Wicked dives into the personal life of The Wizard of Oz‘s Wicked Witch of the West, and even her name is a subtle Easter egg to the original story. The 2024 movie is based on the Broadway musical of the same name, which is itself based on the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. The author did the work of diving a little deeper into the world of Oz, providing a prequel story that gave audiences a look at everything from the villain’s perspective. Maguire ultimately named the Wicked Witch Elphaba, and this same name has carried over into the Wicked musical and, of course, the movie.
Maguire’s Wicked novel was a smash hit, and less than a decade after its release, it was adapted into a Broadway musical—which is currently the fourth-longest running and winner of over 100 awards. Now, Wicked has been adapted to the screen, broken into two parts, with Wicked Part 1 released to theaters on November 22, 2024, and Wicked Part 2 expected on November 21, 2025. There’s clearly something special about Maguire’s idea, and the Wizard of Oz Easter eggs are all part of the fun of the novel, musical, and, now, movie. This goes even deeper than you would think.
Gregory Maguire Named Elphaba After Wizard Of Oz Writer L. Frank Baum
L-F-B Became El-Pha-Ba
Since the Wicked Witch of the West didn’t have a name or background in L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz, Maguire needed to get creative. Still, he wanted to pay his respect to this author’s legendary work as he proceeded to make adjustments to Baum’s characters and world. Maguire has shared (via TikTok) that his inspiration for Elphaba’s name comes from the Wizard of Oz author’s initials, L.F.B. The green witch’s name is simply the first letter pronounced as “El,” and the phonetic pronunciation of the following two letters, “Fa” and “Ba”—coming together to form the brand new name “Elphaba.”
Why Gregory Maguire Picked “Elphaba” Over Other Blends Of L. Frank Baum’s Name
Wicked’s Author Tried Out Some Other Options
Maguire explained that he fiddled with other ways to pronounce the initials L.F.B. He tried “Lafaba” and “Labella,” but they weren’t quite right. He ultimately landed on “Elphaba” because it was wholly unusual but “not particularly pretty.” This is important to Elphaba’s character. She is talented and exceptional, but unfortunately, she has been unloved based solely on the green color of her skin. Even her parents considered Elphaba ugly in Wicked, so it made sense that they would have given her a name that people would find equally repulsive.
Even her parents considered Elphaba ugly in Wicked, so it made sense that they would have given her a name that people would find equally repulsive.
Of course, the name Elphaba has come to mean something else entirely after all these years. Fans of Wicked know and love this character, and the name Elphaba is commonplace in the musical community. Had Mcguire given L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz character a less memorable name, it’s difficult to say whether the same would be true. Now that Wicked has been brought to the big screen, the name Elphaba will be even more familiar among the mainstream—and to think, it’s all because of the initials of a man born way back in 1856.
