Sad hidden message behind Wicked you probably didn’t spot

If you've watched the new Wicked movie, you'll know that the film - which is an adaptation of the Broadway musical - explores a number of different themes, including friendship, love, prejudice and animal welfare.

The film - which stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo - tells the story of Glinda and Elphaba's unlikely friendship after they meet at Shiz University, and ultimately reveals how Elphaba became 'wicked'.

The movie has been a huge success, and has even broken the record for the biggest opening weekend of a Broadway adaptation.

But after watching the flick, fans are noticing the sad hidden message that you might have missed among the dazzling performances.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked (Universal)

While the movie unravels what leads to Elphaba's apparent wickedness, viewers learn that one of her biggest gripes with Oz is the mistreatment of animals.

At the beginning, we see animals living in Oz treated the same way as everybody else.

They can talk, they can work and contribute to society - even Elphaba herself was raised by Dulcibear - but we soon learn that there's a movement to silence them.

During one of his lessons, goat lecturer Dr Dillamond is faced with a hateful message on his chalkboard, reading 'animals should be seen and not heard'.

Later on in the movie, Dillamond is removed from class by Oz authorities, before being replaced with a new teacher who arrives with a caged lion cub.

Much to Elphaba's horror, he claims that animals should be caged so that they never learn to speak.

Dr Dillamond is removed from the classroom (Universal)

Together with Fiyero, Elphaba uses her powers to free the cub, but it's a sobering message for viewers. Of course, animals cannot talk, but the idea of caging them is sadly a pretty normal concept.

While Elphaba believes that the Wizard of Oz could be the answer to the problem, telling him her 'heart's desire' was to help the animals, she soon realises he's actually behind the movement.

After she's tricked into transforming the Wizard's monkeys into growing wings so they can spy on other animals, Elphaba rebels and escapes the palace to 'Defying Gravity'.

Speaking about the theme of animal welfare in the movie, several fans pointed out the significance of their cruel treatment.

One person wrote on Twitter: "Just watched Wicked for the first time… it was truly incredible!!! I knew very little about the storyline before hand. The pain I feel for Elphaba being manipulated and turn into this 'Wicked Witch', all because she wanted to save the animals is crazy."

Another added on Reddit: "The Animals represent marginalised and oppressed communities. Animals are used to show a clear distinction between humans and Animals without having to create a minority group of people. If that makes sense.

"Using animals could also be a reflection of how certain groups of people have been treated in the past."

While a third said: "I love when characters acknowledge this kinda stuff in movies. It might even get the audience thinking about things they ordinarily wouldn't."

While others praised the animal welfare message, another said: "Frustratingly, it will probably go over most people’s heads— after all, the broadway show before it and the book three decades ago had the same theme."