9 Million Tulips and a Train: How They Built the REAL ‘Wicked’ Oz

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In the movie “Wicked“, Oscar-nominated set designer Nathan Crowley was given the challenge of making viewers feel as if they’ve stepped into the enchanting, fantastical world of Oz, using minimal visual effects. This meant creating massive sets across four different locations, designing magical trains, and cultivating vast fields filled with barley and tulips… an astonishing 9 million tulips to be exact!

Crowley shares with THR that he’s had a long-standing interest in fantasy films, and his ambition has been to create them more authentically, as they might have done back then. He admits this was a significant test for him. While he’s worked on numerous Christopher Nolan productions, where practical thinking is key, these projects aren’t fantasy or musical. Crowley wanted to push his limits by asking himself, “Is it possible to make a fantasy as realistic as we can with visual effects integrated?”

(I tried to maintain the original meaning while using simpler and more conversational language.)

For Crowley, the journey began by identifying authentic locations to establish the set environments. They explored landscapes reminiscent of an American folktale, featuring expansive cornfields and broad farmlands. By constructing Munchkinland, Shiz University, and the Emerald City as authentically as possible, actors could more deeply embody their characters within genuine settings.

He describes that the environment on set was so immersive, it felt like being in Shiz or the Emerald City. We made sure to provide ample elements for the cast to interact with and create a realistic atmosphere by constructing elaborate sets as extensively as feasible. I believe this undeniably influenced the entire team to fully embrace the film’s spirit.

The initial structure assembled was the rotating library wheels (since filming began during winter). This intricate machinery was constructed first as it required a significant amount of time and effort, and both Jonathan Bailey, portraying Fiyero, and the dancers needed to master their choreography around it.

Initially filmed prior to other sets, the second one depicted Glinda and Elphaba’s dorm room. It was unexpected to begin with such a compact setting, but it turned out to be an excellent choice because it included key scenes like “Popular” and parts of “What Is This Feeling?” which required careful attention.

The majority of the sets were crafted within a period of eight to twelve weeks, yet the most intricate set to conceive was the Emerald City, which demanded fifteen weeks’ work. “I needed to enter the Emerald City and present something surprising, yet also something that viewers would acknowledge as fitting and exclaim, ‘Of course! That’s the Emerald City!’ It had to be a fantastical dreamscape, making it the most difficult design task, but it’s my favorite scene in the movie,” he explains.

The Emerald City was constructed on a pair of sprawling backlots, as Crowley puts it, equivalent to a vast number of acres. Nearby lies Shiz University, and beyond that, Munchkinland. Farther off, the train station sits in another field, lush with barley that was cultivated by the production crew. The train carrying the two main characters is an impressive 106 feet long, stands 16 feet high, and weighs a hefty 40 tons.

According to Crowley, we sowed the barley well before we thought about placing a train in the field. I instructed the horticulture team to purchase the seeds and plant them before the first freeze, after which they should secure the field entrance to prevent vehicles from driving on it. Only then did we construct our set within the field.

1900s-inspired archways, reminiscent of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair design, were scattered throughout Emerald City, serving as dividers between distinct areas while providing picturesque vistas, emphasizing the city’s expansive green landscape. These arches were also used in the set of Shiz University, a campus heavily influenced by American architecture. Shiz’s layout included significant structures like the arrival plaza, water reservoir, and main entrance square.

Crowley, who was nominated for the best production design award at the Oscars for the musical ‘Wicked’, a nomination that is his seventh in this category (having previously been nominated for ‘Tenet’, ‘First Man’, ‘Interstellar’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ among others), found that his experience working on other musicals, specifically ‘The Greatest Showman’ and ‘Wonka’, was beneficial for his work on ‘Wicked’.

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Crowley, with a total of seven nominations in the best production design category at the Oscars, including for ‘Tenet’, ‘First Man’, ‘Interstellar’ and ‘The Dark Knight’, among others, recently received another nomination for his work on the musical ‘Wicked’. Having previously worked on ‘The Greatest Showman’ and ‘Wonka’, he believes these projects were valuable when it came to working on ‘Wicked’.

Crowley shares that “The Greatest Showman” gave him insights into the world of dancers and the creation of musicals. He further explains that “Wonka” was an expansion on this, as it aimed to incorporate grand-scale backlot constructions into a fantastical setting. In comparison, he notes that “Showman” is slightly more grounded in history and less fantastical than “Wonka.

To create ‘Wicked’, I required all my previous films as a foundation. It’s my most ambitious project yet, which speaks volumes.

Explore the artistry behind the creation of critically acclaimed films and television shows on the specialized website THR.com/behindthescenes.

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2025-02-07 22:55