Lion of Oz
| Lion of Oz | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tim Deacon |
| Produced by | Sophie Chicoine Loris Kramer Lunsford Michel Lemire Jacques Pettigrew |
| Written by | Elana Lesser Cliff Ruby Roger S. Baum L. Frank Baum |
| Starring |
Henry Beckman Jason Priestley Tim Curry Dom DeLuise Bob Goldthwait Kathy Griffin Jane Horrocks Lynn Redgrave |
| Music by | Jennifer Wilson |
| Edited by | Claudette Duff |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by |
Lions Gate Films Disney Channel Cinema Club (UK) |
|
Release date
|
2000 |
|
Running time
|
74 minutes |
| Country | Canada / United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Lion of Oz is a 2000 animated film set before the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It tells the story of how the Cowardly Lion, formerly part of the Omaha Circus, came to be in Oz, how he stopped the Wicked Witch of the East from getting the Flower of Oz. It is based upon the book Lion of Oz and the Badge of Courage by Roger S. Baum (great-grandson of L. Frank Baum, the original author of the Oz books).
The Lion simply called "Lion" is a circus lion, displayed in a cage where everyone's afraid of him. His only friend is Oscar Diggs, the Circus Balloonist, who lets Lion out of his cage and takes him up on his balloon. While they're up there, Oscar gives Lion a Badge of Courage for coming up on his balloon, but they are soon caught in a storm. Lion falls from the balloon and Oscar can't stop it from leaving and carrying him off. He reminds Lion that "true friends can never be lost" before he is carried away.
Lion comes across a living Oak Tree being harassed by flying monkeys. Lion frightens them off and the Tree thanks him. Lion realises he can talk just as the Tree can talk. The Tree explains the monkeys serve the Wicked Witch of the East, who appears quickly.
She threatens Lion to find the Flower of Oz for her or he'll never see Oscar again, claiming that Oscar is her prisoner. Tree explains to Lion that The Witch is bent on conquering Oz, but is prevented from total control by the "flower".
Setting out, Lion comes across two fairies, whose friend Starburst is trapped in a chest of emeralds at the bottom of a deep pond. Lion dives in, despite his aversion to water, to save her. During his rescue the Witch's henchman Gloom, a living mist of misery, arrives and tries to tempt Lion with greed into forgetting Starburst and taking as many of the emeralds as he wants, but Lion ignores him and saves the little fairy. The fairies gratefully point Lion in the right direction, telling him to go to a certain castle.
As he nearly arrives, he comes across a springy teddy bear named Silly Oz-bul, who says he needs to cross the river to get a drink at the castle. Lion points out he can get a drink from the river, which Silly does. He follows Lion to the castle where they are confronted by a toy soldier named Captain Fitzgerald, who thinks they're enemies. but the misunderstanding is cleared when a young girl named Wimzik and her toy ballerina Caroline come along. Lion explains his mission and they decide to come along with him.
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Wikipedia