Parents are being warned not to buy the book that inspired Wicked for their children as a gift this Christmas because it contains disturbing scenes including rape, bestiality and murder.
BookTokers has criticized publishers for re-releasing Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book using a cover image of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who play Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, respectively.
They say Maguire’s original book “is nothing like” the musical and could see children being exposed to the book’s explicit adult themes – including racism, sexual assault and ritual murders – by unknowing adults.
The reissued book, published by Headline Publishing Group in October ahead of the film’s world premiere, features an image of Erivo and Grande’s film characters touching hands along with the tagline “Everyone deserves the chance to fly.”
On TikTok, people have called the cover misleading, saying it suggests the book has the same PG themes as the movie.
One British content creator, @enchantednanny, told her followers: “This is a serious warning to parents of children who loved the movie Wicked.” Don’t buy the book from them.’
He continued: “This is not a children’s book, there are explicit scenes that are very detailed and very adult themes.”
Another, @carlyaclements, said of the content: ‘In my opinion it should be PG-18’ before detailing some of the scenes featured in Maguire’s novel, including bestiality and ritual murders.
The updated cover of Gregory Maguire’s 1995 book, The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, on which the Broadway musical and now the movie is based.
BookTokers have warned adults not to buy the children’s book, saying it is “nothing like” the film version, with scenes of rape, bestiality and murder.
What Maguire’s book looked like when it was first published in 1995; Although the plot is similar to that of the film adaptation, there are explicit scenes throughout
In X, those who read the book offered the same warnings.
One wrote: “It’s a really good read, although I would only recommend it to people who can handle sensitive topics.”
Another added: “It’s not just a book, it’s a full-blown attack on emotions.”
Another wrote: “They really don’t need to use the movie art as the cover to make people think it will be the same, they are actually VERY different.”
MailOnline has contacted Headline Publishing Group for comment.
It’s not the first time Maguire’s work has had a new look; After the success of the book’s adaptation on Broadway in 2003, it was reissued with a cover photo from the hit musical.
L. Frank Baum published his original children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, introducing readers to such iconic characters as Glinda the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy Gale the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.
Upon publication, the first novel was such a resounding success that the author wrote 13 complete sequels before his death in 1919.
Wicked is an adaptation of the famous Broadway musical, which was adapted from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel, which in turn was based on L. Frank Baum’s original 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Eighty-five years after her mother played Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, her daughter praises the film adaptation of Wicked.
In 1995, Maguire published his revisionist novel Wicked ‘The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ in which he reinvented the backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West: a green girl named Elphaba who studies at university with Glinda.
It became a word-of-mouth success, and New York-born writer Maguire, now 70, told the bbc this year: ‘Every year I would sell more than the year before. It was the true definition of a sleeper hit.
While the plot of Maguire’s book is more or less the same in director Jon M. Chu’s 2024 film, there are plenty of X-rated scenes.
For some who were not warned in advance about the book’s heavy content, it is already too late.
On X this week, a reader wrote: “I just finished reading Wicked…I’m traumatized.”
Another added: “This is definitely not for the faint of heart because there are so many fucking scenes, bestiality and sa (sexual assault) was where I drew the line.”
Prior to the film’s release in the United Kingdom, the British Board of Film Classification issued a warning for discrimination against a “green-skinned woman” and persecution of “talking animals.”
The warning issued to viewers by the BBFC reads: “A green-skinned woman is mocked, bullied and humiliated because of her skin colour.”
The musical film version of Maguire’s work continues to break box office records with a debut of $114 million at the US box office, the most ever for any musical adaptation, part of a global take of $164,180. 000 dollars.