29

First, the Universal Pictures logo has been changed once again to resemble an old logo reminiscent of the logo from 1939, which was the year The Wizard of Oz was released. This time, you can see a tornado behind the letters, which is an obvious nod to the tornado that takes Dorothy to Oz.

And, just like Wicked: Part One, the title card for Wicked: For Good uses the same font as the title card for The Wizard of Oz.

MGM

In the opening number, “Every Day More Wicked”, there are now samples of previous songs from the first film, such as “The Wizard and I”, “What Is This Feeling?” and “Popular.” Additionally, the scene includes a callback to the viral book dance of “What Is This Feeling?”

According to costume designer Paul Tazewell, Glinda’s purplish-blue dress, which she first wears in “Thank Goodness,” is an homage to both Billie Burke’s Glinda’s pink dress in The Wizard of Oz and the blue dress worn by Glinda in the stage version of Wicked. The silhouette of the dress worn by Ariana Grande is identical to that of the 1939 film, but layers of tulle were added, as well as crystals and glass beads.

Giles Keyte / Universal Pictures / Everett Collection / MGM

In Wicked, while fleeing from The Wizard and before “Defying Gravity”, one of the newly transformed flying monkeys steals Glinda’s pink jacket. In Wicked: For Good, you can see the monkey now wearing the jacket when Madame Morrible talks to the citizens of Oz.

universal photos

Before Boq transforms into the Tin Man, his uniform includes a Munchkinland “M” over his heart. However, unlike Munchkinland’s other uniforms, Boq’s “M” is filled in to create the shape of a heart. Of course, this hints that he will lose his heart and become the Tin Man later on.

Universal Images/Everett Collection

During “Wonderful”, Elphaba and Glinda recreate their dance in the Ozdust Ballroom from “Dancing Through Life”.

One of the most discussed details is that Nessa’s slippers are silver instead of ruby ​​red, unlike the ruby ​​red slippers from The Wizard of Oz. In the stage production, the shoes are also silver. The slippers remain silver in both films because MGM owns the rights to the ruby ​​red shoes, which date back to The Wizard of Oz in 1939. Therefore, the shoes are silver, as described in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The slippers turn red during Elphaba’s spell for a brief moment as a nod.

When we see Dorothy’s house, which fell and crushed Nessa, we can see that the curtains have a blue plaid pattern, which is a nod to Dorothy’s blue plaid dress.

Giles Keyte / Universal Pictures / Everett Collection

After being mentioned in Wicked and, of course, in The Wizard of Oz, the famous red poppies reappear in this film. They are subtly embroidered on the Wizard’s robe he wears during “Wonderful”.

Giles Keyte / Universal Pictures / Everett Collection

When Elphaba and Glinda say goodbye after singing “For Good”, Elphaba closes the door on Glinda after saying, “I love you.” The moment is a change from when Glinda opened her bedroom door at Shiz, which really marked the beginning of their friendship.

universal photos

Also in this scene, Glinda, looking through the hole in the door, remembers looking through the peephole in her bedroom door before letting Elphaba in.

universal photos

And, when Glinda and Elphaba cry on either side of the closet door, the structure of the shot reflects a moment of “What is this feeling?”

universal photos

Glinda watching Dorothy’s silhouette throwing water on Elphaba from inside the closet is a nod to the stage production of Wicked. In the Broadway show, Dorothy is never seen on stage, only her silhouette appears as in the film.

In a flashback to Glinda’s childhood, Alice Fearn reappears as Glinda’s mother. Most notably, she played Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked from 2017 to 2019.

universal photos

Madame Morrible reveals that Fiyero has been named captain of “The Gale Force”, the Wizard’s secret police force tasked with hunting down Elphaba. The name is a reference to Dorothy Gale, and although it is not explicitly mentioned in the musical, it is in Gregory Maguire’s book.

During the opening ceremony of Yellow Brick Road, Elphaba spells “Our wizard lies” in the sky before Madame Morrible changes it. This is a reference to The Wizard of Oz, where the Wicked Witch of the West spells “Dorothy’s Surrender” similarly.

After being freed by Elphaba, Chistery returns and knocks a painting of the Crooked Wizard, thus revealing to Elphaba the caged animals, including Dr. Dillamond. This is similar to the first film, where Elphaba knocks down a representation of the Wizard to reveal a mural of animals.

When Elphaba visits Glinda just before her wedding to Fiyero, the scene shows Elphaba saying, “We can’t all come and go in bubbles.” This line is from the stage musical, except on stage it occurs during their physical fight after Nessa’s death.

In this scene, you can also see that Glinda is wearing green bird earrings, a nod to Elphaba’s signature color. Also, a possible nod to Elphaba’s line in “For Good” when she sings “Like a seed a bird drops from the sky.”

The shot of Glinda walking down the hallway toward Fiyero and the shot of Elphaba entering the room where The Wizard keeps the animals in cages line up perfectly.

During “Bubble Girl,” when Glinda stops at her closet door, you can see some of her memorable pink outfits from the first movie hanging. I mean, the “What is this feeling?” and “Popular.”

universal photos

After Glinda takes control of Oz and just before locking up Madame Morrible, Glinda tells Morrible, “I hope you prove me wrong. I doubt you will.” This is the same thing Morrible said to Glinda in the Ozdust Ballroom when he revealed that Elphaba wants Glinda to join her magic studies class.

universal photos

Fiyero’s horse is blue in Wicked: For Good, which is a subtle nod to the “horse of a different color” from The Wizard of Oz. In particular, a white horse was painted different colors with gelatin during filming and was seen when Dorothy arrived in Oz. Fun fact: The horse is the same one that Jonathan Bailey rode as Anthony Bridgerton in Bridgerton Season 2.

Giles Keyte / Universal Pictures / Everett Collection / MGM

When Fiyero and the other soldiers chase Elphaba through the forest, she manages to escape by blending into a nearby tree. In the first Wicked movie, Fiyero almost tramples Elphaba and then says that he must not have seen her because she “blended into the foliage.”

When Glinda mocks Elphaba’s laughter during their physical fight, the laughter is a very direct nod to the iconic laugh of Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz.

When Madame Morrible decides to create a tornado, which ultimately sends Dorothy to Oz and kills Nessa, she tells the Wizard, “These things must be done delicately.” The same phrase is uttered by the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz.

MGM

When the Cowardly Lion interrupts Elphaba singing “No Place Like Home”, you can hear a familiar melody from “Home” by The Wiz.

And finally, the movie ends with a flashback of Elphaba and Glinda while they are in a field together with their friends during their stay in Shiz. As Glinda leans in to whisper something to Elphaba, the duo recreates the musical’s iconic poster.

Program