Wicked: The Musical: The Movie

[UmbrellaFish]

I was waiting to buy the dolls on sale and now they’ve all been recalled. Apparently, the outside and inside packaging links to wicked.com… which is apparently an adult-rated website. It was supposed to be wickedmovie.com!

I think the dolls will be reissued, it just means I have to wait a little longer to get them I guess.

[Thumper_93]

I bought mine a few weeks ago. I get Glinda and Elphaba deluxe edition, Glinda and Elphaba from the ball and singing Glinda. I also want Shiz Glinda but it's not available in Spain.
BTW who did this mistake? I mean this dolls are under the supervision of different people. How did they not notice the mistake before?

[UmbrellaFish]

I don’t think anyone knows. My guess is whoever is responsible for the packaging just made a guess for what the website URL was and then nobody double checked it. If they had intended it as a placeholder, they should have done something like “placeholder.com” or “obviouslyfake.com” lol

How do you like the dolls, btw?

[UmbrellaFish]

Elphaba and Glinda are meeting guests at Universal Studios Orlando

https://wdwnt.com/2024/11/wicked-glinda ... greet-uni/

Obviously, this is just a temporary promo for the movie but as someone who desperately wants a Wicked-themed land of Oz at the Universal parks, I hope this seed grows into something bigger!!

[Thumper_93]

I think that they are going to stay in the parks until next year because part II is going to be released and they need the promo to mantain audience's interest. Let's hope for it!

[Farerb]

11,947
Bob Iger will see the success of Wicked and will order the live action remake to Frozen and he'll want it done...in TWO PARTS.

[UmbrellaFish]

Oh God

(What does 11,947 mean?)

I am super excited to see the movie! I’m going tomorrow afternoon with my sisters and I’ve already made plans to go to the sing along in December with some friends. The reviews have been very promising. I was most worried about the choice to break the play into two films, but judging from reviews, it seems to have worked. I guess we won’t really know if the decision was entirely successful until we see the second part next year.

For a lot of us musical theatre geeks, this movie is one of the most anticipated films in our lifetime. It’s had 21 years of buildup!

[Farerb]

A mistake. I wrote this comment in another place and copied it here. It's the number of the post.

For what it's worth, I'm not a huge fan of the musical and I thought it was a good adaptation so I hope you enjoy it!

[UmbrellaFish]

Thank you, I’m glad you thought it was good, too!

[Mooky]

I saw it last night and had a really good time. I too was apprehensive about it being split into two parts, but seeing the end result, it totally made sense to end it then and there. The extended length also gave the characters and interactions more room to breathe, and I liked they incorporated some minor stuff from the novel that was left out of the musical.

Cast was amazing. Not a fan of Ariana Grande or her music, and I was afraid her pop culture baggage was going to be distracting, but she was so immersed in the role you forget you're watching AG the superstar and you only see Glinda. Cynthia Erivo brought extra pathos and vulnerability to Elphaba, truly a magnificent performance. My only gripe, which is more nitpicking than anything else, is the change of key for "I'm Not That Girl" and that made it lose the impact the Broadway version has.

It's a really good, fun, but also emotionally charged movie. It kind of made me long for the days Disney made similar movies (I still believe Wicked could have been a gorgeous hand-drawn musical), and that we're long overdue for a new Stephen Schwartz big screen movie.

(It's also sad that no studio attempted – or should I say dared to try – a different adaptation The Wizard of Oz and the rich lore of the books, opting instead for movies about the same 6-7 characters, but that's another topic.)

[UmbrellaFish]

It was fabulous. I’m glad we got this adaptation at this time with this director and this cast and this vision. Loved it!

One thing I’ll say— I’d read some criticism of Michelle Yeoh before watching the film. I knew as soon as she was cast that they were taking Morrible in a different direction than how she’s usually played onstage, but actually I thought it worked well. Morrible is more comic relief villainy onstage, but here she is more menacing (and I think perhaps having a little thing with the Wizard?) and I thought it worked better for film. I was prepared to be disappointed by Yeoh and was not— although, certainly, she has one of the weakest voices in the cast.

I cannot WAIT for part two! Now that I’ve seen the first part, the second part has big silver slippers to fill!!

Major spoiler
Oh and Kristin and Idina’s cameo was done so well and so lovingly.

