Tin Woodman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Tin Woodman |
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| Oz character | |
The Tin Woodman as illustrated by William Wallace Denslow (1900)
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| First appearance | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) |
| Created by | L. Frank Baum |
| Portrayed by | Pierre Couderc (His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz) Oliver Hardy (The Wizard of Oz) Jack Haley (The Wizard of Oz) Nipsey Russell (The Wiz) Deep Roy (Return to Oz) Ne-Yo (The Wiz Live!) Gerran Howell (Emerald City) Alex Désert (Once Upon a Time) |
| Voiced by | Larry D. Mann (Return to Oz) Kelsey Grammer (Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return) J.P. Karliak (Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz) |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | The Tin Woodman |
| Aliases | Nick Chopper, The Tin Man, Rusty Tin Man |
| Species | Former human (in the novels, not in the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz) |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Ruler of the Winkies |
| Title | Emperor |
| Relatives | Chopfyt (made with some of his human parts) |
| Nationality | Munchkinland |
Nick Chopper, also known as the Tin Woodman or Tin Man, is a famous character from the magical Land of Oz. He was created by the American author L. Frank Baum. The Tin Woodman first appeared in Baum's classic book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900. He then showed up in many other Oz books.
In the late 1800s, people often saw figures made of tin in advertisements and political cartoons. L. Frank Baum, who edited a magazine about decorating shop windows, was inspired by a metal figure he built for a display. This figure gave him the idea for the Tin Woodman.
Contents
The Tin Woodman's Story
Meeting Dorothy and the Quest for a Heart
In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale finds the Tin Woodman stuck in the forest. He is rusted because of the rain. Dorothy and her friends use his oil can to help him move again. The Tin Woodman joins Dorothy on her journey to the Emerald City. He hopes the Wizard will give him a heart.
On their adventure, they are joined by the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion. The Wizard sends Dorothy and her friends to the Winkie Country to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West. The Tin Woodman's axe is very helpful on this trip. He uses it to chop wood for bridges or rafts. He also uses it to protect his friends from dangerous animals.
When the Winged monkeys attack the group, they throw the Tin Woodman from a high place. This damages him badly. But after the Witch is defeated, skilled Winkie Tinsmiths are able to fix him.
The Search for a Heart and Brain
The Tin Woodman wants a heart, while the Scarecrow wants a brain. This shows a common debate about what is more important: feelings or intelligence. The two friends often discuss why their own choice is better. Neither can convince the other. Dorothy, listening to them, cannot decide who is right.
In the end, the Wizard turns out to be a "humbug" (a trickster). He can only give the Tin Woodman a fake heart made of silk and sawdust. But this is enough to make the Tin Woodman happy. Even without a real heart, he was always the most caring and emotional of Dorothy's friends. Just like the Scarecrow was the wisest, and the Cowardly Lion was the bravest.
Once, he accidentally crushed an insect. He felt very sad about it. He even joked that he had to be careful, while those with hearts did not need such care. This kindness stays with him throughout the Oz series. For example, in The Patchwork Girl of Oz, he stops a butterfly from being hurt for a magic spell.
Life After the Wizard
After Dorothy returns to her farm in Kansas, the Tin Woodman goes back to the Winkie Country. He becomes its emperor. Later, he has his people build a palace entirely out of tin. Even the flowers in the garden are made of tin!
L. Frank Baum made it clear that the Tin Woodman is alive. He is not like Tik-Tok, a wind-up mechanical man Dorothy meets later. Nick Chopper's body was replaced with metal, but he is still a living being. He is proud of his tireless tin body.
A common problem for the Tin Woodman is that he rusts when he gets wet. Rain, tears, or other moisture can make him seize up. Because of this, in The Marvelous Land of Oz, he gets himself nickel-plated. This helps him fight to get the Scarecrow's throne back in the Emerald City. Still, the Tin Woodman always worries about rusting throughout the Oz series.
