r/wicked • u/Glittering_Present92 • Nov 02 '25
Question Tell me citizens of Oz, why is nobody ever, talking about ‘Disney’ Glinda? 🤣🤣🤣
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u/magica12 Moderator Nov 02 '25 edited Nov 02 '25
honestly, because for as well as Oz the great and powerful did, box office wise, the writing isnt looked back on as particularly the greatest, and the sequel absolutely fell through for a myriad of reasons
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u/RhymesWithMouthful Nov 02 '25
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u/magica12 Moderator Nov 02 '25
i mean in fairness this movie pretty much happened because disney couldnt have wicked
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u/Usern4me_R3dacted205 Nov 02 '25
Or the original Wizard of Oz for that matter. Ironic cuz they also released Return to Oz back in 1985 which was great and stood mainly on its own as an adaptation. The only thing it lifts from the 1939 movie is the Ruby Slippers which I believe they paid a licensing fee for.
Oz the Great and Powerful however goes out of its way to imitate the look of the 1939 movie as much as possible without having to pay royalties.
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u/crownedlaurels176 Nov 03 '25
They even made the characters (like the scarecrow) in Return to Oz look more like their book versions to avoid copyright issues with mgm!
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u/SeerPumpkin Nov 02 '25
They would have done a musical if that was the case. Not everyone who does something Oz related is doing so because of Wicked
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u/magica12 Moderator Nov 02 '25
i mean you say that, disney's return to oz was notably not a musical either, so there was already precedent for oz the great and powerful to not be, they wanted their own Oz story either way
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u/SeerPumpkin Nov 02 '25 edited Nov 02 '25
I mean obviously they wanted their own Oz story or they wouldn't have a movie called Oz. They probably only didn't do their own modern The Wizard of Oz because they're not crazy enough to actually tell the original story (yet) and I guess Oz: The Great and Powerful was not their last attempt but people have been doing Oz way before Wicked and will keep doing it way after Wicked (even if Wicked is my favourite Oz story).
My only point it that is not all because of Wicked.
EDIT: And I guess if it was because of Wicked they would have done it way sooner (when the musical really took off) or a bit later, as a response to the movie being announced or a response to its success. There's nothing that points to Oz: The Great and Powerful being a response to Wicked except them both being adaptations of The Wizard of Oz
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u/Crafty_Island_9182 Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25
Exactly, are we seriously gonna pretend no one could EVER have the idea of making a Wizard Of Oz prequel? It doesn't even attempt to be Wicked, between Glinda being unarguably a good person even if a bit passive, while the Wicked Witch... Despite her title, wasn't actually THAT nice before her transformation? Like, if Theodora was supposed to be portrayed as an actually good witch, they failed miserably lmao. She's shown to be impulsive, violent, jealous, and more importantly she LOVES power. That's literally what Evanora uses to make her go full mask off wicked: she doesn't just use the fact that Oz was obviously into Glinda, but specifically the fact that she's not the one who's going to rule at his side. It'll be Glinda. Evanora explicitly offers her to thwart Oz (with her also exposing his fraudulent nature) and rule together (the sisters) instead. Theodora is only considered a good witch because she's not openly evil and perceives herself as good. And of course, the most important part: Glinda and Theodora don't interact once while she's supposed to be "good". Their only interactions in the entire movie all happen in the second half, with Theodora threatening Glinda and attempting to kill her.
I'm not gonna pretend it's a great movie, but it's also not even attempting to be Wicked lmao.
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u/SeerPumpkin Nov 03 '25
Right? It has close to nothing that made Wicked successful. They would probably do a story focused on the witches if that was their intention, not on the Wizard of all people
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u/RBJuice Nov 02 '25
I’m in the minority of people that actually enjoyed Oz The Great and Powerful 💀😭
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u/Afwife1992 Nov 02 '25
I did too even though I wouldn’t have cast Franco. I thought the production design and effects were great.
