One of my favorite childhood stories is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Part of that is due to the classic musical movie version, but part of that is also because I was exposed to the original L. Frank Baum book at a young age. Between the two, I found quite an enjoyment for Dorothy’s story, but I know a lot of people only know the Judy Garland version, which takes a few liberties with Baum’s story. Still, it is the time-honored favorite version of the story, which is why I’m a bit surprised to hear anyone is considering making another film version of The Wizard of Oz.

Variety reported on director John Boorman’s plan to create a new, CG animated version of Baum’s classic story, to the tune of $25 million. With a planned 2010 release, the movie is currently in production under France’s Films Actions.

After reporting on this earlier in the week, AICN unearthed some concept art and a mission statement regarding the movie online at Action Synthese. The original text is in French, although AICN has a translated version at their site.

I think there’s definitely room for another version of Dorothy’s story in film, but I also think it’s rather ambitious to take such a project on. So many people only want the MGM musical version that staging a different version will face some opposition being accepted by the public, even if it is a more faithful adaptation. Still, I can’t wait to see what the director of Excalibur comes up with.