We're Off To See The Wizard....
So, I recently finished reading Wicked, which chronicles the life and times of Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west. The novel was interesting, but it had a lot of discussions on philosophy and the religions of the people of Oz, which was the one hinderance I felt, in an otherwise fantastic read. I really felt sorry for Elphaba by the end, and it made the entire story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz completely different. There's SPOILERS ahead, so don't read ahead if you care about that stuff.
It was many years since I saw the actual 1939 musical of The Wizard of Oz, so I decided to rewatch it. Also, after realizing that L. Frank Baum's original novel was only around 90 pages, I figured I might as well read that too, on my long commute to Stony Brook.
I realized there are quite a few differences in the basic storyline between these three books. Let's start with the original novel. In the novel, there's only Dorothy, Aunt Em, and Uncle Henry at the start. The tornado takes Dorothy to Oz as usual, and she does land on the wicked witch of the east. However, this witch is not the sister of the wicked witch of the west, hereafter referred to as Elphaba. Elphaba does exist, but she's just a different witch. There are two other witches as well: an elderly good witch of the north, who first encounters Dorothy in Munchkinland, and a good witch of the south named Glinda, whom Dorothy encounters near the very end of the book. Dorothy does get the silver slippers of the wicked witch of the east, and she does use them to travel back to Kansas at the end. We also hear the story of the Tin Man, who used to be a real man, until his lover's mother got the wicked witch of the east to enchant his ax and chop off all his limbs. Hence, the lovestruck woodman became a tin woodman. At the end, after killing Elphaba accidentally, but out of anger it seems, the wizard (who's still a humbug) takes off in the balloon, leaving Dorothy behind. She and her companions visit Glinda, who tells her how to get home. And regarding those flying monkeys: Elphaba possessed this special cap that allowed her to summon the flying monkeys three times, and it later passed to Dorothy and then Glinda. Those monkeys had their own story of how they were bound to captivity after teasing the prince of some place in Oz at some point. So that's the basic stuff in the novel.
In the classic movie, a lot of things changed. Elphaba encounters Dorothy soon after she falls from Kansas. The wicked witch of the east is Elphaba's sister, and there's only one good witch, who's from the north and named Glinda. The silver slippers are now ruby. Those flying monkeys? Apparently they are followers of Elphaba, with no mention of a cap. The Tin Man? Just a mechanical man built by someone. Elphaba also has an army of green people. Who are they? Who knows, the movie offers little in the way of explanation. In the book, each companion visited the wizard seperately and saw him in a different form, but here they all visit him together. Also, once the wizard leaves in the balloon, Dorothy immediately gets a visit from Glinda, who tells her how to get home. And finally, the last sequence in the movie hints that Oz may all have been a dream, especially since so many characters from Oz resemble people Dorothy knew in real life.
Finally, we come to my favorite take on this story, Wicked. It takes the classic story and shows us what really happend behind the scenes. However, it doesn't use the novel or the classic film as the established storyline; rather, it's a mix of both. For instance, as in the film, there is only one "good" witch, Glinda from the north. The slippers are ruby, like in the film. However, there's no green army of the witch. The whole castle scene is different. In the novel and in Wicked, the Tin Man and Scarecrow are left in the forest when the lion and Dorthy visit Elphaba's castle. Not so in the movie.
The winged monkeys? They were experiements by Elphaba, who tried to attach wings to monkeys. The wicked witch of the east? That's Elphaba's sister, Nessarose, who had ruby slippers from their father. They were enchanted by Glinda to help Nessarose walk, as she had no arms (which we see in the Quadlings in the original novel, as Nessarose was probably illegitimately fathered by a Quadling named Turtle Heart). We don't really hear how Dorothy got out of Oz, as it's mostly Elphaba's story. But how did she die? Yes, with wather thrown by Dorothy, but it wasn't from a malicious intent. Dorothy visited Kiamo Ko (the name of Elphaba's home, and castle of her lover Fiyero) to seek forgiveness for killing Nessarose, and tried to save Elphaba, who got caught on fire, by throwing water on her. Also, Elphaba wasn't truly "wicked," Nessarose was more of a religious fanatic than outright evil, and Glinda wasn't necessarilly good nor evil. And the Tin Man's story mirrored that of the novel, except this time, we actually saw the meeting between the Tin Man's lover's mother and Nessarose, and learned how the ax got enchanted. And, as a treat, we also see Brrr, the cowardly lion, as a cub.
