The movie “Wicked” is amazing and has many connections to “The Wizard of Oz” and the original “Wicked” Broadway show.
The film is directed by Jon M. Chu and is also based on the first part of the 2003 musical. The musical was beautifully written by Winnie Holzman, with the music and songs by Stephen Schwartz. The musical itself is based on a book by Gregory Maguire, which tells us the story of the Wicked Witch of the West before the events in “The Wizard of Oz.”
The story is about Elphaba, a green-skinned girl with magic powers, and her friend Glinda, who were enemies at school but became best friends. On Broadway, Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth played these roles, but in the movie, Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba, and Ariana Grande plays Glinda.
The movie “Wicked” is also doing well at the box office, showing that many generations of fans enjoy it and all the versions of the story. In its first weekend, it made about $164.2 million worldwide.
The film has lots of hidden details for fans of the “Wicked” Broadway show (you can even hear some music from the second act) and for people who just know a little about “The Wizard of Oz.” We’ve put together some of these little details and references that you might have missed in the movie.
There are many rainbows in the movie “Wicked,” which were nod to the famous song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz.”
These rainbows are a way the movie were honours the most famous song from “The Wizard of Oz.”
The title card is a reference to ‘The Wizard of Oz
The “Wicked” movie’s title card was nod to “The Wizard of Oz.” It uses a fun, curly font like the one in the original “Wizard of Oz” title card.
Some people on social media had complained because others were taking pictures of the title card in movie theaters, which is not good movie behavior.
The film had also included musical hints from the song “For Good
A duet between the Elphaba and Glinda in the musical’s second act. The movie uses the beginning notes of this song to show how their friendship grows throughout the story.
Nessarose’s silver slippers have tornado heels
Elphaba and Nessarose’s father were gives Nessarose a pair of silver shoes. These shoes later belong to Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” In the original book by L. Frank Baum, the shoes were silver, not red. But in the movie, they are shown in a red (ruby) case, and the “Wicked” film also shows this.
The shoes have a tornado design on the heel. This is a hint about what will happen to Nessarose later, when Dorothy’s house falls on her during a cyclone (tornado).
There’s also another pair of red slippers in the movie. During the song “Popular,” Glinda shows a shiny pair of ruby-red slippers, which are like the ones Dorothy wears in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Glinda is backlit with a halo during ‘What Is This Feeling’
When Glinda sings that “These things are sent to try us,” she stands in front of a door with a round window. When her head lines up with the window, the light shining through turns golden.
Jonathan Bailey rides a familiar horse in ‘Wicked’
Jonathan Bailey was allowed to make one of the special request for the movie “Wicked”: he wanted to bring his favorite horse. He said on “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” “I knew there was only one for the job, and that was Jack, the horse I worked with on ‘Bridgerton.'”
One shot of Elphaba resembles the original Broadway poster
When Elphaba puts on her black hat at the Oz Dust Ballroom, the hat casts a shadow over her eyes and partly hides her face. This shot looks like the original Broadway musical poster, where the top half of Elphaba’s face is covered.
Fiyero being unaffected by Elphaba’s poppies is foreshadowing
Like the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz,” Fiyero does not fall asleep from the poppies. Instead, he helps Elphaba take the lion cub out of their classroom.
Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth aren’t the only Emerald City cameos
View this post on Instagram
It’s hard to miss Menzel and Chenoweth’s big appearances during the “Wiz-O-Mania” scene in the Emerald City. But there are two others you might have missed: writer Winnie Holzman and composer Stephen Schwartz, who created the Broadway musical. Schwartz also says a famous line in the scene: “The Wizard will see you now.”
Director Jon M. Chu told Entertainment Weekly that it was hard to get them to be in the movie because they didn’t want to at first. He said, “You guys have to be in this.” They weren’t sure where to put them until Stephen wrote the “Wiz-O-Mania” part, and then it made sense for him to say, “The Wizard will see you now.”
Idina Menzel sings her famous song “Defying Gravity.”
If you like Wicked even a little, you probably noticed it. But if you missed it, you can hear her sing it around 4 minutes into the song “One Short Day” on the movie’s soundtrack.
The Wizard’s hologram also says that “Omaha” because, in the story, he’s from Nebraska.
During the “Wiz-O-Mania” show in the Emerald City, the Wizard’s hologram pretends to read the Grimmerie, the magic book of Oz. Instead of real words, he just says “Omaha” a few times.
There are crates and posters nodding to the Wizard’s old life
In the attic set where they filmed “Defying Gravity,” there are posters that say, “Wise and Magnificent Oscar Diggs.” You can also see crates with the same words and some that say “Omaha, NE.”
There’s a change in the song “Defying Gravity.”
In the Broadway show, the chorus sings, “Look at her, she’s wicked — get her!”
But in the movie, it’s darker: they sing, “Look at her, she’s wicked — kill her!”
Also read: How Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Became Wicked’s Hottest Duo
