New Map of Oz from Spotify! ...but I think it's AI?


I went on Spotify and saw the new Lands of Oz thing, and I was so annoyed that it wouldn't let me zoom out and see the whole map at once or even take screenshots to stitch together without all the buttons on-screen. But then, it occurred to me to check my favorite place, [the Maps of Oz page of the Oz Wiki](https://oz.fandom.com/wiki/Maps_of_Oz), and someone had already managed to post the full image! Love this fandom lol. I'm not seeing the new movie until tomorrow, so idk if this map even makes an appearance in the movie, or if it's just a Spotify thing.

BUT. Here's the thing. I didn't find any of the standard AI tells like weird looking text, but I consider myself pretty well-versed in Baum book lore, and a few things just didn't sit right with me. I printed it and tons of other maps out to compare and contrast. (Most are from the Maps of Oz page if you want a clearer image.)






OKAY. So why do I suspect it may be AI generated (and then cleaned up by a human)? Many of the inclusions, exclusions, and changes on this new map compared to other Oz maps (and specifically Wicked maps) are baffling to me. There are some things that just don't seem like human mistakes, and there are other things that just don't make sense from a lore standpoint. And there are some VERY obscure locations from the later non-Baum Oz books that were included over major locations from Baum's original books, the Wicked books, and the Wicked musical map.

# 1. Locations listed twice and fabricated?

There are (at least) three locations on this new map that are listed twice: Posties Place (both are in Quadling Country, bottom right), Rudderburg (one location in Quadling Country, and then Rudderbury Hillock up in Munchkinland), and Ruby Cavern/Ruby's Cavern, both in Quadling Country but on opposite sides. On the 1975 map, you can find the Posties and Ruby Imp Cavern (we'll talk more about these later), just one of each, but I have no idea where Rudderbury comes from. I can't find it on any other Oz map and couldn't find any mention of it anywhere online. I don't have access to all 40 books, so never say never, but the likelihood that it's a canon place in Oz seems low to me? The only thing I can think of is that a computer misread Bunnybury or Baffleburg from one of the handwritten fan maps, but both of those are also included on this new map.

I also couldn't find Holkum Hills or even Holkum on any of the other maps, nor could I find any mention of it in any Oz books. Same with Gorgbas Garden. I didn't look up every single location on the map, but there are likely more locations that are unique to this map. They're allowed to invent new locations for the movie, don't get me wrong, but if they aren't mentioned in the movie... why do it?

# 2. Weird changes/things that don't make sense for lore reasons

These COULD be human things-- obviously the whole shape of the map is different from previous iterations, so some things had to be moved, but a few just don't make sense and don't seem like a decision a human who knows all these obscure book locations would make. One is the location of the Poppy Field. On the original Oz book map and the 1975 fan club map, you can see the Poppy Field relatively near the Emerald City, not far from the Yellow Brick Road, in the western region of Munchkinland. This matches Dorothy's journey in the 1939 film as well. In pretty much every map of Oz that has the Poppy Field at all, it's in that spot. But on this new map, it's way up in the NE corner of Munchkinland, nowhere near the Yellow Brick Road or Munchkin Village, where Dorothy presumably begins her journey.

The location of the Hammerheads is different between the two movie maps. (The Hammerheads are weird little characters in the central part of Quadling Country from *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz*, book 1. They also make an appearance in "One Short Day," both in the musical and the movie.) They are in the correct spot on the new map, which makes me wonder, again, if it was generated from a combination of maps that includes the fan club one above, but on the earlier movie map, they're in the SE corner of Quadling Country (HH Dwell). It doesn't really matter for Wicked lore, but in the original Baum books, it's important that they're not right by the southern border of Oz because they're one of the obstacles between the Emerald City and Glinda's Palace.

Jinxland, a region that's kind of its own country but is attached to the very bottom of Quadling Country, is the central location of Baum book 9, *The Scarecrow of Oz*, and is included on the Baum map, the fan club map, and the musical map, even though it's not on the Wicked book map. It is not included on this new map, but King Krewl's Kingdom and Castle are on the map. (He's the, unsurprisingly, cruel ruler of Jinxland.) But rather than being on the very edge of Oz, it's just south of the Emerald City. Again, could be a human choice, but I highly doubt the version of the Wizard in Wicked would be cool with another evil ruler so close by.

Another thing that's oddly close to the Emerald City is the College of Wogglebug. This is in the correct place on the new map based on previous Oz maps, but it seems odd that this location would exist at all in the Wicked universe for a couple reasons. H.M. Wogglebug, T.E. (Highly Magnified Wogglebug, Thoroughly Educated) is introduced in Baum book 2. He is a bug that grows to human size because he ends up on a projector in a classroom, and he becomes the giant image of himself? I guess? He thinks himself very intelligent from spending all that time in a classroom and runs his own college after a few books. It's an athletic college because after the Wizard invents pills that allow students to instantly learn whatever they want, the students don't have to study anymore and just focus on sports. It would be crazy for this to exist in the world of Wicked and not be mentioned, considering much of the story takes place at a different university that doesn't use learning pills, AND Wogglebug would be considered a talking Animal who would not be allowed to run his own university.

