"I'll get you my pretty. . . and your little dog too!" L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz," begins on a small Kansas farm. Dorothy, the main character of the story, is walking with her dog Toto, when a frightening cyclone (tornado) appears. Dorothy and her dog seek the refuge of their house, but to no avail. The house, and Dorothy with it, is swept into the air, landing in the mysterious Land of Oz on top of the Wicked Old Witch of the East. After leaving her house to explore this mysterious place, she finds cute, friendly, fat little Munchkins and the Beautiful Witch of the South. Overzealous at the demise of the wicked old which who had oppressed them, the Munchkins praise Dorothy. After the dancing and hoopla has subsided, Dorothy expresses her desire to return home. To this the Beautiful Witch of the South advises "follow the Yellow Brick road." Dorothy is granted the all-powerful Silver Slippers and told about Emerald City. A City where the masterful Wizard of Oz resides. She is told of his magnificent power, and that he may be the only person capable of sending her home. With this, Dorothy embarks upon her journey into the Land of Oz, following the Yellow Brick road.

Shortly after leaving the town of Munchkins, Dorothy comes to a Scarecrow hanging in a desolate field. She approaches the downtrodden scarecrow and asks him why he is so upset. After telling her about his not having a brain being the source of his sadness, Dorothy proposes that he join her on her journey to Emerald City, so that he may ask the extraordinary Wizard of Oz to give him one. The Scarecrow agrees and together they set off to Emerald City.

Not long after they set off, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and Toto come to a rusted up Tinman in the forest. They fetch a can of oil to free him from his prison of oxidation, allowing him to talk and move once again. The group asks the Tinman why he is so sad. The Tinman goes on to tell how he was once a man, deeply in love with a fair maiden whom he intended to marry. An old woman who lived with the fair maiden didn't want them to be married, and to stop them, she went to the Wicked old Witch of the West. Together, the old woman and Wicked Witch cast a spell on him that, when ever he slips with his ax while cutting a tree, would make him chop off a section of his body. The chopped off sections would then be replaced by tin ones. Eventually the mutilation would encompass his entire body making the man into a man of tin. The Tinman explained how he lost the love of his life and no longer had a heart. Realizing that the Wizard of Oz might be able to help, the Scarecrow asks if the Tinman would like to join on their trek to Emerald City. He happily accepts and together Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, and the Tinman continue on the Yellow Brick Road.

Soon, the bunch find themselves entering a dark and scary forest, when a lion suddenly leaps out and attacks Toto. Dorothy, filling with rage, slaps the lion and tells him to quite bothering her dog and scaring the group. The lion begins to cry and laments about his complete lack of and wish for courage. Dorothy, sympathetic towards his situation and feeling sorry for hitting this cowardly lion, explains how if he joins in their quest, he might be able to ask the Wizard of Oz for courage. The Cowardly Lion emphatically accepts, and the new group embarks once again on their journey.

After facing many obstacles and trials and tabulations, Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly Lion, finally reach Emerald City, where they meet the magnificent, all-powerful, greater-then-great Wizard of Oz. They mention their different reasons for coming and ask if the Wizard of Oz will grant them what they want. He refuses, unless they kill the Wicked Old Witch of the West. So Dorothy and the gang set off to fulfill the Wizard's wish.

As The group walks to the Wicked Old Witch of the West's castle, they are seen by the witch. To stop them, the witch uses the Golden Cap to call the Winged Monkeys (see Golden Cap and Winged Monkeys on the Character description page) and tells the monkeys to destroy the Tinman and Scarecrow, and to bring Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion back to the castle. The monkeys carry out the witches wishes except for her wish to destroy the Scarecrow. Instead they maim he and the Tinman and bring the other group members to the castle. There Dorothy stays for a few days as the witches slave until, after being enraged by the witch, Dorothy throws a bucket of water on the witch killing her.

Assured that they have completed the Wizard's demands, and that he will thus grant their wishes, the group joyfully returns to Emerald City. Upon returning to Emerald City and listening to the Wizard of Oz try to weasel his way out of the deal, Toto reveals the Wizard hiding behind a curtain to be no more than a two bit fraud. The Wizard of Oz then realizes that the gig is up, and he had better carry out his part of the bargain. To open up the eyes of the group so that they may understand that they already possess the gifts that they are seeking, the wizard passes out a bunch of shoddy merchandise and says a few mystical words. He then tells how he came to be in the land of Oz, explaining that he was once a ventriloquist in Kansas who, while traveling in a hot-air balloon, was swept into the Land of Oz. This retelling of the story and Dorothy's predicament, awakens the wizard to the possibility that they may be able to return to Kansas if they use the hot-air balloon again. He instates the Scarecrow as the ruler of Emerald City and prepares a balloon for he and Dorothy's trip. They are boarded and begin to depart when Toto leaps out of the balloon. Dorothy chases after him, but in doing so leaves the balloon behind.

Disheartened, Dorothy sets off to the land of the Quadlings in the South where the Good Which of the South resides so that she may ask the witch if there is any other way of getting back to Kansas. On the way to the South Dorothy passes through a city made entirely out of China, and a forest made of animals. While in the forest, a beast, who terrorizes the animals, tries to terrorize Dorothy. The Cowardly Lion, who isn't so cowardly anymore, kills the terrible beast and frees the animals from him. Rejoicing upon the joyous occasion and enchanted by the lion, the animals ask the lion to be their king, but he declines so that he may follow Dorothy on her journey.

Tired of walking and taking on the many obstacles of the Land of Oz, Dorothy, possessing the Golden Cap after killing the witch, decides to call the Winged Monkeys so that they may take her to the Good Witch of the South. When they reach the witch of the south, she tells Dorothy that if Dorothy gives her the Golden Cap, she will tell her how to return home. Dorothy gives up the cap and the witch explains how the Silver Slippers have the power to return her home. With the Golden Cap and the three wishes that come with it, the witch returns the Tinman to the Land of the Quadlings, returns the Scarecrow to Emerald City, and returns the Lion to the forest of animals. The witch then gives the Golden Cap to the Winged monkeys so that they may be free and bids farewell to Dorothy. Using the Silver Slippers to return home, Dorothy loses them on the way there. It is no matter though, as Dorothy finds herself in the field in front of her house with Aunt Em and Uncle Henry above her.