Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.
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C.S. (Clive Staples) Lewis` tales of the mythical and magical land of Narnia are well-known and iconic stories in litterature. Which began with an image of a faun with an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood came to his mind when he was sixteen. But the story didn`t have any direction until Aslan came along, as Lewis had dreams about lions. However,
regardless of it`s position, it`s very remarkable how there`s been
so few adaptations of the story in Hollywood. With the exception of an
animated special and a couple of series. However, my own
personal introduction to the Narnia Universe was from the BBC`s series
from 1988 (as I`ve never read the books as a child). But it`s still
remarkable how there was never an full-length movie ever made. Well, at
least until 2005. 
Released in December 2005,
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was a movie made by Walden Media, but distributed by Disney. And directed by Andrew Adamson, coming off the success of Shrek (his first live action gig). Narnia was both a critical and commercial success, grossing $291,710,957 Domestically and $745 million Worldwide. Having Tilda Swinton as Jadis, James McAvoy as Tumnus and Liam Neeson as Aslan. It was scored by Harry Gregson-Williams and having Imohep and Alanis Morissette singing the end credit songs. Despite how the Narnia franchise was unfortunately a short-lived one, the first movie still made it`s impact and was the fourth highest grossing film of 2005 (and even outgrossed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Peter Jackson`s King Kong).
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was a movie made by Walden Media, but distributed by Disney. And directed by Andrew Adamson, coming off the success of Shrek (his first live action gig). Narnia was both a critical and commercial success, grossing $291,710,957 Domestically and $745 million Worldwide. Having Tilda Swinton as Jadis, James McAvoy as Tumnus and Liam Neeson as Aslan. It was scored by Harry Gregson-Williams and having Imohep and Alanis Morissette singing the end credit songs. Despite how the Narnia franchise was unfortunately a short-lived one, the first movie still made it`s impact and was the fourth highest grossing film of 2005 (and even outgrossed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Peter Jackson`s King Kong).
Comparisons to The Lord of the Rings
Since Narnia was coming off the heels of the successful adaptation of The Lord of the Rings,
a comparison between the movies was both superfluous, but also
inevitable. As Peter Jackson`s
adapatations of the stories were grand, sumptuous and long epics. And
both were shot in New Zealand (which was the first the location
suggested) and it featured
similar landscapes. However, the difference is that Narnia was
made with a younger, sanitized audience in mind (cause the violence is
mostly non-explicit and no blood is shown). But frankly, regardless of
how the first Narnia movie was successful, it wasn`t essentially the big, cultural phenomenon that the Rings-saga was. 
And what could`ve been perceived as a synergy, An extended edition was released on on DVD (despite how the movie was just barely extended). It`s also a synergy how Tolkien and Lewis were actually
friends and how both their original stories shared similar trademarks (despite how Tolkien disliked Narnia, as he disliked the blend of figures from
different traditions. And
found the "carelessly and superficially written" work less serious
than his own mythology). Another synergy is how both directors, Peter Jackson and Andrew Adamson, are New Zealanders and friends. And Adamson sought Jackson's advice for Narnia. But another comparison for the Narnia Universe has actually been the world of Oz, for having a similar, fantastical Universe.
The Faithfulness of the Original Novel, Lucy and Tumnus` Relationship and Andrew Adamson`s Previous Works
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| Yes, it`s hard to stand on two legs :) |
Regarding Narnia as a movie, it is remarkable how it`s actually a quite faithful
adaptation to the first novel. Despite how it has some mandatory
tweakings with some expansions, it is otherwise very faithful. But
regarding
the emotional strengths of the story, there`s no doubt that Lucy
Pevensie`s relationship with Mr. Tumnus has gained the most praise by
critics, audiences and even by the crew of Narnia themselves. But it`s not
strange to see why, as their relationship is sweet and endearing enough. And therefore deserved to be expanded and praised.  |
| It was hard to stand when it`s slippery due to the ice :) |
However, considering how Narnia was helmed by Adamson, who was making his first live action movie, some reviewers (at least in my native Norway) were comparing it to Shrek.
For lacking the sharp wit and vitality of that franchise and actually
being more subdued. And while it is a relevant comparison, it`s still
perhaps not as comparable in the long run. For being different
properties, as both serves different purposes. Despite how the
photorealistic characters talking was a nitpick by test audiences and
reviewers.
