Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born!

Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born! is a 2019 American 2D Flash animated musical comedy adventure film, produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Turner Entertainment with animation provided by Snipple Animation Studios. The film was theatrically released in theaters on August 2, 2019 in the United States and Canada, by Warner Bros. Pictures. From Warner Bros. Animation, it is based on the series Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, in turn based on the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 classic film. The film is about Dorothy and her friends getting ready for the Munchkinland talent show tonight, but with the help of Top Hat Jones, a talented young man with a top hat from New York City. The events of the movie take place during the second season of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. In theaters, a New Looney Tunes short entitled The Hundred Million Hare was shown prior to the film.

The film stars Kari Wahlgren, Bill Fagerbakke, J.P. Karliak, Grey Griffin, Tom Kenny, Jess Harnell, Lariane Newman, Jessica DiCicco and Steve Blum reprising their roles from the television series, while Amy Pemberton and Lin-Manuel Miranda join the cast. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $235 million worldwide against a $28 million budget, making it the first animated film based on a Boomerang series to gross as high as $100 million in the United States, and also making it the sixth highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film of 2019 and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series.

Plot
Tonight is the Munchkinland talent show, and Dorothy and her friends are getting ready for it, but with the help of Top Hat Jones, a talented young man with a top hat from New York City.

Main characters

 * Kari Wahlgren as Dorothy and Queen Ozma
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Scarecrow
 * J.P. Karliak as Tin Man
 * Grey Griffin as Glinda the Good Witch
 * Tom Kenny as The Wizard of Oz
 * Jess Harnell as Cowardly Lion / Lyman
 * Lariane Newman as The Wicked Witch of the West
 * Jessica DiCicco as Wilhelmina
 * Steve Blum as Frank
 * Amy Pemberton as The Mouse Queen
 * Lin-Manuel Miranda as Top Hat Jones (2D animated character), a shy and good-hearted young man from New York City with a top hat who dreams to be a Broadway star. He is now a teacher who inspired people to become Broadway actors. At the end of the film, he finally becomes a broadway star thanks to Dorothy and Ozma.

Allies

 * J.P. Karliak as Woozy / The Nome King
 * Bill Fagerbakke as Mayor of Munchkinland / Hungry Tiger / Kaliko
 * Jessica DiCicco as Patchwork Girl / Lullaby League member #1 and #2
 * Tara Strong as Lullaby League member #3
 * Jeff Bergman as Stan Jones, Top Hat's uncle who is seen during Top Hat's flashback.
 * Jessica McKenna as a young Top Hat Jones who is seen during his flashback.
 * David Tennant as Augustus, a Scottish man and Top Hat's friend who is seen during Top Hat's flashback.
 * Gabriel Iglesias as Marty, Top Hat's best friend.
 * Ben Schwartz as Lenny, Top Hat's other best friend and hip-hop rapper.
 * Jason Alexander as Mr. Stashwick, Top Hat's agent and mentor.

Production
On October 8, 2018, Warner Bros. announced the film and its release date of August 2, 2019, with the show's cast reprising their roles. A month later, the film's title and teaser poster debuted, and it was announced that Amy Pemberton and Lin-Manuel Miranda had joined the cast. The film marks the eighth time a theatrical Warner Bros. Animation film isn't produced by Warner Animation Group since the group's formation in 2013.

On April 15, 2019, it was announced that actress Tara Strong and voice actor Jeff Bergman were part of the cast, as one of the Lullaby League members and Stan Jones, Top Hat's uncle from his flashback, respectively, with Jessica McKenna revealed as a young Top Hat Jones from his flashback the same day. David Tennant, Gabriel Iglesias, Ben Schwartz and Jason Alexander were announced to voice Augustus, Marty, Lenny and Mr. Stashwick in the film.

Music
John Powell composed the soundtrack for the film with Lin-Manuel Miranda and John Kander serving as the soundtrack producers. In addition to using the original series' music work from Sunna Wehrmeijer and Peter Bateman on the film, he also composed themes for Dorothy Gale and her friends. Dorothy's musical score was the major focus and he also composed themes for Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Queen Ozma and Top Hat Jones.

Songs

 * Over the Rainbow - (Opening Credits)
 * The Jitterbug - Amy Adams, Bill Fagerbakke, J.P. Karliak and Jess Harnell
 * Perform and Sing and Dance! - Top Hat Jones (From Gaturro: The Movie)
 * Sometimes I Wonder - Top Hat Jones (From The Pebble and the Penguin)
 * Friends to the End - Dorothy and Top Hat Jones (From Tom & Jerry: The Movie)
 * Cheering For Me Now - Top Hat Jones (Lin-Manuel Miranda's bonus song)
 * We Love You - The Lullaby League
 * Teamwork - Dorothy, Ozma and Top Hat Jones

End credits songs

 * Best Day of My Life - American Author
 * The Name's Top Hat - Lin-Manuel Miranda
 * Gettin' in the Mood - The Brian Setzer Orchestra (Last song in the end credits)

Theatrical release
The film was released theatrically in movie theaters for the United States and Canada on August 2, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures, on the same year as Warner Bros. Animation's previous film, TOM and JERRY: The Movie. The film will be presented in a 1.85:1 format, rather than Warner Animation Group's standard 2.39:1 format on its previous titles. The film's theatrical release will be preceded by The Hundred Million Hare, a short film based on the animated television series New Looney Tunes.

