Wicked: The book vs movie

If you’re anything like me, your fyp, local target, and theatres near you have been overtaken by a storm of pink and green. As fans of Wicked eagerly fill the seats of theaters around the country, there's a lot of buzz about how the movie compares to the novel. Both the book and the film are set in the world of The Wizard of Oz, but while they share some key elements, many fans have been appalled to learn the wonderful colorful story they viewed on the screen takes a more gruesome twist in its written counterpart. Here’s a quick breakdown of where they overlap and where they diverge. 

Plot Differences

While the core of Wicked remains the same—a retelling of the Wizard of Oz story from the witches' perspectives—the novel delves into political and social issues, exploring themes like power, rebellion, and moral ambiguity. The movie simplifies some of these scenes, focusing more on action and spectacle than the philosophical depth of the book. While the move still took on a pretty strong political stance and was easily readable as having more than meets the eye, the time limit and visual medium prevented it from going into more depth about what exactly it was trying to convey, leaving more to interpretation. 

The main difference a lot of people have picked up on is that the book has a darker, more mature tone. There’s a lot more graphic or unsettling content and it goes into much more depth addressing issues like discrimination, ethics, and the consequences of power. The movie keeps things mostly kid-friendly having a more whimsical vibe, with catchy songs and vibrant visuals. 

Ultimately, while the Wicked movie offers a visually stunning and more mainstream version of the story, fans of the book will find that the deeper layers of the novel—its exploration of character, morality, and society—are not fully captured within the film. Long story short, take your kids to Wicked, maybeee don’t let them read the book until they’re a little older.