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Narnia to be Created in New Zealand
SCS writes "It has been confirmed
that the The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will be made in New Zealand as
part of a five film line-up of C.S. Lewis's Narnia fantasy book
series, with New Zealander Andrew Adamson of Shrek fame as its
director. Filming begins next year, and Weta Digital has already started
the graphics work. Also reported at the BBC
and HeraldTribune.com."
Just applied as a compositor/photoshop/cinepaint 2D artist.
Sitting by the phone, waiting for them to call and send me a ticket to move to New Zealand.
Gonna call any minute now.
Any minute now...
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
1. Pick a book series and film it in New Zealand
2. ???
3. Profit!
can't belive it?
check it out, yourself!
#
#\ @ ? Colonize Mars
#
But time doesn't move on. Remember that while they were in Narnia, time back home stood still.
It is expected to be the first of five films based on CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia books, and has the potential to top The Lord of The Rings in economic spinoffs for New Zealand.
Strange, there are seven books.
Anyone have any insight into what is being combined or left out?
"If they have both, tell them we use Linux. And if they have that, tell them the computers are down." -Dave Chapelle
I think that would be a great book to make into a mini-series. If SciFi channel would do as good a job as they did with Dune it could be classic.
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
I may be a lonely voice here, but I didn't care for Shrek in the least. Ugly art direction (it resembled nothing so much as a poorly executed video game to me) and stale, juvenile humor. Hearing that the director is doing these films doesn't exactly fill me with unbounded joy. Why not someone with a more literary bent?
It was with the Narnia Chronicles that I found my way into sci fi and fantasy reading at a very young age. As I got older my interest in sci fi lead to my playing with computers at my Dad's office. Now I'm 36 with a job I actually enjoy. Part of me wishes Peter Jackson had the time to do these movies, but I think NZ is a fantastic choice for shooting. I can't wait.
this sig deleted by another sig
oh yes, of course..
.Au had of droped Capital gains tax when Slicon Vally was loking at moving years ago the IT industry out hear :0
:)
hehehe..
oh dear, i feal like a child in a candyshop
with all these movies being made..
LoTR, Hulk, Spider man, Xman, Narnia(opps put a d in there, man cant even rembere the name right)
These Tax brakes offerd by the NZ goverment seem
to be paying off, if only the
could of done with the bost
"They've been looking for forests, for coastal scenes for alpine plateaus and for English countryside."
Its a damm shame so little English countryside
is left in England
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These were great books and I still have the set at my parents house somewhere.
It seems like they would be aimed towards kids movies like Harry Potter vs how LOTR was aimed at adults more than children.
There are some cheesy versions of the movies floating around at your local blockbuster.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
The Chronicles of Prydain (by Llyod Alexander), while not as well known as the Chronicles of Narnia, is a beautiful series which has captured my heart and my fantasies during my younger days. It seems dissapointing that it has not even gotten a small fraction of the recognition that the Chronicles of Narnia has, with only a long forgotten Disney movie "The Black Cauldron" (also made into a Sierra adventure game) to show. It's the perfect fantasy series suitable even for young children, and I found it a way more fulfilling read even than the Harry Potter series. Try to find the series of 5 books... if you can. It would be well worthwhile.
Would much rather see a movie somehow based on the Screwtape letters.
*THAT* would be worthwhile.
They're leaving out the "scouring of narnia" and "the adventures of Aslan Bombadil".
Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week... Enjoy the salad bar, and be sure to tip the waitress.
"If they have both, tell them we use Linux. And if they have that, tell them the computers are down." -Dave Chapelle
Having been an Atheist since rather early in my
childhood i sure as hell dont see what
all the fuss is about.
Just because there are parallels and story
foundations/ideas borrowed/copyed dosent meen
much at all to the story..
How much Roman history have you realy learnt
from Starwars and Dune?
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It's so nifty to see all the books I read as a kid getting a second revival. Problem is, I wish kids would read these books in the first place, and discover that (gasp!) there's more to children's literature than Harry Potter.
Please help metamoderate.
Cool! This is good news. As a fan of C. S. Lewis' work generally and also the Narnia chronicles specifically, I think this will give these books the same rich setting enjoyed by LOTR. Tolkien and Lewis did weave much of the same setting into their books. As I was watching LOTR:ROTK last night (what an **awesome** movie) I did think to myself several times, "Wow, if they can make LOTR look this beautiful, the Narnia chronicles could be made just as beautiful."