Actually, tin does not rust; only iron does. This might mean that the Tin Woodman is made of iron or steel coated with tin to prevent rust. Like a "tin can" is really a steel can with a tin coating. In one of Baum's books, The Road to Oz, a band plays a song called "There's No Plate Like Tin." This hints that he might be made of steel with a tin coating. Another idea is that he is mostly tin, but his joints are iron. In some drawings, his joints are a different color.
The Tin Woodman appears in most of the Oz books that followed. He is a main character in a comic strip Baum wrote in 1904-05. In Ozma of Oz, he leads Princess Ozma's army. In Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, he helps defend Eureka in a trial. He plays a big role in The Patchwork Girl of Oz. There, his kind heart makes him stop the hero from hurting a butterfly for a magic potion. Baum also wrote a short book for younger readers called The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.
In The Tin Woodman of Oz, Nick Chopper finally searches for his lost love, Nimmie Amee. But he finds that she has married Chopfyt. Chopfyt is a man made partly from Nick's own old, discarded body parts! This meeting is very strange for the Tin Woodman. He also turns into a tin owl, meets another tin man, and talks to his own grumpy original head.
Later writers of the Oz series usually made the Tin Woodman a smaller character. He still ruled the Winkie Country but did not control the main story. Some exceptions include Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz and Lucky Bucky in Oz. A big exception is The Hidden Valley of Oz. In this book, the Tin Woodman leads the fight against Terp the Terrible. He also cuts down the Magic Muffin Tree that gives Terp his huge size.
In his own book, the Tin Woodman says that no one in Oz ever dies of old age or sickness. They can only die from accidents or if someone kills them. This is different from his own story, where he mentions his parents dying naturally.
The Tin Man in Other Stories
Modern Books and Musicals
In the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the Tin Woodman is a small character. In this book, Nessarose, the Wicked Witch of the East, uses magic on an axe. She makes it chop off Nick Chopper's limbs. She does this for a peasant woman who wants to stop her servant, probably Nimmie Amee, from marrying Nick Chopper. This is similar to the Tin Man's origin in the original books, but seen from the Witch's side.
In the musical Wicked, the Tin Man is actually Boq. He is a Munchkin whom Nessarose loved. When she found out he loved Glinda, she tried a spell to make him fall in love with her. But the spell went wrong and shrunk his heart to nothing. To save his life, Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, had to turn him into tin. He does not understand why this happened and blames Elphaba.
In the 2011 TV series Once Upon a Time, the Tin Woodman is called Stanum. This name comes from the Latin word for "tin." Stanum is a woodcutter. He becomes friends with Zelena, who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. One day, Stanum is cursed by another witch. His body slowly starts turning into tin. He asks Zelena for help. They look for a magical "Crimson Heart" to save him. But Zelena betrays him, and Stanum turns completely into the Tin Man.
The Tin Man on Stage and Screen
- In 1902, Baum helped create a very popular stage show of The Wizard of Oz. David C. Montgomery played the Tin Woodman. He and Fred Stone (as the Scarecrow) became famous.
- In the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, Jack Haley played the Tin Man. Originally, Ray Bolger (who played the Scarecrow) was cast as the Tin Man. Buddy Ebsen was first cast as the Scarecrow. They swapped roles. But the Tin Man's makeup, which had aluminum powder, made Ebsen very sick. He had to leave the movie. The makeup was changed to a safer paste for Jack Haley. Haley's soft, breathy voice for the Tin Man came from how he told bedtime stories to his son. His portrayal is the most well-known. The movie does not explain how the Tin Man became tin. It just hints he was always tin. Haley also played Hickory, one of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farmworkers in Kansas.
- In the Broadway show The Wiz, Tiger Haynes played the Tinman. He was a human woodcutter who became tin after a witch cursed his axe. Nipsey Russell played the Tinman in The Wiz movie. In this version, he was a mechanical man, not human. He worked at a carnival. Ne-Yo played the Tinman in The Wiz Live!. Here, he was a construction worker turned to tin by a jealous witch. Ne-Yo also played John, one of Aunt Em's farmhands.
