The Dark Herald (sort of) Recommends: Wicked (PART I)
I can’t get across to my children what a Television Event used to be like.
What it was in tangible terms is obvious, a marketing ploy and a very successful one. A captive audience of 70 million Americans is something a contemporary ad man doesn’t even dare dream of today, but that was what you’d have back then.
If there was a Television Event being broadcast on one of the networks the other two just gave up for that night. They were annual, some were just for kids like the Rankin Bass Christmas shows but a few were for the whole family like Cecil B DeMille’s The Ten Commandments or The Wizard of Oz.
There would be no arguments over what the family would be watching on its one TV that night. Little kids would be instructed to put on their PJs because they would probably fall asleep before it was over. Dad would make popcorn, because this is what Dads would do on those nights, and it was a lot more involved before microwave popcorn came along.
You’d turn on the TV ahead of time so the tubes could warm up (Glob I’m ancient), you prayed the interference wouldn’t be bad that night, then you’d catch one or two commercials before the bongo drums would roll and the announcer would declare. “Tonight on CBS (or NBC) a special television event for the entire family, Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s The Wizard of Oz” and then you’d hear a few notes of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on a violin.”
It was something that the whole country did at the same time. It was an undeniable common touchstone. We did it every year, even though we all knew every minute of the movie. When Judy Garland died in 1969 at the age of 47 it was a heartbreaker for the nation. 20,000 people lined up to pay their respects at her visitation in Manhattan.
That’s how big the movie became because of television.
Wicked is a movie based on a play, based on a book, based on that movie (which was incidentally based on another book).
In all truth, the 1938 movie had a much greater cultural impact than the book. It also makes for some very tortuous reading when it comes to copyright protection. Mostly because the movie wasn’t all that faithful to the book, consequently a lot of that movie is under copyright protection even though the book has been in Public Domain for decades.
When Disney made Return to Oz in 1985, they avoided most legal hassles by sticking closely with The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz. The thing is in the book, Dorthy’s slippers were silver (L. Frank Baum was mostly writing a satire about 1890s politics). However, by the 1980s, the Ruby Slippers were so iconic Disney did the unthinkable and paid another studio to clear the rights (This. Never. Happens. At. Disney.). That is how big a deal the 1938 movie is.
The Wicked Witch of the West was never given a name in the book, consequently, she’s been given a plethora of different names in derivative works. Each is under its own copyright protection.
The Wizard of Oz was the first live-action movie filmed in Technicolor, hence the use of some very distinct colors. Baum didn’t make the witch green in the book, Truthfully the Wizard of Oz was production hell for all involved. Margaret Hamilton was laid up for six weeks after getting severe burns during the Witch’s departure from Munchkinland and Buddy Ebson damn near died from Aluminum dust poisoning and had to be replaced at the last minute.
Nonetheless, if you are Generation X and older you know how big a deal The Wizard of Oz was.
Wicked by Gregory Maguire is a revisionist derivative of the 1938 film. I’m not going into it because I couldn’t finish the book except to say it was utter drek and loaded with political cant. Maguire claimed that he was investigating the nature of evil and no one is really evil. Except of course for the Wizard who was seriously evil in the book. It was garbage but it sold well.
The 2003 musical was a lot easier to get through with some fairly welcome changes from the book. The show nearly folded and was only saved by a heroic marketing campaign that ignored the traditional Broadway market in favor of high school girls.
And this frankly remains the Wicked’s market.
I’m not going into plot because if you are interested at all then you already know it. The show is pretty decent and has been running off and on for twenty years now. What everyone really wanted was to see the original with Kirsten Chenoweth and Edina Menzel. The problem apparently was the rights. Warner Brothers had inherited the rights to the 1938 movie from Turner Broadcasting. However, they didn’t have the rights to the play.
And the truth is The Wizard of Oz has faded from its former relevance as an annual family event. Wicked is now the more valuable IP. Maguire sold his rights to ABC in 2009 for a non-musical version of Wicked that hopelessly muddied the waters since Disney was now involved. It appears the rights were transferred to Universal as part of the payout package for Hulu (it’s a rumor but it fits the facts).
I’ve avoided talking about the film itself long enough.
It’s good all around. The set design is gorgeous, it was shot beautifully. Arianna Grande who hasn’t acted since she was Victorious devoured the scenery as Glinda. She is truthfully one of the few singers of her generation whose range can match Kristen Chenoweth’s. There is the usual problem of Glinda over shadowing Elphaba who is supposed to be the star of the show.
The sets are very Oz like, so they got that right. It’s coded Broadway ghey, no getting around that although Elphaba and Glinda’s relationship while close is very platonic.
Cynthia Erivo, despite her obnoxiousness in the run-up, delivers as Elphaba.
Jeff Goldblum brought a needed human touch to the Wizard. Maguire’s caricature has repeatedly been changed depending on the actor playing him. I was expecting Goldblum’s iteration to be Trump but I kept getting vibes of the real Walt Disney. He cares about the People but individual persons tend to get in the way of his grand plans for the People. Elphaba will serve his purposes one way or another.
You should know however that this is a two-parter. Something Universal has not put into any of its marketing. The credits roll shortly after Defying Gravity.*
It’s an excellent musical.
And it absolutely was not for me.
If you’re a girl and you’re wondering if they did it justice. You’re good, they did. Enjoy singing Popular along with the movie.
If you’re a man and you’re being dragged to it, don’t be grumpy and your girl will likely be feeling very accommodating later that night. She knows she owes you.
The Dark Herald Recommends with Confidence (4/5).
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*I’ll go into extreme detail on everything wrong with No Good Deed Goes Unpunished when the sequel comes out.
