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Four different witches occupy the world of The Wizard of Oz, the film that ultimately inspired Wicked. The new movie in the franchise tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West before she earned her title, when she was a young woman named Elphaba who becomes unlikely friends with a woman named Glinda. Wicked is adapted from the stage musical of the same name, bringing the beloved story to life on the big screen for the first time, and with a brand-new, star-studded cast, Wicked seems set to once again bring The Wizard of Oz to the forefront of public consciousness for the foreseeable future.
Wicked has characters from the original The Wizard of Oz, but their roles are mostly expanded upon when compared to the original. However, one thing that has remained consistent is that there are four witches; the Good Witch of the North, the Good Witch of the South, the Wicked Witch of the East, and the Wicked Witch of the West. Their appearances throughout the series have been very different for the most part, but there have always been four witches in the land of Oz.
1 Glinda (The Good Witch of the North)
A True Hero Most Of The Time
In The Wizard of Oz franchise, Glinda the Good has been a staple character in every iteration, from the original book to Wicked, which introduces her relationship with Elphaba. However, in the original 1900 book, Glinda is actually the Good Witch of the South, and the Good Witch of the North is an entirely different character. The Good Witch of the North is unnamed past her title, and she is the one who gives Dorothy the slippers, which in the novel are silver, as opposed to the classic ruby red of the movie.
The Wizard of Oz | Billie Burke |
The Wiz | Lena Horne |
Wicked (Broadway Musical) | Kristin Chenoweth |
Oz the Great and Powerful | Michelle Williams |
Wicked (Film) | Ariana Grande |
Glinda is only seen at the end of the book, when she helps Dorothy escape back to her home, and thus has a much reduced role. The film obviously changes that, making Glinda the only good witch that Dorothy encounters, who gives her the slippers and helps her out at the end of the film. Since this change in the film, Glinda's position as the Good Witch of the North has been the most widely known and adapted interpretation of the character, and the previous North Witch tends to be cut out completely.
When it comes to the more recent adaptations, Glinda has been explored in much more detail and complexity than she was in the first film and book. The original Broadway Wicked and Ariana Grande's interpretation of Glinda show off her previously unknown relationship with the Wicked Witch of the West, explaining how both of them got to their positions, and how their relationship changes by the time Dorothy rolls around. She is given much more depth as a character, with layers of good and bad that the originals weren't able to delve into.
The 2024 Wicked film is based off of the 2003 Broadway musical of the same name, which itself is loosely adapted from the 1995 book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, which is based off of the original 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz book and subsequent film.
Disney's 2013 prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful does a similar thing as Wicked, telling Glinda's story before the originals, to varying degrees of success. She falls victim to being more of a simple love interest for the main character, and while her personality is explored more than it was originally, she still doesn't get all that much time to shine when compared to Wicked.
2 The Wicked Witch of the West
Might Be The Big Villain, Might Not
The Wicked Witch of the West is certainly the most well-known witch from The Wizard of Oz series, being the main antagonist in both the original book and movie, as well as being the protagonist of Wicked. Her motives and origin have changed as we've seen deeper explorations of her character, but in the first book, she is essentially just the evil witch that Dorothy must defeat in order to get home. She has no real depth of character or personality, simply existing to be an obstacle that Dorothy has to overcome.
The Wizard of Oz | Margaret Hamilton |
The Wiz | Mabel King |
Wicked (Broadway Musical) | Idina Menzel |
Oz the Great and Powerful | Mila Kunis |
Wicked (Film) | Cynthia Erivo |
The 1939 The Wizard of Oz movie keeps her character very much the same, though interestingly, the Wicked Witch's iconic green skin was a creation of the film's, not from the original source material. She does have slightly more depth, implied through the wonderful performance by Margaret Hamilton, showcasing a Wicked Witch that does have more depth to her that may be unexplored, even though the movie itself doesn't do much to explore it.
