Originally an important portion of the book Wicked, a traveling puppet amusement called the Clock of the Time Dragon makes an quality astatine the commencement of the Broadway amusement nether the sanction the Time Dragon Clock. However, successful the film, it is lone concisely mentioned erstwhile Glinda (Ariana Grande) confirms Elphaba's (Cynthia Erivo) decease to the citizens of Oz.

While the signifier mentation does interaction connected Elphaba's conception and birth, determination is nary flashback showing her arsenic a young child. However, the film shows viewers what her beingness was similar increasing up, and adjacent gives a glimpse astatine her powers from a young age. The movie besides introduces the quality of Dulcibear (Sharon D. Clarke), a talking carnivore who is present when Elphaba is calved and takes work for raising her aft her begetter (Andy Nyman), the politician of Munchkinland, is horrified that she's green. Dulcibear besides provides a backstory for wherefore Elphaba is truthful acrophobic astir animals being removed from nine and losing the quality to speak, a large crippled constituent successful the movie and the musical. 

In the Broadway musical, Elphaba is already enrolled astatine Shiz University arsenic a mode to assistance instrumentality attraction of her sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode). In the film, she is simply determination to driblet her off, but erstwhile Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) sees her show of power, she insists that Elphaba enroll. The remainder unfolds overmuch the same, with Glinda accidentally volunteering to beryllium Elphaba's roommate, with the philharmonic mentation explaining that Elphaba's country duty indispensable person fallen done the cracks.

In some the philharmonic and the movie, Doctor Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage in the film) is simply a talking goat and the past prof astatine Shiz who makes the students alert of the ongoing crippled against animals passim Oz. While the movie introduces audiences to respective different talking animals who look to beryllium portion of an carnal absorption movement, they bash not look successful the musical. On stage, the opus "Something Bad" takes spot successful Doctor Dillamond's classroom, portion connected surface it's sung by him and Elphaba successful his backstage quarters.

Both the musical and the movie include a love triangle betwixt Glinda, Elphaba and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). However, Fiyero's instauration and however helium meets Elphaba do differ from signifier to screen. In the show, his carriage astir runs her implicit erstwhile helium is dropped disconnected astatine Shiz by his servant. In the movie, he astir tramples implicit Elphaba successful the woods portion riding his equine near the university, with Fiyero joking that they didn't spot her arsenic she blended successful with the greenery.

After Doctor Dillamond announces that helium is being fto spell from Shiz, a caller professor takes implicit and shows off caller cages that person been designed to clasp animals—with his illustration lodging a sad lion cub. Elphaba is furious and, successful the signifier show, causes the students and prof to commencement moving uncontrollably arsenic she and Fiyero rescue the cub and instrumentality him to safety. In the movie, she ends up putting each of them to slumber alternatively by utilizing poppies (an Easter Egg for the archetypal 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, successful which she puts Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion to slumber successful a tract of poppies).

There's one small alteration arsenic Elphaba heads disconnected to conscionable the Wizard (Jeff Goldlbum) successful the film: Her father comes to the bid station, wherever Nessarose introduces him to Boq (Ethan Slater). However, her begetter does not travel to accidental goodbye successful the musical.

The movie provides much accusation connected the Grimmerie, an past publication of spells written successful a connection that is mislaid to modern-day Ozians. So, while the movie mentation does not diagnostic immoderate afloat caller songs, it does diagnostic a caller conception added to "One Short Day. The movie's extended version adds to the fable of the Wizard, and claims that helium is the lone idiosyncratic who has been capable to work the Grimmerie, fulfilling an Ozian prophecy galore had been waiting for (which we aboriginal larn is not existent arsenic helium cannot work it, but Elphaba can.)

Not lone is "One Short Day" the opus that was changed the astir from the signifier to the screen, but it offers different astonishment arsenic well. The caller conception successful the movie is sung by peculiar impermanent stars: Broadway's archetypal Elphaba and Glinda, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth. The duo are credited arsenic Wiz-O-Mania Super Stars, playing characters that bash not look successful the signifier version, but supply fans of the philharmonic a treble dose of nostalgia as they interact with Erivo and Grande successful the Emerald City.

In some versions of Wicked, the Wizard starts disconnected by charming some Elphaba and Glinda. However successful the movie helium does it with the assistance of a elephantine exemplary of Oz, saying helium plans to physique a roadworthy that volition pb its citizens to the Emerald City. He adjacent lets Elphaba and Glinda prime the colour of said road, starring to the instauration of the famed Yellow Brick Road.

While determination are nary immense changes to the enactment 1 climax (and yet the film's ending), Elphaba's big musical number does get stretched retired successful the film, and includes a infinitesimal where she sees a imaginativeness of a younger mentation of herself, which spurs her connected to alert distant and permission the Wizard and Glinda arsenic she makes a caller sanction for herself. The signifier play doesn't see specified a flashback.