Is Wicked good?
Let me cut to the chase with an obvious answer: yes, it’s amazing! I’m sure you’ve become hooked on this universe and want to know everything about it, right? I get it-I’m the same way! I read the original book, watched the wicked musical, and analyzed the wicked movie from start to finish to share all the curiosities and differences in Wicked… and believe me, there’s a lot to unpack!
Hi, people and scarecrows! How are you? I’m Imagidear, and welcome to my blog!
Wicked is perfect, there’s no denying it. The script is incredibly smooth and enjoyable, and the sets and costumes are absolutely breathtaking. They took a musical that was already fantastic, shook it up, refined it, and delivered a shower of perfection with this movie.
For those unfamiliar, Wicked is originally a book published in 1995, inspired by the story of The Wizard of Oz.
“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?“ Well, Wicked tells the origin story of the Good “
Witch and the Wicked Witch.
Technically, this isn’t an official story within the Wizard of Oz universe, created by L. Frank Baum in 1900. Over time, the original story fell into the public domain, allowing anyone to adapt it and use the characters. That’s how Gregory Maguire came to write his retelling in Wicked.
In 2003, the wicked musical debuted on Broadway, inspired by the book but introducing several new elements. The show quickly became a major hit, largely because it portrays villains who may not really be villains.
While the musical was inspired by the book, they’re very different-very much so. Many of the scenes are distinct, and I’ll share these differences as we go.
To give you an idea of how much the wicked movie expanded on the wicked musical, Part 1 of the film runs for about 2 hours and 40 minutes, while Part 1 of the musical is only 1 hour and 30 minutes. This means we get over an hour of additional content, with more detailed scenes not seen in the musical.
The Wicked movie starts identically to the musical, with Glinda (in her good form) arriving and announcing that the Wicked Witch is dead. This death scene for Elphaba is the same one we know from the end of The Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy throws a bucket of water on her, and Elphaba seemingly dies.
No spoilers, but… the Wicked Witch’s death scene in the movie is iconic, highly detailed, and powerful. The setup is very similar to what we had in the musical.
There’s even someone asking Glinda:
“Is it true that you two were friends?“ And that’s how the story begins.
The wicked book, however, starts very differently. It opens with Elphaba watching Dorothy wear Nessarose’s ruby slippers, which belonged to her sister. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion are walking down the Yellow Brick Road when Elphaba notices Dorothy wearing the slippers. She becomes furious, determined to reclaim them.
Fun fact: Dorothy thought Elphaba was dead, but it was actually her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, who had died.
The Wicked movie, the wicked book, and the wicked musical all aim to tell the origin story of Elphaba, but the film makes a unique addition: the way it hides Elphaba’s mother’s lover.
In the musical, this is done by having the actor stand backlit, showing only their silhouette. In the movie, they creatively hide him with a hat, behind curtains, or other objects. It’s visually stunning!
One commonality in all three versions is that Elphaba is rejected by her family. However, the movie introduces a significant difference: animals took Elphaba in, cared for her, and this is explored through the character of Brrr (or Dulce Brrr).
Dulce Brrr is a film-exclusive character, adding a fresh dynamic to the Wicked storyline. She doesn’t exist in the musical or the book. While the book has a nanny, she’s not an animal, making Dulce Brrr’s addition very compelling. This inclusion strengthens Elphaba’s fight for animal rights, as she was raised by them and grew up alongside them.
Someone needs to tell the Wizard that the animals are in danger! Unfortunately, after that flashback of Elphaba’s childhood, we don’t see what happened with this anymore.
The arrival at Shiz University is grand, very detailed, with many takes showing everything slowly. The students receive a warm welcome. In the musical, this scene is very quick-they just arrive and say “Woo-hoo, Shiz University!” It’s delightful to see how the movie could deepen these moments, showing the scenery and details slowly.
There’s a lot of similarity between the movie and the musical in the scene where Glinda and Elphaba meet. Glinda, shocked, exclaims, “You’re green?!” And Elphaba responds, “Yes, I am.” In the book, Glinda wouldn’t stay in the dorm with the other students; she had her own apartment, because she’s rich.
