History Trivia / TheWizard

* DeletedScene: Several, as the original cut clocked in at around 150 minutes making it far too long for a family film. Scenes cut include a more deeper look into Corey's home life (including meeting several friends of his, one played by a young Creator/DanteBasco), more development of Christian Slater's character, the kids sneaking into Universal Studios to attend Video Armageddon, and more. The scenes were finally released for viewing on Shout Factory's 2020 Blu ray release.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It will forever be a symbol of the time when the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem was the dominant force in video games, featuring many of the games that were popular at the time, a scene where the kids call the ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' hotline for game tips (''Nintendo Power'' ceased publication in late 2012), and the final challenge of the movie being [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 SUPER! MARIO BROS.! 3!]] A video game that was soon to be released in North America at the time.

* DeletedRole: A young Dante Basco had a role as one of Corey's friends that we would meet in the first act but his role was left on the cutting room floor.
* DeletedScene: Several, as the original cut clocked in at around 150 minutes making it far too long for a family film. Scenes cut include a more deeper look into Corey's home life (including meeting several friends of his, one played by a young Dante Basco), more development of Christian Slater's character, the kids sneaking into Universal Studios to attend Video Armageddon, and more. The scenes were finally released for viewing on Shout Factory's 2020 Blu ray release.

* MissingTrailerScene: There's a couple of scenes in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT6zfPC3sDk the trailer]] that didn't make it into the movie.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It will forever be a symbol of the time when the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem was the dominant force in video games, featuring many of the games that were popular at the time, a scene where the kids call the ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' hotline for game tips (''Nintendo Power'' ceased publication in late 2012), and the final challenge of the movie being [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 SUPER! MARIO BROS.! 3!]] A video game that was soon to be North America at the time.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It will forever be a symbol of the time when the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem was the dominant force in video games, featuring many of the games that were popular at the time, a scene where the kids call the ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' hotline for game tips (''Nintendo Power'' ceased publication in late 2012), and the final challenge of the movie being [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 SUPER! MARIO BROS.! 3!]]

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Originally the UsefulNotes/GameBoy was going to appear, but Nintendo didn't want it in as they feared it would be too early of a reveal to competition; Not that it mattered much in the end, as the film would end up releasing five months after the handhelds American debut.

* OldShame: Jenny Lewis considers her involvement with this movie to be one, particularly after she established herself as the lead singer of indie rock group Music/RiloKiley. In [[http://defgav.com/rilokiley/articles/lunchdate.html an interview]] from 2003, Lewis described ''The Wizard'' as something that she wished people would stop asking her about, noting "That's cool and all, and that was fun, but it just gets like, a bit annoying because I feel like I have more interesting things to say." In [[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/jenny-lewis-on-the-line-new-album-interview-800113/ a 2019 interview]] with ''Rolling Stone'', Lewis explained that she was uncomfortable with her association with ''The Wizard'' in part because hecklers would show up at Rilo Kiley shows just to yell video game references at her.

* OldShame: Jenny Lewis considers her involvement with this movie to be one, particularly after she established herself as the lead singer of indie rock group Music/RiloKiley. In [[http://defgav.com/rilokiley/articles/lunchdate.html an interview]] from 2003, Lewis described ''The Wizard'' as something that she wished people would stop asking her about, noting "That's cool and all, and that was fun, but it just gets like, a bit annoying because I feel like I have more interesting things to say." In [[https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/ben-gibbard-death-cab-for-cutie an "Interview Magazine" piece]] where she interviewed her [[Music/ThePostalService Postal Service]] bandmate [[Music/DeathCabForCutie Ben Gibbard]], Lewis noted that early in Rilo Kiley's career, several bookers at indie rock clubs gave the band a lot of grief because she was the star of ''The Wizard'', which shaped her feelings of the film as an adult.

* OldShame: Jenny Lewis considers her involvement with this movie to be one, particularly after she established herself as the lead singer of indie rock group Music/RiloKiley. In [[http://defgav.com/rilokiley/articles/lunchdate.html an interview]] from 2003, Lewis described ''The Wizard'' as something that she wished people would stop asking her about, noting "That's cool and all, and that was fun, but it just gets like, a bit annoying because I feel like I have more interesting things to say." In [[https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/ben-gibbard-death-cab-for-cutie an ''Interview Magazine'' piece]] where she interview her friend and Music/ThePostalService bandmate [[Music/DeathCabForCutie Ben Gibbard]], Lewis noted that early in Rilo Kiley's career, several bookers at indie rock clubs gave the band a lot of grief because she was the star of ''The Wizard'', which shaped her feelings of the film as an adult.

* OldShame: Jenny Lewis considers her involvement with this movie to be one.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It will forever be a symbol of the time when the NintendoEntertainmentSystem was the dominant force in video games, featuring many of the games that were popular at the time, a scene where the kids call the ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' hotline for game tips (''Nintendo Power'' ceased publication in late 2012), and the final challenge of the movie being [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 SUPER! MARIO BROS.! 3!]]

* RetroactiveRecognition:
** One of Lucas' friends near the end is Tobey Maguire, who eventually grew up to play Film/{{Spider Man|Trilogy}}.
** Fans of indie rock may recognize Music/RiloKiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis as GamerChick Haley.
* ThrowItIn: It's pretty obvious that Jenny Lewis and Fred Savage cracking up at the end of the scene where she kisses him was ''not'' scripted.

* AccidentallyAccurate: They correctly pronounced ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MlGNj9FUhY Ninja Guy-Den]] (as opposed to Ninja Gay-Den).

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Creator/CaryHiroyukiTagawa Shang Tsung]] is a thug named Mr. Cheng in "Reunion" and "Trouble In The Stars". Sadly, he barely has any lines in either episode.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Fans of indie rock tend to say this when they see Music/RiloKiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis as a GamerChick.
** On the male side of that, one of Lucas' friends near the end is Tobey Maguire, who eventually grew up to become ''Film/SpiderMan1''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The Wizard fansite has drafts for two episodes that would have been written had the series continued. H.E.N.R.I. the robot was going to prominently feature in both of them, helping Simon and Alex. Curiously, neither draft mentions Tillie at all.

* WrittenByCastMember: David Rappaport wrote the episode "Trouble In The Stars".