This is also good news because it means the movies are finally taking shape. They were announced almost two years ago, but there hasn't been much word on them since.
This will, of course, lend to one major disclaimer for all Tolkien and LOTR fans who haven't read the Narnia chronicles: the movies will seem similar in setting, goal, and underlying theme. That having been said, they're drastically different stories. While there will be numerous similarities (which ignorant reviewers will peck at Narnia for, unfortunately) Tolkien was setting out to tell a story, create a world, and totally immerse the reader in Middle Earth. Lewis had more apologetic aims with his books, and this is by no means a secret fact. Hopefully they don't temper this angle too much with the movies. Certainly not everybody is thrilled by an underlying Christian theme, but removing it would make the story anemic.
Even so, Lewis' books are strong strong works on their own, and they deserve as rich a treatment as LOTR received. The two books/series are widely regarded as some of the best fantasy work written in the 20th century. That Lewis and Tolkien were friends sweetens the deal.
I'm looking forward to it!
I suspect (perhaps incorrectly) that the adaptation of the stories of a WWI veteran to movies in New Zealand was given the greenlight because of the success of another WWI vet (JRR Tolkien), but this brings up a question that I've had in my mind for a while "Do good allegorical stories make for good movies?"
An allegory (at least as I use the term) is a subject that is described by using another subject in it's place (sort of like an extended metaphor).
Tolkien and Lewis are on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to allegory. Tolkein despising it and Lewis making heavy use of it. On the written page, I think that the use or avoidence of allegory is fine, but I'm not sure that it works on film.
Film is just such an overwhelmingly visual medium and allegory is such an abstract tool. It may be possible to depict the Lion Aslan as an allegory of Jesus on the written page, but on film you will see such an overwhelming embodiment of "big cat" that unless there's a narrator or someone hitting you over the head with "Lion = Jesus" the allegory will just be overwhelmed.
The only example of strict allegory that I recall in a modern film was Battlefield Earth but that may be an unfair example (as there were many other reasons why that movie was so poorly received).
Of course, many people already know the allegory that Lewis used in his tales and no doubt it will be brought up again and again by movie critics and sunday school teachers before the movie debuts, but if people didn't go in already having been told what to expect, would the allegory have been obvious?
Just idle wondering I suppose...
Actually...I don't think you can explain away the Christian element in Lewis' stories (or Tolkein's, for that matter). It's not "a product of the times" nor an attempt to appease a certain audience... It is rather the point of the story, in fact. If that sort of thing turns you off, then by all means, you are invited not to watch it.
Which books will be left out? Just making a guess, but I expect one of the ones that will be left out is The Horse and His Boy. This particular book in the series seems the least tied in. For reference, the 7 books are (may be out of order):
1 The Magician's Nephew
2 The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
3 The Horse and His Boy
4 Prince Caspian
5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6 The Silver Chair
7 The Last Battle
In my opinion, the following books absolutely must be included: 1,2,5,7. The Magician's Nephew tells about the creation of Narnia by Aslan. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe obviously is included. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is very important to the series, as it from my recollection is one of the most clearly allegorical. The Last Battle must be included; it is the end of the series, and provides a good last movie.
the heavy-handed smearing of christian admonishments throughout the series largely puts me off
Don't worry, rumor has it all that stuff is being removed. It also looks like HarperCollins is spinning this as a way of exploiting the Harry Potter popularity and is planning 'revised' Cristianity-free versions of the books as well. The are also rumored to be working on followup books written in the 'Narnia' universe.
Of course this has the author spinning in his grave, and lots of protest from people who knew CS Lewis.
One person remarked that they are turning Narnia into the British 'Mickey Mouse'.
Sickening IMHO.
So, any bets on how long before New Zealand really does win that Oscar for "Best Supporting Country" like their tourist board is using in its adverts?
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
My prediction is that we will see, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, followed by Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and possibly The Silver Chair. These "core" books feature a fairly contiguous story, and a steady progression of main characters.
The Horse and His Boy is very much a standalone tale with little to do with the other books in the series (other than the fact that it is set in Narnia and surrounding countries and features brief appearances by Aslan and the Four Children). I'm not sure it would fit well in a series of "sequels".
