This is the first of my abbreviated reviews of Oscar-nominated films for 2025. After several weeks of talking about Broadway musicals, fantasy, and fairy tales, we finally get around to discussing “Wicked.”

Hello, this is Chris Young. Welcome to Episode 85 of Contemplating Life Oscar Edition.

For several weeks now, we’ve been building up to my discussion of the Oscar-nominated Best Picture “Wicked.” Note that when I began this series, the title of that film was “Wicked: Part 1,” but now it has been shortened to just “Wicked.” The second half of the adaptation of the Broadway musical is now called “Wicked: For Good” and is scheduled for release in November of this year.

This year, I do not have time to edit in trailers, movie clips, etc., into the YouTube version of the podcast. So be sure to check out the links in the description for articles and videos related to this year’s films.

As I mentioned in the previous episode, this is the story of Elphaba, a.k.a. the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Cynthia Erivo, and her school friendship with Galinda, a.k.a. the Good Witch of the North, played by Arianna Grande. It is based on the hit Broadway musical that has been running since 2003. It is, in turn, based on the Frank Maguire novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

The film opens with a shot of the Wicked Witch’s iconic pointed black hat sitting atop a puddle of water surrounded by dying sparks. Obviously, this is just seconds after Dorothy has doused her with a bucket of water, causing her to melt. We then go to Munchkin Land, where Glinda arrives in her floating bubble to confirm that, yes, indeed, the Wicked Witch is dead. There is a song called “Nobody Mourns the Wicked,” which is a stand-in for “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead.” The musical creators were prohibited from using anything from the original 1939 “Wizard of Oz.”

Someone asks Glinda if she knew the Wicked Witch when she was younger. We then begin a flashback that gives us the complete story. It quickly becomes apparent that this is not a children’s story. We hear that Elphaba’s mother had an affair with a stranger. The stranger gave her some sort of green liquid, so when Elphaba was born, she had green skin. Not knowing what to expect from the story, I was surprised it started with a somewhat adult theme.

We later learn that Elphaba has a sister who is in a wheelchair. Her name is Nessarose. She is portrayed by Marissa Bode, who in real life had a spinal cord injury at age 11 in a car accident and uses a wheelchair.

We are told that Nessarose’s condition is because her mother took some sort of herbal remedy to try to prevent her second child from turning out green. There is a scene depicting Nessarose and Elphaba as young girls, both being teased for being different. When Elphaba gets angry, her magical abilities start to manifest themselves. Small rocks begin hovering off the ground as her temper flares.

We fast-forward to the girls going off to college. Galinda is a rich, spoiled brat who thinks everything revolves around her. Nessarose is there to study, but Elphaba is not enrolled. She is simply there to help her disabled sister settle in.

Someone tries to push Nessarose’s wheelchair to help her get to her dorm room, but she insists that she’s not helpless and can get there herself. When they don’t listen to her, Elphaba becomes angry and unleashes magic, which flings several objects into the air including her sister in the wheelchair. The disabled actress who plays the part did her own stunt work for the scene. Behind-the-scenes videos reveal multiple wires were attached to the wheelchair, causing it to fly. In an interview, she explained she was quite proud that she had been allowed to do this stunt on her own. This further reinforces the concept that neither she nor her character always needs special help.

As you might guess, at this point, I was totally hooked. The realistic depiction of an independent disabled woman was so spot on that it left my jaw hanging open. Elphaba’s defense of her sister was not because Nessarose needed help. On the contrary, she defended the idea that her sister was capable and independent. I was shocked and amazed that an adult fairy tale perfectly depicted this disabled character.

As you know from our previous discussions, I identified with Cinderella daydreaming in her own little corner in her own little chair. We were barely 5 minutes into the film, and “Wicked” says to me, “You think Cinderella is something special for a disabled kid. Hold my beer while I show you something you’ve never seen in a fairy tale.”

