So much happened before Dorothy dropped in. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re taking a chronological trip through the land of Oz to see where along the Yellow Brick Road “The Wizard of Oz” and “Wicked” intersect.
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00:00It really was no miracle, what happened was just this.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're taking a chronological trip through the Land of Oz
00:09to see where along the yellow brick road the Wizard of Oz and Wicked intersect.
00:14Before we get started, since this will go into the events of Part 2,
00:17this is your spoiler warning.
00:21Let me tell you the whole story.
00:26Wicked, both the stage and screen versions,
00:29opens shortly after the Wicked Witch of the West,
00:32Elphaba to Wicked fans, has melted.
00:35Fellow Ozians, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead.
00:38This moment happens quite late in The Wizard of Oz,
00:41but while the 1939 film continues to follow Dorothy and her friends
00:45as they bring the witch's broom to the wizard, Wicked takes a different approach.
00:49It shifts focus to the Ozians, or munchkins in the film,
00:53celebrating the witch's death as Glinda brings them the news.
00:57The wickedest witch there ever was,
00:59the enemy of all of us here in Oz, is dead!
01:06The musical's opening number, No One Mourns the Wicked,
01:09starts as an ominous celebration of the witch's demise.
01:12However, it quickly pivots into telling us all that this isn't the story we think we know.
01:17For one thing, it takes us right back to before Elphaba was ever born.
01:48Her mom has an affair with a mysterious stranger,
01:50who gives her a green elixir that ultimately results in a green child.
01:55We also see glimpses of little Elphaba and Nessarose,
01:58giving us the context that Elphie's childhood may not have been the happiest.
02:02Now, back in the present,
02:04Glinda may not have convinced the munchkins to have some empathy,
02:07but she's definitely pulled on our heartstrings just a little.
02:10It's harder to ignore the undertones of sorrow in her voice
02:13as she counterpoints the ensemble.
02:25Just as she's ready to leave,
02:26someone brings up the rumor that Glinda the Good
02:28and the Wicked Witch of the West were once friends.
02:31She doesn't deny it, but she pulls back from the word friend,
02:34signaling that there's more to the story.
02:36And so, the flashback begins.
02:40Let me tell you the whole story.
02:43Our paths did cross.
02:46At school.
02:47Dear old Shiz.
02:49We now find ourselves at Shiz University on Glinda,
02:53the ga-is-not-yet-silent's first day.
02:56It's here that we meet several key characters,
02:58Nessarose, Bok, and some of the teaching staff,
03:01who will play pivotal roles in the story.
03:04We also see the first encounter between Elphaba and Glinda,
03:07which, as you might expect, doesn't go well.
03:12You're green.
03:15I am.
03:16In the stage show, we learn that Elphaba's father,
03:19Governor Throp, only agreed to let her attend Shiz
03:22so that she could chaperone her sister.
03:24In the film, however, Elphaba isn't even enrolled
03:27until her magical abilities catch the eye of Madame Morrible.
03:30Regardless, Elphaba and Glinda end up as roommates,
03:33and their relationship begins with an intense mutual loathing.
03:37Loathing.
03:38Unadulterated loathing.
03:41For your face.
03:42Your voice.
03:43Your clothing.
03:44Let's just say, I loathe it all.
03:48The film adds a layer of tension with Glinda's jealousy
03:51over Madame Morrible's interest in Elphaba.
03:53Madame Morrible privately tutors Elphaba
03:56in the hopes of developing her magic to one day work alongside the wizard.
04:01Absolutely remarkable.
04:03Yet after a cruel prank, Glinda has a change of heart
04:06and she and Elphie become the best of friends.
04:09We should also mention Fiyero Tigilar,
04:11a prince from the Winky Country and a late addition to their class.
04:15He makes an impression immediately,
04:17encouraging his classmates to live a more carefree life.
04:21Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters.
04:25It's just life.
04:27So keep dancing with me.
04:31Glinda is immediately taken by him,
04:34and they soon become a couple.
04:36But the plot thickens.
04:37Bok, the munchkin Glinda met on her first day,
04:40is also in love with her.
04:42To deflect his affections, Glinda emboldens him to ask out Nessa Rose,
04:46who is instantly smitten in turn.
04:48That perfectly adorable munchkin boy just asked me out.
04:53But just when you think it couldn't get more tangled,
04:56Elphaba and Fiyero share an intimate moment
04:58after an incident involving a lion cub and some poppies.
05:02However, there's one problem.
05:03Elphaba's not that girl.
05:05Honestly, it's almost Shakespearean.
05:08I'm not that girl.
05:13Now about that lion cub.
05:15One of the central themes in Wicked
05:17is the systematic oppression of animals across Oz,
05:20who are being stripped of everything that makes them equal to their human peers.
05:24Life in Oz was different.
05:27So, when and why did this change?
05:31From what I've read, the Great Drought.
05:33Dr. Dillamond, Shiz's history professor,
05:35tries to warn his students about something bad happening to animal kind,
05:39but is silenced before he can speak out.