The Magician's Nephew is actually the prequel to the entire series, detailing the creation of Narnia, etc. It would be difficult (though, not impossible) to integrate it into a Narnia series if it was produced after LWW. Then again, I'm still holding out hope that Peter Jackson will make The Hobbit now that the Lord of the Rings series is complete. So maybe, the producers of the Narnia series will build fanbase with the "core" books first and then bring in The Magician's Nephew to wrap up the series.
However, I doubt The Last Battle will ever hit the silver screen. It was always my least favorite book of the series, for many of the reasons that would probably make it a poor film. It takes a long time to get rolling, it's really kind of a downer for much of the book (well, duh, it's about the end times), and the Christian religious undertones of the previous books become the overtones of The Last Battle. It clearly shifts from being a fantasy series to being a Christian theological tretise.
One other reason why The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle will likely NOT be made into films: without a major rewrite, they both paint the religion of Islam in a very unfavorable light, and in these times of post-9/11 issues of religious discrimination, would likely be more controversial than the studios would be willing to accept.
The original post mentioned a five-movie series, and I couldn't find anything in any of the links detailing what five books of the seven book series would be made. Maybe this was a typo on the submitter's part, or maybe I just missed the reference in the articles. But if in fact, there will be only five movies made, I would guess that The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle would be the ones to be dropped.
They have the torch. ILM was real good at envirnments, hardware, and explosions. WETA seems to bias in the direction of organics. Nifty turn of style and public taste.
I concur. As an avid Atheist I'm not interested in whether this movie somehow ties into Christianity. I even find some the Bible stories interesting. I'm just looking for a movie with a good story - regardless of where it originated.
I read some of these books when I was younger and thought they had a good story and plot. I wasn't concerned with the religious connotations.
Even J.R.R. had mentioned that he got some of his ideas from the King Arthur lore.
-Valiss
From what I recall of the Narnia series which was already created (I don't remember who did it, only that it was shown on PBS), 4 and 5 can be combined relatively easily... won't flow as well as a normal movie, but you can get all the important story elements together.
Doug
Venn ist das nurnstuck git und Slotermeyer? Ya! Beigerhund das oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
"Actually...I don't think you can explain away the Christian element in Lewis' stories (or Tolkein's, for that matter)."
I don't think that anything needs to be "explained away" (why should it?). People simply need to accept things as they are, and enjoy. Not everything in the world needs to be changed.
Granted, I haven't seen any of these in years... I was a little kid at the time... but those films were great, production values notwithstanding.
I really hope the new films do as well with the text as those did. And, as a side note, I don't remember a whole lot of heavy-handed Christian doctrine in the films... although even at that age, I could see it plainly in the books.
To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion.
Kids *are* reading the books. There have been numerous articles in national newspapers discussing kids reading as a result of some blockbuster movie adaptation in addition to Harry Potter such as Lord of the Rings.
I think the point of the article I read in the NY Times was that pre-teens were more open to read other books at the recommendation of their parents after reading (gasp!) Harry Potter. Why knock it?
It's more character driven than a lot of the other Known Space novels, and the big alien artifact is just interesting scenery to showcase the thinly veiled abstracts of human nature aliens hanging out with humans in glass ships. I just shudder when Hollywood gets hold on science fiction, success stories be damned I still remember Starship Troopers and the various other sci-fi movies that have been completely hacked by people who apparently "can't get" the important bits of what really aren't all that complex bits of fiction. Narnia will probably sidestep any of the growth/morality issues of CS Lewis in favor of jokes from the Badger voice-over of Eddie Murphy. Once they get past that, since they're already in love with PK Dick, I'd like them to do The Man In The High Castle.
I know this is a troll, but I'll bite... it's really rather the opposite. The Narnia series is really more or less one big metaphor for Christian mythology, with the Lion playing the role of Christ, the Witch playing the role of Satan, and the children playing the role of the disciples (complete with one of them playing the role of Judas). The series parallels several pieces of Christian mythology in a fantasy setting, leading up to the book "The Last Battle," which is more or less the metaphor for Judgement Day.
--- Bwah?
The BBC in the UK already made TV series of four of the Narnia books and have just released a 3-disc Chronicles of Narnia DVD box set as well...
