• “Wicked” adapts the first act of the 2003 Broadway musical.
• The film, which stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, references this series and “The Wizard of Oz.”
• Here you’ll find details, references and Easter eggs you may have missed in the film.

The “Wicked” film is a revelation – and it’s full of references to “The Wizard of Oz” and the original “Wicked” Broadway show before it.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film adapts the first act of the 2003 musical written by Winnie Holzman with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. This show, itself an adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s novel that creates a backstory for the Wicked Witch of the West, follows the magically inclined, green-skinned Elphaba and her school enemy-turned-best friend, Glinda. These roles were originated by Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth on Broadway, and in the film they are played by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

Wicked’s impressive box office numbers prove that the film resonates with multiple generations of fans who love all of these adaptations. The film grossed an estimated $164.2 million worldwide in its opening weekend.

The film has plenty of Easter eggs for fans of the Broadway musical Wicked (you’ll hear some well-known Act 2 musicals) and those who only have a superficial understanding of Oz. We’ve rounded up some details and references you may have missed in the film.

There are several rainbows in the film, reminiscent of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

“Wicked” owes its theme to the most iconic song from “The Wizard of Oz,” in which rainbows are invoked several times. You can see one of these in an early shot, in the pattern of tulips that the Munchkin children run through to announce Elphaba’s death, and again during Elphaba’s run through a field in The Wizard and I.

The title card is a reference to “The Wizard of Oz.”

There was some controversy on social media about poor movie theater etiquette after people started taking photos of the “Wicked” title card in theaters. The whimsical, curvy font is a nod to the original title card from The Wizard of Oz.

The film contains several musical references related to “For Good”.

“Wicked” essentially uses the opening notes of “For Good,” a duet between Elphaba and Glinda in the musical’s second act, as shorthand for their evolving relationship over the course of the film.

A great example of this occurs in the “Wicked” soundtrack, at the 0:06 minute mark of “Dear Old Shiz”, after someone asks Glinda if she and Elphaba are friends.

Nessarose’s silver slippers have tornado heels

Elphaba and Nessarose’s father presents Nessa with a pair of silver heels. The shoes that eventually pass to Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” are silver, as they were originally in L. Frank Baum’s novel. However, they are presented in a ruby ​​case – similar to the 1939 film.

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The heels also feature a swirling tornado pattern on the heel, referencing Nessa’s eventual death when Dorothy’s house falls on top of her after she is caught in a cyclone.

However, there is another pair of red slippers in the film

During “Popular,” Glinda pulls out a pair of bright ruby ​​red slippers, a reference to the ones Dorothy wears in “The Wizard of Oz.”

Glinda is illuminated by a halo during “What Is This Feeling.”

As Glinda sings the lyrics “These things are sent to test us,” she stands in front of a door with a round window. As she centers her head in front of it, the light coming through the window turns golden.

Jonathan Bailey rides a well-known horse in “Wicked.”

Bailey was apparently allowed to make a casting request for “Wicked”: He wanted to bring his favorite horse with him.

“I knew there was only one man for the job, and that was Jack, the horse I worked with on ‘Bridgerton,'” Bailey said on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

A shot of Elphaba resembles the original Broadway poster

When Elphaba puts on her black hat in the Oz Dust Ballroom, it briefly covers her eyes and obscures part of her face. The shot mimics the Broadway musical’s original poster, which obscures the top half of Elphaba’s face.

However, unlike the poster, Erivo’s Elphaba isn’t smiling at the moment.

The fact that Fiyero remains untouched by Elphaba’s poppies is a foreshadowing

Major spoilers for the second part if you’re not up to date with the original musical, but through a series of unfortunate events, Fiyero ends up turning into the Scarecrow.

Like the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, Fiyero doesn’t succumb to the sleep-inducing effects of poppies. Instead, he helps Elphaba drive the lion cub out of her classroom.

As a bonus, this lion cub will eventually grow up to be the cowardly lion from The Wizard of Oz.

Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth aren’t the only guest appearances in Emerald City

During the Wiz-O-Mania sequence set in the Emerald City, it’s extremely difficult to miss the meaty cameos from Menzel and Chenoweth. However, there are two others you may have missed: writer Winnie Holzman and composer Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the Broadway musical. Schwartz also has an iconic line during the sequence: “The wizard will see you now.”

“It took a lot of convincing to get them to do this film because they were resistant to it,” director Jon M. Chu told Entertainment Weekly. “I thought, ‘You have to get involved.’ We didn’t know where, and then when Stephen wrote that paragraph to Wiz-O-Mania, it became very clear that Stephen had to do, ‘The Wizard will see you now.'”

Idina Menzel also performs her iconic “Defying Gravity”

If you’re even a casual Wicked fan, you probably didn’t miss this game. If you have, you can hear it around the 4:00 minute mark of “One Short Day” on the film’s soundtrack.

The wizard’s hologram says “Omaha” because he is canonically from Nebraska

During the “Wiz-O-Mania” presentation in the Emerald City, a hologram of the Wizard pretends to read the Grimmerie, the magical text of Oz. To do this he simply says the word “Omaha” a few times.

He’s actually referring to Omaha, Nebraska – because that’s where the wizard comes from.

There are boxes and posters reminiscent of the wizard’s old life

There are posters in the attic of Defying Gravity that refer to the “wise and great Oscar Diggs.” In the behind-the-scenes shot above, you can see boxes with the same text and others labeled “Omaha, NE.”

That’s the magician’s real name – and back in Nebraska he was a magician.

There is a lyric change in “Defying Gravity”

In the Broadway musical, the chorus sings, “Look at her, she’s evil – get her!”

But in the film, things are more serious. The chorus sings: “Look at her, she’s evil – kill her!”

“Wicked” is in theaters now.