The Reception of the Young Cast
However,
regarding the cast of Narnia, it was a deliberate choice that the director
went for unknown childs. To not make it distracting for the audience
(despite how most of them had already acted before, with the exception
of Georgie Henley as Lucy). But frankly, regarding the reception of them, it`s no surprise
how Henley was the one who gained most praise (at least by Norwegian reviewers). She stole the show and was absolutely
charming in her role. However, William Moseley was regarded by reviewers as being a
little stiff and bland as Peter.
And while it would be easy to label him
as so, the truth is that he doesn`t have
much to do (no offense to Moseley). But regarding
Skandar Heynes as Edmund, there`s no doubt that he`s gotten
the most challenging role. But frankly delivers a solid perfomance (and
despite of him being a jerk, does have his arc). But Susan comes across
as the fourth wheel, as Anna Poppelwell is given
an unfortunate thankless role as the snappy and prissy Susan. However,
it`s not to say that Poppelwell is wasted in her role, as she does comes
across as likable overall. The Subliminal, Religious Content
However, to scrutinize the subliminal content of Narnia,
there`s no doubt
how the it has been scrutinized for religious content. As the Pevensies
are labeled as children of Adam and Eve. And Aslan essentially has a
similar purpose and
arc to Jesus Christ: To serve as a guardian, who`s also being
sacrificed and revived. And yes, there has been criticism of this.
Despite how Lewis is of course the one who`s behind it. As he hoped the book would warm up religious reflexes and having children to accept faith when they met it
later in life. Even a version of the soundtrack was released with religious music. But Disney
was deliberately promoting it to the religious. But the religious
content has been met with both responses, as it enraged an evangelical
publisher. 
But at least some Christian devices embraced it and promoted the movie, as the Christian radio
station Premier, Methodists, a Kent parish, US
born-agains, The Mission America Coalition, George Bush` brother, Jeb
Bush. Even Walden Media, offered a 17-week Narnia Bible study for kids
(despite how it got protests) It has aroused protests from
Americans United for Separation of Church and State. But Adamson himself says the movie's Christian themes are open to
the audience to interpret. Still, regardless of that staple, is it fair to call Narnia a
conservative, Christian movie? No necessarily. Cause despite having
it`s Christian allegories and references, it doesn`t come across as
preachy, nor does it rub it in the faces.Behind the Scenes Information
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| This gift made me feel like a child again :) |
Kathleen Kennedy were planning a film version. They couldn`t find a place in U.K. to shoot it in 1996. And their plans to set it in modern times made Douglas Gresham oppose the film. As the technology had to catch up. Perry Moore talked with the C. S. Lewis estate in 2000. On 7 December 2001, Walden Media got the rights to the franchise. Walden asked many directors to helm the films, including Rob Minkoff, John Boorman, and David Fincher. Guillermo del Toro turned it down to direct Pan's Labyrinth. On 1 March 2004, Disney signed to co-produce and finance all the Narnia films. As the success of Harry Potter made the crewconfident to set the movie in Britain. Cause when it was developed at Paramount, they wanted it to set it in the U.S.
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| It was hard to hide my long beard with my jacket :) |
Many directors expressed their interest. But when Moore was called by his
agent, he was recommended Adamson. Adamson himself wanted to a smaller
movie. But Adamson loved the story so much that he didn`t wanted another
director to do it. Adamson wrote down all of his memories from the book
and everything he loved about it as a child. And wrote a 20 page
director`s note for everything he wanted to do. Adamson had envisioned
the ending battle in his mind as a child. Adamson approved with Lewis`
stepson, Doug Gresham, to expand some scenes. 2.500 kids auditioned and Adamson met 700 of them and workshopped with 400 of them. And narrowed them down to 120. However, the processs of casting them was delayed, as the crew were working on the script. William
and Anna were the first to be found and Skandar and Georgie the last.
And all were cast the same day, in order to work as a family.  |
| I just recently woke up, that`s why I look like this :) |
Swinton was the first choice for the Queen. But it was hard to avoid the cliche
of making her like any other female villain, cackling and screeching.
And also as Swinton gave her sophistication, as Adamson wanted her to be
so and come across as ambiguous. But also how a cold nature scare
children more. The actors who voiced the creatures were the last to be
found. Aslan`s voice was the hardest to cast, for being supreme, but
also vulnerable. The movie was shot chronologically, as the child actors
would mature during the movie, but also to reflect their emotional
journey. The beavers were the favorite characters of the test audience.
