The teaser trailer for Dorothy of Oz introduces an assortment of less-famous Oz residents - such as Tugg the talking tree, Wiser the Owl, and the diabolical Jester - as well as the big names lending their voices to the 3D animated flick, including Lea Michele (Glee), Patrick Stewart, Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, Martin Short, Kelsey Grammar, Oliver Platt, and Broadway icon Bernadette Peters (star of the Into the Woods and Wicked stage musicals, among others).

Most of the trailer is dedicated to showing off the film's bright and colored visuals - before concluding with a short audio clip of Michele singing. It very much has a lighter and more kid-friendly feel that the darkly-whimsical teaser for next year's live-action Oz flick, Sam Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful.

Dorothy of Oz is based on the book by Roger Stanton Baum, the great-grandson of Oz creator L. Frank Baum. The story picks up with Dorothy (Michele) shortly after she has returned to Kansas, only to be whisked back unexpectedly to Oz - as the Land of the Yellow Brick Road has been taken over by the power-hungry Jester (Short). The Scarecrow, Tin Man and Formerly-Cowardly Lion (Aykroyd, Grammar, Belushi) have also mysteriously disappeared, while Glinda (Peters) has been taken hostage by Jester; thus, forcing Dorothy and her dog Toto to seek assistance from such Ozi-ians as a hair-brained soldier made of marshmallows (Hugh Dancy) and the bossy, but insecure, China Princess (Megan Hilty).

Chances are, you immediately recognized Stewart voicing the trailer narrator, Tugg - though, kudos to anyone who also realized that's Platt voicing the plump Wiser right off the bat.

The China Princess, Dorothy, and Marshal Mallow in the trailer for Dorothy of Oz

Directorial duties on Dorothy of Oz were handled by Will Finn (The Road to El Dorado, Home on the Range) and Dan St. Pierre (Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey). The pair have years of experience working as storyboard artists and character designers; hence, the aforementioned Oz residents all have a very distinct and stylized look. However, the actual animation on Dorothy of Oz was handled by Prana Studios, the company behind Hoodwinked! and several direct-to-DVD Tinker Bell movies; unfortunately, the downgrade in animation quality shows.

Nonetheless, Dorothy of Oz have the makings of clean, harmless, entertainment for the young ones - while older viewers can check out Raimi's Wizard of Oz prequel for a more adult, visually-sophisticated, trip back over the rainbow. The former is still without an official release date, but both films should be arriving in theaters (2D and 3D) sometime in 2013.

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Source: Summertime Entertainment