However, her companion accidentally stepped on a nail and couldn’t go to the university to talk to Madame Morrible about the apartment. Glinda had to negotiate by herself, but since she couldn’t explain well, she was thrown into the dorm next to Elphaba. That’s how they meet.
“They promised me a private suite, but thanks for asking.“
In the wicked film and the wicked musical, Glinda accidentally volunteers to be Elphaba’s roommate while she was trying to negotiate for a spot in Madame Morrible’s seminar. A big change in the interaction between Madame Morrible and Elphaba’s powers occurs.
- In the wicked musical: Elphaba makes everything fly through the hoops in the courtyard, and Madame Morrible is surprised, confronting Elphaba in front of everyone.
- In the wicked movie: Madame Morrible realizes what happened, acknowledges Elphaba’s powers, but disguises it and takes the blame, saying it was her who made everything fly through the hoops.
The wicked movie also includes a subtle but interesting comment: Madame Morrible says that “controlling time is her specialty.” This is significant because she, along with the Wizard of Oz, is one of the big villains of the story. It was Madame Morrible who created the tornado that brought Dorothy into the Land of Oz.
Everything was coldly calculated, including the house falling on Nessarose, Elphaba’s sister.
“Who killed my sister? Who killed the Wicked Witch of the East? It was you!“
Nessarose’s death was orchestrated by Madame Morrible. By the way, do you remember the slippers Nessarose received as a gift from her father in the movie? After Nessarose is crushed by Dorothy’s house, Glinda takes the slippers from her and gives them to Dorothy.
This action sets up a major dilemma, which will appear in Part 2 of the movie:
“They’re useless to you. Give them back to me. Give them back now!“
Curiosity: In the classic Wizard of Oz film, Nessarose’s slippers are red and became very famous. However, originally, in L. Frank Baum’s story, they were silver.
- Why the change to red?
The classic film used Technicolor, a technique that highlighted vibrant colors, like red, especially when contrasted with the yellow brick road.
In the Wicked trailer, we see Dorothy wearing silver slippers, which are also the original color in the musical. These silver slippers will be a point of confusion in part two:
“Stay out of this, Glinda, or I’ll destroy you too!“
Another scene that’s very faithful to the musical is Professor Dillamond’s class, where he’s shocked by a prejudiced phrase on the board.
This story of animals being oppressed in the Land of Oz is explored a bit more in the book. You’ve probably noticed that I’m one of the last animal professors here at Shiz, showing that Madame Morrible was responsible for the anti-animal movement at the school.
The book tells us that she organized a poetry night, which was actually a place to spread this prejudice against animals. The event ends with the phrase “Animals should be seen and not heard”, which is the phrase we see written on the board in both the musical and the film.
Another difference in the book is that Dr. Dillamond is murdered. Yes, he’s murdered because he was about to discover that animals and humans are very similar, and that would revolutionize the way the Land of Oz viewed animals. And who killed him? Madame Morrible’s henchman, at her request.
This is something that Glinda and Elphaba discover throughout the story in the wicked book, but this plot doesn’t appear in the musical or film. His murder has a big impact on the students and is what leads Glinda to adopt the name Glinda to honor the professor, which is how he pronounced her name.
In both the film and musical, the reason for Glinda’s name change is to honor the professor. However, in the book, it’s because of his murder that Glinda and Elphaba grow closer. So, the foundation of their friendship is very different in the book.
That said, iconic moments from the wicked musical, like “What is This Feeling” and “Popular”, are quite different and don’t exist in the original story. Let’s agree that some iconic moments from the film are unforgettable. I can’t get the scenes out of my head!
One difference between the wicked film and the wicked musical is the scene where Elphaba hears the animals speak. This was an element added and expanded in the movie, deepening the prejudice and oppression the animals were facing in that universe. In the musical, we already support Elphaba in her fight against the Wizard, but the film shows more elements of this oppression, making everything even more emotional because no one should be ridiculed or insulted.
Now, let’s talk about Fiyero. The way he and Elphaba meet is a bit different in the film. We have Elphaba in the forest, where she almost gets run over by Fiyero and his talking horse (which is amazing-seriously, I wanted more scenes with that talking horse!).
