Summertime Entertainment has launched a new virtual world designed to serve as a prequel to its upcoming animated feature film Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return.

Created in partnership with the U.K. based studio Dubit, “Legends of Oz World” features a range of multi-player games, 30 story quests and more than 1,000 collectible digital items.

“‘Legends of Oz World’ offers dozens of hours of free family fun that is wonderful on its own, but will also significantly enhance the movie-goers’ experience,” says Brad Jashinsky, digital producer, Summertime Entertainment. “We worked closely with the film’s production team to ensure accuracy with the feature film, and more than 90 percent of the artwork in the virtual world is pulled directly from the film.”

“Legends of Oz World” picks up at the end of L. Frank Baum’s fairy tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and ends just before the start of the upcoming feature film.

Players help Dorothy save Oz by reuniting her with familiar characters such as Toto, Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow, as well exploring new lands that will appear in the movie, including China Country and the Talking Tree Forest. 

Both the virtual world and the film are based on the adventure books written by Baum’s great-grandson, Roger Stanton Baum.

“We’ve secured the rights to 10 of Roger’s stories that continue his great-grandfather’s literary legacy,” says Ryan Carroll, chief executive officer, Summertime Entertainment. “‘The Legends of Oz’ virtual world is just one of the intellectual properties we’re excited to bring to the public. We are in the process of developing several gaming, film and television projects with our production and finance partners.”

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return is set to hit theatres in 2014 with a voice cast that includes Lea Michele, Martin Short, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart and Bernadette Peters.