But the worst are evangelical atheists. The only motivation there is for you to be godless just like them so you won't be happier than they are.
As an atheist, I think I can say that the ones that "evangelize" are just sick of having Christianity stuffed down their throats (at least here in America).
Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
First they corrupted Dr. Suess, then Lord of the Rings, now this? What's next?
"Where The Sidewalk Ends", starring Ben Affleck as the sidewalk?
When you get to hell -- tell 'em Itchy sent ya!
Sorry if this is posted elsewhere, but here is the official site...
http://www.narnia.com/
Enjoy!
-B
In the five articles that I have read so far anouncing this, they all say that Weta Workshop will be working on this, but none say that Weta Digital will be. I don't think that the bulk of the visual effects work has been awarded yet. I think that Weta Digital will actually be too busy wth King Kong and Evangelion to do a significant amount of work on this movie.
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If Hollywood (New Zealand-wood?) is going to jump on the Fantasy Bandwagon, at least let them make a movie from another kick-ass series like Dragonlance.
The Lion, Witch Wardrobe. Sheesh, what's next, A Wrinkle in Time? Let's hear it for grade-school fiction!
And please, no responses about how Dungeons and Dragons sucked (i.e. therefore Dragonlance will suck and/or won't be made). Some people thought that LotR was going to turn out like Willow - well, we know now how wrong they were.
I read some of these books when I was younger and thought they had a good story and plot. I wasn't concerned with the religious connotations.
They do indeed have a nice story and plot; I thoroughly enjoyed them when I was a younger reader. However, I also re-read them as a college student--and was frankly astonished at the religious allegory my young mind didn't see the first time. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing--and I'm a longtime atheist--but it seemed a lot less like "fantasy" and a lot more like "religious propaganda." I think that you'll find these books to have a different focus depending on your religious awareness--and if you went to the movie as an adult after only have read the books as a young child, you would be pretty appallled at the Christian overtones, even if faithfully adapted.
I think, for this reason, that these movies will not escape religious criticism as the LOTR series did. Either the director will adapt the books faithful to a young-child's perspective, heavy on the fantasy and light on the Xtian, which will piss of the Xtians and CS Lewis scholars--or the director will maintain the Xtian overlay in fact in the books, and adult viewers will wonder where all the Xtian crap came from, and wonder why their cherished childhood memories were perverted to serve some Xtian purpose.
It'll be interesting to see how this goes down--but before you say that the religious overtones are minimal, read these books again, as an adult.
--
$tar -xvf
I agree. I am not a Christian, but I also enjoyed these books and LOTR. When I was in Uni, I decided to learn more about stories from the bible, so I took a bible as literature course and I really enjoyed it. I thought most of the stories were quite interesting.
The truth is, so many books in the sci-fi/fantasy genre are inspired by biblical stories - especially the classic ones. This may be a reflection of the authors growing up at a time in the West where Christianity filtered through more throughly into everyday life. It is also arguable that themes in the bible mirror creation myths and legends from different cultures (I am thinking mostly of Old Testament). But ultimately, the theme of good versus evil transcends religion, as it is a reflection of humanity and an indication of an individual's ability to choose how to conduct their own actions.
I think the development of Christian fundamentalism in the past few decades have really given Christianity a bad name. Although I am not a Christian, I do respect people who are, for the bottom-line of the religion is to do good for society and helping each other. But some people have really perverted those ideals and started using them to justify their own bigotry and intolerance.
-B
And how is Christianity being stuffed down your throat?
and is planning 'revised' Cristianity-free versions of the books as well
You must be kidding. They're going to write Aslan out of the series? CS Lewis didn't include this stuff in an off-handed way--Xtian elements are critical to his story-line. I sure as hell won't buy those books, even as an atheist. An author has the right to say what he intends to say, without being sterilized for later generations.
Kind of reminds me of some warnings from Bradbury, as a matter of fact. Who's next? Take the Raven from Poe? Take the Cthulhu from Lovecraft? Will Dracula be beaten by group hugs, in a "modernized" version?
I would like to see links to these rumors, actually, so I can lend my voice to the protest. Removing the Xtian elements in CS Lewis is like removing the logic from Sherlock stories.
--
$tar -xvf
Their motivation is to get as many people to heaven as possible. Most other religions can't claim this.
