The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 epic fantasy film directed by Andrew Adamson based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published novel in C. S. Lewis's children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. It was produced by Walden Media and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Four British children are evacuated during the Blitz to the countryside, and find a wardrobe that leads to the fantasy world of Narnia, where they ally with the Lion Aslan against the forces of the White Witch.

It was released on December 9, 2005 in both Europe and North America to positive reviews and was highly successful at the box office. It won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Make Up and various other awards, and is the first of what will be a series of films based on the books. An Extended Edition was released on December 12, 2006 and was only made available on DVD until January 31, 2007. It was the best selling DVD in North America in 2006.

Plot

In 1940 during the Blitz, the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are evacuated from Finchley, London, to the country home of Professor Kirke. One day while they are playing hide and seek, Lucy discovers a wardrobe and enters a fantasy world called Narnia. She spends several hours in the home of the faun, Mr. Tumnus, who explains the White Witch cursed Narnia, and it has been winter for a century. In accordance with her orders, if a human is ever encountered, a Narnian must bring them to her. However, Tumnus likes Lucy and regrets his plan, so he sends her out of the Wardrobe. When she returns, hardly any time has passed in the normal world during her stay. She makes the other children check the Wardrobe, but the portal is gone.

Later, Edmund follows Lucy into Narnia, and meets the White Witch and her faithful dwarf, Ginnabrik. They offer him Turkish delight, as well as the prospect of becoming king. She asks Edmund to bring his siblings to her. After she departs, Edmund and Lucy meet again and they return to tell the others. Edmund does not confirm Narnia's existence to Peter and Susan, saying he was merely playing with Lucy. This distresses Lucy, who bumps into Professor Kirke. The Professor has a private talk with Peter and Susan; he does not understand why they do not believe Lucy's story and presents to them the use of logic (which Susan is very fond of) in the situation: when they are given three choices for an explanation of Lucy's behavior — madness, dishonesty, and sincerity — the others know she is neither mad nor dishonest, so she is "logically" telling the truth.

On another day, while hiding from the housekeeper Mrs. Macready in the wardrobe after they break a window, the four siblings step into Narnia. Peter and Susan apologize for their earlier disbelief and Peter threatens Edmund unless he apologizes to Lucy. They discover Mr. Tumnus has been taken by the Witch and meet talking beavers that tell them about Aslan. According to them, Aslan is on the move to take the control of Narnia from the White Witch. The four siblings must help Aslan and his followers; it had been prophesied that when two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sat in the four thrones, the Witch's reign would come to an end.

Edmund sneaks off and visits the Witch alone. When he arrives at her castle, she is angry that he did not bring her his brother and sisters. Then the White Witch sends a pack of wolves to hunt down the other children and the beavers, who barely escape with the aid of a fox. Meanwhile, Edmund is chained in the witch's dungeon where he meets Mr. Tumnus in an adjacent cell. The Witch comes down and demands that Edmund tell her where his family is because her police couldn't find them; Edmund tells her some information, but hesitates when Tumnus looks at him, warningly (he also tries to tell the witch that Edmund doesn't know anything, but is injured by Ginnabrik). The witch sees that Tumnus is hindering the information, so she has him "released" and brought over to her. After she tells Mr. Tumnus that it was Edmund's fault that she knew about his involvement, Mr. Tumnus is dragged upstairs and turned into stone, as Edmund sees with a horror when he is brought up.

While Peter, Lucy, Susan, and the beavers are traveling to the Stone Table, they see what they believe to be the White Witch in her sleigh chasing after them, so they run and hide — fortunately, it is really Father Christmas. Warning them that they are tools, not toys, he gives Lucy a bottle of juice of fire-flowers and a dagger; Susan a bow and arrow and a magical horn; and Peter a sword and shield. Father Christmas informs them that winter will soon be over. Unfortunately, this means the rivers are thawing, and the arrival of Maugrim and several other wolves makes the passage even more perilous. But with their weapons, the group manages to safely cross the river, leaving the Witch no real way to reach them by sleigh.

Arriving at Aslan's army encampment, they encounter Aslan, who is revealed as a huge and noble lion. Aslan promises to help Edmund in any way he can. They are also reluctant to participate in a war after fleeing from London. However, they have to save Edmund and Mr. Tumnus. Peter joins Aslan's army. A little later, two wolves ambush Lucy and Susan while they are frolicking by the river. When Peter intervenes, Maugrim attacks him, and Peter kills him with his sword. Some of Aslan's troops follow the other wolf back to the witch's camp and rescue Edmund.

