Find out what happens to the Cowardly Lion in ‘Wicked’, set well before ‘The Wizard of Oz’, where he is introduced as Dorothy’s friend
In ‘The Wizard of Oz’, a book released in 1900 by the authorL. Frank BaumDorothy is taken by a cyclone to the extraordinary world of Oz, and while trying to return to the farm where she lives with her grandparents in Kansas, in the United States, she ends up meeting some local residents, like the Cowardly Lion, for example, who accompanies her to the place where the local ruler lives as he could help them achieve what they most desire.
In Dorothy’s case, the girl’s desire is to travel back to Earth, while the anthropomorphic lion dreams of being braver. With them are also the Scarecrow, who needs a brain, and a Tin Man without a heart, who can only get what they want if they come together to take the Wicked Witch of the West’s broomstick to the Wizard of Oz.
In the plot, however, no information is revealed about the past of the Cowardly Lion and his friends from Oz. Details about the character’s early life only emerge in the prelude “Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz”, written by Gregory Maguire in 1995, which gave rise to the Broadway musical “Wicked”, which was adapted for cinema and has been showing since last Thursday, the 21st, which also shows for the first time a little of what happened to the animal before to become friends with the girl who gets the iconic ruby slippers.
What is the origin of the Cowardly Lion?
In “Wicked”, it is possible to see the transformation of Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship, whose differences between them will be highlighted after a visit to the Wizard of Oz, as it is at this moment that a conspiracy is revealed and their attitudes towards The terrible plan will bring consequences that will make them known as the Wicked Witch of the West and the Good Witch of the North.
It is also worth remembering that the two met at Shiz University, which began to undergo a transformation shortly after their arrival. This is because, after the dismissal of the goat professor Dr. Dillamond (Peter Dinklage), they begin taking classes with a substitute who decides to propagate Oz’s new policy, which wishes to silence the anthropomorphic animal population of Oz.
To convey the ideals of oppression to animals, the new teacher brings a caged lion cub to class, in order to prove that if they are imprisoned at a young age, they will not learn to speak. However, Elphaba, who is against Oz’s new stance on animals, manages to release the lion after accidentally putting everyone in the room to sleep.
It is not shown what happens to the lion after it is released into the wild, but it is known that it grows up and turns into the Cowardly Lion from ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
The adaptation of “Wicked” for the big screen was divided into two parts, and the final run is scheduled to be released on November 21, 2025 in Brazil.
Source: Recreio
