Approached by a financial consultant with this 'great idea' we decided to give it a chance. After all, isn't that what gambling is about? So we put up what was to us, a good deal of cash to help finance, along with a good number of other investors, the making of Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return, an animated film. There is trouble in Oz and only Dorothy can help!
The story is adapted from Roger Stanton Baum's novel. He happens to be the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum the original author of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' which is a mainstay in American story telling.
Due to the confidentiality clause J and L can not detail any of the inner workings of the film but we had a chance to view it on December 7th, 2013 at the Universal City AMC Theatre at the Universal Studio City Walk in Los Angeles. It was a 'sneak preview' for the investors and turned out to be a very relaxed and enjoyable evening. The author Roger S. Baum and his lovely wife sat in the seats directly in front of J and L and it was quite a thrill to meet such an accomplished man with many 'Oz' books to his credit.
The production team, the brothers Roland and Ryan Carroll were on hand to give a short explanation of the time-table for release and other facts and then Baum stood up and addressed the crowd giving the film two thumbs up."I truly believe this will be one of, if not the best film of 2014."
Of course, the entire theater crowd nodded their heads in unison hoping the film will be a smash and have great returns on all our investments.
After a few moments of introductions and the like, Summetime Entertainment ran the first of a series of trailers for the film which truly knocked our socks off. It was powerful, to the point and had us wanting to watch the film.
Then the film - WOW!
Being an animated movie in 3D brought all the characters vividly to life and with the voices of Lea Michele (who plays Dorothy), Martin Short, Patrick Stewart, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, and a host of other major stars only added to the professional quality of the movie. It is truly a very well polished and entertaining work.
When the credits rolled slowly away on the screen and the lights came on we knew that we had just watched a wonderful family film which any age viewer will find enjoyable and memorable.
We smiled all the way out of the show knowing that on May 9th, 2014 in over 4,000 theaters across America there will be smiles just like ours after viewing such an uplifting piece of art.
