Who was the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy dropped in? The upcoming Wicked film will share that with the world next month. In the meantime, Universal has given us a glimpse with a Wicked movie Elphaba feature. Much of its content has been seen in previous trailers and spots, but with a universe as lush and detailed as Oz, there’s always something to find beyond the Yellow Brick Road.
Emerald City easter eggs spotted in ‘Wicked’ movie Elphaba feature
We’ve seen Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) in the attic of the Emerald City palace before, but a seemingly new shot reveals lots of details in regards to the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and possibly other parts of the story. As one would expect, the attic appears to be a storage place for the Wizard. On the far right and in the back near Elphaba, we see suitcases and trunks with fading words on them. These are cleverly placed references to the Wizard pre-Oz, who was once known as Oscar Diggs from Omaha, Nebraska.
On the far left appears to be some sort of gigantic top hat. As far as we can remember, we haven’t seen anything like that in the Wicked movie previews so far, but could it be from another scene in the movie? Fans of the stage musical may see it and think of the musical number “One Short Day,” in which Glinda and Elphaba travel to the Emerald City and see all the sights, including some rather comical characters with huge heads and ostentatious accessories.
Last but not least, is what looks like a wooden horse on the right side near Glinda. In the Broadway musical, horses don’t have a presence, but they do in The Wizard of Oz 1939 film and — based on Fiyero’s character poster — in the Wicked film. In the 1939 MGM Wizard of Oz film, there’s what’s known as “Horse of a Different Color,” which appears in the first Emerald City scenes in the movie. It’s named for its ability to change colors. Could there be a connection to Fiyero’s blue horse there? We’ve never been to this iteration of Oz before, but the shoe looks like it fits.
“Something bad is happening in Oz.”
Elphaba said it loud and clear. The past few Wicked featurettes have been making it increasingly clear that there are serious problems in Oz that Elphaba in particular feels the need to address. In the “Celebrating Wicked” feature, Doctor Dillamond (Peter Dinklage) shared that the Ozian animals are in danger. Now this Wicked movie Elphaba feature lets it be known that “Something bad is happening in Oz.” And it’s no coincidence that the clip appears with the adjective “heroic.” That brings us to the feature’s overarching theme of who Elphaba was before she was called wicked.
Wicked Witch vs. Good Witch
Symbolism and literary devices can be found all over the Wicked and Wizard of Oz universe, and the witches themselves are no exception. This new Wicked movie Elphaba feature parallels the same format as the Glinda featurette released last month. It references being “good” and describes the Elphaba with strong, singular adjectives, demonstrated with clips from the film. This is an excellent way to maintain the brand consistency of Wicked while showing that the witches can be compared and not just contrasted or opposed.
Elphaba’s signature color is green while Glinda’s is pink. Scientifically speaking in terms of light, pink is the absence of green. One is ultimately deemed wicked while the other is good. But the new Elphaba spot shows that she is and always has been more than that — if wicked is accurate at all…
Watch the new Elphaba spot here:
Wicked hits theaters Friday, Nov. 22.
What are you most excited to learn about Elphaba in Wicked? Share with us in the comments!
