| “ | Glinda: My, but you’re… silly. The Jester: Silly? Buy “silly” surely you mean diabolical. Glinda: (Giggling) The Jester: No? (laughs) You’re laughing? It’s a costume, isn’t it? I know. I know. Hard to take me seriously. It’s my curse. Literally. I can’t take this off… ever. My wicked sister did this to me with one of her… FUNNY… LITTLE… SPELLS! Glinda: I knew your sister all too well. I never knew she had a sense of humor. (Giggling) The Jester: It’s not… funny… to… ME! |
„ |
| ~ The Jester explaining his sister's curse to Glinda. |
| “ | Say goodbye to Dorothy. Let this be a lesson for everyone. Don't mess with the Jester! | „ |
| ~ The Jester’s most famous quote, as he teaches Dorothy’s friends a lesson for opposing him as he taunts them about Dorothy’s supposed demise. |
| “ | No! My baby! Fly, fly! Don't ever leave me! | „ |
| ~ The Jester's last words as he in despair to retrieve the scepter by throwing himself into his fate. |
The Jester is the main antagonist of the 2013 Indian-American computer animated fantasy film Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return. He is the manipulative brother of The Wicked Witch of the West and Wicked Witch of the East who stole his sister's broomstick from Emerald City.
He was voiced by Martin Short, who also played The Appraiser in the same film, Huy in The Prince of Egypt, Ooblar in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, Preminger in Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper, Jack Frost in Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause and Mr. Wiloughby in The Wiloughbys.
Personality[]
The Jester is shown to be a pompous, conniving, psychopathic, ruthless, baleful, deceiving, manipulative, and villainous trickster who unlike his sister, he is more concerned with continuing with her plan to take over Oz, but in his own way, showing that he doesn't give a hoot about his sister. Though considering how much turmoil she put him through when she was alive, this isn't really surprising. One of the bad deeds his sister did was curse him to never rid himself of his outfit as when he does try to take it off, another jester outfit (albeit with a different color) appears beneath it, as shown when he kidnaps Glinda.
Typical for a jester, he tells a bunch of jokes (though no one seems to find them funny). When his attempts to deal with Dorothy fail, he blames his head Flying Monkey Nikko for failing him when in truth, he has no one to blame but himself for his misfortunes, and craving for power near the end of the film in a pathetic manner. He also lacks gratitude as he never seems to appreciate his minion's efforts to stop the good guys, instead insulting them, and when Dorothy and the gang saves him from the twister, he immediately tries to barter for the broomstick.
History[]
Background[]
When the Jester was just a young boy, he often tried to steal his sister's broom for himself. Not only that, but she also did terrible, repugnant, and abominable stuff to him. At some point, she placed a spell on him that prevents him from taking off the same outfit. Whenever he attempted to take it off, another one with different colors would appear each time. Even after her death, the spell remained intact.
Role in the Movie[]
After stealing the Wicked Witch of the West's broomstick from Emerald City, the Jester was seen at his sister's castle talking to Glinda the Good Witch. He explained that he was cursed by his sister into being unable to take off his uniform. Attaching a magic orb to the broomstick so he could use its magic as a scepter, the Jester turned Glinda into a puppet and locked her up in a glass case. The Jester had the Winded Monkeys invading Emerald City and kidnapped Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow and placed them in their separate torture chambers.
He changed the wooden signs, so that Dorothy and Wiser would get arrested for eating the illegal sweets. He also caused a destructive earthquake, which damaged Dainty China Country. Later, he led the gang into a huge waterfall with fake fireflies, which resulted in China Princess being broken. The Jester often abused Nikko the leader of the Flying Monkeys henchling by shrinking his wings. He even thanked Dorothy for unintentionally killing the Wicked Witch of the West out of pride.
During the final battle, the Jester created a purple tornado, which would destroy anything sucked into it, intending to kill Dorothy. Dorothy was able to take his broom and break his spell, after which she saved him from being sucked in, and he respectively offered her to rule Oz with him. Dorothy refused and smashed his orb before throwing the broomstick into the tornado. At this, the Jester lost his sanity by jumping in the tornado to get the broomstick back, and both he and the tornado vanished for good.
It is unknown if the Jester ever survived the tornado or not.
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- Neil Patrick Harris, Hugh Jackman, Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell, Bill Hader, Nathan Lane, and Hugh Laurie were all considered for the role of the Jester before Martin Short was selected.
- During the climax of the film, while he was wearing face paint, he bears a minor resemblance to The Joker from the 2008 Batman film The Dark Knight.
- Though the Flying Monkey leader is named Nikko, but the Jester calls him "You", it's implied that he doesn't know his name.
- He is the second main antagonist of the series to be sucked by a tornado, first being his other sister, the Wicked Witch of the East.
- The Jester seems to have a love for showmanship, like his lethal traps for the Scarecrow, Lion, and Tin Man, appearing in a bombastic way during the scene where he captures Glinda, and having the most songs in the movie.
- In the books, the Jester was under the control of the ghost of the Wicked Witch of the West, and redeemed himself after the spell was lifted. In the film, he pretends to redeem and convince Dorothy they can rule Oz together before Dorothy smashes the crystal ball on his scepter and throws it into the tornado, while the Jester tries to retrieve it.
- Although the film has received negative reviews by almost everyone, the Jester can be seen as the saving grace of the film as he gain more popularity and love from the audience due to Martin Short’s performance and his own iconic song. This eventually led to the fact that now many consider him an underrated villain, as many believe that he was the one who ultimately carried the entire film, being the only good thing about it that did not make them bored and riveted their attention (especially considering he only appeared in the Oz cinematic universe once).
