Eight production secrets from behind the scenes of Wicked: For Good

The highly anticipated film, Wicked: For Good, is now playing in theaters, bringing the popular story of the Witches of Oz to a spectacular close.

Beyond the music and beautiful costumes, the most memorable part of both Wicked films is their detailed and imaginative set design, including iconic locations like the Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City. A lot of careful planning went into making these sets feel real and magical.

Whether you’re planning to watch The Wizard of Oz or have already seen it, discover how the movie’s incredible sets were created!

1. Wicked: For Good features a more epic set

The stage design for Wicked was striking, particularly the depictions of Shiz University and The Emerald City. However, according to Crowley, the song ‘For Good’ features a scale that is even more grand and ambitious.

2. The introduction of three towers in The Emerald City

The first film only showed the Wizard’s Tower, but “For Good” introduces two additional towers to illustrate how quickly Madame Morrible and Glinda gained influence in Oz.

Crowley explained that the three towers in the story are significant because they each symbolize different narratives. He pointed out the Wizard’s Tower, which appeared in the first film during the ‘Defying Gravity’ scene, Madame Morrible’s tower representing propaganda, and Glinda’s tower as well.

3. Glinda’s apartment was one of the most complicated sets to build

While the first movie only briefly showed Glinda’s dorm room with Elphaba, the new production, ‘For Good,’ will reveal more of her living space. According to director Crowley, Glinda’s apartment was designed to serve multiple functions.

We had to create Glinda’s apartment, but it needed to show she was giving up a life of luxury – that was a key part of the story, so the design had to reflect that.

4. Dorothy’s farmhouse couldn’t be toyed with too much

Dorothy’s farmhouse is shown in For Good, but not much could be changed from the original.

Crowley described Dorothy’s house as a perfect example of classic American life, saying it felt like something out of an Andrew Wyeth painting. He emphasized its strong Midwestern character, explaining that it’s important to stay true to that visual style. The goal, he said, is to clearly and unmistakably show the famous flying house landing – it needs to be visually recognizable without a doubt.

5. Finding the right shade of yellow for the Yellow Brick Road

The Yellow Brick Road is one of the most famous movie sets ever created, and the filmmakers carefully chose the perfect yellow color to make it look real.

6. There were actually 10 million tulips planted

The film ‘Wicked’ used a stunning tulip field in Norfolk, England – near King’s Lynn – to create the magical land of Munchkinland. An incredible nine million tulips were in bloom for the movie!

Except, actually 10 million were planted!

Crowley explained that they had to secretly plant the yellow tulips far away, in a field three fields over from where they were working. They planted a total of 10 million tulips, with nine fields featuring different colors and one massive field dedicated entirely to yellow tulips.

7. Building Kiamo Ko

Kiamo Ko is a grand castle where Elphaba lives and ultimately confronts Dorothy in the original story.

Crowley explained their vision for the castle: “I really wanted it to float, so we explored how to achieve that within the style of Oz. We played with the classic fantasy idea of castles in the sky, asking ourselves what that would look like in our world. We ultimately landed on a design where the upper walls, or battlements, could be lifted and separated from the base, which was a really exciting solution.”

8. Elphaba’s lair was handwoven

In the movie ‘For Good,’ we see Elphaba’s home, a detailed and immersive forest called Winky Forest. A lot of effort went into designing this new location.

Crowley explained that when they reached Elphaba’s hiding place, they found the ancient, gnarled trees of the Ozian and Winky forests had grown around her, almost like a sculpted form holding her in place.

The set was surprisingly built from branches. Our grounds crew gathered a huge amount of pliable wood, and then a small team of just four or five people carefully wove and twisted it all together to create the entire structure!

2025-11-21 17:16