- “Wicked” adapts the primary act of the 2003 Broadway musical.
- The movie, which stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, references that present and “The Wizard of Oz.”
- Here are particulars, references, and easter eggs you might have missed within the film.
The “Wicked” film is a revelation — and it is stuffed with references to “The Wizard of Oz” and the unique “Wicked” Broadway present that got here earlier than it.
The movie, directed by Jon M. Chu, adapts the primary act of the 2003 musical written by Winnie Holzman with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. That present, which itself is an adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s novel imagining a backstory for the Wicked Witch of the West, follows the magically inclined, green-skinned Elphaba and her college enemy-turned-best good friend Glinda. Those roles had been originated by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth on Broadway, and within the movie, they’re performed by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
The spectacular “Wicked” field workplace numbers show it is hitting with a number of generations of followers who love all these variations. In its opening weekend, the movie earned an estimated $164.2 million worldwide.
The movie has loads of easter eggs for followers of the “Wicked” Broadway musical (you may hear some acquainted act two musical cues) and people with solely a surface-level understanding of Oz. We’ve rounded up some particulars and references that you might have missed within the movie.
There are a number of rainbows within the movie, nodding to ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’
Universal Pictures
“Wicked” pays its thematic because of the most iconic music from “The Wizard of Oz,” invoking rainbows a number of occasions. You can see one in an early shot, within the sample of the tulips that the Munchkin youngsters run by heralding Elphaba’s dying, and once more throughout Elphaba’s run by a subject in “The Wizard and I.”
The title card is a reference to ‘The Wizard of Oz’
MGM Pictures
There’s been some controversy on social media over unhealthy movie show etiquette after folks began taking photographs of the “Wicked” title card in theaters. The whimsical, curly font is a reference to the unique title card for “The Wizard of Oz.”
The movie contains a number of musical cues that reference ‘For Good’
“Wicked” principally makes use of the opening notes of “For Good,” an Elphaba and Glinda duet in act two of the musical, as shorthand for his or her creating relationship all through the movie.
There’s a fantastic instance of this on the “Wicked” soundtrack, on the 0:06 minute mark of “Dear Old Shiz” after somebody asks Glinda if she and Elphaba had been buddies.
Nessarose’s silver slippers have twister heels
Universal Pictures
Elphaba and Nessarose’s father presents Nessa with a pair of silver heels. The footwear, which ultimately move to Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” are silver as they had been initially in L. Frank Baum’s novel. However, they’re offered in a ruby case — much like the 1939 film.
The heels even have a swirling twister sample on the heel, referencing Nessa’s eventual demise when Dorothy’s home falls on her after getting picked up in a cyclone.
There’s one other pair of crimson slippers within the movie, although
During “Popular,” Glinda pulls out a pair of shining, ruby-red slippers, a reference to those Dorothy wears in “The Wizard of Oz.”
Glinda is backlit with a halo throughout ‘What Is This Feeling’
Universal Pictures
When Glinda sings the lyric, “These issues are despatched to attempt us,” she stands in entrance of a door with a round window. When she facilities her head in entrance of it, the sunshine coming by the window turns golden.
Jonathan Bailey rides a well-recognized horse in ‘Wicked’
Bailey apparently acquired to make one casting request for “Wicked”: he needed to convey alongside his favourite horse.
“I knew there was just one man for the job, and that was Jack the horse that I labored with in ‘Bridgerton,'” Bailey stated on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
One shot of Elphaba resembles the unique Broadway poster
Universal Pictures
When Elphaba places on her black hat on the Oz Dust Ballroom, it briefly shadows her eyes and obscures a part of her face. The shot mimics the unique poster for the Broadway musical, by which the highest half of Elphaba’s face is roofed.
Unlike the poster, nevertheless, Erivo’s Elphaba is not smiling within the second.
Fiyero being unaffected by Elphaba’s poppies is foreshadowing
Universal Pictures
Big spoilers for half two should you’re not updated on the unique musical, however by a collection of unlucky occasions, Fiyero ultimately turns into the Scarecrow.
Like the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz,” Fiyero doesn’t succumb to the sleep-inducing results of the poppies. Instead, he helps Elphaba spirit away the lion cub from their classroom.
As a bonus — that lion cub will ultimately develop as much as be the Cowardly Lion from “The Wizard of Oz.”
Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth aren’t the one Emerald City cameos
It’d be extraordinarily troublesome to overlook Menzel and Chenoweth’s meaty cameos through the “Wiz-O-Mania” sequence that takes place within the Emerald City. There are two others you might have missed, nevertheless: author Winnie Holzman and composer Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the Broadway musical. Schwartz additionally has an iconic line through the sequence: “The Wizard will see you now.”
“It took numerous convincing to get them into this film as a result of they resisted it,” director Jon M. Chu informed Entertainment Weekly. “I used to be like, ‘You guys need to be on this.’ We did not know the place, after which as soon as Stephen wrote that part to Wiz-O-Mania, it grew to become very clear that Stephen needed to do, ‘The Wizard will see you now.'”
Also, Idina Menzel does her iconic ‘Defying Gravity’
If you are even a surface-level “Wicked” fan, you in all probability did not miss this one. In case you probably did, you possibly can hear her do it at in regards to the 4:00 minute mark of “One Short Day” on the movie’s soundtrack.
The Wizard hologram says ‘Omaha’ as a result of, canonically, he is from Nebraska
During the “Wiz-O-Mania” presentation within the Emerald City, a hologram of the Wizard pretends to learn the Grimmerie, the magical textual content of Oz. To accomplish that, he simply says the phrase “Omaha” just a few occasions.
He is certainly referencing Omaha, Nebraska — as a result of that is the place the Wizard is from.
There are crates and posters nodding to the Wizard’s outdated life
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
In the attic set utilized in “Defying Gravity,” there are posters referencing the “Wise and Magnificent Oscar Diggs.” In the above behind-the-scenes shot, you possibly can see crates with the identical textual content, and others that say, “Omaha, NE.”
That is the Wizard’s actual identify — and again in Nebraska, he was a magician.
There’s a lyric change in ‘Defying Gravity’
In the Broadway musical, the refrain sings, “Look at her, she’s depraved — get her!”
But within the film, issues are extra grave. The refrain sings, “Look at her, she’s depraved — kill her!”
“Wicked” is now in theaters.
