After watching "Wicked," the classic "The Wizard of Oz" takes on a whole new meaning! Join us as we explore the hidden depths, musical connections, and surprising character motivations that emerge when these two stories collide. From empathizing with the Wicked Witch to questioning Glinda's goodness, prepare for a magical journey of rediscovery!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00We know each other now, don't we?
00:02That's right, we do.
00:04To Oz, to Oz.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08And today, we're counting down our picks for the things
00:10that hit us like a house falling from the sky
00:12when we rewatched The Wizard of Oz
00:14after seeing Wicked.
00:16If you haven't seen Wicked or don't know what's coming
00:18in Part 2, this is your spoiler warning.
00:21Just as for fun,
00:23the melody of The Unlimited Theme
00:27is actually the first seven notes
00:29of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
00:32Number 10.
00:34How did the lion learn to speak?
00:36Let's address the flying monkey in the room.
00:38Yes, we know Wicked doesn't perfectly align
00:40with L. Frank Baum's world, but hear us out.
00:42Listen to me!
00:44You're not being told the whole story!
00:46The lion cub, terrified
00:48and seemingly incapable of human speech,
00:50first appears in a history class
00:52on cages.
00:54Elphaba and Fiyero free him, but what happens next?
00:56Fiyero, what are you doing?
00:58Well, you coming?
01:00All we know is that he grows into
01:02that lion.
01:04With animals losing their human-like traits,
01:06how did he even learn to talk?
01:08I haven't any courage at all.
01:10I even scare myself.
01:14Look at the cycles under my eyes.
01:16I haven't slept in weeks.
01:18Is there a hidden animal refuge in Oz?
01:20If so, wouldn't that be
01:22where his cowardice came from?
01:24And honestly, it's a bit presumptuous to assume
01:26that without Elphie, he would have even had
01:28a chance to fight his own battles at all.
01:30And the lion also has
01:32a grievance to repay.
01:34If she'd let him fight his own battles when he was young,
01:36he wouldn't be a coward
01:38today!
01:40Number 9.
01:42The relationship between Glinda and the Wicked Witch.
01:44The central love story of Wicked
01:46is the one between Elphaba and Glinda.
01:48One day I was feeling
01:50so sudden and new.
01:52I felt the moment I laid eyes on you.
01:54My pulse is rushing.
01:56My head is reeling.
01:58Oh, what is this feeling?
02:00They go from enemies to besties,
02:02and as we leave them in part one,
02:04they've just said their tearful farewells.
02:06Sadly, their next meeting
02:08isn't so friendly, but it does
02:10fall into the Wizard of Oz timeline.
02:12Is it just us, or is it hard not to look
02:14for subtext in their interactions?
02:16Their magic must be very powerful,
02:18or she wouldn't want them so badly.
02:20You stay out of this, Glinda, or I'll fix you as well!
02:22Oh, rubbish! You have no power here.
02:24Be gone, before somebody drops
02:26a house on you too.
02:28Suddenly, we're not just seeing two sworn enemies,
02:30but two people who definitely have
02:32a history. Within Wicked's context,
02:34both have their reasons for being furious,
02:36one of which is addressed in this scene.
02:38Who killed my sister?
02:40Who killed the Witch of the East?
02:42Was it you?
02:44No. No, it was an accident.
02:46I didn't mean to kill anybody.
02:48Knowing what's to come definitely
02:50makes us watch it all differently.
02:52Number 8. Those poor flying monkeys.
02:54Hands up. Who else
02:56was absolutely terrified of those flying monkeys
02:58as a kid? It's practically a childhood
03:00rite of passage.
03:02Now fly! Fly!
03:08Since they are the Wicked Witch's minions,
03:10we really couldn't see anything other than
03:12the winged beasts that haunted our nightmare.
03:14But Wicked gives us an origin story
03:16for how these primates got their wings,
03:18and it's heartbreaking.
03:20Spoiler time, the Wizard manipulates Elphaba
03:22into casting the spell, turning them into
03:24flying spies to help oppress the animals.
03:26You have no real power.
03:28That's why I need you.
03:32Don't let her get away!
03:34So yeah, still terrifying,
03:36but now tragic too.
03:38If their Wizard of Oz appearance terrifies you,
03:40just wait. We may never
03:42stop fearing them, but at least our terror
03:44now comes with a side of sympathy.
03:46Something bad is happening in Oz.
03:48Number 7. Why the Wizard
03:50was so keen to get out of Oz.