When Elphaba accidentally displays her magic powers, it catches the attention of Madam Morrible, who teaches magic at Shiz University. Morrible is played by Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.

Madame Morrible immediately insists that Elphaba enter the University. Through a series of misunderstandings, she ends up roommates with the overprivileged Galinda, who was promised a private dorm room.

Along the way, we are introduced to a couple of other characters. Fiyero is a bit of an airhead frat boy who is only there to party. Also, we meet Bok who is from Munchkin Land. By the way, in this version of Oz, munchkins are a bit short but are not portrayed by little people. Elphaba and Nessarose’s father is the mayor of Munchkin Land.

Both Elphaba and Nessarose are treated poorly because they are so different. Bok had a crush on Galinda, and she suggested that he befriend Nessarose as a favor to her. Bok is happy to oblige because he thinks it will gain him favor with Galinda. Nessarose is ecstatic that a boy would show interest in her. Neither she nor Bok understand how they are being manipulated. Bok is blinded to the realization that he has been heartless towards Nessarose.

Eventually, Galinda begins to feel sympathy for her bizarre roommate, Elphaba, after initially despising her. They begin to form a strange bond.

Some of the teachers at Shiz University are talking animals, most notably Dr. Dillamond, voiced by Peter Dinklage. We discover a conspiracy against talking animals that is trying to force them to shut up. Eventually, Dr. Dillamond is arrested and hauled away in a cage, causing him to lose the ability to speak. He was replaced by another teacher who wanted to experiment on animals, specifically a lion cub. This outrages Elphaba and her magic manifests itself again, knocking out everyone in the classroom. Except for her, Fiyero, and the cub. Remember that. It turns out to be significant later. They take the cub out into the woods to release him. They do so by hopping on bicycles that are identical to the one ridden by Miss Gulch in the original Wizard of Oz when she kidnaps Toto. Seeing Elphaba riding that bicycle with an animal in the basket sent me into hysterical laughter. My sister Carol immediately began singing Miss Gulch’s theme song, “Dat da dat da da da…” I had to pause the movie until we stopped laughing. It was just too perfect an Easter egg.

Dr. Dillamond always had trouble pronouncing Galinda’s name using his goat voice. After he is arrested, Galinda announces she will henceforth be known as Glinda, which is how Dr. D pronounced it.

Eventually, Elphaba gets an invitation to go to the Emerald City and meet the wizard, who is anxious to mentor her and her magical abilities. At the last minute, she invites Glenda to join her. Upon arrival, we get the back story on the wizard delivered in a dramatic presentation featuring cameo appearances by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. They originated the roles of Glenda and Elphaba on Broadway. I’m certain their appearance delighted many fans of the original musical.

The entire Emerald City experience contains multiple other Easter Eggs to the original film.

Finally, we meet the wizard, who is magnificently portrayed by Jeff Goldblum. Without spoiling too much, we can tell you that the wizard isn’t who we think he is. Elphaba sees through him, casts a spell that allows her to fly on a broom, and she escapes singing the iconic song “Defying Gravity.” Madam Morrible gets on a PA system announcing to the entire Emerald City that Elphaba is a Wicked Witch, and the film promptly ends.

It may seem like I’ve spoiled the entire movie, but trust me, there are plenty of details I’ve left out. At the end of this episode, I will have some serious spoilers where I reveal things I figured out about the plot along the way and things that I’ve heard will be in the second film based on what happens in the musical.

It saddened me when I realized that my disabled hero in the film, Nessarose, is the one who gets a house dropped on her by Dorothy in the original story. We get a brief glimpse of ruby slippers however in this story, Nessarose wears silver slippers, which is more consistent with the original L. Frank Baum story.

I can tell you now, without any spoilers to the movie, that the book was much more adult than the musical. Author Gregory Maguire dives deeply into many adult topics, including speculation that the Wicked Which is actually a transsexual. He creates multiple religions and political parties in which he explores various issues. There is even a character who has two penises and has an affair with a mother and a daughter. Fortunately neither the musical nor the film go that far. Except for the story that Elphaba’s mother had an extramarital affair, the rest of the story could be considered kid-friendly. The film is rated PG.

