Disney hired Adam Adamson who did produce Shrek (for which he won an Oscar). Shrek did have Eddie Murphy et al. But I seriously doubt he'll be producing the same kind of thing this time.
People are going to compare "Narnia" movies with LotR given the association of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien with the group of four writers known as the Inklings. Better to focus on the movie director, producer, and cast. Bear in mind Adam Adamson is a Kiwi (New Zealander), like Peter Jackson (the Director of LotR and another Oscar winner). No-one familiar with Peter Jackson's earlier work - things like "Brain Dead" and "Meet the Feebles" would have imagined he had the vision to bring an 'unfilmable' fantasy morality epic to the screen the way he did with LotR.
But Jackson seems to have had a notion from earliest reading that Middle Earth as Tolkien's Anglo-Saxon heaven on Earth, a place of clear views, primeval innocence, and beauty, would be best filmed (a) in his homeland and (b) inside a virtual world. By all accounts Adamson believes the same thing. One must judge from the trailer how far he is likely to succeed. So far it looks promising.
Anyone considering the storyboard qualities of books by the Inklings must take into account the pervasive Christian background. Especially in the case of Williams, Tolkien, and Lewis, they all deal with Christian fantasy.
Never once though do Tolkien or Lewis mention Christ in so many words. Instead they offer universal themes like sin, redemption, hope, love and forgiveness, in a way that makes a Christian interpretation of them as natural as breathing. This is perhaps the most insidious form of propaganda fides, but it makes for boffo Box Office, better even than Shrek.
They couldn't be terribly doctrinaire because that literary fashion for propaganda of that broad stripe had long vanished by WWII. Besides, Tolkien was a Catholic and Lewis was an Ulster Protestant, in principle they should have been at each others throats. Certainly there was no room in the Inklings for sectarianism.
One last note. The other two Inklings were Charles Williams and Owen Barfield, mostly forgotton now, but Charles Williams especially was a very great writer indeed and in my opinion one of the great literary resources which Hollywood has not yet found. We shall see what transpires.
Regards, TC
Slashdot Mirror
Disney hired Adam Adamson who did produce Shrek (for which he won an Oscar). Shrek did have Eddie Murphy et al. But I seriously doubt he'll be producing the same kind of thing this time. People are going to compare "Narnia" movies with LotR given the association of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien with the group of four writers known as the Inklings. Better to focus on the movie director, producer, and cast. Bear in mind Adam Adamson is a Kiwi (New Zealander), like Peter Jackson (the Director of LotR and another Oscar winner). No-one familiar with Peter Jackson's earlier work - things like "Brain Dead" and "Meet the Feebles" would have imagined he had the vision to bring an 'unfilmable' fantasy morality epic to the screen the way he did with LotR. But Jackson seems to have had a notion from earliest reading that Middle Earth as Tolkien's Anglo-Saxon heaven on Earth, a place of clear views, primeval innocence, and beauty, would be best filmed (a) in his homeland and (b) inside a virtual world. By all accounts Adamson believes the same thing. One must judge from the trailer how far he is likely to succeed. So far it looks promising. Anyone considering the storyboard qualities of books by the Inklings must take into account the pervasive Christian background. Especially in the case of Williams, Tolkien, and Lewis, they all deal with Christian fantasy. Never once though do Tolkien or Lewis mention Christ in so many words. Instead they offer universal themes like sin, redemption, hope, love and forgiveness, in a way that makes a Christian interpretation of them as natural as breathing. This is perhaps the most insidious form of propaganda fides, but it makes for boffo Box Office, better even than Shrek. They couldn't be terribly doctrinaire because that literary fashion for propaganda of that broad stripe had long vanished by WWII. Besides, Tolkien was a Catholic and Lewis was an Ulster Protestant, in principle they should have been at each others throats. Certainly there was no room in the Inklings for sectarianism. One last note. The other two Inklings were Charles Williams and Owen Barfield, mostly forgotton now, but Charles Williams especially was a very great writer indeed and in my opinion one of the great literary resources which Hollywood has not yet found. We shall see what transpires. Regards, TC