Can Disney Mess Up Narnia?

[axi]

Narnia is the first fantasy book I ever read. I was fascinated. The next was the Silmarillion, after I had turned 18.

They probably thought that if they succeed, they can always shoot books 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 of the Narnia series.

But of course they will **** it up.

IMO, and I know that most will disagree, the best book is #3, the Horse and his Boy. A side story actually, but it's free of most of Lewis's regular bull****. I hope they make it into a film as well.

Perhaps the Prince of the Calormenes will look a little bit like Ossama?

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by DanS
It seems like an impossible series to really screw up, but several versions in the past have been disappointing. I think there was a live action BBC (?) version which had limited believability, to be charitable.

It's a story about finding a land, run by a lion, in the back of a wardrobe, and you're talking about 'limited believability' Dan, you're precious

[GePap]

I don't think the Christian overtones really matter. I read the whole series in middle school, and I did not get a single Christian allegory. That's the beauty of allegory- if you really don't care or know what the allegory is about, you will never see it and can enjoy the book/movie blissfully ignorant.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I don't get this utter sense of dread. So many people were convinced that Peter Jackson was going to **** up LOTR on the big screen. From the trailer, I thought it looked amazing, and Disney was behind "Pirates of the Carribean", which WAS an amazing movie (though it may be too much to get Johnny Depp to play a character in this one ), so I don't fear this adaptation.

[GePap]

Tilda Swinton (I think that is how you spell her name) plays the Witch. She seems a good choice for the role. The Lion CGI does look, well, like CGI. BUt I don't mind too much.

[Last Conformist]

I saw a mini-series version of The Witch and the Wardrobe as a kid, and liked it well enough ...

Disney is fully capable of screwing anything up*, but I'm fairly optimistic about this. About the only bad vibe from the trailer was the massed fight scenes - they might've decided to turn it into an action movie ...

* I'm sure they could make a non-sexy movie about lesbian supermodels trapped on a tropical paradise island.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by GePap
I don't think the Christian overtones really matter. I read the whole series in middle school, and I did not get a single Christian allegory. That's the beauty of allegory- if you really don't care or know what the allegory is about, you will never see it and can enjoy the book/movie blissfully ignorant.

Wow. The "Christians are good, Muslims worship Satan" message in the last one is really strong. If they left that message in there when they made that movie, Disney would take a lot of criticism.

[chequita guevara]

I'll reserve judgement.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by GePap
Tilda Swinton (I think that is how you spell her name) plays the Witch. She seems a good choice for the role.

I agree, no acting required for Tilda in this role.

[molly bloom]

Disney managed it with the Alice books.


How to completely remove the charm, quirkiness and wonder from a book by making it into a cartoon about what looks like an intellectually challenged cheer leader in an apron.

[Elok]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Wow. The "Christians are good, Muslims worship Satan" message in the last one is really strong. If they left that message in there when they made that movie, Disney would take a lot of criticism.

Uh...Muslims? The Calormenes might be racial stereotypes, but I've never heard of Muslims worshipping statues the way they did. If anything, The Last Battle is insulting to Hindus. And it's got its ecumenist touches, as in Emeth. The whole idea behind him was mildly patronizing, I suppose, but ultimately he was meant to express that the direction of worship doesn't matter so much as the attitude and intention. Disney might just play Emeth up like nobody's business and get away with TLB. Mind you, I have no doubt that they can screw this up, though I haven't seen any trailers.

The Horse and his Boy is my favorite too, though the religious allegory is just as present in that as it is in the others. It's just a bit more subtle there.