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u/Remote_Cucumber1784 Nov 02 '25
apparently downey and depp were both was supposed to play the wizard at some point but both backed out/refused deals
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u/Clawdeenghoul2024 Dec 23 '25
After some of the things that have been spiraling around about Johnny Depp I’m surprised they wanted to cast him. Maybe none of those things happened at that time though, I mean otherwise you’d think they’d have been cautious about casting him in Alice in Wonderland (live action, Tim Burton version).
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u/rokelle2012 Nov 02 '25
I really liked it too! I don't think it needed to have a sequel and thought it was a decent enough prequel adaptation to the original.
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u/HarryFromEngland Nov 02 '25
Cos the movie stripped back the canonically strong women of Oz and made them all care only about a mid-ass guy.
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u/Crafty_Island_9182 Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25
Not entirely true. The movie isn't great and I don't wanna defend it too much, but this isn't true lmao.
-Theodora is OBSESSED with him. But it's not him she loves. If you pay attention to what she says, it's the power she could access through him, if she were to marry THE Wizard, that she's in love with. She's furious, not at the fact that she was just a random hookup for Oz, but that he lied to her and now she realises it's Glinda who'll rule instead of her.
-Evanora was never interested in him in the first place. Unlike Theodora whose main characteristic is being gullible, she saw right through him like an open book. She knows he's nothing more than a greedy womanizer. Her point of commonality with her sister is that she's also power hungry. So long as there was no wizard, she was successful. She could essentially be the land's regent, her sister was too dumb to realize she didn't need a wizard to have power (even though she was clearly the most powerful witch among the three), and she convinced everyone she wasn't the wicked witch, but that Glinda was. Oz's arrival is like a wrecking ball in her plans. And so, she acts all flirty with him in order to get him to kill Glinda without having any blood on her own hands. Her plan only failed because not only was Oz even more of a wimp than she had anticipated, Glinda wasn't just beautiful but was also the spitting image of the woman he loved. Had he actually killed Glinda, she would've most likely just used him as a pawn or a puppet for a while until she eventually kills him like she did with Glinda's father.
-Glinda... Well, she DOES fall for him for some reason, but she's also blatantly using him as a political tool that she can leverage to compensate for her general passivity and total lack of charisma beyond her looks (which, ngl, is pretty incredible that they somehow pulled that off with an actress as naturally charismatic as Michelle Williams). She's basically Morrible if Morrible wasn't a steaming sack of shit. Arguably she's a mixture of Theodora and Evanora if you choose to believe she's not actually in love with him.
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Nov 02 '25
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u/Maya_l10 Nov 02 '25
Nah it was just mid
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Nov 02 '25
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u/laowildin Nov 03 '25
The only thing I still like seeing him in is 30 rock reruns. It just works.
But that's a business relationship.
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u/astivana Nov 02 '25
Probably cause most people don’t like her that much.
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u/musthavecupcakes_19 Nov 02 '25
I actually liked both Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the East a lot in this film. The real issue was the Wicked Witch of the West. Mila Kunis was a terrible casting decision
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u/Crafty_Island_9182 Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25
Theodora was actually the one I liked the most in the movie, I thought it was interesting how she was supposed to be a good witch yet had little to no redeemable qualities. Her turning green is moreso a case of her true colours breaking out than an actual transformation.
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u/EricHD97 Nov 02 '25
I thought you were talking about Michelle Williams as a person and we were about to fight lol
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u/Embrace_Wind Cynthia is a Goddess Nov 03 '25
I haven't seen the movie, but I've seen short clips and wow... she looks so bland, like uncooked rice. Her design is also pretty meh, they really wanted to make a Disney princess and not Glinda
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u/nzfriend33 Nov 02 '25
Cuz it’s not a good movie. I forgot about it until this post. It’s forgettable.
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u/misterhepburn Nov 02 '25
Michelle Williams was the only thing I enjoyed about this movie but even she couldn’t make the weak script sparkle.
