I rewatched The Wizard of Oz after watching Wicked and my feelings about the characters have totally changed

When you purchase through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

SPOILERS for Wicked: Part 1 is ahead! I also won’t delve into what happens in Act 2 of the musical – so you’re safe from them here. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, you can see it in theaters now.

I grew up watching The Wizard of Oz; I played it on repeat as a little kid. However, I hadn’t revisited it until I saw it Evil in cinemas just before the premiere 2024 movie schedule. While I saw the musical on Broadway a few years ago for the first time, I remembered almost nothing of the action and can only sing along to the hits. So I went into its adaptation with an unfocused view of how the original film influenced it.

But after I left Evil and gave it a five star reviewI immediately saw again The Wizard of Oz. And I have to say that my feelings for the characters in the OG movie have totally changed.

When Glinda descends into Munchkinland, my feelings were very confused

To be honest, I didn’t think much of The Good Witch growing up The Wizard of Oz. She was just a pretty girl who appeared in her bubble at the beginning and end of Dorothy’s journey, and I never really connected her to The Wicked Witch.

Well, that’s completely changed now.

When Evil opened with “No One Mourns The Wicked” and Glinda going down into her bubble to talk to the Munchkins about the witch’s death, I couldn’t help but see how she was seemingly masking how she felt about it all. Then, by the end of the movie, it was clear that Glinda and Elphaba were best friends who broke up in a heartbreaking moment, and I couldn’t help but feel the weight of that when I watched the 1939 movie.

Overall, Glinda went from a wholesome, sweet and bubbly witch who put the Wicked Witch together perfectly, to a complex character who made a choice not to go with her friend, changing the course of both of their lives forever. Knowing that she didn’t go with Elphaba and stay with The Wizard and Madame Morrible, I desperately want to know what was going through her mind during her interactions with the Munchkins in both The Wizard of Oz and Evil, because her past with Elphaba certainly adds a new and tragic weight to them.

I was never a fan of the Wizard…now I can’t even empathize with him

On second thought, the wizard has never been this good. I mean he hid his identity and lied to an entire population about his power. But when I saw The Wizard of Oz as a child I never saw him as that bad.

However, Evil totally changed it. Not only is he hiding his identity and lack of power from his constituents, he’s also a big part of an evil plan. It was disgusting to see him and Madame Morrible getting excited about the monkeys growing wings and hearing them talk about turning them into spies. Plus, his desire to use Elphaba’s power for his own gain is disgusting!

When I first saw The Wizard of OzI guess I always saw this manager as a fish out of water trying to succeed. Obviously, there’s a lot more to it than that of the original film, but watching the new musical helped reinforce the leader’s true motivations and selfishness.

I have a lot more empathy for the Wicked Witch of the West

Now, I’m not even close to the first or last person to make this claim, because that’s the point Evil: I feel so much empathy for The Wicked Witch of the West. The show is meant to give you Elphaba’s origin story and teach you about how she became the Wicked Witch, and her tragic beginnings provide a lot of context for her later actions.

But even though it’s something I’ve always understood and supported when I saw it Evil on Broadway and in the cinema and watching The Wizard of Oz really hit differently. I hadn’t seen the original movie since I was a little kid, so I hadn’t had the opportunity to watch it with this new understanding of the Wicked Witch.

Knowing how much she cares for those around her – and especially those who are mistreated or different – as well as the abuse she’s endured her whole life, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the witch, while i watched The Wizard of Oz.

Plus I was thinking how maybe it was a performance of every move she made in the original movie. Maybe she’s pretending and putting on an act. Perhaps she is drowning in these evil expectations. I couldn’t help but ponder all that as I watched the Wicked Witch of the West torment Dorothy and co. because the Elphaba we met in the first part of Evil wouldn’t do it.

Also, between Wicked And The Wizard of Oz, I can’t stop thinking about the monkeys

While I’m on the subject of The Wicked Witch of the West acting in a way I couldn’t fathom after watching Evillet’s take a moment to talk about the monkeys, because they hammer home that point. Elphaba is adamant about helping the animals in the musical – she saves the lion with Fiyero, she is the only one who will help Dr. Dillamond, and she is horrified when she accidentally gives the monkeys wings.

So it was kind of jarring to see the wicked witch with the monkeys in the original movie. But this time I saw it more like they were serving her because she’s the only one who doesn’t treat them like servants or slaves (in Evil that is). Unbeknownst to Elphaba, The Wicked Witch’s monkeys act as minions.

However, after watching EvilI couldn’t help but think that the monkeys might have followed her for a reason, because the wizard treated them really, really badly.

Honestly, from the main characters to various supporting roles in the OG movie, this new musical movie really changed my perspective on them.

Now I can’t wait to see how release of Wicked: Part 2 affects my feelings about the original movie more! But while we wait for its release on 2025 movie scheduleyou can stream The Wizard of Oz with one Max subscription and prisoner Wicked: Part 1 in theaters now.