Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars

Theatrical release poster

***Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars*** is a 2024 American animated musical comedy adventure film directed by Charles Visser (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Jeff DeGrandis, Michele Hennessy and Jack Ferraiolo. It is a production of Warner Bros. Animation, Turner Entertainment and 5000 Broadway Productions with animation provided by Snipple Animation Studios. The film is based on the series *Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz*, which itself is based on the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 film adaptation. It is produced by Leanne Moreau, and executive produced by Sam Register and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the latter whom co-wrote songs for the film as the lyricist. Alan Menken composed both the score and the songs. The film takes place after the show's series finale. It is the most recent feature film to date from Warner Bros. Animation to be released theatrically outside of Warner Animation Group, and was the fourth time Warner Bros. Animation released a theatrical feature film based on a popular television series, after 1993's *Batman: Mask of the Phantasm*, 2018's *Teen Titans Go! To the Movies* and 2019's *Krypto the Superdog: The Movie*, in addition to being one of the very rare times a theatrically released animated feature film was done entirely with Flash animation, as well as the first and only time a Boomerang series was adapted into a feature film, and is the second Cartoon Network-owned property to receive a theatrical feature film adaptation after *Craig Before the Creek* (2023). 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 film stars Kari Wahlgren, Bill Fagerbakke, J.P. Karliak, Grey Griffin, Tom Kenny, Jess Harnell, Laraine Newman, Jessica DiCicco and Steve Blum reprising their roles from the television series, while Auliʻi Cravalho, Amy Pemberton and Miranda join the cast. The film was theatrically released in the United States on December 27, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was also made available on HBO Max 45 days after its theatrical release. The film received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing over $265 million worldwide against a $28 million budget.

## 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.

## Cast

### Main characters

* Auliʻi Cravalho as Dorothy
* Kari Wahlgren as Queen Ozma
	+ Leigh-Allyn Baker as Queen Ozma's singing voice
* 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
* Laraine 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, 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.
* Eric Bauza as Restaurant Owner
* 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.

Munchkin voices are provided by Eric Bauza, Grey Griffin, Tara Strong, J.P. Karliak and Laraine Newman.

## Production

### Development

On October 8, 2018, Nico Selma, who worked as a storyboard artist in the series, announced a film based on the series originally set to be released on August 2, 2019. However, in June 2021, the film's release date was pushed back to December 27, 2024 due to the film suffering from so many script rewrites. The film was originally going to be a direct-to-video prequel to the show titled *Journey Back to Oz: Dorothy's Return*, which would have been about how Dorothy came back to Oz, but was eventually scrapped. The film was later re-slated and fast-tracked as a theatrical release by September 2021 under the name *Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars*, which was based on an original idea by Jack Ferraiolo, with Charles Visser directing in his directorial debut, Leanne Moreau producing, Sam Register and Lin-Manuel Miranda executive-producing, and Jeff DeGrandis, Michele Hennessy and Ferraiolo writing the screenplay from a story by Ferraiolo and Nina G. Bargiel. The film marks the fourth time Warner Bros. Animation has released a theatrical film since Warner Animation Group's formation in 2013 and also technically the first fully 2D animated theatrical feature to be G-rated and presented by Warner Bros. Pictures since *Clifford's Really Big Movie*.

### Casting

The film's cast and crew were revealed in January 2023, confirming the entire main cast will be reprising their roles from the show, including new members such as Auliʻi Cravalho, who was cast in the lead role of Dorothy Gale, taking over the role from Kari Wahlgren, Amy Pemberton, who was reprising her role from *Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz*, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was cast as the new character, Top Hat Jones.

On April 10, 2023, 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. In May 2023, additional cast announcements included David Tennant, Gabriel Iglesias, Ben Schwartz and Jason Alexander as the voices of Augustus, Marty, Lenny and Mr. Stashwick.

## Music

*Main article: Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars (soundtrack)*
In 2023, it was announced that Alan Menken would compose film's score and write several songs alongside executive producer Lin-Manuel Miranda. On January 19, 2024, Menken stated that *Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars* would be his next Cartoon Network project, following the release of *Family Mash-Up*, and he and Miranda started working on the songs for the film. Composer Alan Menken and songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda were praised for creating a soundtrack that is "consistently good, rivaling the best of other animated musicals from the '90s to the '10s." The version of the song "Sometimes I Wonder" performed by Leon Bridges and Halle Bailey, which plays over the end credits, was released as the lead single from the soundtrack. The version of the song "Cheering For Me Now" performed by AJ Mitchell and Zhavia Ward, which also plays over the end credits, was released as the second single from the soundtrack.

## Release

### Theatrical and streaming

The film premiered on December 22, 2024 in New York and Los Angeles, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 27, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was also available to stream on HBO Max in the United States 45 days after it released in theaters.

### Home media

*Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars* was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD on March 4, 2025 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

## Reception

### Box office

It opened in the box office in the United States on December 27, 2024, and finished at #5 for the weekend, with only $6 million for 3,286 theaters, for an average of only $6,049 per venue. The film ended up with a modest $117 million domestically, partly because the film came out a week after *Sonic the Hedgehog 3*. But, in light of generally favorable reviews, it managed to out-gross its holiday animated feature behind *The Smurfs*, grossing over $265 million worldwide and making it a box office success.

### 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: Wonders of the Stars* has some amazing musical numbers because it's like the live show on 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

* This is the first ever feature film of the series.
* This is the first animated *Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz* movie to hit theaters.
	+ This is also the only *Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz* movie to have ever been released in theaters.
* 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 was given a theatrical release, instead of a direct-to-video release.
* The film's score was composed by Alan Menken.
* The movie takes 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: Wonders of the Stars* to avoid confusion with the 1972 animated film.
* Top Hat Jones' personality is based off Hubie from The Pebble and the Penguin.
* Warner Animation Group had no involvement with this movie, despite serving as Warner Bros. Animation's lates theatrical movie label.
* Unlike the show itself, the main characters from the show and the film's new characters are animated in Flash animation by Snipple Animation Studios while the panning shots and backgrounds are rendered in CGI by the latter studio, but with cel-shading to match the style of the show.
* The first Warner Bros. Pictures' theatrical film to be rated G since Clifford's Really Big Movie and The Polar Express.
* Warner Bros.' fourth theatrically released flash animated feature film after 2018's *Teen Titans Go! To the Movies*, 2021's *A Foster's Movie: Imagination Desolation* and 2023's *WordGirl: The Movie*.
* This is Alan Menken's second Cartoon Network theatrical score after *Craig Before the Creek* (2023).
* It also uses elements from Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz, but without Tom, Jerry and Tuffy the Munchkin Mouse.
* The first Warner Animation Group's theatrical animated film to be rated G.
* 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.
* The fourth Warner Bros. Animation’s theatrical animated film, the first was Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), the second was Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018) and the third was Krypto the Superdog: The Movie (2019).
* This is the first theatrically released Warner Bros. film to be rated G by the MPAA since The Reef (2006).
* The film's 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.
* Fourth theatrically released Flash animated feature from Warner Bros.
* It is the most recent theatrical feature film from Warner Bros. Animation outside of Warner Animation Group.
* The Mouse Queen and her troops were in this movie, but without Tom, Jerry and Tuffy the Munchkin Mouse from the second film, Tom and Jerry: Back to Oz.
* Warner Bros. Animation's third (and possibly last) theatrically released flash animated feature film.

## Transcripts

### Main Transcript

*Main article: Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars/Transcript*
### Trailer transcripts

*Main article: Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars/Trailer transcripts*
## Credits

*Main article: Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: Wonders of the Stars/Credits*