The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 movie based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, which was originally published in 1900. The Cowardly Lion is a lion, but he talks and interacts with humans. He is the last of the companions Dorothy befriends on her way to the Emerald City. The Cowardly Lion joins her so that he can ask The Wizard for courage. Despite outward evidence that he is a coward, The Cowardly Lion displays great bravery along the way.