05:42Listen to me! You're not being told the whole story!
05:45Meanwhile, Elphaba and Fiyero rescue the cub,
05:48who despite being freed,
05:49is later revealed to have somehow been stripped of his courage.
05:53This will all become relevant.
05:54Stick with us.
05:55But I could show my prowess be a lion,
05:58not a mouse if I only had the nerve.
06:01One short day and something bad revealed.
06:04Remember how Madame Morrible was training Elphaba to meet the wizard?
06:08Once you learn to harness your emotions,
06:12the sky's the limit.
06:14After the poppy incident, Elphaba gets her big invitation to the palace.
06:18She and Glinda, yes, it's Glinda now, keep up,
06:21spend one short day marveling at the wonders of the Emerald City
06:25before their big audience.
06:26But this is where things take a turn.
06:28Elphaba tells the wizard that her heart's desire
06:31is for him to help the animals.
06:33So imagine how crushed she feels to learn
06:35that he's the one behind their suffering.
06:37You have no real power.
06:39That's why I need you.
06:41Worse still, he planned to use her powers to further his cause,
06:45and Madame Morrible has been in on it this whole time.
06:48When Elphaba refuses to go along with their scheme,
06:51she's declared a national enemy.
06:53Don't let her get away, this wicked witch.
06:58This betrayal leads straight into the show-stopping Defying Gravity.
07:01With one last battle cry,
07:03Elphaba brings down the curtain on Act Slash Part One.
07:10Act Slash Part Two begins.
07:12It won't surprise you to learn that after the events we just discussed,
07:16Elphaba is now living as an outlaw,
07:18although she keeps fighting for the animals.
07:20Meanwhile, Glinda is settling into her new role as Glinda the Good,
07:24and she and Fiyero are now engaged.
07:36Surprise!
07:37Don't worry, it's also a surprise to Fiyero,
07:39who's now captain of the wizard's guards.
07:41However, unlike Glinda,
07:43he's not satisfied with blithely smiling
07:45as Madame Morrible continues to fan the flames against his old friend.
07:53Do you hear that?
07:54Water will melt her?
07:55People are so empty-headed they'll believe anything.
07:57In fact, that is basically why he joined the guard,
08:00to find Elphaba.
08:02So, where is she?
08:03Okay, here's where the spoilers really start.
08:06In the stage version,
08:07we find Elphaba visiting her sister Nessaros,
08:10now the tyrannical leader of Munchkinland.
08:12Nessa has stripped the Munchkins of much of their rights
08:15just to keep Bok around,
08:17and blames Elphaba for never using her magic to help her.
08:20Elphaba decides to fix that.
08:22You know when you're hunting for shoes that are both stylish and practical?
08:25Problem solved.
08:26Nessa can now walk.
08:28My shoes!
08:29It feels like they're on fire!
08:31What have you done to my shoes?
08:43Bok sees it as his chance to leave
08:46and confess his love to Glinda before it's too late.
08:49Panicked, Nessa tries a love spell,
08:51but it backfires, shrinking Bok's heart.
08:54Elphaba steps in with damage control,
08:56ensuring he can survive without a heart tin his chest.
09:00Even though Elphaba literally just saved Bok's life,
09:03Nessa throws her under the bus.
09:05It's due to her I'm made of tin
09:07Her spell may disoccur
09:09So for once I'm glad I'm heartless
09:11Dorothy crash lands in Oz.
09:13Elphaba returns to the wizard's palace to free the flying monkeys,
09:17but the wizard spots her and tries once again to convince her how wonderful he is.
09:22So I am one
09:24In fact, it's so much who I am
09:27It's part of my name
09:30And with my help, you can be the same
09:34For a moment, it almost works,
09:36until she finds Dr. Dillamond.
09:38This reaffirms her resolve to bring the wizard down.
09:41Fiyero helps her escape and even decides to join her,
09:44leaving Glinda heartbroken.
09:46Furious and hurt,
09:47Glinda suggests the wizard and Madame Morrible trick Elphaba into a trap
09:51by making her think Nessa Rose is in danger.
09:54Madame Morrible goes one further,
09:56deciding that a change in the weather should do the trick.
09:59And this is where the Wizard of Oz starts to tie in.
10:02It really was no miracle, what happened was just this.
10:05The wind began to switch,
10:07the house to pitch,
10:09and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch.
10:12You know that scene in the Wizard of Oz where Glinda gives Dorothy the Wicked Witch's shoes
10:16as if they're hers to give away?
10:18Also, how did she know they'd fit?
10:20The ruby slippers!
10:21What have you done with them?
10:22Give them back to me or I'll...
10:24It's too late!
10:25There they are, and there they'll stay.
10:27Well, Wicked picks up just after Glinda sends Dorothy on her merry way down the yellow brick road.
10:33The former friends fight,
10:35and as Glinda predicted,
10:36although she didn't expect it to go quite this far,
10:39the trap works,
10:40and Elphaba's caught.
