Disney dumps Narnia!

[Varnafindë]

... hopefully.
"We are starting to talk to Fox and talk to the C.S. Lewis estate now" - i.e. nothing is greenlit yet, but The Magician's Nephew is what Walden Media wants to make next. If possible.

[Midge]

Originally Posted by GrayMouser

Big pitched battles?

Where? The only place I could think for them to possibly squeeze one in would be in the taking of the Lone Isles, but that's right at the beginning- not usually where you want them.

Let's see, a secret Calormene fleet has been following the Dawn Treader to ferret out the Secret Power hidden at the World's End. Catching up to the them at Aslan's Country, a huge pitched battle follows in which the Sea Serpent reappears, flanked by the Sea People. A battle fleet of Monopods comes paddling over the horizon to the rescue, but meanwhile the Evil Monsters from the Isle of Dreams make their appearance.

Just when all seems lost, Aslan appears and calls on Ramandu and his daughter, who come blazing in using their star power. Alas, it proves too much for Ramandu who burns out, leaving a touching death scene with his daughter, who is then swept into Caspian's arms....

This was not that far off from what actually happened in VDT. Except for the part about the battle fleet of Monopods and the Secret Power at the World's End... But the rest of it is similar... I hated that movie so much.

[Midge]

This would officially be my letter of complaint to Walden Media or the directors or whoever needed it.

"Dear Walden Media,

Hello. My name is Midge and I am writing this to you because I've heard that you might be planning on making another of the Chronicles of Narnia movies.

I want to start off by saying that I am so hopeful everytime I hear another movie is coming out. I couldn't sit still the first time I saw a trailer for "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I grabbed my husband and said, "WE HAVE TO SEE THAT MOVIE!"

And it was a huge success. There are a couple of reasons for that. One of the reasons is that it stayed reasonably within the plotline of the book. The other is that there were tons and tons of Narnia fans who couldn't wait to see the wonders of the book mixed with the magic of the screen.

I am writing this letter out of a desire to finally see that happen. C. S. Lewis wrote books for children. They aren't deep books. They don't have a lot of backstory that is difficult to portray in a movie. They are written to keep children's attention.

So what I'm so confused about is why you keep changing so much about the movies. "Prince Caspian" was merely a harbinger of the destruction that is to come. There are two big problems I have with your movies. First: your habit of adding scenes which have no relevance to the stories. The night-raid on the castle in "Prince Caspian" is an example of this. It's very annoying and most unnecessary. There are some scenes I can understand and even enjoy, but others are just there for the whole showiness of the thing.

The other issue is much more subtle. Lewis is clear in the books that Aslan is a God-figure. Now, I'm not telling you that you have to associate him with a Christian God or Buddha or Zeus or any god in particular. But give him the deity that he deserves - the deity that Lewis authored into him. You have scenes that are nearly to the line like they are in the book, but with one word changed that strips Aslan of any God-ness that he might have.

For instance, in the book, Lucy meets Aslan in the wood and asks him what would have happened if she'd followed him. He says, "To know what would have happened? No one is ever told that." - Meaning of course that he doesn't tell people what would have happened.

The movies strip him of that Omniscience (a character of most gods) by having him say, "To know what would have happened? We can never know that." - including him in the unknowing.

Give Aslan back his deity and I'll watch whatever movies you put out. My suggestion would be for you to hire an actual avid Lewis fan (I know that you have Douglas Gresham helping, but his input doesn't seem very valuable - he's let your directors get away with a lot of things that probably have Mr. Lewis turning over in his grave) who can truly advise you on what would turn other Lewis readers away and what would make the movies great. I can promise you this - people who haven't read the books are going to love whatever you put in a movie, even if it's actually what is in the books. Hire someone who can tell you that if you want a great battle scene, the retaking of the Lone Islands is a beautiful spot for it (I am not an action-flick person, but even I was disappointed with the Lone Islands scene), or that the un-dragoning of Eustace is much more important than that Island where dream come true or even more important than the Island of the Dufflepuds.

I, of course, would love to volunteer for that job, but I have no expectation that would get it. However, I have almost no hope for any more Narnia movies you make unless you change how you decide the storyline, you will only make movies that will disappoint all the people you're trying to target by making these movies.

And if you don't do this, please do all of us Lewis fans a favor and stop associating your movies with his books. "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is a tarnish on the Narnia world.

Thank you very much!"

Now, I really actually want to send this... however, this kind of thing usually requires advisors. Does anyone else agree with this?

[GrayMouser]

They did put in the bit about " you know me by another name in your world", which I was waiting to see if they would.

I think with Magician's Nephew they want to push Tilda Swinton as the White Witch.

Means they're going to have to find a new Eustace if they're going to wait four years for SC.

[Varnafindë]

Originally Posted by Midge

The night-raid on the castle in "Prince Caspian" is an example of this. It's very annoying and most unnecessary.

A funny thing I found is that when they meet on the Dancing Lawn and some want to eat first, and the moles want to dig trenches, and the fauns want to dance first, but Caspian and the Centaurs overrule them all and have a War council, which is what they need - then what Reepicheep wants to do before he is overruled with the others, is to attack Miraz in his castle that same night. So maybe they got the idea from the book after all. Only they weren't overruled ...

(I know that you have Douglas Gresham helping, but his input doesn't seem very valuable - he's let your directors get away with a lot of things that probably have Mr. Lewis turning over in his grave)

I don't think there's anything wrong with his input - it's just that they don't listen enough to him. They don't need a new advisor, they need to listen to the one they've got. I think he's loyal to the franchise - and I guess he has to be - and that's why he doesn't tell us about all the battles he's lost over how to make the movies.

Now, I really actually want to send this... however, this kind of thing usually requires advisors. Does anyone else agree with this?

I don't think you should even suggest yourself as an advisor, it might suggest the wrong attitude. And I'm not sure you should choose that wording about Douglas Gresham either - it's probably not that "he's let your directors get away with" anything - I guess he just doesn't have the power to stop it.

If you are to send it at all, I think you should rewrite it ...

[Midge]

Yes. I get very excitable (as fierce as a dragon in a pinch, maybe?) about this thing. Even when I wrote it, I realized it was unreasonable.

And I guess I didn't think of it that way - that the movie-makers wouldn't listen to Douglas Gresham. I assumed he was listening to them and saying, "Okay." It was very unfair of me.