Aslan has a "private talk" with Edmund. When he is done, Aslan tells the other children to forget Edmund's previous actions and they reconcile. The White Witch then arrives and claims that Edmund is her property, based on the "deep magic" of Narnia; it says that traitors belong to her as lawful prey and that she must kill them at the Stone Table. Aslan "negotiates" with the White Witch, who agrees to leave Edmund alone. In return, Aslan "sacrifices" himself and surrenders to the witch. As Susan and Lucy watch in hiding, Aslan is humiliated and stabbed to death. However, he is resurrected because "there is a magic deeper still the Witch does not know." Aslan takes Susan and Lucy to the Witch's mansion where he frees the prisoners of the White Witch, forming an army for battle.

Meanwhile, Edmund persuades Peter to join battle with the Witch's host. At first quite successful, Peter's army soon begins to lose the fight, and Edmund is badly injured, though he has managed to destroy the White Witch's stone-turning staff, her most effective weapon. As she battles with Peter, Aslan soon arrives with reinforcements. She takes advantage of this distraction and disarms him. She is about to stab him when Aslan jumps on her, knocking her to the other side of the cliff and killing her. He then returns to Peter and tells him that "it is finished". Susan uses her bow and arrow to kill Ginarrbrik who attempts to finish Edmund off before there is a chance to save him. Lucy revives Edmund and many others with the fire-flower juice given to her by Father Christmas, while Aslan frees more victims of the White Witch's stone-turning spell.

The Pevensies become Kings and Queens and stay in Narnia until they are older. When chasing a white stag to receive wishes, they find the lamppost and the wardrobe and go back to England, where they magically appear as children again. The Professor then tosses them the ball used to break the window and instructs them to tell him the story.

Later, at the end, Lucy attempts to go back to Narnia, but the Professor tells her that she (and the others) will probably get back to Narnia when least expected.

Cast

Further information: List of Chronicles of Narnia cast members

• William Moseley as Peter Pevensie, the eldest of the four Pevensie children.
• Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie, the second eldest child of the four Pevensie children.
• Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie, the third of the four Pevensie children.
• Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of the four Pevensie children.
• Tilda Swinton as Jadis, the White Witch, the evil witch who holds Narnia under an eternal winter.
• James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus, a faun who at first is on the White Witch's side, then, seeing her evil ways, turns to Aslan's forces.
• Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan, the great lion who was responsible for creating Narnia and who sacrifices himself for Edmund's sake.
• Ray Winstone voices Mr. Beaver, a beaver who helps lead the children to Aslan.
• Dawn French voices Mrs. Beaver, a beaver who helps lead the children to Aslan.
• Jim Broadbent as Professor Digory Kirke, an old professor who went to Narnia as a child although he has been unable for years to get through the Wardrobe. He let the children stay at his manor in the country during the war.
• James Cosmo as Father Christmas. He gives the Peter, Susan, and Lucy their Christmas gifts.
• Patrick Kake as Oreius, a centaur who is second-in-command of Aslan's army.
• Kiran Shah as Ginarrbrik, the White Witch's servant dwarf.
• Elizabeth Hawthorne as Mrs. Macready, Kirke's strict housekeeper.
• Judy McIntosh as Mrs. Pevensie, the mother of the four Pevensie children.
• Shane Rangi as General Otmin, a minotaur who is second-in-command of the White Witch's army.
• Michael Madsen as the voice of Maugrim, a wolf who is captain of the White Witch's secret police.
• Rupert Everett as the voice of a fox who helps the children along their way to Aslan.
• Noah Huntley as the adult Peter Pevensie, who has grown up as a king in Narnia.
• Sophie Winkleman as the adult Susan Pevensie, who has grown up as a queen in Narnia.
• Mark Wells as the adult Edmund Pevensie, who has grown up as a king in Narnia.
• Rachael Henley as the adult Lucy Pevensie, who has grown up as a queen in Narnia.
• Producer Philip Steuer voices Phillip, Edmund's talking horse.

