The animated movie,
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return premiered on May 9th and is getting perplexingly polarized reviews--people either love it or hate it. I watched the trailer, but probably won't see this movie myself since it seems to be intended for a pretty young crowd. I do have a general fondness for the original
Wizard of Oz movie, though, based on our family's tradition of watching this classic every year when it aired on television. I always forgot from year to year that the movie starts in black and white and then bursts into color once Dorothy gets to Oz. For some reason, that effect was perpetually magical to me. Anyway--because of this fondness, I always stop to look at
Wizard of Oz merchandise at the toy stores. A few weeks ago at Toys R Us, I noticed a brand new group of attractive-looking Dorothy dolls and stopped to investigate. Seeing these dolls is actually how I first learned about
Legends of Oz. The new dolls are made by Bandai, and are designed to resemble the animated Dorothy from the movie.
Bandai's initial release of
Legends of Oz toys includes three different 11" Dorothy dolls ($16.99-$24.99), a larger scale 15" child Dorothy ($19.99), and two sets of small secondary character figurines ($11.99 per set). I was drawn to these toys not just because of their association with the
Wizard of Oz, but because all of the dolls have very sweet faces. I decided to review the 11" Dorothy that comes with a Toto companion, since this particular doll is in the middle of the price range and I am a fan of Cairn terriers (note: Dorothy can't actually hold Toto on her own):
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| "Dorothy & Toto" by Bandai, $19.99. |