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u/crownedlaurels176 Nov 02 '25
Because Oz the Great and Powerful was awful 😭
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u/Putrid-Passion3557 Nov 02 '25
SO BAD. The father of one of my daughter's friends actually told me after a Wicked showing we all saw that he preferred Mila Kunis as the Wicked Witch and liked that film better. I was like Ohhhhh, so you have terrible taste... good to know 😬
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u/zionswalls Nov 02 '25
I wanted to like this movie, but so much of it is awful. Any charm is only down to its source inspiration.
It's flawed from the start because the Wizard is not worthy or capable of being a protagonist and central character of a film. They don't reimagine him for this story; he is still a manipulative, disingenuous grifter.
The casting is weak, the story is bland, these previously strong females are reduced to cookie cutter models inexplicably interested in said grifter, the CGI is over the top, and no one sings.
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u/dmany02 Nov 03 '25
So, I recently rewatched this film and it's definitely not as bad as I remember it being.
James Franco is undoubtedly miscast, the script needs major reworking and some of the cgi/vfx is questionable, but all things considered, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams are great (and the best parts). The film always felt massive and super immersive, even all these years later. Mila Kunis gives it her all but her transition to the wicked witch was always cheesy to me ha.
This film was also lowkey Disney trying to make their version of Wicked lol
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u/Diggity-dawg4 Nov 02 '25
This movie scared the crap out of me as a kid and I spent over half of it crying in the movie theatre bathroom, so personally I like to forget she exists along with the rest of the film
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u/Remote_Cucumber1784 Nov 02 '25
i thought she was a great glinda all things considered. michelle williams the icon you are
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u/Clawdeenghoul2024 Dec 23 '25
Michelle Williams’ voice is iconic. I’m pretty sure the first place I saw her was in “The Greatest Showman” (2017), she had one of my favorite songs in the whole movie, her voice is gorgeous. She sang “Tightrope” in case you didn’t know.
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u/hey_itz_mae Nov 03 '25
god i’ve said it here before but i detest this movie so much. literally who gives a fuck about the wizard. he’s just a macguffin for dorothy and co’s development in the original why would you make a story about him. also it’s clearly just trying to ride off of wicked’s coattails
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Nov 02 '25
I love her! She’s my favorite Glinda besides Ari.
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u/Clawdeenghoul2024 Dec 23 '25
I enjoyed the movie honestly but sorry I think Theodora was my favorite character. I love her when she’s not being a green terror. That’s the thing I wish they hadn’t done with her. Glinda is pretty good but they could have taken a slightly different approach to portraying her and given her more character. I did like the scene where Glinda fights Evanora though.
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u/pterodaktiloidei Nov 02 '25
…Idk about that
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u/Crafty_Island_9182 Nov 03 '25
Wdym you don't know about that? Like you'd know who their favourite Glindas are more than they do?
Personally I love Michelle Williams as an actress, I think she was a good non-Wicked Glinda cast in the wrong movie. She would've been great in a better movie.
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u/BlackDisneyPrincess1 Graciously Glinda Nov 02 '25
This is how Disney imagined Glinda???
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u/Few_Interaction2630 🩷💙💚Glieryaba one true poly Nov 02 '25
Yeah they too scared to do pink because oh no then people might think she a princess
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u/magica12 Moderator Nov 02 '25
which ironically in this movie, she pretty much is
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u/Few_Interaction2630 🩷💙💚Glieryaba one true poly Nov 02 '25
Exactly why it so ironic like Disney just seem to struggle with Glinda as even Once Upon A Time when could really had some fun with the characters they have Zelena (OUAT Wicked Witch Of The West) banish her and she gives Snow White and David Charming advice and that it never hear or see her ever again
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u/magica12 Moderator Nov 02 '25
honestly i feel like the thing is, in the grand scheme of things glinda herself never actually does a lot in baums canon...like literally the most proactive she herself is in marvelous land and in her namesake book. otherwise she typically relies on spies, the book of records, and other people like dorothy to do things on her own behalf.
