All the Wizard of Oz Easter Eggs We Spotted in Wicked: For Good

Wicked: For Good, which encompasses the second act of the Wicked stage musical, is the point in the show where the world created by Gregory Maguire, Winnie Holzman, and Stephen Schwartz collides with the universe envisioned by L. Frank Baum, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolfe, Yip Harburg, and Harold Arlen in The Wizard of Oz.

Naturally, Jon M. Chu’s film has tons of allusions and Easter Eggs to the musical’s iconic predecessor. Here are 10 of our favorites.

Don’t read this unless you’ve seen the movie.

We’re going to insert a lovely photo from the film, just to make sure that you actually want to read on. Otherwise, turn back now.

Ok, we warned you!

1. In the universe of Wicked: For Good, Fiyero has joined the Wizard’s guard, which which is a military group tasked with tracking down Elphaba. Their name is the Gale Force, a direct reference to Dorothy Gale, who is the character that flies into the world of Oz in The Wizard of Oz. 

2. At the end of “Thank Goodness,” Elphaba appears in the sky and spells out the words “Your Wizard Lies” in the clouds above. This is a direct reference to the Wizard of Oz film, where the Wicked Witch spells out the words “Surrender Dorothy” in the clouds.

3.. Speaking of clouds, the profiles of both Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch) and Clara Blandick (Aunty Em) from The Wizard of Oz are said to pop up as clouds throughout the film.

4. Elphaba’s new number, where animals try to escape through a tunnel below the Yellow Brick Road, is titled “No Place Like Home,” an obvious reference to the famous line in The Wizard of Oz. Among the animals the animals in this scene? A cowardly lion (voiced by Colman Domingo), bearing a striking resemblance to the MGM Lion at the start of the 1939 classic.

5. After finding out about Glinda’s engagement, Boq holds a pink, heart-shaped image on a piece of paper close to his chest. It’s similar to the one that the Wizard gives to the Tin Man. What a coincidence…

6. When Elphaba leaves the Thropp mansion, she says a version of another famous line: “I’m off to see the Wizard.”

7. While we never see Dorothy’s face (intentional), we see her wearing silver slippers — a reference to the Baum story, where the slippers were not ruby red at all. (Another costuming detail: Nessarose wears the striped stockings that you see curl up after Dorothy’s house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East).

8. During the catfight scene, Glinda mocks Elphaba’s laugh — the iconic cackle that Margaret Hamilton scared countless of unsuspecting 1930s children with.

9. When the Wizard flies back to Kansas, you can see Dorothy appealing to him to take her with him. Naturally, he flies away faster than she can get her little dog in check.

10. Isn’t it funny that, in The Wizard of Oz, the Wizard gives the Scarecrow a diploma? Because Fiyero kept being kicked out or running away from school, so of course he doesn’t have one! Life is painless for the brainless, after all.