03:52In Baum's book, the Emerald City
03:54is just a green-tinted illusion,
03:56a detail the 1939 movie
03:58mostly skips. Nobody's
04:00ever seen the Great Oz. Even I've
04:02never seen him. Well,
04:04then how do you know there is one?
04:06Because he's... I
04:08don't. Though it might explain
04:10why the same guy plays the gatekeeper,
04:12guard, cabbie, and wizard
04:14in The Merry Land of Oz. As Wicked
04:16makes clear, the Wizard is actually
04:18a pretty awful guy.
04:20They were the wise. They wanted
04:22to hear.
04:24Elphaba, where I'm
04:26from, we believe all
04:28sorts of things. Some have noted the film's
04:30timeliness, but given Oz's history,
04:32the parallels aren't exactly shocking.
04:34Anyway, toward the movie's end,
04:36the Wizard offers to escort Dorothy
04:38home himself. Well,
04:40you force me into a cataclysmic
04:42decision. The only way to get Dorothy back
04:44to Kansas is for me to take her there
04:46myself. A selfless, heroic
04:48act? Maybe not. Spoiler
04:50incoming, following some dramatic
04:52events, Glinda banishes him from
04:54Oz. So Dorothy's departure
04:56conveniently lets him leave with his reputation
04:58intact, at least in the eyes of
05:00his devotees. I,
05:02your Wizard, Parajwa,
05:04at Altar, am about to
05:06embark upon a hazardous and
05:08technically unexplainable
05:10journey into the outer
05:12stratosphere!
05:14Not that he
05:16ends up helping her, either.
05:18Number 6. Some familiar
05:20choreography. The movie's creative
05:22teams watched the stage version of Dancing
05:24Through Life and said, okay, now watch
05:26this. It's a spectacular
05:28showstopper with so much to take in.
05:30You're perfect. You're perfect. So we're
05:32perfect together.
05:34Born to be
05:36forever. Dancing
05:38Through Life.
05:40One thing we think we noticed is
05:42some choreography that seems to be inspired
05:44by the Scarecrow's moves in If I Only
05:46Had a Brain. Nothing to read into
05:48there. Also, when the full ensemble
05:50dances together, it's almost giving hints
05:52of the deleted jitterbug number from the
05:541939 film.
06:04Hey, if they weren't using
06:06it, why not? Elsewhere, you'll
06:08notice characters tend to have a little skip
06:10in their step that feels as if they're
06:12follow, follow, following in the path of their
06:14cinematic predecessor.
06:23Number 5. Who controls
06:25the weather in Oz? Not to get
06:27too deep, but after watching Wicked,
06:29it's hard not to see the 1939
06:31film as the propaganda version of events,
06:33while Wicked reveals the truth.
06:37Take the tornado, for instance.
06:39Isn't it suspiciously convenient that it
06:41struck Oz at just the right time,
06:43dropping a house squarely on the Wicked Witch
06:45of the East? As Wicked reveals, this
06:47was no random act of nature.
06:49With that in mind, if someone could conjure
06:51a deadly tornado, couldn't they also whip
06:53up, say, a catastrophic drought?
07:06Now, who in Oz might have a talent for
07:08manipulating the weather? Perhaps someone
07:10who supports the oppression of animals?
07:12Hmm, it's like the Wizard himself
07:14says,
07:24Number 4. So that's where
07:26we've heard that melody before. While
07:28watching Wicked, did you find yourself thinking,
07:30where have I heard this before?
07:32Then you rewatched The Wizard of Oz, and
07:34suddenly it all clicked.
07:44Yes, that was a nod
07:46to Ding Dong the Witch's Dead just before
07:48No One Mourns the Wicked. And yeah,
07:50those were subtle hints of optimistic
07:52voices we could hear in one short day.
08:05Oh, and while listening to Follow
08:07the Yellow Brick Road, did you suddenly
08:09find yourself singing,
08:15Wicked borrows plenty
08:17from The Wizard of Oz's score, but perhaps
08:19the most iconic is the Unlimited
08:21theme, which uses the same first
08:23seven notes as Over the Rainbow,
08:25just with a few Schwartzian twists.
08:35And the Unlimited
08:37theme is,
08:43and so on.
08:45Number 3. Glinda the Good?
08:47We don't think so. When we first
08:49watched The Wizard of Oz, we accepted
08:51Glinda as the Good Witch. She's
08:53beautiful after all, right? But now
08:55we can't help but see someone who,
08:57like her Wicked counterpart, hasn't
08:59fully earned the title.