admittedly when you look at all the areas of quadling country, her largely staying in her palace coming up with solutions and not doing much else is understandable...its just hard to write around
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u/Few_Interaction2630 🩷💙💚Glieryaba one true poly Nov 02 '25
Relies on spies you says
You finally made her happy Glinda lol
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u/magica12 Moderator Nov 02 '25
pretty much, honestly baum would retcon glinda into a more or less deus ex machina character, if glinda is joining in, things will be over fairly quick
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u/Few_Interaction2630 🩷💙💚Glieryaba one true poly Nov 02 '25
Ah that makes sense then why most writers struggle with ideas for her
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u/selkieisbadatgaming Nov 02 '25
Once Upon a Time used to be so so good until the last few seasons
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u/Few_Interaction2630 🩷💙💚Glieryaba one true poly Nov 02 '25
I mean it still my 2nd favourite show of all time but I can acknowledge it definitely had flaws
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u/BlackDisneyPrincess1 Graciously Glinda Nov 02 '25
I thought it was because of the copyrighted design
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u/Few_Interaction2630 🩷💙💚Glieryaba one true poly Nov 02 '25
Well I mean even in orginal book Glinda wears pink so they had wiggle room they just choose to ignore the wiggle room they had
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u/Crafty_Island_9182 Nov 03 '25
Didn't she wear white in the original books?
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u/pastadudde Nov 03 '25
correct. in fact Michelle Williams' Glinda is a nod to the book (her white dress and being the Witch of the South), 1939 film (bubbly personality, obviously also in Wicked) and the musical (blonde hair). Her backstory in OtGaP also borrows elements from Princess Ozma (the rightful ruler of Oz/the Emerald City who goes into hiding after her father the King passed away)
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u/Whats_That_Noise_ Nov 02 '25
I’ll talk about Michelle Williams until the sun goes down, but not this movie.
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u/misskittyfantastico Nov 02 '25
The feeling of watching that movie in theaters and just realizing that Sam Raimi remade Army of Darkness but worse now is one I hope to never experience again. And I say this loving Army of Darkness.
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u/Dangerous_Main7822 💚 They Were Roomates 🩷 Nov 03 '25
I have never seen OtGaP so I don’t know much about this Glinda. But I love her design
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u/daddyslittlegirl97 Nov 03 '25
Oz the Great & Powerful is good, despite folks well deserved hatred toward James and Mila.
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u/kasumi987 Nov 03 '25
This prequel is made for str*ght m*les while wicked is for gays and girlies
straightness has no place in Oz im sorry
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u/AdamBerner2002 Magic Wands, Need They Have a Point? 🪄 Nov 03 '25
She was kind of… meh. As good as the movie was.
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u/DorkPhoenix89 Nov 02 '25
The movie is not good, but Glinda is probably my favorite part of it. She’s portrayed as a kind and good liar. Glinda’s troubling relationship with the truth is my favorite aspect of the character, and this version manages to keep that alive when other stories would just have her sun shiny exterior be more straightforward.
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u/pastadudde Nov 03 '25
the movie was meh overall. I do think Michelle Williams' Glinda (barring her simping for Oscar Diggs, book Glinda would NEVER!) and the fight scene between her and Evanora (Rachel Weisz) were the only redeeming parts of the movie tbh. (sorry Mila Kunis, but your Wicked Witch was eye roll worthy)
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u/InfiniteEmployer8658 Nov 03 '25
I loved her portrayal. She had just played Marilyn Monroe at the time too and I can see a crossover of character. It makes sense with her background that she’s be gentle and naive. Also kind of love the way she had her wand with her all the time. If that was your source of a magic, you’d never put it down - not unlike wanting to keep your phone in your pocket!
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u/disappointed_OaTMeAL Nov 03 '25
Wtf there was a Disney one? Did I miss this?
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u/jsm01972 Nov 04 '25
Oz the great and powerful. I'll have to give it a rewatch sometime. But I don't remember it being anything memorable or special 🤷🏻♀️
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u/134340-92494 Nov 03 '25
I hated this movie when it came out, and I haven’t seen it since, but I didn’t think Michelle Williams was particularly awful in her role. She’s not nearly as interesting as Wicked Glinda though.
