Narnia Business
Disney Woos Fantasy Fans and Christians with New Film

In an unprecedented move, Disney Studios produced two different public relations pushes for its new movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. One ad campaign was designed to lure Harry Potter fans to the movie while the other was going after the Passion of the Christ crowd. Once again Hollywood underestimates its audience by believing that they are in fact two different groups. There’s a lot more purple and maroon out there than “blue state/red state” experts would have you believe.

“My friends keep sending me books but what I really want for Christmas is an Old Navy hooded fleece.” Georgie Henley stars as Lucy Pevensie and James McAvoy stars as the faun Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

British author C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia to be both a fantastical adventure story and a parable of the story of Jesus Christ. The new movie version of the first book in the series is entertaining while never quite getting into the meat of either side of Lewis’ story.

On the plus side, the acting of all four underage actors playing the Pevensie siblings is exemplary and accounts for nearly all of the emotional investment the audience makes in this movie. Their performance is equaled by a wonderful turn by Tilda Swinton as the White Witch of Narnia. Unfortunately, none of the computer-generated characters are nearly as engaging as their human counterparts.

Some of the best scenes in The Chronicles of Narnia are at the very beginning when the four kids are transported by train from London to a country manor in order to escape German bombing raids during World War II. The Pevensies—Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter (William Moseley)—have serious concerns about their mother (Judy McIntosh) back in London, their father who is in the Army, and their new benefactor, Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent).

When Lucy discovers a secret wardrobe in a spare room that transports the kids to the magical world of Narnia, they find that the uncertainties of their own reality in Britain are paralleled in a universe filled with talking animals, evil witches, and a power struggle that has led to 100 years of winter.

Lewis wrote the series with an obvious nod to his own Christianity. The leader of the good forces is the Christ-like lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) while the White Witch represents Satan. Her constant attempts to entice Edmund into betraying his siblings with the lure of Turkish delights seems to recall Judas’ betrayal of Christ, as does Aslan’s forgiveness of Edmund. The story also highlights Jesus’ resurrection from the cross in one crucial scene.

Lewis wrote his story at the same time that his friend J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is interesting that both series have finally become major motion pictures after being classics of literature for the past half century.

“Unlike Tolkien, who was very specific, Lewis left a lot to your imagination,” said director Andrew Adamson. “So we had the enormous challenge of not only creating Narnia, but of trying to fulfill people’s expectations, to bring the film up to the level of their own dreams and fantasies.”

Working alongside Adamson on the project was Douglas Gresham—C.S. Lewis’ stepson and the creative and artistic director of Lewis estate and the C.S. Lewis Company.

“I’ve been working on seeing a movie made of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one way or another, for probably 25 or 30 years,” said Gresham. Like the Tolkien trilogy, the movie-making technology finally caught up with Narnia’s fantastical worlds and creatures to make a film version of the book series a reality. That said, the special effects in Narnia are clearly hit and miss. Some of the animals are very realistic, particularly the beavers, fauns, and wolves. During the climactic battle scenes, however, some of the limitations of CGI are apparent on the big screen.

At the end of the day, it is the acting of the five principal humans that make The Chronicles of Narnia a movie that kids—especially preteens and young teens—will want to watch again and again. Despite all of the fancy special effects involved, it is Swinton’s evil stare as Jadis the White Witch that may be the thing that ultimately scares kids (and some adults) all the way into their nightmares.

“When C.S. Lewis wrote this book, the character of the White Witch was somewhat original but that was 55 years ago,” said Adamson. “Now we have seen so many evil queens and witches, from Cruella De Ville onwards. So we wanted to stay away from cartoonish, cackling figures. Instead, what we wanted was a more human type of evil, something a little darker and more real, and I knew Tilda had the sophistication to pull that off. It was a big challenge. Ultimately, Tilda created a really convincing witch who evokes pure icy coldness.”

Added Swinton about her role, “Jadis is not human, you have to remember. She has no feelings about anything. She’s not really comprehensible on any normal level. She has created Narnia as a reflection of her own state of mind, freezing it into perpetual winter—no spring, no Christmas, no progress, no good, a pretty joyless place, until these children begin to turn it around.”

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is rated PG for battle sequences and frightening moments. It is currently playing at Regal Cinemas in Boone.