Wicked

Warning : this article incorporate mollycoddler for Wicked

One of the bighearted movies of 2024 wasWicked , a story place in the populace ofThe Wizard of Oz , based on the Broadway musical of the same name . The plastic film tells the storey of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good before they earn their title , and , judge byWicked ’s reviewsand box berth achiever , the adaptation has succeeded in nearly every aspect . As Hollywood has been storm up to the 2025 Oscars , more detail are coming out about the film ’s production , including some face of the set design .

WhileWicked ’s charactersare doubtless its heavy metier , another aspect of the film that has bring in a lot of praise was its placed excogitation . The film obviously contains a lot of CGI , but the sets themselves are mostly pragmatic , making the intimate world ofThe Wizard of Ozfeel much more grounded and lived in . NearWicked ’s ending , however , there is one effect in particular that seemed like it was entirely estimator - sire , but was actually fully hard-nosed , showing just how much body of work went into the film ’s production .

Wicked - Poster

The Wizard’s Giant Head In Oz Was Completely Practical In Wicked Instead Of CGI

The Head Was Fully Functional In Real Life

One very surprising hardheaded effect that makesWickedeven more telling of a motion-picture show is the elephantine wizard head thatCynthia Erivo ’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande ’s Glindafind when they first make it in the Emerald City . The head has 65 affect gore that produce its expressions , with 13 different input that determine what expressions the face was making . The animatronic weighed two tons and stand up over 15 feet marvelous , absolutelystanding out as one of the best declamatory - scale hard-nosed effects that a movie has done in recent years .

It had to have the great unwashed pulling by the curtain to allow it through , a fluid mechanics team move the nerve into locating , and a puppeteer to really head the aspect on the force .

The school principal also obviously sat about eight feet off the ground , which required the grammatical construction of a immense sleeve that would be able to go up it , and push it out from behind the curtain when it first appeared to the characters . In a TV by Architectural Digest , Wicked ’s production architect Nathan Crowley explained thatthere were multiple team dedicate to ensure the head worked , as it had to have mass pulling aside the curtain to allow it through , a fluid mechanics team move the face into position , and a puppeteer to in reality maneuver the expression on the result .

Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) observing something with great surprise in Wicked

Image via Universal Pictures

The Wizard’s Practical Giant Head Better Connects To His Backstory

The Head Is Something The Wizard Could Create

On top of just being a great impression , the jumbo head also serves to make the Wizard ’s story more credible and engaging . Jeff Goldblum ’s Wizard inWickedis meant to be an inventor from our man who does n’t possess actual magic , just a knack for applied science , so the fact that the head was physically make and functional make the Wizard ’s creations feel naturalistic , like something he could in reality accomplish . The Wizard is an interesting character either way of life , but insure that his clockwork creations are actual effects as fight to just CGI makes theWickedcharacter that much stronger .

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Cast

sinful adapts the Broadway musical into a two - part picture , following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba , carry with green cutis , and Glinda , a pop aristocrat , in the Land of Oz . As they navigate their contrasting paths , they germinate into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West .

Elphaba and Glinda visiting the Wizard in his Oz palace in Wicked.

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.

Headshot Of Cynthia Erivo

Headshot Of Ariana Grande In The 2024 Met Gala

Movies

Wicked