Obsolete: Toto in Wizard of Oz

[Greninjaman]

I was just thinking about this, but what was the point of Toto? He really didn't add anything to the story (other than preventing Dorothy from leaving on that balloon at the end). If the dog was removed would anything change?

 

[TRNatalie]

He’s Dorothy’s little pet dog, like Pascal is Rapunzel’s chameleon in Tangled, and actually quite a bit changes if you remove him. He’s why Dorothy decides to run away from home (because he would be killed by Ms. Giles if they stayed around), therefore making it so Dorothy meets the man who will become the wizard and gets caught in the tornado that brings them to Oz in the first place. He’s why the Lion goes from a foe to a friend (because Dorothy slapped him to protect Toto which triggers the coward speech). Toto escapes from the Wicked Witch’s castle, finds the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion and leads them to Dorothy, saving her. And of course, his second most important moment in the movie, he pulls back the curtain, revealing the wizard to be just an ordinary, trickster of a man. Yeah, he doesn’t do as much as the other characters but he does do some stuff and is one of Dorothy’s primary motivations throughout the movie. Removing him would change a lot of how the story plays out.

 

[Battista]

@TRNatalie is right. He's the primary source of motivation, especially at the early point of the story.

 

[toastghost]

yeah, the woman who ended up turning into the wicked witch wanted to steal dorothy's dog, so toto is essentially the catalyst

 

[King Robert]

I've read the original novel (it was included on my Palm Pilot circa mid-2000s), and it explained that Toto kept Dorothy's spirits up, even when her aunt and uncle weren't exactly as cheerful as they used to be.