Wicked Witch of the West the Witch" (Compare the character Mombi from "The Marvelous Land of Oz"). In the film, Momba has an unspecified hold over the Wizard, who promises his crown to anyone who can release him from Momba's power. Momba captures Dorothy and her companions, evoking the events in Baum's original novel, and is destroyed when Dorothy throws a bucket of water over her. Mombi's likeness and costume in the 1914 silent film, "His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz" is based on Denslow's illustrations of the Wicked Witch of the West. In the 1939 version of "The Wizard of Oz", Margaret Hamilton plays
Wicked Witch of the West This causes the old witch to melt away. The Wicked Witch's dryness was enumerated in some clues before this. Furthermore, when Toto had bitten her, she had not bled; her wickedness had dried her up long ago. Unfortunately, L. Frank Baum did not explain precisely why water had this effect on her, nor did he ever imply that all evil witches could be likewise destroyed. However, the wicked witch Mombi is similarly disposed of in "The Lost King of Oz" and the wicked witch Singra is clearly afraid of the same fate in the early chapters of "The Wicked Witch