- 19 hours ago
Defying expectations isn't easy! Join MsMojo as we explore the stage-to-screen changes in "Wicked" that left us thrillified, and the ones that had fans feeling a little scandalacious. From enhanced politics in Munchkinland to Glinda's redemption arc, we're examining how the movie adaptation transformed the beloved musical for better or worse!
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00:00We will be wonderful. You'll make me wonderful.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:07And today, we're counting down our picks for the stage-to-screen alterations from the second act of Wicked,
00:12that were changed for the better,
00:13and the ones that weren't as celebrated throughout all of Oz by longtime fans.
00:17Spoilers ahead.
00:19For a while there, I thought you changed.
00:21I have changed.
00:24Number 5. Changed for the Better.
00:26The Politics of Munchkinland.
00:28If we follow the yellow brick road back to where it began,
00:31the Oz story has always carried a political pulse.
00:34The stage show brushes past how iron-fisted Nessa's rule over Munchkinland really is,
00:39with Bach briefly explaining she took away most of the already limited rights the Munchkins had.
00:44Perhaps a friendly game of cards once I'm done working?
00:47Whatever you say, Madam Governor.
00:50The movie takes a different approach,
00:51with Bach witnessing Munchkins and animals being blocked from traveling without permits.
00:56It really brings the whole political climate into sharper focus,
01:00with corrupt leaders targeting certain groups as they cling to their power.
01:03And back where I come from,
01:05everybody knows that the best way to bring folks together
01:09is to give them a real good enemy.
01:13It also directly ties into the real-world persecution Wicked has always alluded to,
01:18something that sadly still feels painfully familiar today.
01:22The concept of a regime clinging to power by way of this cult of personality,
01:30and we see an awful lot of how they use propaganda as a tool to do that,
01:34and fear-mongering and scapegoating.
01:36Number 5. Controversial.
01:38The Lion's Expanded Role.
01:40In the stage show, the Cowardly Lion is basically an off-screen presence,
01:44other than a tale we see during March of the Witch Hunters.
01:47The Lion also has a grievance to repay.
01:50If she let him fight his own battles when he was young,
01:53he wouldn't be a coward today!
01:58In the film, we not only get to see him, but hear him as well.
02:02As Elphaba tries to convince the animals to stay and fight for the Oz they want to live in,
02:07he finds enough courage to tell them all that Elphaba's not to be trusted.
02:11After all, she did cub-nap him, right?
02:13Tell them what she did to you!
02:14How you were just a cub, and she cub-napped you!
02:20As the Wizard says, it's all in which label is able to persist.
02:24However, that's it for the Lion.
02:26Maybe after the fanfare over Coleman Domingo's casting, we were expecting... more?
02:31And I get to come in with a nice little cameo as the Cowardly Lion,
02:34so I'm excited for people to see it.
02:36Number 4. Changed for the Better.
02:38Making Glinda Wonderful.
02:40According to composer Stephen Schwartz,
02:42the creative team realized for a movie that, at its heart,
02:44is supposed to be about Elphaba and Glinda's friendship,
02:47the two of them barely spend any real time together.
02:50In the second act of the show,
02:52Glinda and Elphaba actually don't meet up again
02:56until very late in that second act.
02:59They also figured that adding Glinda to this number
03:01would make her way more complicit in the Wizard's whole operation,
03:05and give her a fuller arc overall.
03:07For us, it also made sense that an old friend
03:20might talk Elphaba around more easily than the Wizard,
03:23whom she clearly doesn't trust.
03:26With Glinda, she has years of history,
03:28which gives her more pull,
03:29especially when she reminds her of those more wonderful times
03:32they once shared.
03:33Number 4. Controversial.
03:42Lyric changes to Wonderful.
03:44While Glinda being added was actually kind of wonderful,
03:47the new lyrics and that whole intro?
03:49Not so much.
03:50Take it from a wise old carny.
03:53Once folks buy into your blarney.
03:56This song's whole point is the Wizard pulling back his emerald curtain
04:00and being real with Elphaba for once.
04:02We already said that she's not easily swayed,
04:04but it's his realness here that almost gets her.
04:07It feels wonderful.
04:10They think I'm wonderful.
04:13Hey, look who's wonderful.
04:15This cornbed egg.
04:17In the new version, though,
04:18it feels more like it's about his smoke and mirrors act and carnival past.
04:22Come on, would Elphaba really go for that?
04:24Fans weren't happy that some of the lyrics they loved got swapped for weaker ones,
04:28which kind of watered down Elphaba's temptation and her main conflict in that moment.
04:33Is one an invader or noble crusader?
04:38It's all in which label is able to persist.
04:42Number 3. Changed for the Better.
04:45The Wicked Witch of the East.
04:46There were several changes to this number,
04:49from Elphaba's entrance to her prior knowledge of their dad's passing,
04:52the slower melody, and some lyric changes.
04:55The moment when I read,
04:58Grinda's going to be wed to fear.
05:03Grinda.
05:04Yes, Nessa, that's right.
05:06A while back, we learned that, unlike in the stage version,
05:09Nessa wouldn't gain the ability to walk in the movie,
05:12remedying the show's more ableist approach.
05:14Instead, we get this really lovely moment
05:16where Elphaba helps her sister relive the feeling she had that night at the Ozdust ballroom.
