| “ | That dog's a menace to the community. I'm taking him to the sheriff and make sure he's destroyed. | „ |
| ~ Miss Gulch |
Miss Almira Gulch, known simply as Miss Gulch, is a minor antagonist in the 1939 musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. She is Dorothy Gale, Aunt Em, and Uncle Henry's curmudgeonly neighbor and an arrogant land owner who aims to have Dorothy's dog Toto euthanized after biting her leg once.
She was portrayed by the late Margaret Hamilton.
What makes her a Hate Sink?[]
- The only reason Dorothy comes anywhere near her is to purchase planks for the farm.
- She planned on having Dorothy's dog Toto euthanized via sheriff's order after one incident of him messing up her garden, scaring her cat, and then biting her leg. While Dorothy should have better disciplined Toto, Gulch's response is way too drastic and petty.
- When Em brings up the idea that Dorothy could better discipline Toto and keep him on a leash, Gulch callously dismisses this and demands that Toto get put down anyway whilst implying the sheriff would not have agreed with them.
- Gulch threatens to take away Em and Henry's farm if they do not comply with her demands, despite their daughter giving her business several times to help maintain it in the first place.
- As Dorothy begs and refuses to give Toto up, Gulch shows zero sympathy towards her and forcefully attempts to take Toto herself. Em and Henry eventually put Toto into Gulch's basket though with very clear reluctance.
- While Gulch does indeed own half the county due to her wealth, she arrogantly believes she owns the entire county and that she can do whatever she wants due to her status. Ironically, she gets around on a bicycle.
- Aunt Em states that for she's wanted to call Gulch out on her behavior for 23 years and simply held it back due to her religious beliefs. This implies that Gulch has, at best, annoyed Em and Henry for decades and, at worst, tormented the family for decades using her power.
- Her speciesist and murderous personality is the whole reason Dorothy and Toto ran away and ended up in Oz in the first place, and even though they finally make it back home, they still have to deal with her sooner or later, meaning Miss Gulch is a Karma Houdini.
- Unlike the Wicked Witch of the West, an "Evil is Cool" villain who is very fun to watch due to Margaret Hamilton's colorful performance, Miss Gulch is simply arrogant, merciless, and above all, petty, making her blatantly unpleasant to watch.
Trivia[]
- While unconfirmed, there is a degree of implication that the sheriff's authorization of her request came from a bribe due to her owning half the county. If this was true, it would make her more loathsome.
External Links[]
- Miss Almira Gulch on the Villains Wiki
- Miss Gulch on the Oz Wiki
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 Hate Sinks
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Live-Action Television Fanon See Also | ||