Variety's 'Wicked' expert breaks down the film, brick by yellow brick, to point out every ruby slipper, hot air balloon, poppy field and more throughout Jon M. Chu's Oz starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande and Elphaba and Galinda.
Subscribe to Variety on YouTube: http://bit.ly/VarietySubscribe
Connect:
http://www.facebook.com/variety
http://www.instagram.com/variety
http://www.twitter.com/variety
Subscribe to Variety on YouTube: http://bit.ly/VarietySubscribe
Connect:
http://www.facebook.com/variety
http://www.instagram.com/variety
http://www.twitter.com/variety
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00You should join us tonight and don't tell me you have nothing to wear because you could wear this
00:06Broadway fans have been waiting more than 20 years for a film adaptation of the beloved musical Wicked which serves as a prequel to the
00:13events of The Wizard of Oz. If you watch closely there are plenty of surprises in store for fans. We've picked the best ones
00:24MGM released The Wizard of Oz in 1939 in honor of the release year
00:29Universal replaced their current logo with a redrawn version of their own vintage logo
00:33They also changed the Wicked logo for the film. The opening title sequence pays tribute to The Wizard of Oz by mimicking the film's original
00:41Black-and-white sequence. John has done something really clever with what we do to come into the movie
00:46That's an easter egg. I can't spoil it for you because I want you to see it
00:50But it's that's a beautiful
00:51It's a beautiful beginning to this movie. The next easter egg is a quick flash of Dorothy the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow
00:58Returning to the Emerald City on a yellow road
01:00We only see them for a moment as we then go back to the start of the story when Elphaba and Galinda first meet at
01:06school
01:08You're green
01:11As the opening sequence continues we see over nine million tulips in the field of Oz
01:16They're planted strategically in the color of the rainbow in a nod to the original Wizard of Oz song
01:21Somewhere over the rainbow, but there's some musical Easter new musical Easter eggs
01:25Okay, two I'm going to tell people to listen for very beginning of the movie when the kids are running through the field
01:32to announce the death of the witch listen to that and
01:35There's a scene where a Fiero and Elphaba rescue the lion cub and they're riding bikes and they put the lion cub in a basket
01:43Listen to that. If we take a look at who is running through the field
01:46We get to see the first glimpse of the citizens of Munchkin land
01:49They're swinging a bell celebrating the wicked witch's demise as a nod to the original ding-dong the witch is dead
01:56Get me out! The witch! She's dead!
01:58According to director John M Chu the Munchkins differ from the Wizard of Oz and were modeled after Ethan Slater
02:04I remember I came in and they were like, we're not a hundred percent sure
02:07What the Munchkins are gonna look like we are thinking maybe
02:10Red hair with freckles and brown eyes and everything else can be anything. It's a diverse group of Munchkins
02:16I was like, do you mean like what I look like?
02:17They're like something like that fans of the musical might have missed Elphaba's full name in the stage show
02:22But we get her last name in the film Elphaba Throp
02:25Gregory Maguire author of the wicked novel named Elphaba after the initials of L Frank Baum the Wizard of Oz author to create
02:33LFB Elphaba. Elphaba's sister Nessa Rose later known as the Wicked Witch of the East is gifted a pair of bejeweled silver shoes that
02:40Dorothy will eventually wear with their own tribute to the original film
02:44Costume designer Paul Tazewell added a tornado shape in the spoke of the heel as a wink to the twister that brought Dorothy from Kansas
02:50to Oz
02:51We also spotted a pair of bejeweled red heels that Galinda presents during popular as a wink to Dorothy's red shoes
02:59Welcome new students to Shiz
03:01University miss Elphaba you can room with Miss Galinda. Once students arrive at Shiz University
03:07We meet Madame Morrible played by Oscar Award winner Michelle Yeoh
03:11Madame Morrible's magic power includes the ability to control the weather
03:14So her hair and makeup team styles her hair off the shape of clouds
03:18Our paths did cross at school
03:21And there are Easter eggs scattered all over Shiz. In the library scene the ladders were designed to rotate independently from the wheels
03:27Creating the illusion of an O and a Z in the architecture making the word Oz
03:32How can we forget Judy Garland's beautiful song over the rainbow?