But Adamson wanted them to be realistic and deliberately threw in the
meta-comments of them talking, as it seemed distracting. The
overall shooting took from eight months. To shoot in New Zealand was
not easy, due to how it was too huge and they had to bring in snow. All
four of the children had a parent with them during the shooting.  |
| I`m angry because they skinned me :) |
Wētā Workshop head Richard Taylor felt Narnia had to be less dark and gritty than Middle-earth in Rings because it is a new world. Photography began in June 2004. The children were in New Zealand for six months. As for locations, it was also shot in U.K., Poland and Czech
Republic. But the final battle was shot in Flock Hill, in South Island.
Which was not a production friendly place to ship the crew. And yes,
they were considering to have a real lion for Aslan. Weta created the
characters and the costumes and digital props. The special effects were
made by Rhythm and Hues (who were behind Babe), ILM, Digital
Dream and SPI. Since reindeers couldn`t be brought to New Zealand for
bovine desease, they had to create ones with animatronics and CGI. Real
wolves were used in the set, along with CGI wolves. But when they were
coming to hunt the beavers, they looked like they were happy, so their
wagging tails were removed. The scene with the Pevensies having a
confrontation with the wolves at the melting ice wasn`t in the book, but
was added to have more jeopardy. And the crew sprayed water on the ice
to make it unstable for the kids, so their performance was sharpened.
And the water was warm, so the children loved it. Amy Lee from Evanescence wrote a song for the film, that wasn`t included in the soundtrack.
Sequels
Since
the original tales of Lewis included many stories, it was needless
that Narnia was essentially going to receive sequels. However, the lasting of the Narnia-franchise
was unfortunately a very short-lived one. As it barely lasted for five
years and only two sequels were released. But what`s remarkable how only one was distributed by Disney and the other from 20th Century
Fox. The first sequel, Prince Caspian was released in May 2008. But despite how it was mostly critically well recieved,
it was still regarded by some to be inferior to it`s predecessor. And
the audience responded in the same way. While it wasn`t a flop, it still
grossed inferiorly to it`s predecessor ($141,621,490
Domestically and $419,665,568
Worldwide). Regarding my
opinion about Caspian, the truth is that wasn`t a bad movie. It was a actually a good one. But it
was hampered by it`s flaws: It was too rushed, the juggling between the storylines was not consistent, the characters were
underdeveloped, the romance between Susan and Caspian was contrived and
the ending song (Regina Spektors` The Call) felt jarringly out of place in a fantasy movie. 
Sure, Caspian had it`s moments (and frankly, Edmund was superior in that
movie, as he came across as snarky in a appealing way), but compared to
it`s predecessor, it was easy to look through it`s faults. As for the
third sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it was released two years later. But due to budgetary disputes between Disney and Walden Media, Fox took over. The critics were essentially hostile with Voyage and the Box Office results were on par with Caspian ($104,386,950 Domestically and $415,686,217 Worldwide). As for my own opinion of Voyage, while it wasn`t as half-baked as Caspian, it was essentially cute and endearing enough on it`s own right. But compared to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, it felt inferior as a whole. But both of the sequels took more liberties with the source material than Wardrobe did.
And sure, it would be tempting to ponder why both of these sequels
underperformed. And the truth is there are many reasons for it (the sake
of timing, how the stories were meant for children). Orginally The Silver Chair
was going to be adapted, but in the fall of 2011,
Walden contract with the Lewis estate expired.Epilogue
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| Since the lion is the king, I must shine above others :) |
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a successful adaptation of Lewis` enchanting and endearing Universe. It truly deserved it`s success in every single way.
As for my personal opinion about the movie, I`ve always
liked it a lot. I loved it when I first saw it theatrically and loved it
ever since. I thought it was an enchanting, endearing and well-made
adapation of the story. It`s visually splendid, the music was
enchanting, the characters are engaging enough and manages to create a
sense and magic and wonder.  |
| We were instructed to pose awkwardly :) |
True there are a couple of scenes that are superfluous, but they do come across as rather nitpicky and never sullies the movie. And frankly, I thought the movie was superior to my previous introduction to the Narnia-franchise, the BBC`s series. Cause it was superior as a whole. But
while that being said, since this entry was meant
to synergize it`s 20th Anniversary (yes, it`s hard to believe that for
someone who was that age at that time that this movie is now that
old), there`s nothing else to wish Narnia Happy 20th Anniversary and may you continue to have many more.
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| I wanted to show there are more lions than Simba and Mufasa :) |
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References:
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Two Disc Special Edition DVD
Starlog Magazine January 2006