Wicked is where the character began to really get interesting, giving the Witch the name Elphaba, and explaining her motivation outside simply being evil. She became much more tragic, someone forced to become the Wicked Witch due to circumstances outside of her control, and is now one of the most beloved characters from The Wizard of Oz franchise. While a villain who is simply evil can be a great addition to a film, Elphaba's story is excellent in Wicked, despite the confusing connection to the original, and her new character recontextualizes the entire series.
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The Wicked Witch of the West also appears in Oz the Great and Powerful as Theodora, a kindhearted young witch who falls in love with Oscar, and is eventually turned evil by her sister. It does add a new layer to her character, as she becomes evil against her will, though the character isn't able to reach the same heights as Wicked. In The Wiz, the 1978 urban fantasy remake, the witch is called Evillene, and is essentially the same character from the original film, an evil despot who needs to be defeated because of how wicked she is.
3 The Wicked Witch of the East
Mostly Created To Be Killed By A House
The Wicked Witch of the East, while having never been as important as the previous two, still serves a very important role in most adaptations. Originally, the Wicked Witch of the East's one and only purpose was to be crushed by Dorothy's house at the start of the book and leave her slippers for her to get. Obviously, there isn't much there to work with character-wise, which is reflected in that she is never really brought up again.
In the original film, she is left very much the same, just a plot element to be squished by a giant house as part of the inciting incident, despite some theories about the East Witch and Dorothy. There is a little more depth to be explored, however, that mostly comes through the Wicked Witch of the West, who, in the book, doesn't seem to care about her sister's death, but in the film shows at least some amount of grief at what happened. It still isn't much, but there is a little more character there.
Wicked clearly made it a point to turn as many one-note characters from the originals as possible into full-fledged people, and it has been a very significant success at that.
However, the Wicked Witch of the east has been greatly expanded upon in projects since, becoming much more of an actual character. In Wicked, she is Elphaba's physically disabled sister Nessarose, who eventually becomes the Wicked Witch after the man she loves is turned into the classic Wizard of Oz character, the Tin Man. Wicked clearly made it a point to turn as many one-note characters from the originals as possible into full-fledged people, and it has been a very significant success at that.
The Wicked Witch of the East takes a much more prominent role as the central antagonist in Oz the Great and Powerful, called Evanora. She takes more from the original films, being mostly evil just for the sake of being evil, without much in the way of the more sympathetic qualities the character has in Wicked. However, her much more prominent presence in the film allows her character to feel much more developed, regardless of how well-written or interesting she actually is.
4 The Good Witch of the South
Unfortunately Unused Most Of The Time
The Good Witch of the South is definitely the least-utilized witch in The Wizard of Oz franchise, having no real major appearances in the series. As stated above, Glinda used to be the Good Witch of the South in the original book, where her role was relegated to simply showing up at the end to help Dorothy finally return home. She's not a terrible character or anything, but she also doesn't have all that much to do herself.
However, since the original The Wizard of Oz in 1939, Glinda has been much more widely known as the Good Witch of the North, leaving the Good Witch of the South to become unnamed. Assuming that the North Witch from the book then took the position of the South Witch in the film, she would still be very underdeveloped, simply a good witch who presumably did good things. Again, the Good Witch of the North from the book did little, and in the film her role was taken over completely by Glinda, leaving nothing left of her character.
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The Wiz brings Glinda back to the position of the Good Witch of the South, but most other projects go off the film's version of the character, accomplishing much the same as she did in the original book story, which is to say not a huge amount. She isn't mentioned in Oz the Great and Powerful, and makes no appearance in Wicked either, leaving the character, if she even canonically exists in these newer stories, completely sidelined.
While her not really being a character anymore is a shame, it is understandable, as most projects are trying to make time for the characters that people already know and love, which obviously mostly takes the form of Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West, and making the Wicked Witch of the East a more prominent character in Oz the Great and Powerful and Wicked is admirable. Unfortunately, with three witches already taking up prominent roles in these projects, adding a fourth who will be distinct from the others doesn't seem to be in the cards.
Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Director Jon M. Chu
Release Date November 22, 2024
Distributor(s) Universal Pictures
English (US) ·