The Wizard of Oz is a classical tale about Dorothy’s journey through the magical land of Oz. While exploring Oz, she encounters the Wicked Witch. The movie Wicked is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, and it shows us Elphaba’s early life and the backstory of her relationship with Glinda, the good witch.
Both movies are set in the magical land of Oz, which includes Emerald City, Munchkinland, and the famous Yellow Brick Road. Some of the same characters appear in both movies, including Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda the Good Witch, and the Wizard himself. In Wicked, we learn that Elphaba and Glinda were once good friends, which adds depth to their interactions in The Wizard of Oz.
Both movies use The Land of Oz to explore themes of morality, power, and identity. In “The Wizard of Oz,” Dorothy’s journey is for self-discovery, and she realizes she has had the power to return home the whole time. The theme of inner strength and self-realization is also seen in “Wicked,” Where Elphaba’s journey is also about discovering her own power and finding her identity. We learn about her struggles and how being different has affected her due to her green skin color, which leads to her transformation into “the Wicked Witch.”
At the start of Wicked, Glinda announces to the people of Oz that the Wicked Witch is dead. This moment closely aligns with when Dorothy’s house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East in The Wizard of Oz. Glinda’s announcement connects the two movies and links Dorothy’s adventures in Oz and the witches’ backstory.
Before Elphaba goes to meet the Wizard in Wicked, It begins to rain. Madame Morrible puts an umbrella over her to keep her from getting wet, and she says, “We mustn’t let you get wet.” This moment is ironic because, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch of the West by dumping a bucket of water on her, which causes her to melt and is seen as her weakness.
In The Wizard of Oz, the Wizard is seen as a powerful figure who lives in Emerald City. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion believe that his magic can make their wishes come true. Dorothy and the others travel to Emerald City to visit him so he can grant their wish. He looks scary, which makes them think he is super powerful, but then Dorothy’s dog, “Toto,” pulls the curtain back, and they see the Wizard is just a man using machines to look powerful; he admits to them that he can’t do magic. Something similar happened in Wicked. Elphaba and all of Oz looked up to the Wizard. Elphaba visits the Wizard, hoping he can help her make the world a better place, but she finds out that he is the one making all of the bad stuff happen in Oz.
Before going to meet the Wizard in Wicked, Elphaba is hopeful because she believes he can help her make Oz a better place. Elphaba advocates for the animals because they are losing their speaking abilities and disappearing. A new teacher brings a lion cub to her class, and he is in a cage, showing them that if they start their lives in a cage and stay there while they are young, they will never be able to talk. Elphaba ends up making the class fall asleep and freeing the lion. Many people believe that the lion she freed was the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz that goes on Dorothy’s adventure with her to Oz.
When everyone falls asleep, the only person who stays awake is Fiyero. Everyone fell asleep because of the poppies Elphaba used so she could save the lion. Something similar happens In The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her friends walk through a poppy field, causing Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly lion to fall asleep. The poppies didn’t affect the Tin Woodman and Scarecrow, so they helped save Dorothy, Toto, and the Cowardly Lion.
When Elphaba and Fiyero go to set the lion cub free, she puts him in a basket on her bike. As they ride away, the lion cub’s head peeks out of the basket. In The Wizard of Oz, Miss Glutch represents the Wicked Witch of the West and has a very similar bike with the same basket. In her basket, she has Dorothy’s dog, Toto, whose head peeks out the same way the lion cubs’ did.
link to photo: The Wizard of Oz and The Wicked Witch Castle by Rdj73 on DeviantArt