One thing that Christianity can take credit for is its universalism - in principle at least everyone is equal in the eyes of God. Sure, there have been plenty of Christians who have failed to live up to that ideal, but at least they had the ideal, and they had it a long time before almost any other religion or culture.
How many Muslims have asked you if you've been saved, and if you'd like to be?
In fact Islam has exactly the same ideal. They got it from the Christians. As with Christianity there are Islamic groups that are not very interested in gaining converts, but there are others who are very enthusiastic about it. You will also find many who would be quite happy to send you to heaven.
But the worst are evangelical atheists.
Most atheists think that the only life you get is this one, and that if you waste it then you don't get a do-over. Their aim is to get people to live worthwhile lives instead of wasting their lives on delusions that make them feel good. Of course it might be bitter news if you thought you were going to heaven, but personally I found my conversion to atheism to be like waking up from a drugged stupor. I had never felt so alive until that moment when I recognised that life wouldn't last forever.
I would much rather see Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet adapted to film. Weda could do marvelous work imagining the space voyage and the inhabitants of Lewis's Mars. The hero, Dr. Ransom, who was modelled after Tolkien himself, is much more interesting than anyone in the Narnia books, including Aslan. It would be another great role for Ian McKellan; or if you think McKellan is too old, perhaps Alan Rickman. Just my $0.02 worth.
[this
I read it, a long time ago. One trouble with the series, if you aren't totally *into* it, is Lewis' usual problem, that of the ham-handedness of the convert/True Believer. (Do *not* get me started on That Hideous Trilogy).
But the real problem with the series is the ending.
[spoiler alert]
He *cheats*. "Oh, well, actually you think you've gone through all this, but actually you were in a railroad accident, and you're all dead."
Deus ex pancake.
Give me Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising, anyday.
mark
Not that that's necessarily a bad thing--and I'm a longtime atheist--but it seemed a lot less like "fantasy" and a lot more like "religious propaganda."
:-)
I hear this a lot, and I'm genuinely curious (not flamebaiting) about something: if you see the Narnia chronicles as "religious propaganda," would you also grant that Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy is "atheist (or secularist) propaganda"? If so, we have no quarrel. If not, I'm again genuinely curious as to why not, if you've the time to entertain my question.
Xtian
One other small thing: It should be 'Xian,' not 'Xtian.' The 't' in the latter is redundant, as the 'X' abbreviation is for Christ (from the greek 'Christos,' which begins in a chi [Roman letter X]). I've found that many atheists and Christian fundamentalists alike are disappointed when they learn that words like 'Xmas' are not a removal of 'Christ' from the word but that the X is an old and oft-used shorthand for Christ, including in numerous Christian sources (Christ is frequently denoted as 'Xp' or chi rho in Christian iconography).
Just a nitpick from an old Greek student...
here's an interesting article on how the two authors and the the two sagas were intertwined.
Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Given this news, I also can't help but wonder if C. S. Lewis's magnum opus Till We Have Faces will ever be turned into a movie. In some ways I think it would be a very very difficult translation; on the other hand, it's a story beyond description. The Lord of the Rings moves imagination and emotion, but Till We Have Faces moves the soul. I don't know if the book could be synthesized into a coherent movie (the ending would take a good deal of finessing by a screen writer), but it would be a sight to behold if it could be done.
Till We Have Faces is one of Lewis's lesser known books, but virtually everyone who has read it agrees it was Lewis's finest book, and perhaps one of the finest books of the 20th century (and an undiscovered jewel at that).
It looks as if the blatant success of Lord of the Rings may start a trend of drawn out fantasy series being made into movies. If or not these will be successful as well remains to be seen, but I personally think that it will be hard to reproduce LOTR's phenomenon.
Narnia's story line is a lot less continuous than LOTR's, especially when you get past the fourth book.
Since they are making five films, it would almost make sense that they are doing LWW, Prince Caspian, Dawn Treader, Silver Chair, and then Last Battle. This would skip The Magician's Nephew and A Horse and His Boy, which would likely be OK. It is also unlikely that they'll make each movie 3 hours long. They may decide to release two a year.