(It's also sad that no studio attempted – or should I say dared to try – a different adaptation The Wizard of Oz and the rich lore of the books, opting instead for movies about the same 6-7 characters, but that's another topic.)

I watched a YouTube video all about Baum’s original series. Have you read them? Are they worth a read? I’ve only read the first two books, many years ago. I don’t know if they’d actually be entertaining, or just a curiosity.

[Thumper_93]

I saw it last friday and it was amazing. Really well adaptated from the musical but improving some parts of the plot. Some part of the movie was too long for me but the final result is perfect. Chyntia and Ariana are amazing and you can feel that they both love their characters and that they worked really hard to make the perfect adaptation of them. The costumes are really great too. I visited yesterday the exhibition that they made in Madrid with some of the costumes and they are really amazing in real life. I hope that they have the Oscar to best costume design.
The soundtrack is really great too but Defying gravity has some things that I didn't like at all. Too many scenes between the lytics of the song. There is a new instrumental part that reminds me to "Prince of Egypt". You can feel that Stephen was the composer on both films.

[Disney Duster]

Wow, from you Farerb, that is high priase! Loved your reviews as well, Mooky, Brelly, and Thumper!

i am just reposting my review from BroadwayWorld:

Let me preface by saying Wicked was my favorite musical. After seeing this, I think I prefer Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. But, this review is coming from a HUGE Wicked fan.

I finally saw it, and WOW. I did not expect it to be that well directed. Glinda came like a goddess out of the sky. The transition of fish and the water to her past self in Shiz. The way they did Elphaba’s hazy vision. The way they staged songs. There were so many brilliant, genius ways of doing scenes. Cynthia went from the worst Blue Fairy ever to the best Elphaba I have seen, I think. She was sarcastic some times and deep other times. Ariana’s singing, and even speaking, was indeed breathy, but that was perfect for an airy character. Unfortunately, she comes off as dumb as a rock. I am sorry, that’s how I felt she came off. But, she did have great humor, a little wickedness at first, and I sympathized with her when she was sad. She had a deep sadness in the beginning, and even in the Ozdust ballroom. I feel Kristin did a smarter Glinda, but for the dumb blonde stereotype the character is written as, Ariana's portayal worked. Jonathon was so hot and his acting, dancing, and singing were outstanding. He made a well-rounded Fiyero, surprisingly to me. Jeff was a great fit, as was Michelle, even though they talk-sang and I was worried about Michelle’s too subdued take. She really worked, she had a more quiet and manipulative evil, which made me hate her all the more. Ethan and Marissa were less presences, but they were fine. The Idina and Kristin cameo was near perfect, I loved the level of fan service, I think I just would have liked for them to be Ozma and some other original book character, something pertaining to the rulers of Oz in the original books? I never read the ones after The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but I know Ozma becomes the ruler of Oz and I think she was supposed to be the righful ruler before the Wizard?

So, is this the way to adapt a musical to film. I will say…no. The way to adapt a musical to film is to make one movie of the whole show. I definitely wanted some of the added and extended stuff, but I did not need every scene drawn out. I did not need a conversation with Elphaba and Dillamond about poppies. I did not need Fiyero to arrive in the picture unceremoniously before he gets to college. And I definitely did not need “Defying Gravity” to be so broken up and extended that it was like delayed gratification and I got blue balls. Twice. They ruined the ending that way. That said, Jon still managed to make the ending powerful. How in the hell did he do that?! But I would rather sit through a 4 hour movie of the whole story than two almost 3 hour parts, really. Also, I know people cried during Elphie and Glinda’s parts at the Ozdust, but I didn’t feel anything. Really, really Cynthia, you cried from that dance? Glinda was already joining you, why so sad? But I did feel, while not tears running down my cheeks, a lot of sad emotion in much of the opening number, so… Oh, and I felt the “gold hair with a gentle curl” and “there’s a girl I know” parts of “I’m Not that Girl” should have had Elphaba looking at Galinda and Fiyero, because it would have made the lyircs make visual sense and been sadder.

Would I like Jon to direct every musical in the future? I’m gonna say…I would accept that. I’d rather someone who could really get me to cry, but maybe Wicked’s material just doesn’t make me cry, or maybe Jon’s film making others cry is enough. I don’t know. But the film was GOOD is what matters. No, it was GREAT. So, maybe any musical he directed, that already had good material, would be at least pretty good. I’d love him to direct Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, or Follies. If only we had gotten him to direct Disney’s Into the Woods or Beauty and the Beast. Then again Disney refused to let Rapunzel die, so, if only Universal had gotten it’s hands on that, with Jon, first.

