Toto is one of four baby gorillas living with humans in the Montreaux Zoo. He is born in France. In accordance with his caregivers’ expectations, Toto is raised like a normal baby by his foster parents, Joana and Andre. When he was just two years old, Toto was taken away from his foster parents when his biological mother died. Since his death, Toto has been trying to adjust to life as an orphan, which is why it took him so long to accept being a pet. At twenty-one months of age he was accustomed to living alone, but because of his unusual facial features, his foster parents had him admitted to the Chimpanier Rehabilitation Center for Children where he was to live as part of an experimental group of children.
Ironically, Toto’s adoption papers were rejected by Hollywood before he was even given a chance to go to a movie audition! According to how I read it, Toto was rejected due to a perceived similarity between Toto and the late Dorothy Dixson, who was an American cartoon character. Toto is even more like Toto than Dorothy – except for the bright pink color that Toto wears. Like Toto, the Tin Man also was rejected by Hollywood. The only difference was that the Tin Man was featured in several movies after that rejection.
When the novel was completed, Toto made an appearance in the film adaptation of the book, The Tin Man, and went on to appear in many other major movies thereafter. Toto appears in some of Jim Shooter’s greatest writing, and is portrayed by Bill Murray in the film adaptation. As previously mentioned, however, Toto was not actually given a chance to play the Tin Man in the film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. Never one to turn down an opportunity to be a part of something as wonderful as the Wizard of Oz, Toto appeared in the sequel, The Return of the Silver Monkey, as well as the Tim Burton film, The Nightmare Before Christmas.
But where Toto really shines in his imagination, and which we see continually in the works of Moen, is his take on the Oz characters. He gives each of the Oz characters his unique personality, as well as his own idiosyncratic way of speaking. The Lady of Emerald Hall is a forceful and determined leader of the Lion family who scolds her husband for failing to support her. Meanwhile, Glenda the Oz princess is described as beautiful, while her sister, Nell, is shown to be clever and manipulative. This last character is perhaps the most like Toto in the sense that they all have very specific roles to fulfill in the story, but are still able to retain their individual characteristics.
Toto’s writing is most apparent in the Oz books, where he provides the most original and descriptive drawings of the characters he has created. He also has a way of presenting his ideas in such a way as to allow them to seep into the reader’s mind and become part of their world without seeming overly intrusive. This is also apparent in some of his earlier work, which is actually quite good. For instance, in one of his Tarzan novels, The Courtship of Miles Stand, Toto provided a more action-oriented take on the Tarzan character, expanding on what had been done previously in the past.
Overall, for anybody interested in world building, mythology, or just entertainment – there’s nothing like reading Toto. His style of transforming reality and creating wonder through imagery is truly unique. The book is a great read, and even those not so familiar with comic books may enjoy it. For this and several other reasons, I recommend that anyone looking for a new mythology-or science fiction-book check out Toto.