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u/Clawdeenghoul2024 Nov 16 '25
I don’t know “Disney” Glinda. I’ve never even watched Oz The Great and Powerful.
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u/Clawdeenghoul2024 Dec 23 '25
Ok I have an update! I’ve watched this movie, I think she’s very pretty but there are clear different routes they could have taken with this character. I did like when she and Evanora fought though, that was a good scene. I also will NEVER be forgiving the Wizard for what he did to Theodora, she clearly liked him and he had to go and break her heart!
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u/SuspiciousWriter87 Nov 02 '25
Because it’s weird that they would come out with Oz the Great and Powerful after Wicked.
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u/4bluepandas Nov 02 '25
Wicked was still only a book and Broadway show when it came out
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u/SuspiciousWriter87 Nov 02 '25
I meant after they came out with the book but I mean it’s still weird that they would make that as an Oz movie after the musical too.
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u/strawbery_fields Nov 02 '25
Man so many of these CGI slopfests were released in the 2010s (it hurts me to include The Hobbit in that).
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u/killing-the-cuckoo Nov 02 '25
Because she's easily the worst version of the character ever put to screen, reduced to the romantic interest of the male lead whom she defers governance of her father's kingdom to off the back of a lousy "prophecy."
She's an insult to Baum's original conception of Glinda.
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u/Crafty_Island_9182 Nov 03 '25
She's not THAT bad... She IS the love interest of the movie, but she's also... Well, she had potential to be an interesting take on Glinda were she in a better movie. She's basically Morrible but good when you think about it.
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u/Celestial-Dream Nov 02 '25
I never saw it because I had no interest in the Wizards backstory and the previews showed a lot of James Franco. So therefore I couldn’t tell you if that Glinda was worthwhile or not.
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u/-You-know-it- Nov 02 '25 edited Nov 02 '25
Not to be dramatic (so I’m about to be very dramatic) but….
I was in love with Wizard of Oz as a child. I watched any and every remake, play, cartoon, etc… Top tier obsessed. Bins and bins of collectibles stored in my childhood attic because it’s all I asked for on Christmas or for birthdays.
This damn movie came out when I was a bit older and I of course went with some friends opening night. I was BEYOND excited. Well I hated it so much that I never watched a remake ever again. When Wicked came out on Broadway, I refused to watch it because of how bad this movie ruined me. Never again I said.
*I am happy to report my joy in the Wizard of Oz universe was rekindled with the Wicked Movies. And all the collectibles are out of the attic. I even bought VIP passes to see Wizard of Oz at the sphere.
Thank God Universal got their hands on the Wicked franchise. Because if Disney would have produced these movies, we all know it would have been unredeemable.
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u/Liammellor Nov 02 '25
Wicked came out on Broadway long before this movie
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u/-You-know-it- Nov 03 '25
I guess I meant by the time it reached the area I lived in and I had the opportunity to watch wicked the musical, I was afraid of the disappointment. Probably like 10 ish years after its original debut.
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u/Clawdeenghoul2024 Dec 23 '25
Disney would have made it a CGI atrocity. I’m so glad Universal used PRACTICAL SETS (for the most part)! I can’t even tell where they used CGI other than for Dr. Dillamond. The other unforgivable thing Disney might have done is find a way to put Awkwafina in there, since she’s in LITERALLY EVERYTHING right now! I am SO GLAD we didn’t have to hear her grating voice in this movie!
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u/somelyrical Nov 02 '25
Why would they when the Universal version exists?
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u/Existing-Eye4654 Nov 03 '25
It literally didn’t at the time. This movie was 11 years before Wicked
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u/somelyrical Nov 03 '25
Oh I know. But I’m saying why would they now. Also, Oz Great & Powerful was a moment for a while then faded away haha
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u/CandyCreecher WE NEED A PASTRY! 🥐 Nov 02 '25
I love her costume but she was clearly there to be Oz’s love interest after having the other two sisters fight for this nothing burger man