There is a musical Easter Egg in that the first seven notes of “Over the Rainbow” are hidden in a couple of the songs from the musical. It is in the “Unlimited” motif. The notes are the same, but the rhythm and harmony surrounding them are different. Once you copy eight notes of a melody, you are at risk for copyright infringement, so composer Stephen Schwartz stops at seven notes. See the video linked in the description where he explains this.

My sister and I, who are huge fans of the original Wizard of Oz, thoroughly enjoyed the film, and we plan to watch it again sometime soon. The combination of the phenomenally spot-on treatment of the disabled characters and the amazing Easter eggs referring to the 1939 film made it a thoroughly enjoyable experience for both of us. We anxiously await the second part. Again, at the end of this podcast, I will have huge spoilers for the second part.

In addition to the Best Picture Oscar nomination, it was also nominated for Musical Score, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound, Visual Effects, Production Design, and Costume Design All of which are very much deserved. I don’t have any opinion about the nomination for Film Editing.

Cynthia Erivo and Arianna Grande are nominated for Lead Actress and Supporting Actress, respectively, and are much deserved. The film won the Golden Globe for Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. IMDb lists 304 nominations and 99 wins.

Although Jeff Goldblum did not receive a supporting actor nomination, I thought he was perfectly cast in the role and did a wonderful job.

It has over $728,000,000 in worldwide box office on an estimated budget of $150,000,000. It may still be showing in some theaters. It is available for purchase on digital download on many platforms and will be coming to the Peacock in late March.

A one-hour behind-the-scenes documentary, “Defying Gravity: The Curtain Rises on Wicked,” aired on NBC and is currently streaming on Peacock. I highly recommend it. You will be amazed at the detail that went into constructing the practical sets for the film. There is very little CGI involved.

Stay tuned after my typical closing for spoilers about what we can expect in the sequel currently scheduled for November 2025.

So, as always… if you find this podcast educational, entertaining, enlightening, or even inspiring, consider sponsoring me on Patreon for just $5 per month. You will get early access to the podcast and other exclusive content. Although I have some financial struggles, I’m not really in this for money. Still, every little bit helps.

As always, my deepest thanks to my financial supporters. Your support means more to me than words can express.

Even if you cannot provide financial support please, please, please post the links and share this podcast on social media so that I can grow my audience. I just want more people to be able to hear my stories.

All of my back episodes are available, and I encourage you to check them out if you’re new to this podcast. If you have any comments, questions, or other feedback, please feel free to comment on any of the platforms where you found this podcast.

I will see you next time as we continue contemplating life. Until then, fly safe.

Okay, do not proceed unless you want the plot of Part 2 spoiled.

It didn’t take me long to conclude that the wizard was a mysterious stranger who had an affair with Elphaba’s mother and drugged her with the magical green liquid. I also correctly speculated that the small lion cub rescued by Elphaba and Fiyero turns out to be the Cowardly Lion.

I did not predict that Fiyero would become the Scarecrow and Bok would become the Tin Man. That was a surprise.

Madame Morrible’s limited magical powers are strongest in her ability to control the weather. She is responsible for conjuring up the tornado that brings Dorothy to Oz. Therefore, she is responsible for the death of Nessarose.

One more chance to stop this podcast before I reveal the biggest spoiler of all.

You were warned.

I’m also proud to say I guessed this one.

Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, did not die when Dorothy threw the bucket of water on her. She faked her own death.

I knew they could not spend the entire story trying to redeem Elphaba as simply a misunderstood and tortured soul who was branded as wicked when she really wasn’t and then ended up killing her.

I can’t wait to see part 2. Until then, fly safe, everyone. Or should I say, Defy Gravity.