2013: The Year of Oz?

If 2012 was the year of Snow White - with films Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, and ABC's Once Upon A Time - 2013 will surely be known as the year of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Journey back to the magical land with two features films set to be released next year, focusing on characters from the original 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum and 1939 iconic film The Wizard of Oz.

First up, Disney's Oz: The Great and Powerful, is a prequel tale that stars the handsome James Franco as Oscar Diggs, a fairground magician from Kansas who is dusted away to Oz where he meets three witches Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams), and must somehow transform himself into the great and powerful wizard we all know of. Directed by Sam Raimi (who also directed the Spider-Man trilogy which starred Franco), the film is set to release on March 8, 2013 in U.S. and UK.

Also in 2013 (no release date set yet) is the 3D animated musical Dorothy of Oz, based on the 1989 novel by Roger Stanton Baum, which of course is based on his great-grandfather's 1900 novel. Set after Dorothy's original adventures and stars Glee's Lea Michele as the title character, Dorothy is called back to Oz by Glinda (Bernadette Peters) to defeat a new threat (evil Jester played by Martin Short) and save her three besties: Tin Man (Kelsey Grammer), Lion (James Belushi), and Scarecrow (Dan Aykroyd). She will be aided by doll China Princess (Megan Hilty), wise-talking 978-Year-Old tree Tugg (Patrick Stewart), and a marshmallow man named Marshall Mallow (Hugh Dancy).