Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1541878
www.postmagazine.com 19 POST NOV/DEC 2025 T he wonderful world of Oz comes alive once more in Wicked: For Good, the epic conclusion to last year's first installment — a cinematic sensation that became the most successful Broadway film adaptation of all time. Jon M. Chu returns to direct a star-studded cast of new and familiar faces, including Academy Award-nominated leads Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who reprise their roles as Elphaba and Glinda. This final chapter continues to unravel the untold story of the witches of Oz, following the estranged duo as they navigate new challenges amidst the consequences of their decisions. Demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba now lives in exile deep within the Ozian forest as she continues her fight to expose the truth about The Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). Meanwhile, Glinda has become Oz's beloved symbol of Goodness, living a lavish life of fame and fortune in the Emerald City palace. Under the tutelage of Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), she assures the residents of Oz that they are in good hands under The Wizard's regime. As her high-pro- file marriage to Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) approaches, Glinda seeks to reunite with Elphaba to join forces and truly change Oz for good. With a dazzling array of new musical numbers, dynamic environments, magical effects and com- plex character designs, Wicked: For Good features more than 2,700 visual effects delivered by a team of over 1,000 artists from ILM, Framestore and other studios across the globe. The visual effects team vastly expanded the previously-established geography of the Land of Oz by crafting detailed digital forests, massive swaths of farmland and even the terrain that lies beyond its borders. Aerial photography and other real-world reference materials aided the process of creating these new environments. Full-CG characters required extensive VFX work and nuanced facial animation, included Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), a goat employed as a history professor at Oz's Shiz University, and Chistery (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker), the leader of Elphaba's fearsome army of flying monkeys, among many others. Elphaba's broom flight effects were fully rede- signed to reflect her stronger command of gravity and expanded magical prowess. This included augmenting Erivo's practical stunt work and aerial motion choreography with more precise broom animations, digital cape simulation, environmental transitions and atmospheric effects to showcase the confidence of her character. Elaborate storm effects were required for the sequence in which Madame Morrible conjures the fateful tornado that whisks Dorothy into Oz. The supernatural spiral materializes suddenly and embarks upon its path of destruction with calculat- ed precision, a sequence that combines grounded practical effects with layers of digital terrain, debris and wind to maximize the visceral impact. The film's visually dynamic musical sequenc- es would not have been possible without VFX wizardry. "Girl in the Bubble" showcases Glinda's iconic magical orb, which is revealed to actually be a mechanical device crafted by The Wizard. The team designed a VFX-driven mirrored environment to achieve the illusion of a continuous four-minute shot, including six mirror pass-throughs mapped out by extensive technical visualization with no motion control required. In "No Place Like Home," the VFX team craft- ed hundreds of digital animals to populate a vast forest environment, running the gamut from tiny crickets, butterflies and frogs, to large lions, tigers and bears. Each talking creature was designed to seamlessly interact with Elphaba throughout the memorable seven-minute sequence. In "No Good Deed," the VFX team undertook the challenge of creating an entire army of flying monkeys and extending practical sets to show the gravity-defying architecture of Kiamo Ko, Elphaba's floating castle refuge, from stunning 360-degree perspectives. Visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman and ani- mation supervisor Dale Newton played vital roles in bringing both chapters of Wicked from the page to the screen, a feat of visual storytelling that required extensive technical and creative collaboration. At the 2025 View Conference, Helman and Newton shared an inside look into their work on this spec- tacular project. You brought the visuals of both Wicked and Wicked: For Good to life. What were you most excited about when you signed on to such a large-scale project? Pablo Helman: "We've been working on this for about four years. I think this was my first musical. For me, doing visual effects for a long time, the images were the beginning and the end. But then once I was on-set, I realized how everything comes together. It was such an emotional part of the work that we do. It's very rare that we get to see how the music gets together with the images and basically tells a story. It's kind of like storytelling came together for me." Dale Newton: "I think it being a musical was a draw. I don't really get to work on a lot of them. I have worked on one before. It's a bit of a love/hate thing with musicals, but when they're done really well, they can be stupendous. And I honestly think Wicked is in that category, so we feel we're really lucky. I think what excites me most about my work Jon Chu giving direction on the set of the new film, which features more than 2,700 visual effects.