03:41While Elphaba is running through a field singing the wizard and I she weeps into the air with a rainbow in the background
03:46There's even a flock of bluebirds a direct nod to the famous lyric somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly
03:53We even get to see Oz's famous poppies
03:59While the flowers aren't mentioned in the stage production
04:01We see the origin of the poppies sleep spell when Elphaba's enchantments put an entire classroom of students to sleep
04:08We also see several moments that reference the version of the Wicked Witch of the West that is well known in pop culture
04:13Like this hand shadow there are nods to her iconic theme song
04:19This
04:22And her infamous bicycle they rescued the lion cub
04:25There's something that happens with that lion cub and the way that they rescue him and the vehicle that they use
04:32That I think is a wonderful little nod to the original movie
04:36This is a nod to Margaret Hamilton's portrayal of the Wicked Witch as her Kansas counterpart
04:41Elmira Gulch riding her bike with Toto in a basket and
04:45Remember this scene
04:50Historically the Wicked Witch's true nemesis is water when it starts raining in the film Madame Marble shields Elphaba from the drops
04:57Mentioning that she shouldn't get wet come with me what to beat the wizard?
05:03When Elphaba and Glinda finally make their way to the Emerald City
05:07We pick up a few friends along the way the original Broadway Elphaba and Glinda
05:11Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth make an appearance during the musical number one short day
05:15the two actors portrayed the characters on Broadway from 2003 to 2005 earning Menzel a Tony Award for Best Actress in a musical and
05:23Chenoweth her second Tony nomination
05:25Idina and I had so much fun
05:28We our costumes were amazing and we just made up our thing
05:32We just like had the best time ever we did it in one day and to be reunited with my with my sister was
05:38Very very special
05:40It was wonderful to be there to get all the feels to rehearse together to somewhat echo our characters a little bit
05:47there's also fun cameos from the musicals composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz as the guard who summons Elphaba and Glinda into the Wizards Palace and
05:56Musical book writer Winnie Holtzman as an Ozzie in in one short day
05:59They all make the most of their time on screen Chenoweth and Menzel even paying homage to their original stage performances
06:06Chenoweth's choreography recreates iconic Glinda Wan mannerisms and Menzel sings the finale riff of Defying Gravity that she made famous
06:16To further honor the stage production
06:18Fans of the musical know the iconic moment in Defying Gravity when Elphaba lifts into the air with her broom and her black cape fans
06:25across the entire stage
06:27This moment is depicted in the film as Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba escapes the clutches of the wizard and flies to her freedom in the penultimate
06:34Scene this took the production over three years to complete
06:38there are a few musical cues throughout the film like when we hear the somewhere over the rainbow melody woven into the wizard and I
06:45Or follow the yellow brick road in one short day
06:48We also hear the orchestrations of for good the penultimate song in the stage
06:53Musical where Elphaba and Glinda reflect on their friendship
07:03As fans of the Wizard of Oz know the wizard traveled to Oz from Nebraska via hot-air balloon
07:09We see many moments throughout the film teasing the wizard's favorite mode of transportation
07:14Speaking of the wizard remember this iconic line from the Wizard of Oz
07:18In the Wicked film they honor that memorable line with a scene of the wizard dancing behind a curtain as he shows Elphaba and Glinda
07:24His vision for Oz's future in an all-new scene. This even includes the characters choosing to color the brick roads yellow
07:37Whether you're a fan of the musical or have only ever seen the Wizard of Oz. There's something in Wicked for everyone
07:42That's everything we caught watching Wicked. Let us know what we missed
07:46You can do anything
07:48I know