken.

Oh and when Dorothy returns to Kansas, we see the mean nurse has been arrested and it mirrors how Mombi was caged. I call that a victory.

Is Mombi A Good Villain?

While I have my issues with the mental health stuff in the beginning, I do think Mombi is a good villain and it’s nice to see a different Oz villain than the one everyone knows.  Join me next time as I look at my first live action remake villain as I look at Melissa McCarthy’s version of

Ursula

 

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