“If you want to be inside that world, you have to build it,” Wicked director Jon M. Chu. That quote is the heart of a new Wicked featurette that centers on building the world of Wicked.
“What’s it like to be in Oz, Chu asks as snippets of practical stages are flashed across the screen. But they are more than just sets, they are also practical props. Ones that you “can feel with your finger tips.” So based on Chu’s enthusastic response of making the world he is creating tangible, the new featurette shows how the director stays true to his word. As the camera zooms out, the viewer sees these massive set pieces that were built by a below the line crew.
The behind-the-scenes team are seen painting, digging, and constructing a Emerald City and Munckinland. “All of it adds to the things that you can imagine,” Elphaba Thropp actor Cynthia Erivo said.
“A lot of it is real, physical, tangible, sets,” adds Galinda Upland actor Ariana Grande. “It’s wonderful to be able to touch the space. And create this world in a way we’ve never seen it before.”
As if the daunting task of creating these worlds by hand and limiting the use of a blue screen wasn’t already challenging enough, the film also a horticulture element as Chu mentions they had to grow over nine million tulips for the film. The featurette then takes us to a shot of people running through a tulip field. In all honesty, it looks to good to be true. And yet, all of it is real.
They even built a train, which weighs up to 16 tons and takes up to two days to move.
As Chu notes, what we will see isn’t from the production design. Credit also goes to special effects and visual effects for making the “Wicked” film adaptation happen.
“It’s pretty mind blowing to think that it can go from drawings and ideas and a dream to siting here today,” Chu said.
“Wicked” also stars Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode (in her film debut), Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage in supporting roles.
Based on the bestselling novel by Gregory Maguire, Wicked is adapted for the screen by the stage production’s book writer Winnie Holzman and by legendary Grammy and Oscar® winning composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, “Wicked” opens in theaters on November 22, 2024.
Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, sees Elphaba, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart. meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
