Recently, the new movie-musical Wicked Part 1 came out. It is a screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked. The Wicked musical is based on the 1995 book by Gregory Maguire. Wicked is the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz. The “spoiler-free” plot of Wicked is that a girl named Elphaba is misjudged because of her green skin. She is learned to have certain powers which burst out when she is feeling strong emotions.
Elphaba comes to Shiz University to care for her sister Nessa Rose but because of her powers and skin color, attention is brought to her and she is asked to join the school. Her new roommate is a very popular girl named Glinda. The two hate each other at first but eventually become best friends. They also befriend Fiyero and Boq. Elphaba and Glinda go to see the Wizard of Oz where problems occur. This results in the two taking very different paths.
Since the story of Wicked is originally based on The Wizard of Oz, there are quite a few parallels and easter eggs relating the two stories together. Some of these are quite obvious but a few were just tiny moments that stood out to me. So here are some of my favorite moments from The Wizard of Oz in Wicked.
- Nessa Rose’s striped socks: Nessa Rose, who ends up being the Wicked Witch of the East, is seen wearing striped socks throughout the movie. This is a reference to the witch’s striped socks in The Wizard of Oz.
Boots from the Original Broadway production of Wicked (Lucile Adams)
- Glinda’s ruby red shoes: During the song Popular, Glinda is trying to make Elphaba look “better.” Glinda goes through her shoes, takes out a pair of ruby red shoes, and clicks the heels three times. This is of course in reference to Dorothy’s ruby slippers.
- Boq Woodsman: The character Boq eventually turns into the Tinman. In the original book The Wizard of Oz, the Tinman is called the Tin Woodsman. Boq’s last name alludes to the original book.
- Title font: The font used at the beginning of the movie, stating the title, is the same font used in the original The Wizard of Oz movie.
- The poppies: Elphaba references that poppies are her favorite flower. She also uses the poppies to make her classmates fall asleep. In The Wizard of Oz, the wicked witch uses poppies to make Dorothy and her crew fall asleep.
- Boq’s handkerchief: Boq uses a red handkerchief which Glinda places on his heart. This represents him as the Tinman who doesn’t have a heart.
- Fiyero’s pose: Fiyero, who ends up being the scarecrow, stands in a pose with his arms out which looks like how the scarecrow is posed in The Wizard of Oz.
- Musical references: There are quite a few The Wizard of Oz song references in Wicked. You hear parts of Over the Rainbow, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, and Ms. Gulch’s Theme.
- Nessa Rose’s shoe design: Nessa Rose’s shoes have a swirl design on them looking like a tornado, regarding the tornado that brings Dorothy’s house to Oz. This house lands on Nessa Rose, killing her.
- “Just a slight Gulch!”: A teacher at Shiz makes a comment saying that Elphaba is “Just a slight Gulch” which is of course referring to Ms. Gulch – the “Kansas version” of the Wicked Witch of the West.
- The bike: Elphaba rides a bike in the movie just like how Ms. Gulch rides her bike when stealing Toto.
- Bluebirds: At the end of the song The Wizard and I, Elphaba runs through a field where bluebirds are flying similar to the lyrics in Over the Rainbow.
- Over the Rainbow: At the beginning of the movie, the camera goes “Over a Rainbow” in reference to the song in The Wizard of Oz.
- Witch hand shadow: The Wicked Witch of the West is known for her signature hand pose with her long nails. Elphaba recreates this pose during a scene in Madam Horrible’s office.
- The lion cub: The lion club brought into the students’ history class becomes the Cowardly Lion. They even reference this when Elphaba says, “He’s trembling,” which shows how he is scared or cowardly.
There are so many more references to The Wizard of Oz in Wicked Part 1 but these are just a few that stood out!
