The new film Wicked: For Good has brought back a detail from L. Frank Baum's original novel that was omitted from the classic 1939 movie: Dorothy's slippers are silver, not ruby red.
Costume designer Paul Tazewell explained that in Baum's 1900 book, the slippers were described as silver. The ruby colour was introduced for the 1939 film because MGM wanted to showcase the Technicolor process. Tazewell chose to honour the original concept for the sequel.
Additionally, legal restrictions played a role. MGM, now owned by Warner Bros., holds the rights to the ruby slippers, while Universal Pictures distributes the Wicked films. Director Jon M. Chu told Variety that they had 'boundaries of what we could reference or not' and thus never use the ruby slippers.
The slippers are a key plot point, originally given to Elphaba's sister Nessarose and later gifted to Dorothy by Glinda. Elphaba's anger over losing the family heirloom drives her pursuit of Dorothy.
Wicked: For Good opened in theatres on Friday and is already breaking box office records, earning $151 million domestically and $228 million globally. The film stars Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, and others.
