Lion of Oz is a animated prequel film to The Wizard of Oz. It was made in the year 2000 by Lions Gate Films. It tells the story of how the Cowardly Lion, formerly part of the Omaha Circus, came to be in Oz and 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).