...one of the best things the Disney folks have ever done.
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As though a two-disc special edition were not enough, the Disney studios now offer a super set with what may be the longest title for any release on DVD: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Four-Disc Extended Edition." Well, you've got to have a big title for a big set, and this one rivals the extended versions of "The Lord of the Rings," with a few more minutes of movie and several additional discs of bonus materials. Whew!
C.S. Lewis began publishing his fantasy series "The Chronicles of Narnia" in the early 1950s, shortly before his good friend J.R.R. Tolkien published "The Lord of the Rings." You'd expect the books to be similar, and in many ways they are. Yet "The Chronicles of Narnia" became children's classics almost immediately, while "The Lord of the Rings" books didn't really take off until they were published in paperback a decade later and college students the world over took them up.
Clearly, "The Chronicles of Narnia" books, especially the second entry in the series, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which was published first, incidentally, were designed for children, with children as their main characters, just as Tolkien's earlier "Hobbit" had been meant primarily for his own children. But just as clearly, Lewis's "Chronicles" also appeals to adults, as Tolkien's more adult-oriented "Rings" also appeals to children. It's a nice reciprocal arrangement whereby everyone is pleased by both collections. Even those of a religious bent will have fun with Lewis's brawny, unabashed brand of Christianity, his story a poignant allegory of Heaven and Earth, love, trust, betrayal, forgiveness, salvation, redemption, and self-sacrifice, with the forces of good doing battle against and triumphing over the forces of evil. The movie never shies away from the author's Christian symbolism.
Early on, filmmakers were tempted to adapt the Lewis and Tolkien novels for the screen, but the lavish canvasses both authors had created for their epics proved too daunting for most producers and directors to undertake. Animation seemed the only viable alternative in the days before computer graphic imagery, so the works of Lewis and Tolkien first came to the screen via cartoons. Later, there were several television productions of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Prince Caspian," "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," and "The Silver Chair," other books in the Lewis saga, but none of these early movie versions were entirely satisfactory.
Then came Peter Jackson's production of "The Lord of the Rings," and everything changed. Their vast scope, stunning graphics, and CGI cast of thousands proved that even the most elaborate literary fantasies could successfully be tailored to the screen in all their sweep and glory. Thus did Disney undertake the daunting task of fashioning "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," possibly the most intricate and sumptuous of the Lewis books, into a 2005 movie release. To say the studio succeeded is an understatement; it's one of the best things the Disney folks have ever done. The movie may not have the intensely dark, sinister, tumultuous appeal of Tolkien's "Rings," but, remember, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was never intended to satisfy an adult's longing for imaginary verisimilitude. It is a children's fairy tale, as Lewis called it, that just happens to have enough elevated spirituality, drama, humor, inspiration, and invention to appeal to many adults.
"The Chronicles of Narnia" is a kinder, gentler world than Tolkien's "Rings," but not by much. Both Lewis and Tolkien painted pictures based on their own horrific experiences in the First World War and on the circumstances of the Second World War, together with their rigorous moral and religious convictions, to create the universes of Narnia and Middle Earth. Lewis's main characters are children, younger than Tolkien's hobbits, elves, and dwarfs, and as such are never placed in quite as much mortal danger as the protagonists in "The Rings." This initially lead me to worry about a big-screen rendering of the story, especially when I heard that Disney was going to do it, because the story contains a good deal of sentiment, and there was every chance the result might have become cloyingly sweet. The books themselves come dangerously close on occasion. Moreover, the movie's director, Andrew Adamson, had previously made only two theatrical releases, the animated "Shrek" and "Shrek 2," both filled with satire and barbed wit but not a lot of personal emotion. Fortunately, no such problems develop. The movie maintains all the mystery, feeling, mystique, danger, and adventure of the "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" novel on which it is based, without any excessive preaching and without talking down to its audience.
Comparisons, then, are inevitable but futile. Take "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" for what it is: a fascinating, visually compelling, and totally engrossing adaptation of a well-loved classic.
Narnia, for those of you who somehow missed the books, is a land that exists in another time and dimension. The four children of the story, a family of two brothers and two sisters, are living in the country with an eccentric old professor (Jim Broadbent) in his rambling country estate to escape the air raids over London during WWII. It's through a wardrobe closet in this old house that they stumble upon an entrance to Narnia, a land enchanted by our standards, to be sure. It is peopled by talking animals, Fauns, Centaurs, Nymphs, Giants, Dwarfs, and Witches. And when you leave the place, no matter how many years you've stayed there, when you return to your own world no time will have gone by, and you are exactly the same age as when you left.
The four young people are the Pevensies. The oldest is Peter (William Moseley). The most logical is Susan (Anna Popplewell). The most wayward is Edmund (Skandar Keynes). And the youngest is Lucy (Georgie Henley). They are all wonderfully performed by the juvenile actors, but Ms. Henley is particularly noteworthy. As the most youthful Pevensie, she is also the most persuasive, and while the eldest of the children, Peter, may be the leading character, it is Lucy whom you will no doubt remember best.
Once in Narnia, the children learn that for a hundred years it has been under the spell of an evil Witch--brilliantly and icily portrayed by Tilda Swinton--who has made the country into a perpetual winter from which only the children can save it. An ancient prophecy foretells of the children's coming and their eventual rule over the land. The children also learn of Aslan, the legendary lion king of Narnia (voiced by Liam Neeson), who comes when he is needed to all who believe in him. In addition, they meet the captivating Faun, Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy); the equally delightful Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (Ray Winstone and Dawn French); the wily Mr. Fox (Rupert Everett); and the satisfying Father Christmas (James Cosmo).
I have to admit the film moved the Wife-O-Meter and me a good deal more than its trailers had led us to expect it would. It is grand filmmaking on the grandest scale, intimate in its opening scenes with the children and spectacular in its closing scenes of battle. Despite its present extended, 155-minute running time, nowhere does the pace slacken, and nowhere is the viewer left out of the story. I was a little disappointed in the music, the background score somewhat less than exhilarating and at times a little too gushy, but that was about my only concern. The CGI, animatronics, creature design, makeup (for which it won an Academy Award), lighting, matte paintings, and other special visual effects are convincing without ever overpowering the storyline. The location shooting in New Zealand, Guatemala, Poland, and the Czech Republic are on an imposing scale; the script sticks closely to the book; and, as I've said, the acting is splendid throughout. This is a beautiful picture and a joy to behold.
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