I do want to take a minute - is this musical really saying Animals being blamed for a draught and food shortage makes sense? What did Animals do, drink and eat too much?! And flying monkeys would be good spies?! No one's gonna notice a flying monkey near them?! And if they are way up in the air, the monkeys can see and hear clearly what people and Animals are doing and saying?! I think that's the only problem I have with the material.

[UmbrellaFish]

I do want to take a minute - is this musical really saying Animals being blamed for a draught and food shortage makes sense? What did Animals do, drink and eat too much?! And flying monkeys would be good spies?! No one's gonna notice a flying monkey near them?! And if they are way up in the air, the monkeys can see and hear clearly what people and Animals are doing and saying?! I think that's the only problem I have with the material.

In regards to animals being blamed for droughts and food shortages, what they’re doing there is drawing a parallel to the kinds of accusations made against minorities throughout history. Like medieval Christians blaming the Black Death on Jewish people. It doesn’t make sense logically, but it gives the majority an outlet on which to take out their frustrations.

Now the Flying Monkey thing… I did have questions. I know that’s from the play (and maybe the book, too?), but I never really thought about it until watching the movie… but why make them so they can’t speak? Because what good is a spy that can’t relay back what they’ve heard? It’d be one thing if they were just… I don’t know, intended as like, a patrol. Like their presence is intended to be noticed and feared by the populace. I never found the Flying Monkeys in the Wizard of Oz scary as a kid— but they were a little scary in this movie! But I agree with you, I think they’d make poor spies.

[Mooky]

I watched a YouTube video all about Baum’s original series. Have you read them? Are they worth a read? I’ve only read the first two books, many years ago. I don’t know if they’d actually be entertaining, or just a curiosity.

Sadly no. My knowledge of Oz books only extends to Wikipedia summaries. I was on an Oz high a few years ago, and the closest I got to reading the physical books was placing the complete paperback collection set in my Amazon basket. It's still there

@Duster I understand where you're coming from with the length and break and staging of certain sequences, but I think a lot of it has to do with it being a live-action adaptation where it's expected of a live-action fantasy movie to add more background information for a more immersive world building, to contain more talky parts than a stage production would, and to adhere to real-life physics. If it had been developed as an animated movie, most of those aspects would be conveyed exclusively through visuals because, for whatever reason, animated movies' plots tend to be way simpler with a lot of unnecessary parts cut out.

Compare this Defying Gravity animatic below to the scene in the live-action version. The sequence in live-action is expanded upon and interspersed with scenes showing what happens with secondary characters and how they react to Elphaba's "betrayal". The animatic saves time by showing a lot of those things happening simultaneously or by characters' facial expressions and poses. It's definitely more efficient. As for effectiveness, I guess it depends on whether or not animated characters emotionally resonate more with the viewer than human actors do.

https://youtu.be/AB4vUG-_tdI?si=P8ZDXGDGgdC4TVcr

(I remember seeing another animatic years ago that covered the whole song but I can't seem to find it now.)

And I definitely did not need “Defying Gravity” to be so broken up and extended that it was like delayed gratification and I got blue balls. Twice.

This made me laugh

[Disney Duster]

First, I forgot to say, in addition to reading, and loving to read, everyone here's review, I agree with Brelly that I am so thankful this crew and vision at this time was how we got this movie! Well, aside from the two film idea.

So, blaming Animals. Would I be correct in saying Medieval Christians felt a supernatural/spiritual reason connected the Jews to the Black Death? Like, because they were displeasing God, God put a plague on them, or Jews were cursing them somehow? I don't see how Animals could magic the draught. But maybe there is another example where people blamed others for a problem, with no sense, in history? Is there a holocaust example? I am trying to be receptive as possible to this idea. As for the monkeys, actually in the McGuire book, it was Elphaba's own desire to attach wings to her crew of monkeys at Kiamo Ko, so the musical is not like McGuire or Baum's books in that way. But, Brelly, I love your monkeys as military/patrol idea! You should have helped Winnie with the script!

Two other thoughts: I get the monkeys following orders to go after the one who made them painfully winged, but then...they become her followers? Do we just assume Elphaba explained herself to them? And...Elphie and Glinda wreck the wizard's balloon. How does he try to rig it up for Dorothy later?

