Billina is a fictional character in the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. She is introduced in Ozma of Oz (1907).
In Ozma of Oz, Billina becomes Dorothy Gale's animal companion after she and the girl are on a small ship and are thrown overboard. Dorothy was traveling on an ocean voyage to Australia with her Uncle Henry when a violent storm hit, thus tossing the ship over the waves. The two wash up on the uncharted shores of the enchanted country of Ev in a chicken coop they had taken refuge in. Billina serves in this adventure the role that Dorothy's pet dog Toto served in the first Oz book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).
A spunky, sassy and talkative chicken, Billina was originally named Bill because, she tells Dorothy, "no one could tell whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster". Dorothy insists on changing the hen's name to a feminine form. Billina endures several scares with the Kansas farm girl before they defeat the Nome King as only a hen can since eggs are poisonous to Nomes. At the end of the novel, Billina settles in the Emerald City in the magical Land of Oz.
Billina has been suggested to play 23 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
