I'm a huge Friend of Narnia, and want to seen these stories told right. And as I mentioned in another thread, I'm hoping that the massive success of TPotC will encourage the filmmakers not to leech out all of the Christ/Biblical allegory from the storyline.


And oh yeah, Susan got screwed.

I'm 30 and I read Narnia in grade school... a little Tolkien, but mostly Lewis. Never read Harry Potter books - I think I was too old for that when it came out... I never heard of it until I was in college or something I think.

Is that a "yes, read them!" or a "no, you're too old?" Or maybe that's a "it's you're money , get them if you want!"

You're never too old for the Chronicles of Narnia.

I read the entire series in my youth, and then didn't even give them a sniff for 20+ years. I recently reread all seven about two years ago, and loved the hell out of 'em. I also picked up much of the allegory I completely overlooked back then.

It's well worth the time, believe you me.

Oh sweet mother of God. Not Disney.

I would have rather had Roger Corman get the rights and make the movies. Disney will butcher, strangle, mane, and outright slaughter Lewis's genius.

Oh oops - I misread - thought you said you were too old for them, but not for Harry Potter. Sorry. Um... I don't really know if you're too old for them, I don't remember much about Narnia since I was in grade school when I read it. I remember it being cool though. Sorry I can't help. I also used to read Choose Your Own Adventure books.

And i bet you cheated on them didn't you! DIDNT YOU!

You are certainly not too old to enjoy Narnia. It's a quick read, being written mainly for kids, but you'll understand the allegories better than most children would.

I read the series when I was nine years old, and reread them about every five years.

I absolutely hate The Last Battle. I just don't like how it ends.

My favorites are Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Magician's Nephew. A Horse and his Boy is pretty fun. I love Bree Hee Hinny Brinny Hoo Hee Haw. Great name for a horse.

Heck no, you're not too old. I never read the Chronicles as a lad, I only discovered them within the last couple of years, and I'm older than 27. I only wish I had read them way back when.

about the Narnia DVds, I remember seeing them at costco when it was christmas time and a bit after, not sure about it now though since they only stock til everything's gone.

You guys need to understand the difference between producing and actually making the film. Whether the film has a chance to be good or not doesn't have a thing to do with Disney producing it. It will have everything to do with who is hired to write the script and who will be the director.

True, I think there concern steams from disney having much say on what gets put in being in the producing chair and supplying the cash.

My thoughts are that disney will allow them to make the best possible adaptation in order to make money and staple itself back on the map on live action.

I keep my hopes open.

I cheated on a couple of the CYOA books, but I never cheated on Which Way books (which I liked better). I also had a few D&D CYOA books and I cheated on one of those. *hangs head in shame*

YES by all means read them. I reread them often as an adult. PLEASE consider reading them in the original order they were created in. Publishers like to try to chronologically order them but it does not add to the story.

I LOVED last battle and even the ending. Not everyone has a happy ending.

If you like your endings more realistic, try reading the "Dragon Star" trilogy by Melanie Rawn. That's a fantasy series that I could see making a good movie . . .

Oh really? So every time a film turned out badly because the studio decided to edit a film to death or fire people and drastically alter the contents, it was the writer and directors' faults?

Disney can be merciless about creative 'input' which quickly turns into 'interference.' It's one of the reasons that many high-profile writers and directors choose not to work with them if they have other options or not enough bargaining power.

I think if Disney wants its good name back, they need to keep close to the Christian subtext of the Chronicles of Narnia series as much as possible. The Disney folks better understand clearly that Clive Staples (C.S. "Jack") Lewis was a very devout Anglican Christian and any attempt to de-emphasize the Christian allegory in the movies will be met with great resistance from the Christian crowd--the same crowd that has made The Passion of the Christ such a runaway hit.

Disney wants a good name back. They want there own LOTR's and for that reason all this Disney bashing should be put on hold till we get some word on script, early pictures or anything besides the text "disney to produce chronicles of narnia". It's due out christmas NEXT year. I remember eating crow with my shit talk on pirates when I read it on paper but it turned out to be one of my favorite flicks of last year.

Take note that some rich guy went in WITH Disney on the expenses so I wouldnt expect Disney to have much creative influence. Not much more than any other investor.

The 'Christian message' is subtle in the books. I hope they can leave well enough alone and let people figure things out for themselves.

I agree. Its in there, and you can definitely see it if you are aware of both the Bible and Narnia, but it is most definitely subtle.

Some of the books fly in the face of Judeo-Christinaity, especially the "genesis" story of Magician's Nephwe as well.

Lewis made it clear he wasnt attempting to recreate the Christian story.

Rather he applied Christian principles to an entirely new world.

In "The Letters of C. S. Lewis, December 29th, 1958, Lewis writes about the significance of Aslan,

"In reality however he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, 'What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually done in ours?

Do not treat the Chronicles like an allegory. Do not try to map every character and event as a Christian symbol. If you do, you_ will miss the story, which is the important thing.

I will now quote the C. S. Lewis Handbook by Colin -Duriez

"All seven of The Chronicles of Narnia teem with Christian meanings found also in Lewis' other writings, such as the true character of God, mankind, nature, heaven, hell, and joy. The key to these meanings lies in the fact that Aslan is a figure of Christ, out of many possible figures of him.

If a reader is unaware of this, he or she can still enjoy the stories in their own right; if he or she is aware, the meaning of Christian truths often comes strangely alive. Many readers who are so familiar with the Gospel narratives as to be unmoved by the accounts of Christ's death are, however, moved to tears at the death of Aslan, for instance."

New Behind the scenes up! Looks very cool! Weta is on the probs and effects, and that can't be a bad thing!
http://bvbp-qt.vitalstream.com/LionW...Magic_1500.mov

Well, I'm now convinced that Narnia will, at the very least, look beautiful. That was some good footage, and I'm pleased that they're focusing on details and realism like they did with LOTR's design.

Those creatures look pretty good. I hope this is a huge hit.

I recommend focusing on Walden Media's involvement instead of Disney's. Walden Media pulled together a strong and faithful adaptation of the book "Holes" with Disney as a partner. From the Walden Media website;
How much better momentum could you ask for than the LotR success? I'm very excited for this release. I'm more curious what impact Andrew Adamson's involvement will have on the story...