Mooky, do not worry, I actually was fine with some extending and expanding. But some things I found unnecessary. Like I said, I would watch a 4 hour movie of the whole story. I don't mean 3 hours. 4. That's expanding and stuff, just not so much as to make a 5 and a half hour movie!

That animatic was great! But actually, Wicked Part 1 did the scene more powerfully. Maybe just because I saw it with the rest of the film, but, like I said, it was powerful, but it would have been even better not chopped up. You actually can do the reactions, expressions, and poses an animated film does in live-action. I liked hearing Morrible over the radio and secondary characters reacting to Elphaba's "betrayal", with Glinda getting taken in by Morrible, but I think they could have done that, perhaps with just a faint bit of the Morrible radio speech under the singing, like you said, simultaneously with song playing through without not one but two long pauses!

This made me laugh

Yay! Haha.

[DisneyFan09]

I finally saw the movie yesterday and I must say that I truly loved it! It was magical, enchanting and delightful. The visuals and effects were great and the songs were delightful. Ariana Grande was perfectly acceptable as Glinda. Despite how there wasn`t much acting required of her, she did a fine job. Cynthia Erivo was even better as Elphaba and managed to create some sympathy and pathos for her. The same did Marissa Bode as Nessarose. Ethan Slater was the one who stole the show as Boq and was truly endearing and likable in his part. The musical segments didn`t felt jarring (as they can sometimes do in a movie musical), as they served the movie well. As for the pacing, the beginning was a little slow, but the pace highly improved afterwards. While it was a long movie, it didn`t felt too long, despite how it dragged a little bit at the end. But otherwise, it was a great movie who truly deserves it`s success.

[Thumper_93]

I finally saw the movie yesterday and I must say that I truly loved it! It was magical, enchanting and delightful. The visuals and effects were great and the songs were delightful. Ariana Grande was perfectly acceptable as Glinda. Despite how there wasn`t much acting required of her, she did a fine job. Cynthia Erivo was even better as Elphaba and managed to create some sympathy and pathos for her. The same did Marissa Bode as Nessarose. Ethan Slater was the one who stole the show as Boq and was truly endearing and likable in his part. The musical segments didn`t felt jarring (as they can sometimes do in a movie musical), as they served the movie well. As for the pacing, the beginning was a little slow, but the pace highly improved afterwards. While it was a long movie, it didn`t felt too long, despite how it dragged a little bit at the end. But otherwise, it was a great movie who truly deserves it`s success.

Glinda is a really complex character. She's not only the blonde stupid girl. Playing her is really difficult because of the kind of character that she is and because of her voice.
I think that Ariana had it more difficult than Chyntia. Making people laugh is harder than making them cry. All the actors can tell you that

[Vlad]

Saw it last weekend. I was somewhat familiar with the stage musical; I only knew some of the songs, like "Popular" or "Defying Gravity", and I knew that Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth starred in the Broadway version. I was very pleasantly surprised, it's an excellent movie. I loved how both leads had the chance to shine. I plan on seeing the stage musical as well next year, when I go to London.

I also noticed it is not at all like Oz the Great and Powerful; frankly, I like it a bit more. The original 1939 classic is still the GOAT.

[DisneyFan09]

I finally saw the movie yesterday and I must say that I truly loved it! It was magical, enchanting and delightful. The visuals and effects were great and the songs were delightful. Ariana Grande was perfectly acceptable as Glinda. Despite how there wasn`t much acting required of her, she did a fine job. Cynthia Erivo was even better as Elphaba and managed to create some sympathy and pathos for her. The same did Marissa Bode as Nessarose. Ethan Slater was the one who stole the show as Boq and was truly endearing and likable in his part. The musical segments didn`t felt jarring (as they can sometimes do in a movie musical), as they served the movie well. As for the pacing, the beginning was a little slow, but the pace highly improved afterwards. While it was a long movie, it didn`t felt too long, despite how it dragged a little bit at the end. But otherwise, it was a great movie who truly deserves it`s success.

Glinda is a really complex character. She's not only the blonde stupid girl. Playing her is really difficult because of the kind of character that she is and because of her voice.
I think that Ariana had it more difficult than Chyntia. Making people laugh is harder than making them cry. All the actors can tell you that

Fair enough. But frankly, I feel that Elphaba was also just as complex. She had a struggle and a reason for being the way that she was.