I wonder how mutilated the stories are going to be though. Narnia's "Christian themes" are considerably stronger than LOTR's. The Last Battle especially forces a lot of things down people's throats. I wonder if things will be changed so that these themes aren't as strong.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
These stories are beautiful in every sense of the word. Unlike Tolkien (and I will and do directly compaire their books because they were great friends and each directly influenced the others work), Lewis is much more direct and, in my oppinion, a much more skilled writer (notice I say writer, not story teller). The amount of imagery, story, and allegory he fit in such small books is dumbfounding....and yet, when you read the books, you aren't overtaken with them at all. They just work.
I have a bad feeling that The Magicians Nephew will be touched upon at the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I, for one, feel that this would hurt the overall effect of the movie. I really doubt that they'll want to try and tackle the Magicians Nephew as its own movie either...it wouldn't be interesting to the masses. I also don't think they'll make a Last Battle movie because of the overwhelming Christian overtones in it.
In fact, I'm worried that they'll remove ALL these religious overtones. I'm agnostic mind you, but Lewis's message is what really makes this series.
All we can really do is wait and see...and cross our fingers. December 2005 couldn't be longer away....
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
No one's stuffing Christianity down your throat, (especially here in America).
One thing you need to realize in this life is that everyone is different. You will need to grow a thicker skin if you are to avoid being offended by seeing people different than you. That some of these people advertise their differences more than others is beside the point.
A Salvation Army kettle on the street corner shoves nothing down your throat. The Mayor's Prayer Breakfast shoves nothing down your throat. An fish bumper sticker shoves nothing down your throat. Even the evangelist knocking at your door shoves nothing down your throat, because you can always say "go away" and shut the door.
You don't have the choice of living in a world where everyone believes exactly the same as you, but you do live in a world where your "throat" is your own.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
C. S. Lewis and his writings are among the most salvageable things of Christianity. His view on the human condition makes him a British version of Mark Twain in my eyes. C. S. Lewis is most emphatically NOT the sort of oppressive, thoughtless Christian who gives the whole religion a much-earned black eye. Lewis in his own gentle way "calls shenanigans" on many of those aspects of Christian dogma. But he can be just as ascerbic as Twain on theose themes, it's just with a different sensibility.
As a fundamentalist-Christianity-hating reader who would love to see folks like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson magically go away, C. S. Lewis was a major turning point for me in terms of thinking that all Christians must be like Falwell and Robertson. Since I am not a fundamentalist, I will never try and coerce anyone into my viewpoint, but, damn it, if you want a good Christian read, try C. S.
Trends in contemporary Christian thought have to do with recognizing the Bible as what it is: the collected mythology of a particular group of people at a specific place and time in our history. The new view is that doing so is a good thing, and doesn't erase Christianity's merit, but rather salvages its value from the literalism applied disastrously in the past as now. Eternal truths are encoded in *all* mythology, from the Brothers Grimm to the Matrix.
C. S. Lewis could be credited with anticipating this re-mythologizing of Christianity by many decades.
Trivia question: Who converted C.S. Lewis to Christianity? (hint...his own famous trilogy just got made into a famous set of movies starting Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen.)
You can buy the versions PBS showed years ago at Amazon.com. I believe 3 of them were made.
So yes, they make good movies.
Only in the Matrix did they beat you over the head with the rediculous notion that Neo == Jesus (he was far far too flawed to be anything more than a hero).
Those who are familiar with Christian theology will recognize Aslan as Christ without ever being told.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
I am not Christian. The Chronicles of Narnia were christian alegories. I do not like being proseletyzed by my own religion, nevermind someone elses. Yes, tolkien was a catholic, but his world was a synthesis of Finish, Norse, and Christian Mythology.
I've done peae keeping patrolling in Haiti, programmed in San Francisco before and after the boom, and travlelled to several countries. I know fantary from reality. Doesn't keep me from liking Tolkien and disliking Lewis.
Open Source Identity Management: FreeIPA.org
My wife and I spent a few months last year living in New Zealand, and I can assure you that if you end up moving down there you're going to need a lot of sunscreen.
We're outdoorsy types, have spent the last decade living in Texas, and generally enjoy a sunny day as much as anyone. But not in NZ. The sun's power is significantly stronger down there, to the point that you would literally feel pain when sunlight made contact with your skin. I cannot stress this enough. The kiwis are all used to it, and many of them simply dismiss it like it's not a problem (and for them, I guess it isn't, since they're used to it). Consider yourself warned.
