Fairy Tale Spotlight: Dr. J.B. Worley [Oz Character]

[This blog spoils some aspects of the book/movie "Return to Oz."]

Dr. J.B. Worley is an Oz character featured only in one book, that being "Return to Oz" written by Joan D. Vinge. It was the adaptation of the incredible Disney film of the same name. Probably the most interesting character of that book was the villainous doctor who has really terrible aspirations for Dorothy.

In the book, Dorothy was having dreams about Oz, but her aunt and uncle think she might be losing her mind. Dr. Worley offers a special new type of electrotherapy that might shock all the bad dreams out of her mind. However, he never gets a chance to since a storm knocks out the power, and she ends up escaping to Oz anyhow.

Later in the story, Dr. Worley comes back as the Gnome King. It is here that we learn some secrets about the doctor and his secret desires. Whether or not he was really trying to help children with their psychological problems, the truth was that he was using them to test out an untested device. In doing so, he very well may have been accidently lobotomizing them.

After he damaged his patients, he would keep them in his basement where they would endlessly scream and howl whenever they became disturbed. Dorothy briefly hears them but never actually seems them. It was Ozma who told her what they were and why they needed to get the hell out of that facility.

Only in the book, not the movie, is there a subtle hint dropped that Dr. Worley may have been sexually abusing his damaged patients. It comes across only when Dorothy is meeting with the gnome king. There was something extremely awful and creepy about how he was presented in the book. You can kind almost see it in the movie, but it isn't as clear.

This fact alone makes Dr. J.B. Worley one of the most horrifying villains in all of Oz history. If it was not for Ozma, Dorothy would have been subjected to one of the most horrible fates one can imagine.

Sadly, it seems that the damaged patients all burned to death after a lightning strike during the storm. The only solace was that Dr. Worley also dies when he ran back inside to save his electrotherapy machine. A fitting end for such a terrible person. All said, however, he will go down in history as one of the most interesting Oz villains ever written.

This blog was written on January 17, 2023.

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