Ugu and Reera appear to be marked as cities. These are both characters from Baum's later books. (Ugu the Shoemaker and Reera the Red from *The Lost Princess of Oz* and *Glinda of Oz*, respectively.) They are marked on the fan-made map because it shows where the characters live, but if you view the zoomed-in version of the new map on Spotify as intended, there are roads in those locations as if they were cities. Both of these characters kinda live in the middle of nowhere lol. The locations of Ugu, Herku, and Bear Centre on the new map do not match the fan club map, and for those specific locations, their spatial relationship is important because those locations are approached from specific directions and in a particular order in Baum book 11, *The Lost Princess of Oz*, which includes a map of this specific journey. Again, this could be a human choice! But it could also be a robot who saw those marked on the map and decided the locations could be off, and anything marked on the map was probably a place, not a person. I'm sure I'm being dramatic here, but it would be disappointing if this map was human-made, and the human didn't bother to look up the locations they were adding to the map, especially considering many of the locations are so obscure that they aren't even fan service. Onto the next point!

# 3. Many of the marked locations are from obscure Oz books, including at least one that's not even canon.

*Ahem*. In 1934, L. Frank Baum's son Frank published a book called *The Laughing Dragon of Oz*. It's not technically part of the 40-book Oz canon because his mother, who had control over Oz book publication after LFB's death, thought it was disgraceful and refused to allow it to be published as part of the official series. This book was taken out of print and was briefly reprinted in 2006, but it is not available at libraries or for sale, just for resale. Without the ability to use existing Oz characters, Frank HEAVILY borrowed from his dad's characters for his book, including a character called the Ruby Imp that was almost certainly inspired by the Nome King, a prominent villain in Baum's Oz books. Ruby Imp's Cavern is marked on the fan club maps, and there are two similar locations on this new map: Ruby Cavern and Ruby's Cavern. Ruby Cavern alone would kind of make sense because in the Wicked book, the Wizard is particularly interested in pushing the Quadlings out of their land so he can take advantage of the ruby deposits there, but these two slightly off versions of Ruby Imp's Cavern are giving me AI red flags. And if a true Oz nerd made this map and wanted to use stuff from obscure Oz books, why include locations that aren't even canon when there 40 books worth of locations that are?

The Posties, who are basically sentient mailboxes, are from that same book and also appear on this map twice.

A few other locations from post-Baum canon Oz books. These are not the only ones on the map, but this is already a novel of a post lol.

* Ozwoz, a character from *The Purple Prince of Oz*, book 26. Squee-gee ville is also from this book. * Jack Pott Plaza. Jack Pott is a character from *Lucky Bucky in Oz*, book 37. I don't think there's a plaza, but just his character name is in the up left corner of the fan club map. Weirdly, on the new map, he's around the same location as Jack Pumpkinhead, a much more well-known character introduced in book 2 who does not appear on this new map at all. * Bourne St. and Baffleburg. There isn't a Bourne Street in the Oz books as far as I know, but Bourne and Baffleburg are locations around that spot on the fan club map from *Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz*, book 23. * Seebania, a location in *Ojo in Oz*, book 27. Much farther south on the fan club map. * Cave City and Lake Orizon, from *The Giant Horse of Oz*, book 22. Sapphire City is also from that book, but that location is marked on the very sparse map from the first Wicked movie, and there's also a poster about Sapphire City visible in the first movie, so that one can slide.

# One thing I thought was interesting (in a good way) about the map:

Another location that's consistent across pretty much every other map is the location of the Wicked Witch of the West's castle, aka Kiamo Ko in Wicked. You can see it in pretty much the same place in Winkie Country/the Vinkus on every map above except for the two movie ones-- it's all the way down by the Truth Pond, close to where the Yips are in the original Baum books (although the Yips were moved to Quadling country on this new map), and also pretty much where Neverdale is on the musical map. (As far as I know, Neverdale is not a canon Oz location, and I don't believe it's ever mentioned in the musical, so idk where it came from. Please tell me if you know!) This new map also adds a separate Winkie Palace in the northernmost part of Winkie Country that isn't on any of the other maps. Again, this could be a human choice, because even though in the Wicked book, Kiamo Ko is his family's only castle, I feel like I remember a line in the musical about how Kiamo Ko is his winter or summer home or something, and that's why no one will be there to rat out Elphaba. That's one thing I liked about this new map tbh, if it was intentional.