Judy Garland’s Daughter Shares What She’d Think Of The Wicked Movie, And Now I Need To Re-Watch The Wizard Of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is one of the most beloved stories in fiction, and thanks to Wicked it has once again become one of the most successful franchises around. While it isn’t technically connected to the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland, the first chapter of Wicked took many visual queues from the popular film. The daughter of Judy Garland says she doesn’t think her mother would have any problem with that, and she believes Garland would have been very welcoming to Jon M. Chu's film.

Lorna Luft, one of Garland’s daughters, recently spoke with People and when asked about the new musical hit, Luft was confident that her mother would have been a fan. She said plainly:

The Wizard of Oz used to air on TV every year around Thanksgiving, and so I watched it once a year like clockwork. Since that era ended, however, it's been a really long time since I've seen the classic film. After having watched Wicked and thinking about Judy Garland now, it makes me want to revisit the old film again.

Garland’s role as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz is the actress’ most iconic performance. For many, the film version is the definitive version of The Wizard of Oz, supplanting even the book the movie was based on. Judy Garland made some incredible movies in her career, but it will always come back to The Wizard of Oz.

It’s not difficult to imagine that Judy Garland would have loved Wicked. She wasn’t just a movie star but a major Broadway force as well. One imagines she could have been a huge fan of the original show that inspired the Wicked movie, and then seeing it become a movie would have been another level of joy.

While Lorna Luft is sure that her mother would have loved Wicked, there is something she’s less confident about. When asked what part of Wicked would have been her mom’s favorite, Luft isn’t so sure, saying:

To be fair there are probably a lot of Wicked fans who have trouble deciding what they’re favorite part of the first movie is. While “Defying Gravity” is the most iconic song, there are plenty of other pieces that had people signing in the theater when the movie came out.

Of course, if we believe Judy Garland loved Wicked: Part One, then one can only imagine how much she would enjoy Wicked: For Good. The second Wicked movie, which will encompass Act Two of the stage musical, will see large parts of the story taking place concurrently with the events of The Wizard of Oz.

While Dorthy isn’t traditionally a major character in the story, director Jon M. Chu has confirmed that Dorthy has a role in the next movie. One has to guess Judy Garland would have gotten a kick out of seeing her iconic film from a different perspective.