Wicked (2017) is an 2017 American traditonally animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film, created and produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is based off the broadway musical of the same name.
This is WDA's 1st animated film based off a broadway musical.
Plot[]
In Oz, the wife of a Munchkin Governor meets a mysterious stranger with a bottle of green elixir. Months later, she has a baby girl but she is curiously green-skinned. The baby repulses everyone the moment she is born.
Many years later, at Shiz University, students reunite with their friends including the popular but shallow Galinda, whilst Elphaba arrives with her young wheelchair-bound sister, Nessarose, who is presented with a bejeweled pair of Silver Shoes, being their father's favorite. Galinda and Elphaba instantly clash, but despite their mutual loathing, Madame Morrible, the headmistress, makes them roommates. Galinda has been excluded from the Sorcery Seminar, but when Elphaba betrays an innate magical talent in sudden anger, Morrible notes that her talents may be of use to the Wizard of Oz. Elphaba dreams of what she and the Wizard could accomplish together. Galinda and Elphaba later write home about their unfortunate room-mate assignments.
The students gather in a history class taught by Doctor Dillamond, a Goat and Shiz's only Animal professor, who keeps mispronouncing Galinda's name as "Glinda". Doctor Dillamond confides in Elphaba that something is causing the Animals of Oz to lose their powers of speech. Elphaba believes that the Wizard is the only one who can help. Fiyero, a Winkie prince, then arrives at Shiz and impresses his cavalier and carefree living on the students. Besotted with Galinda, a Munchkin named Boq asks her to accompany him to a party, but having felt "perfect together" with Fiyero, Galinda asks him to invite Nessarose instead. Nessarose, not realising Galinda's real motives, is delighted, and tells Elphaba that she wishes she could repay Galinda.
Later, Galinda discovers a black pointed hat and gives it to Elphaba as a mock present. Elphaba, remembering how happy Galinda had made Nessarose (and not realising that she had ulterior motives), asks Madame Morrible to reconsider Galinda in her Sorcery Seminar, in return. When, however, Elphaba arrives at the party wearing the hat, she is only ridiculed. Defiant and unfazed, she proceeds to dance alone. Feeling guilty, Galinda joins her, marking the start of their friendship. Meanwhile, Boq convinces Nessarose that it was not pity that prompted him to ask her out, but the fact that she is "so beautiful", not realizing the full extent of Nessarose's affections towards him.
Elphaba tells Galinda that her father hates her, for good reason. When her mother became pregnant again, she had been fed milk-flowers to prevent her second child from being born green-skinned; the milk-flowers instead caused Nessarose to be born prematurely, which left her crippled whilst her mother died in childbirth. Feeling sympathetic, Galinda decides to give Elphaba a personality makeover, making her admirable to fellow students.
The next day, Doctor Dillamond is arrested. The new history teacher arrives with a caged lion cub as the subject of an in-class experiment, revealing that Animals are to be kept in a new invention he has created, called a cage, the benefit of which is that Animals raised in them will not have the power of speech. He reveals that soon all Animals will be turned dumb, and Elphaba is outraged. She and Fiyero steal the cub and set it free, and as Elphaba begins to discover romantic feelings towards Fiyero, she personally reaffirms that she "wasn't born" to be loved. Madame Morrible finds her, announcing that Elphaba has been granted an audience with the Wizard in the Emerald City.
At the train station, Galinda, Fiyero, Nessarose and Boq see Elphaba off, all happy for her accomplishment. When it becomes apparent that Boq is not genuinely interested in Nessarose, Galinda feels guilty and suggests that Boq is not the right person for Nessarose, who in turn insists that it is herself "that's not right." Elphaba expresses concern about leaving her younger sister, but a protesting Nessarose insists she will manage without her and leaves. In an attempt to impress Fiyero, Galinda announces that she will change her name to "Glinda" in honor of Doctor Dillamond's persistent mispronunciation. Fiyero fails to notice and leaves. Glinda breaks into tears. Feeling badly for Glinda, Elphaba invites her along to see the Wizard.
