First we were teased with the casting for this all-singing, all-animated return to Oz with the likes of Dan Akroyd, Kelsey Grammr, Jim Belushi and Martin Short joining Gleeful Lea Michele, who lands her first leading film role as Dorothy.

In that last link, you get to see some of the early sketches of the characters and today brings us a better look at some of the characters as well as a closer look at some of the more iconic locations from the world. Seth Engstrom’s Art direction has a few shades of Wonderland about it but it’s nice to see Ken Duncan’s character designs ‘fleshed out’.

Currently one of many Oz projects on the go at the moment Dan St. Pierre’s sing-a-long-an-Oz certainly looks right and has a great cast, here’s hoping the Tornado-ravaged Oz script has enough to keep us interested between nostalgic thwacks and musical prods.

Here are a few choice pics,

THR posted these and more, click here to see more Ozzy goodness.

After this year’s return to Wonderland, another mythical kingdom is scheduled to be revisited in 2012.

An animated sequel to The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy of Oz will follow Glee’s Lea Michele, who will voice the titular Ms. Gale,  as she sets off from a post-tornado Kansas with dog Toto once again in tow.

The film will also feature the voice-talents of Dan Ackroyd, Kelsey Grammer and Jim Belushi as  returning characters Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion respectively (you can see character art here), and introduce a series of new characters, among them: Marshall Mallow (Hugh Dancy), Tugg (Patrick Stewart), China Princess (Megan Hilty) and villain The Jester (Martin Short). The plot goes as follows

There is trouble in Oz and Dorothy is needed!  With Glinda’s help, she and Toto return to Oz. Joined by her old friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the Lion as well as exciting new characters, Dorothy sets out on a perilous journey to stop the crafty Jester from using the power of the Wicked Witch of the West’s wand to turn the people of Oz into puppets. That seems to be the least of Dorothy’s problems as her travels lead her straight into a treacherous maze, a cave full of very hungry dragons and an evil spell that could destroy the Yellow Brick Road. Dorothy has the daunting knowledge that it is up to her to stop Jester’s terrible plan. Audiences will welcome the return of the old Oz favorites and will love meeting new friends like Tugg a gruff talking boat and Wiser an owl with an unlucky attraction to molasses.

The film’s songs will purportedly be written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, to be belted out by Michele and co.

Blogomatic3000 have got their hands on some frankly stunning concept art for the film, which shows the new-look Emerald City and Yellow Brick Road. The images can be glimpsed below, while the film, housed at Summertime Entertainment and with Dan St Pierre set to direct, will be in cinema’s early 2012.

For more information, you can visit the official website.

Just one of the many Oz related projects on the boil at the moment is Daniel St Pierre’s animated sequel of sorts, Dorothy of Oz.

The recent casting announcement of Glee starlet Lea Michele as Dorothy made complete sense and we’ve got a peek at what she, and the supporting cast will look like when the film hits.

Returning Dorothy to Oz to find a tornado wrecked Emerald City isn’t the worst idea out there, and the cast below is pretty impressive. Oh, and the newly behearted Tin Man and (now no longer cowardly) Lion will apparently overcompensate in light of their gifts – so a hysterically empathetic Tin Man and a Lion awash with mindless bravado is on the cards.

Time to take a look at the characters sketches.

The official website is pretty nice, with a bite of the soundtrack that reminds me of the 80s TV adaptation of Anne of Green Gables. Fact.

MovieWeb pointed us to the pics. Fact.

Ghostbusters 3

This news comes from the CEO of all things Ghostbusters, Egon himself, and while every interview Harold Ramis gives until Ghostbusters 3 hits our screens will be rife with questions about the long awaited sequel, you can bet that lips will be tightened as the script is finalised, and shooting begins.

HeebMagazine spent a while with Mr Ramis and covered his entire career as a director and star, it is a great read (complimented with some fantastic pictures of the man) and the inevitable Ghostbusters 3 question comes up.

Here’s what he had to say:

Something’s going to happen. Dan [Aykroyd] did write a spec GB3 screenplay a few years ago, but no one was motivated to pursue it. Now, 25 years after the original, there seems to be some willingness to proceed and apparently a substantial public appetite for a sequel. We’ll introduce some new young Ghostbusters, and all the old guys will be in it, too. Think Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future … GB3 is progressing with plans to shoot next summer and release in 2011

I love the Doc Brown analogy, and whether or not the Bill Murray as a ghost rumours turn out to be true, the fact that the original team are taking this through is good news. All I, and I’m sure all Ghostbusters fans, want is a good film. Ghostbusters 2 wasn’t my favourite film of all time, but it proved that the characters and world created was solid enough to set new stories against.

Twenty five years is a good amount of time to wait, and like Back to the Future, this anniversary should be met with a celebration of the original films and, for Ghostbusters at least, a revisiting of our old friends seems like the perfect present.

While other Paranormal Activity is chilling spines this Halloween month, news is reaching us of one of our most cherished franchises, one whose long awaited sequel is rattling into pre-production.

Bloody Disgusting tells us that Ivan Reitman will be returning to Ghostbusters 3, behind the camera, though we are not told in what capacity. This is great news, as while the original team of Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Ackroyd and Ernie Hudson are all confirmed to return for the next film, having Reitman behind the camera will complete this reunion and should bring Reitman back to his glory days of Stripes, the original Ghostbusters films and, um, Junior.

What we also know (according to /Film) is that a script has been delivered from the writers of the subtle as a blowtorch to the face prehistoric comedy Year One, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. I hope Ackroyd and Ramis will have considerable input, I’d hate to see this one disappoint.

Read here for more info. We’ll be watching.