trailer for The Great and Powerful Oz

We've always said that we'd get out of this game if Hollywood were to ever lay its remake-happy meat hooks on either of the two most untouchable films of all time, The Wizard of Oz or Gone With the Wind. Though the forthcoming release of Oz the Great and Powerful is technically a prequel, it's close enough to being a remake to have us sitting on the front porch with bags packed and a cab on the way.

The film, directed by Sam Raimi and due for release next year, covers the period of time before Dorothy and her little dog arrived at the merry old land of Oz where small-time magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) finds himself aboard his signature balloon headed towards Oz on the tail of a mighty twister where he'll need to somehow transform himself into the great and powerful one. You can watch the trailer below for Oz The Great and Powerful which debuted at 2012's ComicCon Disney Panel. Particularly interesting are the trailer's opening seconds that take us back to depression-era Kansas with that familiar black-and-white footage before dropping us in Oz where the use of the vivid stereoscopic format causes colors to almost pop off the screen.

Yes, the literary world and Broadway were first to dabble in The Wizard of Oz prequel territory with the enormously popular book and musical called Wicked that examines the relationship between the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good With of the North, but since when has Hollywood ever not had the last word?

Also starring in the film as the three witches are Mila Kunis (as Theodora), Rachel Weisz (as Evanora), and Michelle Williams (as Glinda). it will release to theaters on March 8, 2013.