The radio-announcer that Peter listens to on the rainy day near the beginning of the film is played by Douglas Gresham, co-producer of the movie and C. S. Lewis's stepson.^[1] Keynes' voice broke during filming, so some of his voice track had to be re-looped by his sister Soumaya.^[1] Mr. Pevensie is only glimpsed in a photo which Edmund tries to retrieve during the bombing, which is of Sim-Evan Jones' father.^[2]

With the exception of Tilda Swinton, who was the first choice to play the White Witch,^[3] casting was a long process. Beginning in 2002,^[4] Adamson went through 2500 audition tapes, met 1800 children and workshopped 400 before coming down to the final four actors for the Pevensies. Moseley and Popplewell came from the very start of casting, whilst Henley and Keynes were cast relatively late.^[5] Moseley was cast because casting director Pippa Hall remembered she cast him as an extra in a 1998 dramatization of Cider with Rosie. He quit school to learn all his lines and beat 3000 boys to the role of Peter.^[6]

Aslan's voice was a contention point. Brian Cox was originally cast in the role on December 9, 2004,^[7] but Adamson changed his mind.^[8] Liam Neeson sought out the role,^[4] and was announced as the voice on July 17, 2005.^[9]

Production

Pre-production

During the early 1990s, producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy were planning a film version.^[10] They could not find a space in Britain to shoot the film during 1996,^[11] and their plans to set the film in modern times^[12] made Douglas Gresham oppose the film,^[13] in addition to his feeling that technology had yet to catch up.^[12] Perry Moore began negotiations with the C. S. Lewis Estate in 2000.^[14] On December 7, 2001, Walden Media announced that they had acquired the rights to The Chronicles of Narnia.^[15]

The success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone prompted the producers to feel they could make a faithful adaptation of the novel set in Britain. "Harry Potter came along, and all those cultural or geographical lines were broken," Mark Johnson explained. "When The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was being developed at Paramount, the imperative was to set it in the U.S., and it just doesn't hold. [...] It's not the book."^[16] Guillermo del Toro turned down the offer to direct due to his commitment on Pan's Labyrinth.^[17] Following his Academy Award win for Shrek, director Andrew Adamson began adapting the source material with a 20 page treatment based on his memories of the book.^[3] As such the film begins with the Luftwaffe bombing and concludes with an enormous battle, although they do not take up as much time in the novel.^[14]

In the novel, the battle is never seen until Aslan, Susan, Lucy and their reinforcements arrive. This was changed in the movie because Adamson said he could vividly remember a huge battle,^[5] an example of how Lewis left a lot to the readers' imagination. Other small changes include the reason all four children come to Narnia, in that an accident breaks a window and forces them to hide. Tumnus also never meets Edmund until the end in the novel. Minor details were added to the Pevensies, such their mother's name, Helen, being the actual first name of Georgie Henley's mother.^[1] Finchley as the home of the Pevensies was inspired by Anna Popplewell, who actually is from Finchley.^[18] Adamson also changed the circumstances in which Lucy first comes into Narnia. He felt it was more natural that she first see the wardrobe while looking for a hide and seek hiding place, rather than just chance upon it exploring the house.^[5] The film also hints at Professor Kirke's role in The Magician's Nephew, such as the engravings on the wardrobe when it is a simple one in the novel. When Lewis wrote the novel, such a back-story did not exist. In the novel also, the father of the Pevensie children is in London with their mother, but in the film, their father is fighting in the war as Lucy stated to Mr. Tumnus when they first meet in Narnia.

Weta Workshop head Richard Taylor cited Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights as an inspiration on the film. He felt Narnia had to be less dark and gritty than their depiction of Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings because it is a new world.^[19] Many of Weta's creature designs were designed for digital creation, so when Howard Berger and KNB FX inherited the practical effects work, they had to spend three months retooling approved designs for animatronics.^[20] Berger's children would comment and advise upon his designs; they suggested the White Witch's hair be changed from black to blonde, which Berger concurred with as he realized Swinton's wig looked too gothic.^[21]

Filming

Principal photography began on June 28, 2004,^[22] shooting in primarily chronological order.^[2] Adamson did this in order to naturally create a sense of mature development from his young actors, which mirrored their real life development.^[13] Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes^[4] were never shown the set before filming scenes of their characters entering Narnia, nor had Henley seen James McAvoy in his Mr. Tumnus costume before shooting their scenes together. Thus, their reactions on camera are completely real.^[1]

The first scene shot was at the disused Hobsonville Air Base for the railway scene.^[23] Afterwards, they shot the Blitz scene, which Adamson called their first formal day of shooting.^[5]

The filmmakers asked permission to bring in twelve reindeer to New Zealand to pull the Ice Queen's sled. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry denied, citing the potentially deadly Q fever from which the North American reindeer population suffers as the reason. However, ten wolves and wolf hybrids were allowed in for filming in Auckland.^[24]

The cast and crew spent their time in New Zealand in Auckland before moving in November to the South Island.^[25]

They filmed in Poland and Prague after the Christmas break,^[2] before wrapping in February.^[26]

Release

On December 7, 2005 the film premiered in London, going on general release the following day. The film was released December 8, 2005 in the United Kingdom and December 9, 2005 in North America and the rest of Europe.

