Oz The Great and Powerful
Director: Sam Raimi
Screenwriters: David Lindsay-Abaire, Mitchell Kapner
Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff
Walt Disney Pictures
Rated PG | 127 Minutes
Release Date: March 8, 2013

Based on L. Frank Baum‘s Oz novels, Oz the Great and Powerful is a prequel to Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and an homage to the classic 1939 MGM film, The Wizard of Oz.

Set 20 years before Dorothy clicked her heels, Oscar Diggs (James Franco) arrives in the magical Land of Oz where he encounters three witches: Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams).

Theodora is convinced that the small-time magician and scam artist is a great and powerful wizard of prophecy, destined to overthrow the Wicked Witch who killed the king of Oz. Oscar must follow the yellow brick road to Emerald City where he will reclaim Oz from the Witch and free its people of her vile and cruel ways.

Along the way Oscar encounters Finley (Zach Braff), a flying monkey in a bellhop uniform, and China Girl (Joey King), a living china doll whose home and family were destroyed by the Wicked Witch.

Dorothy Of Oz Prequel #1
Written By Denton J. Tipton
Art by Blair Shedd
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Cover by Eric Shanower
Variant covers: variant CGI character art
IDW Publishing
Release Date: March 28, 2012
Cover price: $3.99

Upon receiving my copy of Dorothy Of Oz Prequel #1, aside from obviously having a connection to The Wizard Of Oz, I was thinking of how this title sounded really familiar. Then I remembered that we covered the panel at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con for the upcoming animated film Dorothy Of Oz, which has a great voice cast with actors like Patrick Stewart, Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, and Kelsey Grammer. The animated film is based on the book of the same name by writer Roger S. Baum, who’s the great-grandson of original Oz creator L. Frank Baum.

In the animated film, everyone’s favorite gal from Kansas, the young Dorothy, returns home to her tornado-ravaged town after her magical journey to Oz and then finds a way to make it back to Oz. Dorothy Of Oz Prequel, which is the first installment in a four-issue miniseries from IDW Publishing, is a prelude to the events of the film and tells the tale of what happened in Oz after Dorothy left, which makes it necessary for her to return.

Everything is coming together rather nicely for director Sam Raimi‘s Wizard of Oz prequel Oz, The Great and Powerful thus far.

After a rocky start trying to lock in a lead, things have settled down and quite the impressive cast has been put together. The prequel stars James Franco as a snake oil salesman who’s whisked off to the lands of Oz in his hot air balloon, where he’ll find himself in the middle of a power struggle before becoming the eventual “Wizard of Oz.” But before Franco was confirmed, Robert Downey Jr. was set to play the part and Johnny Depp was mentioned as a possibility when Downey left.