After a day of bonding and sightseeing in the Emerald City, Elphaba and Glinda meet the Wizard. Eschewing the special effects he employs for the benefit of most visitors, he invites Elphaba to join him. In testing Elphaba's true talents, the Wizard asks Elphaba to perform a levitation spell on his monkey servant, Chistery, using the Grimmerie – an ancient book of spells. Madame Morrible delivers the book to Elphaba. Elphaba demonstrates an intrinsic understanding of the lost language in the book, and successfully gives Chistery wings. However, Elphaba can see that he seems to be in pain and demands that they show her how to reverse the spell. Unfortunately, Morrible tells Elphaba "spells are irreversible". The Wizard then reveals a cage full of winged monkeys, proving the extent of Elphaba's powers. He makes the comment that they will make perfect spies. Elphaba now realizes that they have been behind the troubles in Oz all along. It was he who robbed the animals of their speech and created the cages. Elphaba is shocked that her once-admired hero is actually a criminal and a fraud. The Wizard wants Elphaba to join him in "creating a really good enemy" for the Ozians using her powers.
Elphaba grabs the Grimmerie and runs off and Glinda runs after her. Realizing that she may know too much about his plans, the Wizard sends Morrible and his guards after Elphaba and Glinda. They finally reach the attic where Elphaba uses a broom to barricade the door. Morrible's voice is then heard outside a nearby window, warning all of Oz of this "Wicked Witch" and her horrible deed to the innocent monkeys. Elphaba and Glinda now must choose which path their lives will take. Ultimately, Glinda chooses to take a life living with the Wizard and becoming a public figure within Oz. Elphaba, however, decides to use her newly learned powers of levitation to fly away from the palace, against the Wizard and do what she believes is right. Using the Grimmerie, she places a spell on the broom (with which she barricaded the door). Elphaba tries to persuade Glinda to join her but she refuses. Elphaba understands and calmly accepts her friend's choice and they wish each other the best before Elphaba flies away from the palace guards when they break into the attic. But this public act of defiance convinces the Ozians of her true wickedness forever.
Elphaba becomes increasingly ostracized. A few months have passed and her opposition of the Wizard's regime has earned her the title "The Wicked Witch of the West". Rumor has it that the witch's soul is so impure that pure water could melt her. Glinda, now the Wizard's assistant and adored by everyone, is engaged to Fiyero. Informing him that Elphaba does not want to be found, Glinda puts on a happy front despite Fiyero's waning affections.
Meanwhile, Elphaba arrives at her old home, the Governor's residence in Munchkinland, seeking refuge. Nessarose is the Governor now, and laments that their father "died of shame" after Elphaba defied the Wizard. She criticizes Elphaba for not using her powers to help her sister. Guilty, Elphaba enchants Nessarose's jeweled shoes, turning them into the ruby slippers and enabling her to walk. Boq is summoned, and he bemoans that Nessarose is as "wicked" as Elphaba for stripping the Munchkins of their rights and prohibiting them from leaving Munchkinland. Nessarose explains that she did this to keep Boq with her, but is sure that he will stay with her of his own accord now that she is no longer crippled. However, Boq insists that he should now be free to pursue Glinda instead. Hurt and angry, Nessarose attempts to cast a spell from the Grimmerie to make Boq lose his heart to her, however her ability to understand the Lost Language of Spells is not as good as her sister's, and she mispronounces the magic words which causes Boq to literally lose his heart. While Elphaba attempts to save him, Nessarose reflects on how being "alone and loveless" has led to her wicked actions, and fears that she deserves her infamous new title. Elphaba says that nothing will ever be enough for her sister and leaves her for good, despite Nessarose's frantic pleas for her to stay. When Boq wakes up, he is horrified to discover that Elphaba has transformed him into a Tin Man, so he could live without a heart, and Nessarose lays the entire blame on her sister while Boq runs away in horror, believing that Elphaba has cursed him for leaving her sister.
