Something New to the Table

[Col Klink]

I feel that when you're adapting a book that's been adapted before, you need something you can do in your medium that previous adaptations weren't able to do. I felt the Walden Media movies were able to justify themselves well. They had special effects that the BBC adaptations didn't have and were able to bring Narnia to life in a visual way, something that wouldn't have been possible before. I also thought they had better child actors than the Radio Theatre dramas had. (At least for Lucy and Peter. Edmund and Susan were about equal.)

I know some people are going to hate me for saying this but I kind of liked that they used different dialogue from the books. It's not that I think the dialogue from the movies were better than that of the books. But after so many adaptations which tried to use dialogue similar to Lewis's, different dialogue made for an interesting change of pace. It gave me a chance to see how the stories worked on their own, so to speak, without the writing to help them.

Now that the Walden Media adaptations have been made, what can the new series bring to the table? What can the medium of a Netflix series accomplish that the BBC miniseries, the Walden Media movies, and the radio dramas from the BBC and Focus on the Family haven't?

[FriendofNarnia2]

One thing about the Walden series was that everything felt rushed. We did get a chance to slow down and appreciate the scene, the characters and get to know Narnia.

A TV Series usually gives you more of an opportunity to flesh all of that out.

And of course there will be a new artistic vision which will make it all feel different, but I think the pacing will be the biggest thing.

[fledge1]

I hope they do better at character development. I feel that TLWW did a good job of introducing them, but then the other two kinda let it drop a bit. All the characters have a deep purpose or meaning and I feel that it was not as well done as it could be. I am excited to see what they bring to the table, and hoping they keep it fresh and real.

[fantasia]

Well... this is probably stating the obvious, but making all seven books into movies/tv series would be new.

I would say having Aslan be a central theme would make these unique. And depending on how they do Aslan's character could instantly make the whole series feel different. For example, something Glumpuddle said a little while ago stuck in my head: what about a young Aslan? I would never have thought of that myself, but I think that would automatically make him wild (or, "not a tame lion" ), playful, unpredictable. It would certainly be a different feel from any other production of Narnia that I've seen.

[The Rose-Tree Dryad]

One thing about the Walden series was that everything felt rushed. We did get a chance to slow down and appreciate the scene, the characters and get to know Narnia.

A TV Series usually gives you more of an opportunity to flesh all of that out.

I totally agree with you. There are so many scenes that were hurried through or cut out completely in the Walden stories, so I'm thrilled that a television series will have all of the time it needs to let atmosphere build and include little character moments and extra details that can make so much of a difference in creating an impactful experience for the viewer.

It's not a perfect example, but this always makes me think of a quote from Russell in Pixar's Up: "It sounds boring, but I think it's the boring stuff that I remember the most." When a story really sticks with you, it's not always the big plot points that leave the greatest impression... it's the way the experience made you feel, and to create those feelings, you have to give the atmosphere time to take shape and draw you in.

Take, for instance, the scene at the Beavers' in LWW. In the book we have a few lovely pages devoted to telling reader about Mr. Beaver and Peter catching fish for supper, the girls helping Mrs. Beaver with preparing the food, and the dinner itself, and as a fresh blanket of snow is falling on the house and the chapter closes, it all does a wonderful job creating the perfect atmosphere for the conversation that follows. Ahh, I love the feeling I get in that part of the book! But in the Walden movie, we don't get any of that preamble—they jump straight into the conversation there, because they only have so many minutes to work with and they have to prioritize certain scenes.

I would say having Aslan be a central theme would make these unique.

That was one thing I really liked about what Ted Sarandos had to say in the press release. He specifically mentioned the character of Aslan and the world of Narnia, and I've often said that if you don't prioritize those two things, you cannot make a film adaptation of the entire series that works. Aslan and Narnia are the only common thread between all of the stories! And Aslan especially is the gravitational center of the series. If he's not the hinge on which everything else turns, the stories just aren't going to work right. A Lewis quote come to mind: "Put first things first and second things are thrown in. Put second things first and you lose both first and second things."

[The Rose-Tree Dryad]

Double-posting as it's been well over twenty-four hours...

Something else I think that a television series will be able to offer is the ability to develop the Friends of Narnia. The friendship of the Pevensies, Eustace, Jill, Digory, and Polly is something that a traditional film series would never have had the time to explore at length, but in a television series, they'll have plenty of space to show these characters interacting on this side of the wardrobe door. I can also imagine filmmakers being keen on including the Friends of Narnia just because their conversations could be useful in linking together seven very different stories. Further, things like Susan's absence in Aslan's Country won't seem so out of left field; the viewer can see for themselves that she's prioritizing the wrong things in her life.

Since one of my favorite scenes in CoN is Jill and Eustace talking in whispers about Narnia at the beginning of SC, I would definitely be interested to see what they might do with this!

[Mrs Smooshy]

I like the idea of focusing on the Friends of Narnia. Especially if they start with The Magicians Nephew. They could even make the Pevensie family friends with the Kirk family right from the beginning so there is that family history by the time LWW starts (why the kids' parents felt they could send them to Digory during the war). Nothing story-changing of course. Not saying to make Polly a Pevensie but just an off-mention or a made-up side character be the Pevensie's future grandmother or something come to visit Digory's sick mother. One quick scene, in and out. Or even just a couple name-drops.

This is just spit-balling at the top of my head so I don't mind if people hate the idea.