It’s a very different scene from the Wicked musical, where Fiyero arrives in a car at the school courtyard and almost runs over Elphaba. So their first meeting happens at school. Fiyero is a bit prejudiced against Elphaba because of her green skin. He makes a joke about the driver probably thinking the green light meant “go.”
It’s interesting to note that from the very beginning, the film shows Fiyero as quite charming with Elphaba. And of course, we have Fiyero and Glinda meeting, which is also different from the musical but incredibly charming in the movie. In the film, Glinda flirts with Fiyero and hides, appearing to him almost like a dance, which was very interesting. Fiyero responds to her flirtations, and he really seems to be interested.
In the wicked musical, Glinda is more forward, while Fiyero is completely uninterested in her. He just bumps into her, and Glinda is instantly enchanted. But Fiyero just wants to have fun and starts singing his song. The Wicked musical scene with Fiyero in the film is absolutely stunning.
He dances on the books, and the whole scene is visually beautiful. In the musical, we don’t get to have all the visual setup of takes and scenery, as the theater is more static, and we see everything happening in front of us. The Wicked film, however, delivered by perfectly adapting the musical and expanding it visually.
In the universe of Oz and our imagination, the scene where Glinda encourages Boq to invite Nessarose to the ball is identical in both the musical and the film. However, in the book, Boq is also in love with Glinda, but instead of approaching Nessarose to please Glinda, he approaches Elphaba. At this point, they’re already friends because Dr. Dillamond has died.
But Boq can’t get close to Glinda in the book, so he gives up and ends up marrying a girl from school named Mildred. The story takes a different direction in the book, while in the musical, Nessarose gets very angry and, in her rage, Glinda casts a spell on Boq, shrinking his heart in an attempt to save him. But this spell turns him into the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. This is one of the most iconic moments in both the Wicked musical and the Wicked film.
Now, let’s talk about the Wicked Witch’s Hat. This part is identical in both the musical and film. The hat was a gift from Glinda’s grandmother, who found it horrendous but gave it to Glinda to make fun of Elphaba. However, Elphaba, who had rarely received gifts, loved it and felt genuinely touched by the gesture.
Feeling grateful, she asks Madame Morrible to include Glinda in the magic lessons, threatening to leave the class if she doesn’t. Madame Morrible doesn’t want to lose a promising student, so Glinda is included in the lessons. When Glinda receives the invitation from Madame Morrible at the ball, she realizes how cruel she has been, and this guilt motivates her to help Elphaba, even though it was Glinda’s actions that provoked Elphaba’s embarrassment.
In the musical and film, their friendship happens because of the hat and the ball incident. However, in the Wicked book, their friendship develops after Dr. Dillamond’s death-there’s no elaborate story or emotional scene involving the hat.
Moving forward in the story, Elphaba confesses a secret to Glinda. She feels guilty because her mother was so afraid that her sister would be born green like her, that she drank several cups of milk during pregnancy, which caused Nessarose to be born prematurely. In the book, Nessarose‘s backstory is different. Elphaba’s mother does take a potion to prevent her new daughter from being born green, but Nessarose is born without arms.
The sleeping spell that Elphaba casts to save the lion is another story created for the film, and it was sensational. In the musical, Elphaba casts a spell to make everyone spin, but the lion isn’t caught in the spell, and Elphaba and Glinda manage to rescue the lion. In the book, we have a similar scene where Doctor Dillamond brings the lion to class.
Elphaba is frustrated, causing the experiment to be delayed, and Doctor Dillamond doesn’t perform the experiment in class. But that’s all—no one saves the poor lion, and he is never seen again by Elphaba. A fun fact is that the lion, who was terrified of being trapped in the cage, is actually the lion from the story of the Tin Man.
Now, let’s move to the Emerald City. A cool detail is that in the book, Madame Morrible doesn’t just see potential in Elphaba, but also in Glinda and Nessarose, inviting all three to serve the Wizard in the Emerald City. However, Morrible is so manipulative that she casts a spell on all three to make them forget about the invitation, preventing them from discussing it and making better decisions. In the book, only Glinda and Elphaba accept the invitation and go to the Emerald City, where Elphaba confronts the Wizard about the issue of animals. This is where all the chaos begins, but it happens a bit differently than in the wicked musical and the wicked film.
