As someone who grew up loving “The Wizard Of Oz” and idolizing Dorothy, I’m a tad dubious of remakes or re-imaginings or what-have-you. No one can fill those ruby slippers like Judy Garland, baby.

But when I saw the trailer for “Oz: The Great and Powerful”, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a remake, but rather a prequel of sorts that takes on more elements from the book than the MGM film did; it takes us back before Dorothy and her friends met on the infamous yellow brick road. It tells the story of Oscar Diggs, a magician working at a circus in Kansas who longs for bigger things; when his hot air balloon is swept up in a funnel cloud, he’s whisked away to the land of Oz, where he meets all manner of odd creatures, witches, and perhaps even his fate.

The film isn’t rated yet, but being a Disney movie it will most likely not feature anything too hardcore, and while it might be fun to see the early days of Oz through a distorted, R-rated lens, the trailer looks promising. James Franco plays Oscar, Mila Kunis plays wicked witch Theodora, and Michelle Williams plays Glinda the good witch.

While the actors can’t say too much for fear of giving things away, Williams did say that some big reveals will be made in this film.

“There was a reason Glinda didn’t go down the yellow brick road,” she said cryptically.

“Oz: The Great And Powerful” opens March 8, 2013.