10:42Only it's Fiyero to the rescue,
10:44risking his own life to save Elphaba.
10:46After she escapes,
10:48she desperately looks for any spell that will save her beloved,
10:51who is now a prisoner of the wizard's guards.
10:53Let his flesh not be torn,
10:55let his blood leave no stain.
10:57When they beat him,
10:58let him feel no pain.
11:01Well, it's as Fiyero once said,
11:03life's more painless for the brainless.
11:05I would not be just a nothing,
11:07my head all full of stuffing,
11:09my heart all full of pain.
11:12Dorothy meets her companions.
11:14Since Wicked focuses on Elphaba and Glinda's stories,
11:17we don't actually see Dorothy at all in the stage version,
11:20except for her shadow,
11:22but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
11:24What we do know is that at some point after No Good Deed,
11:27Dorothy meets the Scarecrow,
11:29the Tin Man,
11:30and the Cowardly Lion.
11:32Oh, we're off to see the wizard,
11:34the wonderful wizard of Oz.
11:36If there is a wizard of Oz,
11:38if ever a wizard there was,
11:39if ever, oh, ever a wizard there was,
11:41the wizard of Oz is one to come.
11:43Together, they make their way to the Emerald City,
11:45where the wizard promises to help them
11:47if they bring him the Wicked Witch's broomstick.
11:49It's risky, sure,
11:51but we guess Dorothy really wants to go home.
11:54And we guess everyone else has their own agendas, too.
11:57Bring me her broomstick,
11:59and I'll grant your requests.
12:02Now go.
12:04But what if she kills us first?
12:07I said go!
12:09Dorothy melts the witch.
12:11In The Wizard of Oz,
12:12the Wicked Witch captures Dorothy
12:14and desperately tries to pry those shoes off of her,
12:16but to no avail.
12:18Yet getting her hands on them
12:19becomes a matter of life or death,
12:21for Dorothy.
12:22You've been more trouble to me than you're worth,
12:24one way or another,
12:25but it'll soon be over now.
12:27In Wicked,
12:28Glinda,
12:29who just realized the tornado
12:30that brought Dorothy to Oz
12:31was no freak accident,
12:33arrives at the castle
12:34to warn Elphaba of impending danger
12:36and to plead with her to let Dorothy go.
12:38After receiving a mysterious letter,
12:41Elphaba finally agrees.
12:43She and Glinda share a heart-wrenching farewell
12:45that melts our hearts.
12:47Because I knew you,
12:49because I knew you,
12:52I haven't changed for good.
12:57This is now where you should play the two stories side-by-side,
13:00with Dorothy throwing that bucket of water
13:02that melts the witch.
13:03I'm melting, melting!
13:06Oh, what a world, what a world!
13:09Who would have thought a good little girl like you
13:11could destroy my beautiful wickedness?
13:13As Dorothy and her friends return to the wizard
13:16with the broomstick,
13:17Glinda mourns at the site
13:18where she just watched her friend melt.
13:20While there, she finds the bottle
13:21that once contained the green elixir
13:23that belonged to Elphaba's mother.
13:25She puts two and two together
13:26and confronts the wizard,
13:28banishing him from Oz.
13:30She also has Madame Morrible arrested.
13:32Anyway, isn't it convenient
13:33that just as the wizard finds he's overstayed his welcome,
13:36there's this kid who just happens to need a ride home to Kansas?
13:39Well, you forced me into a cataclysmic decision.
13:42The only way to get Dorothy back to Kansas
13:44is for me to take her there myself.
13:46Of course, he ends up leaving his travel companion behind,
13:49but, yep, this is how he makes his exit
13:51with his head still held high
13:53in front of his adoring crowd.
13:55Fortunately, Glinda suddenly remembers
13:57to tell Dorothy that she had the power
13:59to get home all along anyway.
14:01Now those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds.
14:04Oh, tunnel two?
14:05Tunnel two.
14:06Oh, now?
14:08Whenever you wish.
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14:25Off into the sunset.
14:27Okay, last chance to avoid major spoilers.
14:30Wicked returns us to the present
14:32where Glinda has just finished recounting her tale.
14:35Also during this final scene,
14:37Fiyero, now a scarecrow,
14:39arrives at the castle.
14:41In one huge plot twist,
14:42we learn that Elphaba is still very much alive
14:45and that whole melting thing was just staged
14:47so that she and Fiyero could get their fresh start.
14:50Together, they decide to leave Oz
14:52and as the show ends,
14:54both friends lament their friendship.
14:56While the audience is definitely changed by Glinda's story,
14:59the Ozians remain unmoved
15:01and continue their celebrations.
15:03I'll have them change.
15:09I'll make it.
15:13Are there any parts of the timeline
15:15you still find confusifying?
15:17Let us know in the comments.
15:19Just follow the road.
15:21It's gonna lead you right to me.
15:25Do you agree with our picks?
15:26Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo
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