In the musical and film, only Elphaba receives the invitation, and Glinda goes along to the city at her friend’s request. It’s a wonderful scene in the film, where Glinda and Elphaba arrive in the city, and we have a special moment where the original Glinda from Brazil, Chris, is shown in a cameo. Chris played the first Glinda in Brazil in 2003 and was also Ariana Grande’s mentor for the role in the Wicked film.
She’s also Maleficent in the Disney live-action movies! In the film, this scene of them interacting with the new versions of their characters is very emotional. Fun fact: Idina Menzel, who voiced Elsa in Frozen, learned a lot from playing Elphaba during her time on Broadway, and this helped her build such a wonderful character in Elsa.
Now, let’s talk about the Wizard. He’s very manipulative, which makes him even more powerful. It’s easy to see why the people of Oz fall for his charm. In every version of the story, Elphaba goes to the Wizard to ask for animal rights. In the book, she presents Dr. Dillamond’s research that shows animals and humans are alike, but the Wizard doesn’t even entertain the subject. He sends Elphaba and Glinda back home, something Elphaba refuses to accept. She tells Glinda that she has to go back to Shiz on her own, because Elphaba plans to resolve things her way.
In the book, Elphaba ends up living in hiding in the Emerald City, eventually joining a revolution. However, this group uses violence to spread chaos in the city, something Fiyero doesn’t agree with.
To summarize, the book takes a completely different direction from the musical in this regard. In the book, we don’t have the iconic moment of Elphaba defying gravity. We also don’t have the scene where the Wizard manipulates Elphaba into giving wings to his flying monkey.
Elphaba realizes she’s been tricked by the Wizard, and the story continues similarly to the film from this point forward. The “Defying Gravity” moment, where Elphaba becomes officially painted as the villain of Oz, does not exist in the book. In the film, we also have a scene where Glinda almost goes after Elphaba, but she’s captured by the guards. In the musical, it’s clear that Glinda refuses to go with Elphaba because she doesn’t want to be seen as a villain, but the film makes it more ambiguous—was she going, or was she just caught? I’m very curious to see how these new layers will develop in the second part of the movie.
Let’s answer a big question: Will Glinda marry Fiyero? We have her joking about marrying him, but in part two of the musical, we see Glinda and Madame Morrible cornering Fiyero, and the answer might be revealed then!
Fiyero isn’t thrilled about it. He seems to be fed up with the situation, and in a moment of frustration, agrees to get engaged to Glinda. However, shortly afterward, he seeks out Elphaba. The two are on the verge of escaping together, exchanging heartfelt confessions.
But before they can flee, a terrible storm occurs. This is when Elphaba discovers her sister, Nessarose, has died. This event ties into Dorothy’s arrival in the world of Oz and the iconic ruby slippers.
The classic line echoes: “Where are the ruby slippers? What did you do with them?“
However, in the film, leaked images revealed Glinda in a wedding dress, seemingly walking into a church. This hints that the wedding between Glinda and Fiyero might actually take place in the second part of the Wicked film.
This would be different from the Wicked musical, where the wedding never happens. There’s a possibility that Fiyero could run away during the ceremony to meet Elphaba. Will the film take this route?
I’m super curious to see how this storyline unfolds! I won’t go into too much detail about part two here to keep this post from becoming too lengthy.
But tell me, would you like a full post about the complete story of Wicked, including what happens in part two? I can also dive into the differences between the Wicked book and the Wicked musical. And if you want to satisfy your curiosity now, check out this other post where I’ve already touched on some key points about the second part.
I’m super curious to see how this storyline unfolds! I won’t go into too much detail about part two here to keep this post from becoming too lengthy. But tell me, would you like a full post about the complete story of Wicked, including what happens in part two? I can also dive into the differences between the Wicked book and the Wicked musical. And if you want to satisfy your curiosity now, check out this other post where I’ve already touched on some key points about the second part.
Click here and check it out! 🌪✨
