As Crônicas de Nárnia: O Leão, a Feiticeira e o Guarda-Roupa

Disney's upcoming movie is certainly an exciting prospect; I know it will be excellent since WETA is involved. (They did all of the Lord of the Rings props and costumes and more.) Many of us who look forward to the 2005 film fondly remember growing up with the BBC "WonderWorks" version from 1988. The best way to watch this movie is: not after Lord of the Rings. I mean it. You are spoiling it for yourself if you go into it expecting too much.

The worst thing about this film is definitely the effects. Most of them you can move beyond if you try to have a pre-Toy-Story-revolutionized-world attitude. The worst thing for me was the green-screen flying sequence. Even with an open mind, that one's tough.

Aslan actually looks pretty lion-ey until he talks, then you have to try to concentrate anywhere but his mouth. Anyone remember "Wishbone," the PBS beagle-mutt who took us all on adventures in classic literature? His mouth didn't move at all, and by the third or fourth episode, you believed it without a problem. If you have patience, Aslan gets better as the movie progresses. He falls a little short of "majestic," but the Stone Table scene had me in tears even when I was past the cry-in-Free-Willy age. (The Beavers also take a little imagination -- but come on, it was 1988... how else do you do a Beaver who talks and acts?

Those few less-than-stellar aspects aside, this movie was fantastically done. The acting was definitely the strongest point. The Professor was hands-down the best character as far as performance goes, though he was in it little, but the others were all good too. Barbara Kellerman as the White Witch was excellent as well; I think that of all the comparisons between this film and the upcoming version, the White Witch will be the hardest for me to accept. I mean sure, they can beat the all technical stuff without any effort at all, but can the new White Witch be quite as regally evil? We'll see. The four children are very naturally good, they act just like four young British children who come upon such and adventure would act. (Which is a much bigger accomplishment than it sounds, and not all that common. Can anyone say nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker?)

Also, the script is taken from the book nearly verbatim, which gives is much credibility. Anyone who feels the need to improve upon C.S. Lewis loses a few points in my book.

Long story short, if you have the ability to forget you've seen computer-animated creatures interact flawlessly with live action, and you can use your imagination a little, then you will enjoy this beautifully crafted tale. Although, I do recommend trying to see it BEFORE you catch Disney's in December. :-D

This fable is wonderful. We have 4 young children: Peter(Richard Dempsey), Susan(Sophie Cook), Edmund(Jonathan R. Scott) and Lucy(Sophie Wilcox); taken from London in 1940 to avoid the onslaught of the German Luftwaffe. They arrive at an old manor house in the country where they meet a kindly old professor(Michael Aldridge). The boys aren't thrilled by the empty and damp house, but the youngest, Lucy, is enchanted. They decide to explore the grounds, but have to explore the house instead of the grounds, due to a rainstorm. Lucy discovers a large, decorative wardrobe which appears to be made out of oak or some other hardwood. She goes in and is transported to another world. A world of witches, nymphs, talking fawns and other wonders. She can't convince her brothers and sister, but eventually as they are trying to avoid the stern governess, Mrs. McCready(Maureen Morris), they follow Lucy into the world. Then the real adventure begins.

This fable is layered with metaphors and symbolism. C.S. Lewis became a dedicated Christian late in life and the symbolism in the story shows his faith, as well being a good story.

All of the young people and others portray their roles with gusto. A couple of the actors go over the top, but it adds to the story. But the one that caught my eye was young Sophie Wilcox who played Lucy. This child was so animated. The range of her emotions traveled from joy to sadness to anger and back again. Lucy was portrayed as an innocent defending her family and loyal to her friends. There was no guile in her. Then there was her brother, Jonathan R. Scott(Edmund), who betrayed the family to the "White Witch"(Barbara Kellerman), because of anger and greed. The love of his family and King Aslan(William Todd Jones) saves him.

The special affects were the affects that were popular during the late 80s. Not as spectacular as in the Harry Potter movies, but the engineering of Aslan as a large male lion was wonderful.

I'm 44 and I recommend this film to anyone who wishes to go back and relive some wonderful childhood moments.

Laura

This is my absolute all time favourite film (ok- TV programme) to watch. I've bought it on DVD and as soon as I hear the opening anthem I'm taken back to being four again and sat right in front of the TV watching with excitement. Does this mean I love it so much because it's very good or just because of the nostalgia I feel? Does anyone else have TV programmes/ films that instantly take them back in time when they watch them? After I'd watched this on TV (or video I'm not sure) I remember going up to my bedroom, closing my eyes and putting my hand slowly towards the back of my wardrobe. No matter how many times I did it I'd always get to a point where I'd believe I'd got into Narnia!

I am frequently appalled by the denegration (from previous comments, one in particular not sure how many in total) of this series people inflict on it. It may have hand-drawn animations and really bad bluescreen composite effects and lack breathtaking special effects but thats how the 1980's were, they tried and I give them points for trying and it did seem spectacular in that era. Nowadays we have CGI SPX that kicks-ass but lets not denegrate a series because of the limitations of the period, lets appreciate it.

I remember watching this as a child and taping every single episode ofa the BBC (BBC rock for not putting advertisements in) and I was not dissapointed at all, I enjoyed this series. I still have the VHS tapes of them all and shall never record over them.

It is not to be taken too seriously, of course you can tell that some of the animals are played by people and the acting is a bit off but it is after all a children's program. Perhaps it was intentional to have the animals look so obviously like people, to symbolize the duality of men and beast, depends on your interpretation!.

This is a television series not a big budgeted movie, so considering all this, the production has done a great job in reviving the spirit of the book.

As always, movies can hardly replace the book but this one does an adequet job of it especially considering when it was made. Musical title score is above par, the sets constructed do the job and show great creativity, the great direction and crew production quality shows.

I hope they do put all of the Chronicals of Narnia TV series' on DVD (if they haven't already) to preserve its quality. I am sure there are plenty of fans out there who would buy it like me.

I do not want to go into the story (perhaps I should sometime), as with all my reviews I only comment on the impression left behind and production quality. I think children would find it most entertaining however if you do have the opportunity to watch this I suggest you do.

Final thoughts are is that it is a memorable series.

The criticisms of this BBC adaption, made as the first in what proved to be a set of four of C.S. Lewis' books are largely unfair. The budget was small - by American standards, at the time in the UK it was positively lavish - and the effect achieved given these constraints and the fact that the show is now almost 15 years old is pretty impressive. The adaption is an even-handed one, the leads are relatively engaging the animals don't look at all bad with Aslan clearly having the majority of the budget for the whole show lavished on him. Only those drunk on the slick fantasy effects of the 90's could complain. Above all Barbara Kellerman is the standout, however, as the White Witch, sending a chill into the hearts of even the most confident of seven year olds; as I was when this was first shown on British television. As far as I'm concerned the whole series was seminal. They don't make them like this anymore - though some would say thank goodness.

Narnia requires a big-budget adaption for the big screen. But until that comes along this is easily the best screen version of C.S. Lewis' best known story out there. And the music is absolutely fantastic.