Christianity in Narnia
I really hope the christian motives aren't going to be de-emphasised in the films. There's little "shoving down throats" and "religious propaganda" in the books, as others suggest. Rather, the Narnia series is telling the story of christianity from an entirely different perspective (in an imaginary world), where the "stained glass images are removed" (as Lewis put it), and the beautiful story, the warmth, the miracles, the courage, love, hope and faith remain.
Tolkien & Lewis
Someone wrote that apart from Tolkien an Lewis being friends, and the stories happening in imaginary worlds, there's barely a comparison.
I beg to differ; they were also both classisists and classically educated scholars, avid christians, and both wrote a series of fantasy novels about a fight between Good and Evil.
Tolkien and Lewis were both members of "the Inklings", a gentlemens' club of Oxford scholars.
Later on their friendship became much weaker, much to Lewis' disappointment.
Allegories
This possibly also explains about Tolkien detesting allegories:
Lewis' books were overtly allegories. Tolkien's books are also about good and evil, his story is intrinsically religious.
Lewis and Tolkien were friends. Both their books were fantasy novels, and became wildly popular.
Of course this led people to believe Tolkien's books were also allegories, and start explaining things in LotR. Tolkien hated that idea, he had meant to do no more than imply religious hints. So he avoided being seen as being close to Lewis. It was reactionarily.
Shadowlands
There's a film about Lewis' life, "Shadowlands" [hollywoodjesus.com] which is excellent. One of the best and most moving films I've ever seen. The story is told and acted beautifully. There's a lot of very subtle symbolism in the film. I recommend watching it to anyone who'd like a bit more background about C.S. Lewis' life.
The BBC films
The BBC films of some of the Narnia books were mentioned earlier here. I've also seen them and I thought they were very disappointing. Very low budget productions. Short films. Important bits left out. B-a-d special effects. And worst of all, none of the magic of the books.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe animation film
I hope when they start filming "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", they'll watch the American animation film that was made of that book instead. This was also a low budget production, but it was done beautifully. I must have watched it twenty or thirty times as a child. It had all the magic of the written story, and some clever visual subtleties at that. For instance, Aslan was drawn larger in each scene where he was shown, hinting to an obscure reference in the book that Lewis makes to a verse in the gospel of st. John ("He should grow, and I become smaller.") Or the lamp post with the single stick ornament, as one was torn of by Jadis in Charn.
(Although I really hope the actors will be British children: American kids playing children in a British public school in the mid twentieth century would be so wrong!)
Seven
I really hope that they'll eventually turn all of the seven books into film. (Perhaps after the first five pay off.) I agree that some of the stories are easier to film than others, but after LotR this has ceased to be a valid argument. I remember when in the previous millenium I sometimes asked why a film was never made of LotR, people would always say it was much too long and complex a story to film..
Lewis is much more direct and, in my oppinion, a much more skilled writer (notice I say writer, not story teller)
One of the most beautiful little passages in "The Lord of the Rings" isn't in the book, but Lewis' blurb on the back promoting it: "Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron." which is exactly how I feel about that particular turn of phrase. In itself it evokes the same complex emotion (a pang of nostalgia?) that The Lord of the Rings as a whole did.
I notice the beauty of his writing even more in his theological & philosophical books. I'm always struck with the way he can turn a phrase or craft a perfect, striking metaphor to bring his point home. He takes some of the driest theological or philosphical issue and make it read almost like poetry. It says a lot for the kind of classical education in both logic and rhetoric that he recieved.
"I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him
[George MacDonald] as my master; indeed I fancy
I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him."
(C.S.Lewis)
when lewis carrol had doubts whether to publish the 'alice' books,
it was George MacDonald who encouraged him to do so. he came
out with some incredible fiction, among them, 'lilith' and 'phantastes'.
one could say that macdonald was to carroll as tolkein was to lewis.
madame l'engel called him the grand-father of the fantastic.
some of his descriptions make such demands upon the
imagination, that sometimes i think that 100 years later,
the technology to make a film out of the book 'LILITH'
still doesn't exist.
...was the scene in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, where Santa Claus distributes weapons for Christmas presents, to help the war of resistance being led by the kids^Wfreedom fighters^W^Wterrorists.
Probably the most annoying part was the blatantly racist scenes of part of The Last Battle. (There's an entire Narnian race called "Darkies"? What the fuck?)
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)