I watch pretty much everything my public library gets on DVD. I am a big fan of the original movie and was curious about this one, but being animated thought it would be boring. Still, I felt obligated to watch at least 15 minutes of it.
Well I was surprised at how engaging it is. The voice acting has some of the best in the business and young Lea Michelle (of Glee fame) does a great job voicing Dorothy Gale, including a few nice songs. I was also surprised at Martin Short, who plays the bad guy, the Jester. We all know he is a fine actor, but his marvelous singing was a pleasant surprise.
The story starts right when Dorothy is waking up after the tornado shook everything up at home. Recall that the original movie was all a dream, while Dorothy was knocked out. But this story is done not as a dream, but as Dorothy really being brought back to Oz, by a rainbow transporter, to save Oz from the Jester.
The story of course is inconsequential, it is just animated fun with a few songs thrown in. But good songs. When Dorothy gets back to Kansas, she also exposes the fraud being perpetrated to steal everyone's damaged property.
Other voice actors included Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, Kelsey Grammar, Bernadette Peters, Oliver Platt, and Hugh Dancy.
Well I was surprised at how engaging it is. The voice acting has some of the best in the business and young Lea Michelle (of Glee fame) does a great job voicing Dorothy Gale, including a few nice songs. I was also surprised at Martin Short, who plays the bad guy, the Jester. We all know he is a fine actor, but his marvelous singing was a pleasant surprise.
The story starts right when Dorothy is waking up after the tornado shook everything up at home. Recall that the original movie was all a dream, while Dorothy was knocked out. But this story is done not as a dream, but as Dorothy really being brought back to Oz, by a rainbow transporter, to save Oz from the Jester.
The story of course is inconsequential, it is just animated fun with a few songs thrown in. But good songs. When Dorothy gets back to Kansas, she also exposes the fraud being perpetrated to steal everyone's damaged property.
Other voice actors included Dan Aykroyd, James Belushi, Kelsey Grammar, Bernadette Peters, Oliver Platt, and Hugh Dancy.