09:04What have you done with them? Give them back
09:06to me or I'll... It's too late.
09:08There they are, and there they'll stay.
09:10For starters, she seems to enjoy
09:12the Munchkin celebration a bit too much,
09:14especially given her personal connection
09:16to the deceased. And Glinda,
09:18Dorothy made an enemy of the Wicked Witch.
09:20And the faith you've made rather a bad
09:22enemy of the Wicked Witch of the West. The sooner
09:24you get out of Oz altogether,
09:26the safer you'll sleep, my dear.
09:28No, hun, you did that when you handed over
09:30her sister's shoes. Also,
09:32follow the yellow brick road? What were the trains
09:34on strike? Yes, we're aware that's a new
09:36addition. If Dorothy's life was in
09:38danger, and it's your fault, maybe
09:40skip the life lessons and just send her home.
09:42You've always had the power to go
09:44back to Kansas. I have?
09:46Then why didn't you tell her before?
09:48Because she wouldn't have believed
09:50me. She had to learn it for herself.
09:52Number 2. Why is
09:54the Scarecrow hanging out with Dorothy?
09:56Dorothy's more mature companions
09:58raised eyebrows long before
10:00Wicked, but now with the musical's
10:02backstories, we have even more
10:04questions, especially about the Scarecrow.
10:06Spoiler again, in part 2
10:08we learn Fiyero left Glinda
10:10for Elphaba, and later she
10:12unintentionally turns him into a Scarecrow
10:14to save his life.
10:16Who is this taunting? I don't
10:18even know what I'm reading. I don't even
10:20know what trick I ought to try.
10:22Fiyero,
10:24where are you? So why is he hanging
10:26out with the girl who's wearing his girlfriend's late
10:28sister's shoes, and who's tasked with stealing
10:30her transportation? Maybe he
10:32really is brainless if he's getting cozy
10:34with those who want her dead, or with the guy
10:36who forced his beloved to live as an outlaw.
10:38Doctor of Thinkology.
10:40The sum of the square roots of any
10:42two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal
10:44to the square root of the remaining sides.
10:46Oh joy!
10:48Rapture!
10:50This has to be part of a bigger plan, right?
10:52Because as it stands, it makes
10:54zero sense. I'm not afraid of
10:56her. I'll see you get safely to
10:58the wizard now, whether I get a brain or not.
11:00Before we continue, be
11:02sure to subscribe to our channel and
11:04ring the bell to get notified about our
11:06latest videos. You have the
11:08option to be notified for occasional
11:10videos, or all of them. If you're
11:12on your phone, make sure you go into
11:14your settings and switch on notifications.
11:16Number 1. We now
11:18have more empathy for the Wicked Witch of
11:20the West. Back in the day, good and
11:22evil were seen as black and white.
11:24But Wicked challenges that.
11:26Are people born wicked?
11:30Or do they have wickedness
11:32thrust upon them? We can't be
11:34the only ones who find ourselves siding with the
11:36witch in this scene. Give me back my
11:38slippers. I'm the only one that knows
11:40how to use them. They're no use to you.
11:42Give them back to me. Give them
11:44back! Keep tight inside of them.
11:46Their magic must be very powerful, or she
11:48wouldn't want them so badly. Wouldn't you be mad?
11:50We sure would. We might not
11:52have gone full Wicked Witch on anyone,
11:54but we get her frustration. Also,
11:56have you listened to her as she melts?
11:58Oh, what a world!
12:00What a world! Who would have thought
12:02a good little girl like you could destroy
12:04my beautiful wickedness?
12:06Ah! Let's go!
12:08Let's go!
12:10I'm going! It's so dramatic.
12:12Almost like she's just doing it for
12:14show. It would also explain why
12:16someone with an aversion to water would
12:18leave a bucket full lying around.
12:20With our newfound empathy for her, we like
12:22to think she found a fresh start somewhere,
12:24maybe with a certain scarecrow in tow.
12:26I know
12:28I'll be here
12:30holding
12:32you.
12:34Is there anything
12:36else that struck you about The Wizard of Oz
12:38after watching Wicked? Follow, follow,
12:40follow, follow on down to the comments
12:42and let us know. Just follow
12:44the road. It's gonna
12:46lead you right...
12:48down.
12:50Do you agree
12:52with our picks? Check out this other
12:54recent clip from Ms. Mojo, and
12:56be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
12:58to be notified about our latest videos.