Lion of Oz (2000)

A circus lion finds himself in a magical land where he becomes the leader of a journey to stop the Wicked Witch of the East, a task which may lead him to loose a part of himself.

Director:

Tim Deacon

Writers:

Elana Lesser, Cliff Ruby,

Stars:

Henry Beckman, Dom DeLuise, Gerard Plunkett

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Henry Beckman	...	Narrator (voice)
Dom DeLuise	...	Oscar Diggs (voice) (as Dom DeLuises)
Gerard Plunkett	...	The Oak Tree (voice)
Jason Priestley	...	Lion (voice)
Lynn Redgrave	...	The Wicked Witch of the East (voice)
Miklos Perlus	...	Sunbeam (voice) (as Mik Perlus)
Eleanor Noble	...	Moonbeam (voice)
Elizabeth Robertson	...	Starburst (voice)
Scott McNeil	...	Gloom (voice)
Bobcat Goldthwait	...	Silly Ozbul (voice)
Jane Horrocks	...	Wimsik (voice)
Tim Curry	...	Captain Fitzgerald (voice)
Kathy Griffin	...	Caroline (voice)
Peter Kelamis	...	Tog (voice)
Don Brown	...	Pin Cushion (voice)

Storyline

Before Dorothy landed on the Wicked Witch of the East with her little farm house, the witch had to contend with another resident of middle America. The Lion, who was once part of the Omaha Circus, comes to Oz with the Wizard and starts on an adventure to stop the witch from obtaining the Flower of Oz. As new friends and strange characters look to him for his courage, Lion could loose exactly what it is that makes him so brave. Based upon the book by Roger S. Baum (Great-Grandson of Oz L. Frank Baum, the original author of the Oz books).

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Plot Keywords:

lion | prequel | animal in title | animal name in title | wooden soldier | 

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Genres:

Family | Animation | Musical

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Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 September 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lion of Oz and the Badge of Courage

Company Credits

Production Co:

CinéGroupe, Lions Gate Films, Sony Wonder

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is based on the book "Lion of Oz and the Badge of Courage" written by Roger S. Baum, great-grandson of the author of the original Oz series L. Frank Baum.

User Reviews

Sweet, fun, memorable

This is a wonderful film for young children. My son loves the characters, especially Silly, and he is engrossed in the story every time he watches it.

A great prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" story. I'd recommend it to anyone with kids under 10. The plot is simple to follow as the Lion takes a journey through Oz meeting up with interesting characters along the way. The acting is very good and includes performances from several famous names such as Lynn Redgrave as the Wicked Witch of the east, Dom DeLuise, and Tim Curry. This story makes the whole Oz family of books begin to make sense. Some of the characters are familiar already, and of course there are some new ones too. My kids really like it and keep watching.