One question for people interested in this topic... which kind of animation do you think is better for evoking emotion in the audience?
At first I was tempted to just say 3D, but I think that's largely due to Pixar's frequently superior storytelling than the medium itself. And then I remembered that I can't even watch
The Land Before Time anymore without crying my eyes out.
So, I think this is largely dependant on the storytelling and the kind of atmosphere that's created.
Meltintalle wrote:Sleeping Beauty was the other film that sort of leaped to mind when thinking of what the Chronicles might look like. Or maybe101 Dalmations?
This screencap kind of reminds me a little bit of Polly in the Wood Between the Worlds. Such beautiful animation!
101 Dalmations is an interesting idea! I hadn't thought of that.
CorazonBandido55 wrote:The Narnia films have already started to be adapted to a live action film. Not only had there already been so much effort put into real action across three films, but by switching to animated films, it would create a disconnect between the existing films. This would in turn feel like a "step down" from the previous films, making less studios willing to help finance the franchise. Narnia needs all the momentum it can get.
Yeah, I'm not really in favor of switching over to animation in the middle of this current series either. I'm hoping for a clean reboot of the entire series as animated films in about ten or fifteen years from now.
Reepicheep775 wrote: The crucial theme of longing in Narnia could be achieved better by making Narnia look beautiful in an otherworldly way, so that you can understand why the characters would long to get back once they're out of Narnia. With the current films, if you want to go to "Narnia", just hop in a plane and go to New Zealand, the Czech Republic etc. In animation, the backgrounds can look more stylized, but because the characters are also animated there isn't a a disconnect between real characters and fake background.
Great point. I've often felt that one of the primary problems with the current film series is that it's hard to fall in love with the world of Narnia itself. Sure, it's very beautiful, but it's not anything we haven't already seen before.
Reepicheep775 wrote:I don't expect any of the remaining films in the current film series to be animated, but I hope there is an animated reboot sometime in my lifetime. And I would want 2D animation, not 3D animation, just because I don't think 3D would be right for Narnia. I'm still hoping there will be a 2D revival in the future. They're different mediums - 3D isn't the "next step" after 2D - and they both have different strengths and weaknesses. 2D has a more magical and old-fashioned feel, so I think it would be better for Narnia.
I've heard that 3D animation is less expensive to use for large projects, but I'm not really sure if that's true or not. That's one of the reasons why the
Paperman short caught my eye, because if that's the case, then the hybridized animation might make a return to 2D more feasible for film studios. I would love to see a comeback for 2D feature films regardless of whether they're more expensive or not, though.
When I try to imagine what a 3D animated Narnia film would look like, there isn't really any film that I can point towards that looks like the picture in my head. Maybe something a little like the animation in
The Adventures of Tintin, except much better, and heavily influenced by Pauline Baynes' illustrations? Gah, it's so hard to describe.