When a tornado rips through Kansas, Dorothy (Fairuza Balk) and her dog, Toto, are whisked away in their house to the magical land of Oz. They follow the Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, and en route they meet a Scarecrow...
As Dorothy, Toto and The Scarecrow continued to walk for hours on the same familiar road, they began to notice a shift in their surroundings. The open fields that had once surrounded them gradually transformed into a dense grove of trees. Tall oaks and graceful willows stood like sentinels, their leaves rustling softly in the gentle breeze. "Look at all these trees!" Dorothy exclaimed, her eyes wide with wonder. "It's like we've stepped into a different world!" The Scarecrow tilted his head, observing the thickening canopy overhead. "Yes, and it seems to whisper secrets," he said thoughtfully. "I wonder what stories these trees could tell."
As they ventured deeper, sunlight filtered through the branches, casting playful shadows on the ground. The air was rich with the scent of earth and foliage, and the chirping of birds filled the silence. Dorothy felt a sense of magic enveloping them, as if the forest was alive with enchantment.
"Do you think the trees are alive in a way, Scarecrow?" Dorothy pondered, her imagination sparking.
"Perhaps they are," he replied. "After all, they've seen so much over the years. They might hold the wisdom of the ages." Instantly, Dorothy was startled to hear a deep groan near by, and intensively clutched onto Scarecrow.
"What was that?" she asked, timidly.
"I cannot imagine," replied the Scarecrow; "but we can go and see."
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Just then another groan reached their ears, and the sound seemed to come from behind them. They turned and walked through the forest a few steps, when Dorothy discovered something shining in a ray of sunshine that fell between the trees. She ran to the place, and then stopped short, with a cry of surprise. One of the biggest trees had been partly chopped through, and standing beside it, with an uplifted axe in his hands, was a man made entirely of tin. His head and arms and legs were jointed upon his body, but he stood perfectly motionless, as if he could not stir at all.
Dorothy looked at him in amazement, and so did the Scarecrow.
It appeared to be the Tin Woodsman. Dorothy spoke, "Hello?"
The Tin Woodsman grunted loudly which definitely caught their attention. He seemed to have mumbled something very interesting. But Dorothy or the Scarecrow couldn't seem to get it. For a moment, there was complete silence before the Scarecrow realized. His eyes gazed at Dorothy with excitement, "He says.. Oil Can." He mumured with encouragement.
"Oil Can?," Dorothy looked around before, spotting an oil can sitting ontop of a chopped wood. She picked it up by the handle and used it on the metallic man. The oil slowly allowed the Tin Woodsman to be able to move it's jaw.
"Why, thank you,"
"Now oil the joints in my arms," he said. And so, Dorothy oiled them while the Scarecrow bent them carefully until they were quite free from rust and as good as new. The Tin Woodman gave a sigh of satisfaction and lowered his axe, which he leaned against the tree.
"This is a great comfort," he said. "I have been holding that axe in the air ever since I rusted, and I'm glad to be able to put it down at last. Now, if you will oil the joints of my legs, I shall be all right once more." So they oiled his legs until he could move them freely; and he thanked them again and again for his release, for he seemed a very polite creature, and very grateful.
"I might have stood there always if you had not come along," he said; "so you have certainly saved my life. How did you happen to be here?"
"We are on our way to the Emerald City, to see the great Oz," Dorothy answered, "and we stopped at the hill to have a break to eat."
"How did you become Tin," the Scarecrow questioned.
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As Dorothy and the Scarecrow stood from either side of him, the Tin Woodsman took a deep breath, his voice metallic but heavy with memories.
"Before all this," he began, tapping his hollow chest, "I was a simple woodcutter, human and whole. And I had a wife—a beautiful, gentle soul who meant the world to me. We lived simply, planning a life together filled with happiness, but fate... well, fate had other plans."
He paused, his tin fingers clinking as he clenched his fist, a hint of sorrow in his eyes. "My wife and I were poor, yet we were happy. But an old woman in her family hated our union, and she wanted to keep my wife for her own selfish purposes. She went to the Wicked Witch of the East, asking her to stop me from cutting wood, to stop me from earning our living. And so, the Witch cursed my axe."
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The Scarecrow and Dorothy leaned in, spellbound, as he continued. "Each time I lifted that axe, it turned against me. First, I lost an arm, then a leg, then another limb. But I wouldn't let anything keep me from my beloved. Each piece of flesh the axe took, I replaced with tin, made by a kind tinsmith who pitied my plight. Until... finally... there was nothing left of me but metal."
The Woodsman's hand went to his chest, tapping the hollow space. "When the last piece of me turned to tin, I realized that I no longer had a heart. I lost the very thing that let me feel the love I had for her. My mind was still my own, and my memories of her were all intact, but they became just... memories."
Dorothy reached out, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "Oh, how terrible," she whispered, her eyes filling with sympathy.
The Tin Woodsman nodded, his voice soft. "I set out to find a heart, hoping to feel love again. And now, my friends, I travel to see the Wizard, hoping he can give me back what I lost, so I can once again feel the love I once had."
For a moment, silence fell over them, the depth of his story settling in their hearts."We are on our way to the Emerald City, to see the great Oz," she answered, "and we stopped at the hill to have a break to eat."
"So, Why do you wish to see Oz?" he asked.
"I want him to send me back to Kansas; and the Scarecrow wants him to put a few brains into his head," she replied.
The Tin Woodman appeared to think deeply for a moment. Then he said:
"Do you suppose Oz could give me a heart?"
"Why, I guess so," Dorothy answered; "it would be as easy as to give the Scarecrow brains."
"I supposed I should go with you guys; Well, I'll come along with you." The Tin Woodsman agreed to come with Dorothy and Scarecrow on their journey and, continued to walk down the Yellow Brick Road, encouraged into their goal.