Returning to the Wizard's palace, Elphaba tries to free the remaining winged monkeys. The Wizard attempts to regain her favor by agreeing to set them free, recounting how the Ozians hailed him as the Wonderful Wizard when he first came to Oz. He says that she could be hailed by everyone if she joins him. Upon discovering the now-speechless Doctor Dillamond amongst the monkeys, however, Elphaba rejects his offer. While attempting to escape, she bumps into Fiyero, who runs away with her, confirming that he loves her in return. Glinda sees this and is crestfallen that she has been betrayed by those closest to her. When Glinda states that Elphaba can be lured by spreading a rumor that Nessarose is in danger, the fiendish Madame Morrible creates a cyclone that brings Dorothy's house to Oz and crushes Nessarose to death. During this, Fiyero and Elphaba express their love, but Elphaba senses that her sister is in danger. Before she flees to help, Fiyero explains to Elphaba that his family has an empty castle far away. He promises her she can hide there and that he will go to join her. She then flies to Nessarose, but she is too late. The palace guards capture Elphaba, but Fiyero intervenes, allowing Elphaba to escape before surrendering himself. The guards drag him to a nearby cornfield to be tortured or even killed, unless he tells them of Elphaba's whereabouts. At the castle, Elphaba tries to cast any spell she can to save Fiyero, but thinking she has failed, she begins to accept her reputation as "wicked".
Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Boq – now the Tin Man – and the Cowardly Lion are sent to kill Elphaba and bring her broomstick to the Wizard. It is revealed that the Cowardly Lion is the lion cub Elphaba set free; Boq claims that she turned him into a coward by not letting him fight his own battles. Meanwhile, Elphaba captures Dorothy, refusing to release her until she relinquishes Nessarose's ruby slippers – the only things left of her dead sister. Glinda travels to Elphaba's castle to warn her of the trouble and persuade her to let Dorothy go. Although Elphaba refuses, the two women forgive each other for all grievances, acknowledging they have both made mistakes. Elphaba makes Glinda promise not to clear her name and to take charge in Oz, allowing Elphaba to disappear. To help her in her future, Elphaba gives the Grimmerie to Glinda. The two friends embrace for the last time before saying goodbye forever, and acknowledge that they are who they are because they knew each other. Immediately after, when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on Elphaba, the witch appears to melt away. Glinda, not quite sure what has happened, sees that all that remains of her friend is her black hat and a vial of green elixir. Back at the Emerald City, Glinda reminds the Wizard that he has an identical bottle, and it is revealed that the Wizard is Elphaba's biological father, being the stranger with whom her mother had an affair. Madame Morrible surmises that Elphaba had special powers because she was a child of both Oz and the outside world. Glinda orders the Wizard to leave Oz and sends Madame Morrible to prison before returning to the opening scene of the show.
Meanwhile, Fiyero had in fact been turned into the Scarecrow when Elphaba had cast spells, therefore saving him from the Ozian guards' spears in the cornfield. He opens a trap door in Elphaba's castle, down which she had descended, only pretending to die. While Elphaba and Fiyero leave Oz forever, Glinda continues her bittersweet celebration with the citizens of Oz. They gaze up at the sky, individually appreciating their true friendship and acknowledging that they have changed for the better because they knew each other.
Development[]
The film was original going to be live action until the Walt Disney animators began imagining it as a animated film.
Release[]
Wicked (2017) was released theatrically June, 2017 in the United States and was accompanied by a new Toy Story Toon short. The film's premiere was at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California June 17th 2017 and had a 1 week release there before opening world wide.
Prior to the films release "Popular" and "What is This Feeling" was previewed at the D23 Expo in 2016. A teaser trailer had been released October 10th 2016.
On July 10th 2017 a sing along version of the film was released in theaters.This version featured on-screen lyrics, and viewers were invited to follow the moving green W.
Home Video[]
The film was released on DVD November 7th 2016 and the sing along version was released November 14th. It was also released on Google Play, Blue Ray, iTunes, and Amazon. The Blue Ray version included bonus features about the original musical as well as disney's history with Oz.
Franchise[]
Short Film[]
A short film was released called Wicked Memories. In Wicked Memories Glinda goes to find something she left at her last visit to Shiz to check on the new head mistress.
Books[]
A junior novelization of the film was released.
Songs[]
- No One Mourns The Wicked
- Dear Old Shiz
- The Wizard and I
- What is This Feeling?
- Something Bad
- Dancing Through Life
- Popular
- One Short Day
- Defying Gravity
- Thank Goodness
- Wonderful
- As Long As You're Mine
- No Good Deed
- For Good
- Finale
Trivia[]
- This is the 1st WDA animated film to be based on a musical