As student teams urge their peers worldwide to take action, they gain critical confidence to apply to middle school life along their own yellow brick roads
As the Oscar buzz continues around Wicked and The Wizard of Oz celebrates its 85th anniversary this year, kids everywhere are reconnecting with the magical stories of the Emerald City more than ever before — consider an amazing story about 17 schools teaming up to put their own modern spin on this timeless classic by making an all-new animated Oz movie created for kids, by kids.
Wonder Media is collaborating with students and teachers in 17 Pennsylvania school districts to produce a new animated movie written and planned by elementary, middle, and high school students. “Finding Stories of Wonder in the Land of Oz” tells the story of Dorothy, whose worries about transitioning from elementary to middle school leads her to the magical land of Oz. There, her new friends Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, and Cowardly Lion will help her find the wisdom, heart, and courage to enter middle school with confidence.
Teams of four students in each district are producing thematic scenes from the film:
At Keystone Oaks, students are producing a scene about drought adaptations.
At Elizabeth Forward, one team is animating a script and scene on jungle restoration and while another produces the musical score for the film.
At New Castle, they students are working on a scene on forest conservation.
At South Allegheny, the team is tackling a scene on water contamination and controlling runoff.
Peers at Fox Chapel are producing the scene that addresses environmental awareness and community resilience.
Interview student teams as they write, narrate, produce sound effects and animate one sequence from the story’s script, which will then be edited together into a complete student-generated movie about ways everyone can help to prevent the effects of climate change.
They are deep into the production now and hope to finish by March 2025. There are interview opportunities each week beginning the week of January 6.
Wonder Media’s Terry Thoren — who is also the former CEO of Klasky Csupo, which produced Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys — has dedicated his career to creating art that helps children navigate, process, and avoid trauma. “Through his project, it’s amazing to see how students who didn’t always love school before do now, and the excitement from these four-student animation teams is unfolding in incredibly powerful ways as they get excited about contributing to something bigger than themselves,” says Thoren.
“Finding Stories of Wonder in the Land of Oz” will premiere in a theater in Pittsburgh in late May 2025.
The project is supported by The Grable Foundation.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
