It was the summer of 1977 and my parents decided I was old enough to start taking to the movie theater. I don't remember much from being 4 years old, but oddly enough I do have strong fond memories of going with my mom and dad to see three movies that summer: Star Wars, TheRescuers, andRaggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. This was a time when all we had was grainy tv broadcasts with five channels to watch - a much different era compared to what our kids have today with the home theaters, Netflix, high tech video games and more cable channels than you can count. Getting out of the house to go to the movies back than was a unique experience and as a child I relished these magical adventures. It's interesting how much these three movies impacted my future interests! My wife describes me to people as a Star Wars Geek and tell them living with me is like being in an episode of the Big BangTheory. Like many boys of my generation, Star Wars really established my interest and enjoyment of science fiction and technology. The Rescuers and Raggedy Ann & Andy though also instilled in me a love for cartoons, animation, artistic drawing and comics, and adventurous stories that is still very active today. I'm approaching 40 years old now and I still love reading comic books and watching cartoons with my kids!
My own kids are now just approaching the age where we are beginning to take them to the movies and 2012 may be to them what 1977 was for me. We took them to see their first movie a few weeks ago, The Lorax, which as an animated thrill-ride of a musical based on the classic Dr. Seuss tale. I'm very excited about another animated musical that is coming out this summer, DOROTHY OF OZ. I am definitely going to take my kids to see this movie which takes off where the classic 1939 Wizard of Ozmovie featuring Judy Garland left off. DOROTHY OF OZ will feature the voices of some pretty well known actors including Martin Short (currently the voice of PBS "Cat in the Hat") as the new villain The Jester, James Belushi as the Lion, Dan Aykroyd as the Scarecrow, Kelsey Grammer as the Tin Man and GLEE's Lea Michele as Dorothy. The movie will also feature the talents of one of my favorite actors, Patrick Stewart from Star Trek as a new character, a talking boat named Tugg.
In DOROTHYOF OZ, Dorothy Gail has returned to her hometown in Kansas and is helping her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and their neighbors repair the damage from the tornado that destroyed their community. While she and Toto are back in the great plains of Kansas, a new villain called The Jester has emerged and stolen the now-dead evil Witch of the West's magic wand which he is now using to turn the inhabitants of OZ into "puppets" that he can control. The Scare Crow, Tin Man, and Lion summon Dorothy and Toto back to OZ and the old gang reunites for a new adventure to take on and stop The Jester's evil ways. The movie is based on a book of the same name by Roger Stanton Baum who is the great grandson of L. Frank Baum, who wrote the original Wonderful Wizard of Ozbook. CLICK HERE for more information about Stanton Baum and his OZ themed books: www.tototooinc.com 
To kick-off publicity for this new movie, IDW PUBLISHING is publishing a four-part DOROTHY OF OZ PREQUEL comic book that introduces the new character The Jester and serves as a preclude between the Wizard of Oz and the new movie. Dorothy of Oz Prequel #1 went on sale this week (March 28) and all four comics will be bundled together as a hard cover book this fall. It is available at local comic book stores or you can buy a digital version online. This movie originally caught my eye when I was provided with a publicity comic that contained a few pages of advance artwork design samples to promote this upcoming DOROTHY OF OZ PREQUEL series from IDW PUBLISHING to give my twin 3 year olds and they have been awe-struck by the stunning graphics. If you are looking for a comic book with great eye-popping art and a family-friendly story and content, I highly recommend you check out IDW Publishing's DOROTHY OF OZ PREQUEL comics. Promoting comic prequels seems for new movies, tv shows, and video games as I've recently seen it done for Avengers, Falling Skies, & Dragon Age but hopefully in addition to doing a prequel promo IDW will consider also doing a comic version of the movie like the ones I collected as a kid for the Star Wars & Indiana Jones trilogies. Our family would definitely buy it and I will also be picking up their DOROTHY OF OZPREQUEL series for my kids.
For more information about this upcoming movie, visit the official website www.dorothyofoz.com , their facebook page www.facebook.com/dorothyofozthemovie or twitter @DorothyOfOzFilm
[DISCLAIMER: I was provided with a free 8 page comic of sample art for the Dorothy of Oz Prequel comic book series by IDW PUBLISHING. The opinions and views posted in this blog are my own honest opinons]