05:21That night when I felt I was floating on air,
05:28I want to feel that again.
05:33What unfolds shifts the focus away from her wheelchair as a so-called limitation,
05:37and toward her unrequited love for Bach.
05:40His transformation is even more shocking than the stage version.
05:43It's this generation's winged monkey nightmare fuel for sure.
05:46What have you done to me?
05:47Number 3. Controversial. The New Songs.
05:51With the film now split into two parts,
05:53there's more time to delve into what our two leads are feeling.
05:56We could go into more depth with the characters at certain points in the story.
06:03For Elphaba, No Place Like Home is her plea to the animals not to leave,
06:07while reflecting on her own experiences in Oz.
06:10Some fans loved the emotional depth,
06:12but others felt it dragged the story and disrupted the pacing.
06:15When you feel it's not worth fighting for,
06:19compel yourself,
06:21because there's no place like home.
06:25The Girl in the Bubble is when Glinda finally faces the consequences of her choices.
06:30Again, for some, this felt like filler,
06:32and just a little... meh.
06:34They also found the timing odd,
06:36although that's since been explained by the movie's editor.
06:38Both songs are staged and performed beautifully,
06:41but we wonder if we'd miss them if they weren't there.
06:44Isn't it high time
06:47for her bubble to pop?
06:53Number 2.
06:54Changed for the Better.
06:55The Animals Get More Screen Time.
06:57One of the best changes in this film
06:59is how the animals become more active participants in the story.
07:02It's a very lonely road to have moral courage,
07:06and we get to see that in Elphaba,
07:09fighting for justice.
07:10On stage, we mostly hear about her mission,
07:12but the movie lets us see it.
07:14She reunites with Dulcibear,
07:16who is among the animals fleeing Oz,
07:18and we've already discussed the lion's bigger role.
07:20It also raises the emotional stakes
07:22by revealing a chamber full of caged animals,
07:25where Elphaba finds her former professor,
07:27now stripped of speech.
07:28It all ties perfectly into her motivation in for good,
07:32because we really see what she's fighting for.
07:34She's actually embracing the magic that she has
07:37and figuring out how to use that to do good
07:39the way she needs to.
07:41Fly!
07:42By deepening her connections with the animals,
07:44the film makes her mission feel more immediate
07:46and their suffering far more urgent.
07:48But think how you will grieve for all you leave behind.
07:54Oz belongs to you too.
07:57Losing the transition after I'm Not That Girl reprise.
08:05One of the most iconic musical moments in Act 2 of Wicked
08:09is that seamless transition from the I'm Not That Girl reprise
08:12to As Long As You're Mine.
08:14Glinda's heartbreak,
08:29cutting right into Elphaba and Fierro's love story,
08:32works beautifully on every level.
08:34But the film slows this down,
08:36giving the audience more time to sit in Glinda's grief
08:38and builds more slowly toward the love duet.
08:44The original version underscores Glinda's loss
09:00in the most painful way possible.
09:02Her dream is ending
09:03just as her friend's true happiness is beginning,
09:06and the audience is forced to feel both sides
09:08intensely and instantaneously.
09:10Sadly, we're kind of robbed of that
09:12without that immediate transition.
09:14I'm not that girl.
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09:44Number 1.
09:45Change for the better.
09:46The ending.
09:47From for good to that final shot,
09:49yes, a moment for that please,
09:51might just be the strongest part of the movie.
09:53I know I'm who I am today
09:56because I knew you.
10:00Glinda finally gets a clear redemption arc,
10:03taking charge and using her new position
10:05to truly make good in Oz.
10:07We were so happy we could melt
10:09when she followed through on Elfie's wish
10:11and welcomed all Ozians back into society.
10:13We can't let good be just a word.
10:17It has to mean something.
10:19Seeing Dr. Dillamond back in his classroom
10:21brought tears to our eyes.
10:22The movie keeps the musical's bittersweet ending
10:25but adds a magical final moment,
10:27the grimmery opening for Glinda.
10:29Some believe it's a sign from Elphaba,
10:31but we think it opens
10:32because Glinda is finally living up to her title,
10:35Glinda the Good.
10:36I'd like to try to be Glinda the Good.
10:39Number 1.
10:41Controversial.
10:41A new take on As Long As You're Mine.
10:44Nope, not because of that cardigan.
10:46On stage, Elphaba and Fierro
10:47can't keep their hands off each other.
10:49As long as you're mine
10:53I'll wake up my night
10:56And make up all my sight
11:02In the movie, it's a slower development,
11:05with Elphaba starting at a distance
11:06and the two working their way
11:07toward that moment of levitation.
11:10The reason is sweet.
11:11Elphaba can't believe Fierro chose her,
11:13and after years of guarding herself,
11:16she can't let her walls down instantly.
11:17I need help believing
11:20You're with me tonight
11:25Fierro has to prove she's safe
11:28and that it's real.
11:29Since the film can't exactly pause
11:31every viewing to explain that,
11:33these changes were kinda confusing.
11:35It's also possible it was edited
11:37to fit its PG rating.
11:38So, does that mean there's a steamier,
11:41uncut version somewhere?
11:42What is it?
11:45For the first time, I feel wicked.
11:49What changes were you thrillified by
11:51and which did you find most scandalacious?
11:54Let us know in the comments.
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