LEGENDS OF OZ: DOROTHY’S RETURN (U, 88 mins) **
Featuring the voices of Lea Michele, Dan Aykroyd, Kelsey Grammer, Jim Belushi, Bernadette Peters, Martin Short, Hugh Dancy, Patrick Stewart, Megan Hilty, Oliver Platt, Tacey Adams, Michael Krawic. Directors: Will Finn, Daniel St Pierre.

This computer-animated musical is a direct sequel to the classic 1939 musical The Wizard Of Oz, based on a novel by L Frank Baum, returning the plucky heroine and her pooch Toto to the enchanted realm in order to thwart a megalomaniacal new villain.

Dorothy Gale (voiced by Michele) wakes in Kansas. A giant tornado has devastated the community and Aunt Em (Adams) and Uncle Henry (Krawic) are reluctantly preparing to move on rather than rebuild.

Back in Oz, The Jester (Short), devious brother of the Wicked Witch of the West, is upholding villainous family values by attempting to enslave the kingdom.

Scarecrow (Aykroyd), Tin Man (Grammer) and Cowardly Lion (Belushi) summon Dorothy back to Oz using a rainbow mover in order to spearhead a rebellion.

The heroine journeys towards the Emerald City in the company of new friends including Wiser The Owl (Platt), Tugg the Treeboat (Stewart), dashing soldier Marshal Mallow (Dancy) and the China Doll Princess (Hilty).

Legends Of Oz: Dorothy’s Return is neither fun-filled nor magical, punctuating the heroine’s odyssey with songs composed by singer/songwriter Bryan Adams, which run the gamut of insipid empowerment ballads and up-tempo calls to arms.

Animation harks from a bygone era when humans were doll-like figures with a strange sheen and large eyes. There’s still no place like the 1939 film.