Box office

Narnia opened with $23 million USD in 3,616 theatres on its opening day (December 9, 2005), averaging $6,363 per location. The film took in a total of $65.5 million on its opening weekend (December 9–11, 2005), the 24th best opening weekend at the time, as well as the second biggest December opening, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It is now third following the 2007 opening of I Am Legend ^[27]

The worldwide total was $744.7 million as of July 30, 2006. Of that, $291.7 million came from the United States, where it was the second highest grossing film of 2005 behind Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. There it surpassed the gross of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by only $1 million, which grossed $896 million total worldwide (Source: Boxofficemojo). The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the highest-grossing live action film and the third highest-grossing film overall in Disney company history before being passed in 2006 by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in 2007.

Awards received

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe won several awards including the Academy Award for Makeup; the BeliefNet Film Award for Best Spiritual film; the Movieguide Faith & Values Awards: Most Inspiring Movie of 2005 and Best Family Movie of 2005; and the CAMIE (Character and Morality In Entertainment) Award. Others include the British Academy Film Awards for Makeup and Hair and Orange Rising Star (James McAvoy); Outstanding Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media; the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role (Georgie Henley, Female); the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Fantasy Film (Isis Mussenden); and the Saturn Award for Costumes (Isis Mussenden) and Make-up (Howard Berger, Greg Nicotero, and Nikki Gooley).

Positive reviews

• The film is currently 75% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and 151 of the listed 202 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10.
• Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars.
• Ebert and Roeper gave the movie "Two Thumbs Up".
• Duane Dudak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gave the movie 3 out of 4 stars.
• Stuart Klawans of The Nation said, "All ticket buyers will get their money's worth."^[28]
• Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News gave it 4 out of 4 stars and said: "A generation-spanning journey that feels both comfortingly familiar and excitingly original."
• Metacritic gives the movie a 75 out of 100, based on 39 reviews.^[29]
• Critic Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle listed it as the second best film of the year.^[30]
• Kit Bowen (Hollywood.com) gives this film 3 out of 4 stars.^[31]

Negative reviews

• John Anderson from Newsday stated that: "…there's a deliberateness, a fastidiousness and a lack of daring and vision that marks the entire operation."^[32]

• Cynthia Fuchs from PopMatters wrote: "…the children's indoctrination seems less charming. They are warriors, drawn into killing and a general faith in militarism, into the sense that wars might solve problems, or at the least, beat them into submission."^[33]

DVD and Blu-ray release

The DVD for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was released on April 4, 2006. It is available in a standard one-disc set (with separate fullscreen and widescreen editions), and a deluxe widescreen two-disc boxed set with additional artwork and other materials from Disney and Walden Media. The DVD sold four million copies on its first day of release^[34] and overtook Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to become the top selling DVD in North America for 2006.^[35]

Disney made a four-disc DVD release of an extended cut of the film. It was released on December 12, 2006 and was available commercially until January 31, 2007, after which Disney put the DVD on moratorium.^[36] The extended cut of the film runs approximately 150 minutes, including an extended version of the climactic battle scene. The set also has all the features previously released on the two-disc special edition. The two further discs include a segment called "The Dreamer of Narnia," a previously unreleased feature length film about C. S. Lewis, and additional production featurettes.^[37] Most of the extended footage, besides the extended battle sequence, are just longer shots of Narnia and footage of the Pevensies walking in Narnia.^[38]

The high-definition Blu-ray Disc version was released on May 13, 2008 in the United States, and was released on June 16, 2008 in the United Kingdom^[39], delayed from the original planned release date in late 2007.

Notes

External links

Movie sites

• Official website
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Internet Movie Database
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Box Office Mojo
• Imageworks - making of Narnia visual effects

Reviews

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Metacritic