A pointed black hat resting on a pool of water. A broken window. A yellow brick road being traveled by a girl in a gingham dress surrounded by a lion, a tin man and a scarecrow. Oh, and her little dog, too.
Those are some of the first images shown in “Wicked,” part one of the new adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name.
Both have their origins in Gregory Maguire’s 1995 revisionist prequel, which suggested events that might have shaped the characters in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Baum's book inspired the 1939 classic starring Judy Garland, “The Wizard of Oz.”
“Wicked” the movie, which stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, dips into the past and examines how Elphaba and Galinda (later Glinda) started their own journey to becoming the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the North.
“Wicked” is full of Easter eggs and references to 1939 movie that should delight all fans. So what do you need to know about “The Wizard of Oz” before starting down the yellow brick road with “Wicked”? Read on.
What happens in ‘The Wizard of Oz’?
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In the 1939 movie, Dorothy Gale (Garland) is a orphaned young woman growing up on her aunt and uncle’s farm during the Dust Bowl, and dreams of escaping “over the rainbow” someday.
She runs away when a local woman’s complaint that Dorothy’s dog Toto bit her means the dog must be put down. Convinced to return home by a traveling fortune-teller called Professor Marvel, Dorothy arrives mid-tornado and is hit in the head. The house appears to lift into the storm’s funnel — depositing her in a new world.
Dorothy is delighted by the local Munchkins of Munchkinland but enveloped in a tragedy: Her house has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and her sister the Wicked Witch of the West vows vengeance. The Wicked Witch of the West also wants the pair of shoes the Good Witch of the North has gifted Dorothy from the dead witch.
Desiring only to get home, Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick Road to visit Emerald City and the Wizard, who she hears holds the key to her return home.
Along the way, she makes friends with The Scarecrow (who wants a brain); the Tin Man (who wants a heart); and the Cowardly Lion (who wants courage).
After several adventures, they meet the Wizard (or at least, a giant floating green head with a booming voice that scares them) who says he’ll give them all what they want if they bring them the Witch’s broomstick, proving she’s dead.
How does ‘The Wizard of Oz’ end?
Dorothy and Toto are first captured by the Witch’s flying monkeys, but freed by their companions, only to be chased by the Witch and her guards. When the Witch sets the Scarecrow’s arm on fire, Dorothy splashes him with water — that also lands on the Witch, melting her.
They bring the broomstick to the Wizard, who tries to dodge their requests, until Toto reveals a man behind a curtain who’s operating all the special effects. He offers to take her home in the hot air balloon that brought him to Oz, but Dorothy misses her flight while chasing Toto and seems stuck in Oz.
Then, Glinda reveals an even easier way back to Kansas: Dorothy can click her heels together and wish to be home. After some fond farewells, Dorothy invokes the shoe spell and she and Toto go home.
But did they ever leave? Dorothy wakes in her own bed, surrounded by farmhands who look like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Everyone insists she had a vivid dream. Dorothy is just happy to be home and discovers the film’s true meaning: That home is the best place of all.
How does ‘The Wizard of Oz’ connect to ‘Wicked’?
Throughout “Wicked,” characters and scenes often contain touchstones from the 1939 movie, starting with that hat on the water and the Witch’s killers marching off to Emerald City.
But not everything connects … yet. Elphaba doesn’t start off so wicked in “Wicked: Part One,” for example. She’s actually tormented for her green skin (sure, Oz is a magic world but there are some things the locals really don’t tolerate).
Galinda doesn’t start out particularly good, either; she’s self-absorbed and self-assured to the point of annoyance. But colors are significant here: Just like in “Oz,” Elphaba is green, and Galinda/Glinda is as pink as Barbie (and travels in her own literal bubble).
In “Wicked: Part One,” Elphaba does have a sister, but we never see anything of that sister in “Oz” except for her legs sticking out from under the house. Nessarose's shoes (Marissa Bode) in “Wicked: Part One” aren't ruby — they’re bedazzled and silvery (much like in Baum's “Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and Maguire's “Wicked”).
There are other shout-outs to “The Wizard of Oz” in the film.
In “Wicked: Part One” The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) enlists Elphaba and Galinda to help him decide on a color for a super-sidewalk that will thread throughout Oz that he’s building (yellow, naturally, wins).
Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) joins Elphaba and Galinda at school and helps Elphaba rescue a lion cub — it’s not directly stated in the film, but there’s a good chance that cub’s going to have a connection to being cowardly someday.
Then there are some confusing moments. For a woman who should have discovered by now that water can hurt her, Elphaba is quite unbothered by it in “Part One,” going so far as to dance on flagstones that cross a stream at the school. Surely there’s more to learn about this seeming inconsistency in “Part Two.”
“Part One” also underscores the poppy as a significant flower: They’re the favorites of a professor at Shiz University who Elphaba takes a shine to. At one point, she releases a spell that causes the flowers’ scent to knock out nearly everyone in the classroom. This is a direct reference to a scene in “The Wizard of Oz,” where Wicked Elphaba creates a field of poppies to slow down Dorothy and her friends on their way to Emerald City.
Of course, there are still more reveals to come in “Part Two,” currently slated for theaters on Nov. 26, 2025. Until then, keep following the yellow brick road!
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