Home media release
Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born! will be released on Digital on October 15, 2019 and Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K-Ultra HD on November 5, 2019, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. It contains a New Looney Tunes short film The Hundred Million Hare, the 18-minute featurette,  the documentary Behind the Star: The Making of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born!, featuring interviews with most of the cast and crew, animatics, the audio commentaries and a sneak peek of Krypto the Superdog: The Movie.

Box office
Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born!  has grossed $96 million in the United States and Canada, and $139 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $235 million, against a production budget of $28 million.

In the United States and Canada, ''Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born! was released alongside Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw'', and was initially projected to gross around $35 million from 4,286 theaters in its opening weekend, with a chance to go as high as $100 million. Therefore, ''Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born! ''was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $235 million worldwide, making it the sixth highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film of 2019 and the highest-ever grossing film based on an animated television series.

Critical Reception
Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 96% approval rating based on the 116 positive reviews, and its average rating is 8.56/10. The critical consensus reads, "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born! has some amazing musical numbers because it's like the live show in Broadway, and it's got some cool new characters, so it should please the audience." Metacritic, assigns the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore gives the film an "A" on its A+ to F scale.

Trivia

 * The film shares the style as Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz.
 * The characters and Top Hat Jones are animated in 2D while the backgrounds are animated in CGI and cel-shaded.
 * Top Hat Jones is voiced by a singer like Lin-Manuel Miranda.
 * The Lullaby League should have their own song.
 * The Wicked Witch and her niece Wilhelmina are the main villains in this movie.
 * No fart jokes or poop jokes allowed in this movie.
 * The film will be rated G by the MPAA.
 * The film gets a theatrical release, instead of a direct-to-DVD release.
 * The film's composer will be John Powell.
 * Amy Pemberton will be voicing The Mouse Queen from the Oz books, while Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeff Bergman, David Tennant, Gabriel Iglesias, Ben Schwartz and Jason Alexander voice the new characters from New York.
 * The movie will take place in both the land of Oz and New York City where Top Hat Jones lives.
 * The film shares and uses the same style as the show ‘’Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz’’.
 * The film was originally going to be a prequel to the show about how Dorothy came back to Oz, but it was scrapped.
 * The film takes place in both the land of Oz and New York City.
 * The film was originally titled Journey Back to Oz: Dorothy's Return, but it was changed to Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: A Star is Born! to avoid confusion with the 1972 animated film.
 * Top Hat Jones' personality is based off Hubie from The Pebble and the Penguin.
 * Unlike the show itself, The characters from the show and Top Hat Jones are animated in 2D Flash animation by Snipple Animation Studios while the backgrounds are animated in 3D CGI by Sony Pictures Imageworks, but with a stop-motion feel and cel-shading to match the style of the show.
 * From the creators of Teen Titans GO! To The Movies, Tom and Jerry & The Wizard of Oz, Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz, Unikitty! The Movie and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz.
 * This is Warner Bros. Pictures' first theatrical film to be rated G since Clifford's Really Big Movie and The Polar Express.
 * This is Warner Bros. Pictures' first theatrical animated film to be based on a Boomerang series, instead of a Cartoon Network series.
 * The film is an homage to Broadway musicals.
 * It also uses elements from Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz, but without Tom, Jerry and Tuffy the Munchkin Mouse.
 * This is Ben Schwartz's second character in a movie that wasn't blue or wearing blue. The first was in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.
 * This is Warner Bros. Animation’s third theatrical animated film, the first was Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) and Teen Titans GO! To The Movies (2018).
 * The 17th Warner Bros. Animation logo was shown in theaters during the beginning of the film. Only this time, it is "The Ed, Edd n Eddy Logo" and it is only seen in this movie.
 * Before the movie, a short film called "The Hundred Million Hare" based on the animated television series New Looney Tunes was played; Therefore, it was adapted from the 1963 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short "The Million Hare".
 * The film plot matches the spirit of the 1939 classic movie The Wizard of Oz and its 2017 animated series.
 * This is the fourth Oz project for Warner Bros. Animation after Tom and Jerry & the Wizard of Oz, Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz and Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz.
 * The Mouse Queen and her troops was in this movie, but without Tom, Jerry and Tuffy the Munchkin Mouse from the second film, Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz.

Rating
Rated G (General Audiences) for very mild threat, rude humor.

Running Times
104 Minutes (NTSC)

100 Minutes (PAL)

Opening Credits
On a red background, we see the 2015 Warner Bros. Animation logo, but Ed (from Ed, Edd n Eddy) opens the shield and does crazy stuff, until Eddy opens the shield and grabs Ed and pulls him away. Eddy closes the shield.