Corpse Bride Co-Director Making Oz “Dark, Slick, Sexy”

Oz Wars will remake The Wizard of Oz in distinctly grown-up stop-animation.

Vanguard Animation, the company that brought us Valiant, Happily N’Ever After, and Space Chimps, has just signed a director to their “CG/stop-motion hybrid” Wizard of Oz remake, Oz Wars. Mike Johnson, co-director of Corpse Bride, will helm the film, which Vanguard promises will be a “contemporary, freaky action-packed PG-13 audience pleaser.”

Johnson has few directorial credits under his belt, but has been an animator on films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and the short The Devil Went Down to Georgia. His work on 2005’s Corpse Bride was nominated for an Annie Award (given for excellence in animation).

Speaking about his vision for the film, Johnson said, “the Land of Oz will be re-imagined using stop-motion to create a world that’s dark, slick, sexy, and dangerous. It’s long been a goal of mine to create a hard-hitting, grown-up action film using stop-motion animation. Oz Wars is my opportunity to do that.” The movie also promises warrior witches, monsters, and martial arts. So, not my grandmother’s Wizard of Oz.