Wicked really fleshes out the story of The Wizard of Oz, even if that story is an amalgam of multiple sources. From what I can gather, the broadway play of Wicked alters the story rather significantly. I recommend that, if you're into fantasy and into Oz, give this book a read. It'll make you see this classic story in an entirely new light.
It was many years since I saw the actual 1939 musical of The Wizard of Oz, so I decided to rewatch it. Also, after realizing that L. Frank Baum's original novel was only around 90 pages, I figured I might as well read that too, on my long commute to Stony Brook.
I realized there are quite a few differences in the basic storyline between these three books. Let's start with the original novel. In the novel, there's only Dorothy, Aunt Em, and Uncle Henry at the start. The tornado takes Dorothy to Oz as usual, and she does land on the wicked witch of the east. However, this witch is not the sister of the wicked witch of the west, hereafter referred to as Elphaba. Elphaba does exist, but she's just a different witch. There are two other witches as well: an elderly good witch of the north, who first encounters Dorothy in Munchkinland, and a good witch of the south named Glinda, whom Dorothy encounters near the very end of the book. Dorothy does get the silver slippers of the wicked witch of the east, and she does use them to travel back to Kansas at the end. We also hear the story of the Tin Man, who used to be a real man, until his lover's mother got the wicked witch of the east to enchant his ax and chop off all his limbs. Hence, the lovestruck woodman became a tin woodman. At the end, after killing Elphaba accidentally, but out of anger it seems, the wizard (who's still a humbug) takes off in the balloon, leaving Dorothy behind. She and her companions visit Glinda, who tells her how to get home. And regarding those flying monkeys: Elphaba possessed this special cap that allowed her to summon the flying monkeys three times, and it later passed to Dorothy and then Glinda. Those monkeys had their own story of how they were bound to captivity after teasing the prince of some place in Oz at some point. So that's the basic stuff in the novel.
In the classic movie, a lot of things changed. Elphaba encounters Dorothy soon after she falls from Kansas. The wicked witch of the east is Elphaba's sister, and there's only one good witch, who's from the north and named Glinda. The silver slippers are now ruby. Those flying monkeys? Apparently they are followers of Elphaba, with no mention of a cap. The Tin Man? Just a mechanical man built by someone. Elphaba also has an army of green people. Who are they? Who knows, the movie offers little in the way of explanation. In the book, each companion visited the wizard seperately and saw him in a different form, but here they all visit him together. Also, once the wizard leaves in the balloon, Dorothy immediately gets a visit from Glinda, who tells her how to get home. And finally, the last sequence in the movie hints that Oz may all have been a dream, especially since so many characters from Oz resemble people Dorothy knew in real life.
Finally, we come to my favorite take on this story, Wicked. It takes the classic story and shows us what really happend behind the scenes. However, it doesn't use the novel or the classic film as the established storyline; rather, it's a mix of both. For instance, as in the film, there is only one "good" witch, Glinda from the north. The slippers are ruby, like in the film. However, there's no green army of the witch. The whole castle scene is different. In the novel and in Wicked, the Tin Man and Scarecrow are left in the forest when the lion and Dorthy visit Elphaba's castle. Not so in the movie.
The winged monkeys? They were experiements by Elphaba, who tried to attach wings to monkeys. The wicked witch of the east? That's Elphaba's sister, Nessarose, who had ruby slippers from their father. They were enchanted by Glinda to help Nessarose walk, as she had no arms (which we see in the Quadlings in the original novel, as Nessarose was probably illegitimately fathered by a Quadling named Turtle Heart). We don't really hear how Dorothy got out of Oz, as it's mostly Elphaba's story. But how did she die? Yes, with wather thrown by Dorothy, but it wasn't from a malicious intent. Dorothy visited Kiamo Ko (the name of Elphaba's home, and castle of her lover Fiyero) to seek forgiveness for killing Nessarose, and tried to save Elphaba, who got caught on fire, by throwing water on her. Also, Elphaba wasn't truly "wicked," Nessarose was more of a religious fanatic than outright evil, and Glinda wasn't necessarilly good nor evil. And the Tin Man's story mirrored that of the novel, except this time, we actually saw the meeting between the Tin Man's lover's mother and Nessarose, and learned how the ax got enchanted. And, as a treat, we also see Brrr, the cowardly lion, as a cub.
Wicked really fleshes out the story of The Wizard of Oz, even if that story is an amalgam of multiple sources. From what I can gather, the broadway play of Wicked alters the story rather significantly. I recommend that, if you're into fantasy and into Oz, give this book a read. It'll make you see this classic story in an entirely new light.
posted by DarthDooku at
9:49 PM
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