Dorothy of Oz is a new CGI animated musical from Summertime Entertainment, due out in 2012. The panel began with a clip reel composed of a few finished scenes combined with concept art. The montage showed off some of the impressive voice talent such as Glee’s Lea Michele (as Dorothy herself), Wicked‘s Megan Hilty, Dan Aykroyd, Oliver Platt, Martin Short, Kelsey Grammer, Jim Belushi, Hugh Dancy, and Sir Patrick Stewart.

Panelists included producers Bonne Radford & Ryan Carroll, composer Debra Lurie, writer Roger Baum (grandson of original Oz creator L. Frank Baum) and voice actors Megan Hilty & Sir Patrick Stewart, in his first Comic–Con appearance.

Read more and see some images from the Dorothy of Oz panel below now!

Roger Baum said the creation of the new Oz books had its impetus as a personal bet to continue his grandfather’s legacy. Producer Radford just wanted to remain faithful to the Baum legacy.

Hilty described her role of the China Princess as a tremendous opportunity for her to work with an amazing legendary cast. For her animation requires a different skill set than in any other medium. She feels liberated by the fact that in voiceover one can never push the limits too far.

Sir Patrick Stewart was asked what took him so long to come to Comic–Con, and he jokingly said he thought he had been already. He’s always loved watching and performing in animation, and feels the most amazing work in cinema is currently being done in that medium. He was drawn to the project because of its iconic association with the classic novel. Both he & Hilty feel people in animation are the nicest people to work with.

Debra Lurie explained the musical will feature seven original songs, composed by artists such as Bryan Adams (who also plays an animated beaver in the film).

Following this was a film clip of a musical number sung by Dorothy (Lea Michele) showing finished sequences of Dorothy in Oz‘s many different lands, as well as on the farm in Kansas, and being chased by a seemingly vicious rainbow.

Megan Hilty launched the Comic–Con audience into an impromptu singing of Happy Birthday to Sir Patrick Stewart, whose birthday was a few days ago.

Baum mentioned that as well as the 14 known Oz books his grandfather wrote, he also wrote 62 books under many pseudonyms, and that many were bestsellers that many people may have in their libraries and not even realize it.

Radford wanted to maintain a classic balance in the feel of the film, yet keep the film updated for a modern audience.

Images

[Photos by Andrew Sorcini]