- Other actors who played the Tin Woodman include Oliver Hardy in a 1925 silent film. Deep Roy played him in the 1985 film Return to Oz. His costume looked very much like the drawings from the books.
- In the 1961 animated TV series Tales of the Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man (named Rusty) was voiced by Larry D. Mann.
- In 1996, a cartoon called The Oz Kids was made. The Tin Man rules the Winkie Country and has a son named Tin Boy. Like his father, Tin Boy can cut wood but must avoid water.
- The Muppet Gonzo played a similar character, the Tin Thing, in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005). He was a research assistant turned into a robot by the Wicked Witch.
- In 2006, the Tin Man appeared in commercials for Chef Boyardee ravioli. He was played by David Somerville.
- In the 2013 movie Oz the Great and Powerful, the Tin Woodman does not appear. But his creator, the Master Tinker, played by Bill Cobbs, is introduced.
- The Tin Man appears in Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return, voiced by Kelsey Grammer.
- In the 2011 animated film Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man was voiced by Rob Paulsen.
- The Woodsman, a 2012 stage play, tells the Tin Man's backstory using puppets and music.
- In the TV series Emerald City, the Tin Woodman is Jack (Gerran Howell). He is rebuilt into a cyborg after an accident.
- The Tin Man appears in Lego Dimensions, voiced by Dave B. Mitchell.
- Tin Man appears in Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, voiced by J.P. Karliak.
- Tin Man appears in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.
Modern Works and Meanings
- The song "Tin Man" by the band America says that "Oz never did give nothin' to the Tin Man, that he didn't, didn't already have." This means he already had a heart inside him.
- Tracy Chapman included a song called "Remember the Tinman" on her 1995 album New Beginning.
- In the VeggieTales episode The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's, Larry the Cucumber plays the Tin Man.
- In the 2007 Sci-Fi miniseries Tin Man, a "Tin Man" is a term for law enforcers. The main character, Wyatt Cain, is a "Tin Man" whose past made him tough and distant.
- The Phineas & Ferb episode "Wizard of Odd" shows the Tin Man rusted, but he is never freed.
- In Mickey Mouse Clubhouse parody "The Wizard of Dizz," Mickey Mouse plays the Tin Man.
- In the game Code Name: S.T.E.A.M., Tin Man is a playable character.
- The Tin Woodman is a bad guy in Danielle Paige's Dorothy Must Die book series. In this story, Dorothy and her friends have become evil. The Tin Woodman is driven by a twisted "love" for Dorothy. He has a scary look, with knife-like fingers.
Images for kids
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1890 cartoon showing President Benjamin Harrison as a knight in tin armor
Some experts believe that the characters and images in Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz were inspired by political cartoons from the 1890s. They say that the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, and other elements were common in cartoons of that time. Baum and Denslow (the illustrator) used these familiar ideas to create their story. They added Dorothy and taught lessons that people already have what they need (like brains, a heart, and courage) if they just believe in themselves. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was a children's book, but it was also a "modernized" fairy tale.
The "Tin Man"—a human turned into a machine—was a common image in political cartoons and ads in the 1890s. He had been part of European folk art for 300 years. In political readings of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Tin Woodman is sometimes seen as a worker. He is shown as someone made less human by factories and machines. The Tin Woodman slowly lost his natural body and got a metal one. So, he lost his heart and could not move without help from farmers (like the Scarecrow). But in reality, he has a strong sense of kindness and love. He just needed to believe in himself to show it. In the 1890s, many people thought that farmers and workers needed to team up to make big changes in society.
The 1890 cartoon above shows President Benjamin Harrison wearing tin armor. This is because he wanted a tax on tin. Such images support the idea that the "tin man" was used as a political symbol in the 1890s. The man on the right is politician James G. Blaine.
The oil needed by the Tin Woodman also had a political meaning at the time. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company was accused of being a monopoly (controlling too much of the oil business). In the 1902 stage show, the Tin Woodman wonders what would happen if he ran out of oil. The Scarecrow jokes, "You wouldn't be as badly off as John D. Rockefeller. He'd lose six thousand dollars a minute if that happened."
