ALADDIN Writer John August Hired to Write TOTO, an Animated Musical Adaptation
John August, the writer behind great films like Big Fish, Corpse Bride, and Aladdin, has been hired to write the script for an animated musical adaptation of the story Toto, based on the book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz, written by Michael Morpurgo and illustrated by Emma Chichester.
The book tells the story of The Wizard of Oz from the perspective of Dorothy’s beloved dog. Here’s the description of the book, which is described as a “surprising, charming and uplifting twist on The Wizard of Oz, told by a very special and unforgettable character: Dorothy’s pet dog, Toto.”
“I was there,” Papa Toto said, and those magic words sent shivers down my spine. It was going to be the Wizard story. “Dorothy and me were both there.”
We were all silent, snuggled up together, waiting, waiting.
Then Papa Toto began…When a twister descends on their Kansas farm, Toto and his owner Dorothy hide in the house – only to be plucked into the air and whisked away!
Coming down with a crash in the mysterious land of Oz, the pair meet a series of extraordinary characters: a scarecrow who believes he has no brains, a tin man without a heart, and a cowardly lion who may not be as cowardly as he thinks he is.
But Toto and Dorothy are desperate to return home – after all, home is home, and home is best! So they set off with their new friends on a journey down the yellow brick road to find the only person who might be able to help them: the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
But what they find might surprise them. And on the way, all of them will learn that what they think they are missing might have been there, all along…
This should be a good project for August, and a fun retelling of the classic tale. Have you read this story? Is this a film that sounds fun to you?
Source: Deadline