Dorothy of Oz Renamed, Release Date Shuffled

It seems that the world can’t get enough Oz thanks to the recent live-action Disney
hit, and Summertime Entertainment is bringing us more as their new film, Dorothy
of Oz has now been renamed, a new distributor has stepped in, and its 2013 release
date has been pushed back to early 2014.

The animated family adventure, now called, Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return,
stars Lea Michelle (Glee) as the voice of Dorothy, who returns to Kansas after her
incredible adventure in the land of Oz, only to find her home and town decimated by
the twister that took her away in the first place.

The cast of familiar Oz characters also returns, including the Lion (Jim Belushi),
Scarecrow (Dan Aykroyd) and the Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer) to help Dorothy
in her new adventure. The voice cast also includes Patrick Stewart, Martin Short,
and Bernadette Peters as Glinda the Good. Canadian pop star Bryan Adams is
contributing the soundtrack and Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is directed by
Daniel St. Pierre and Will Finn.

The story of the film is written by L. Frank Baum’s great-grandson, Roger Stanton
Baum, and it serves as a direct sequel to the elder Baum’s masterpiece, The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Variety is reporting that Clarius is the new distributor for the film, while
Summertime Entertainment’s Roland and Ryan Carroll are producing with Bonne
Radford, who served as the Head of Animation at DreamWorks Animation for five
years and was executive producer on Curious George for Universal Pictures.

As a fan of the original L. Frank Baum book series, this new Oz resurgence is a
welcome sight and I personally hope that more projects are coming, in addition to
the already announced Disney sequel.