A Look Back: The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Wacky things tend to happen in youth-directed fantasy books (that then get turned into movies). Whole houses get ripped off their foundations and whirled away to faraway places populated by the vertically challenged. Attempts to elude one’s siblings playing hide-and-seek bring one into a wondrous world where it is always winter. If you read such books/watch such movies when you are old enough to “know better,” you might think – what a creative conceit. If you aren’t, however, you might think – hey, maybe that could happen to me one day. The second example which is, of course, C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia,” and its debut book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” came out in 2005 which was too late for me to have the first reaction, but even not being a kid wasn’t a handicap to greatly enjoying it.

Y2K was, in fact, an interesting year for Narnia, although I’m not sure what C.S. Lewis’s reaction would be to the “Lazy Sunday” rap performed by Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg which at first attracted little notice on “Saturday Night Live,” but then took off due to YouTube. Also author Lev Grossman “borrowed” (to put it nicely) the whole Narnia concept for his adult fantasy series “The Magicians,” which became successful enough to have its own TV series. Anyway, “Lazy Sunday,” was good publicity for the movie which stayed faithful to the books. However, the seven-part series seems to have stalled after the third, “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” came out, perhaps due to the need to keep finding fresh actors (the characters are only allowed to visit Narnia a few times before puberty disqualifies them – the guy in charge of Narnia – a lion named Aslan – is a spoilsport that way).

In the first installment, four plucky British youngsters: William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley, are evacuated from London during the Blitz while their father is away fighting and sent to stay with an eccentric (is there any other kind?) bachelor (Jim Broadbent) in the countryside who has a home with some very odd aspects. While playing hide-and-seek one rainy day, the youngest (Georgie) hides in the titular wardrobe, where she discovers a land, Narnia, where it is perpetually winter – due to a curse by the White Witch (Tilda Swinton). This takes a New Englander’s worst nightmare – what if spring never came – and explores it with Biblical overtones (although they can be safely ignored if you choose). Thanks to a friendly Faun (James McAvoy), Georgie learns that this deep freeze can only be ended by the arrival of four mortal children. There is also the titular talking lion (voiced by Liam Neeson) who will help the four with their quest when they finally all get on the same page, arrive in Narnia together, and seek him out for help.

Of course, there are obstacles to overcome, including being swept away by a melting river, as the curse is breaking, a war between Good and Evil – the latter led by Tilda who has a wand that turns everything in its path to stone, and the treason of their brother (Skandar) who goes astray when Tilda offers him some awfully tempting magical candy. But the young heroes prevail. “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” is a good movie to watch in the dead of winter, as a reminder that yes, one day, even the deepest banks of snow will sometime melt away – at least until next year.

 

A Look Back: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The “Harry Potter” franchise by J.K. Rowling is undeniably the children’s (or young adult) series least likely ever to need any kind of sustained marketing campaign to get fans to flock to the theater. One could also argue that when the first book of the “Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” by C.S. Lewis came out on the big screen, it likely had quite a few fans (of all ages) ready to see the film regardless. However, the movie got an unexpected boost of publicity when a Saturday Night Live rap sketch by Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg went viral. While the sketch didn’t get that much attention on TV, it took off after it appeared online, being responsible for such proudly nerdy lines as, “Mr. Pibb and Red Vines equal crazy delicious!” (T-shirts were even sold.) The film itself does a fantastic job of capturing the magic of the first Narnia book, but there is a problem with the series that “Harry” never had to worry about. The one iron-clad rule of Narnia is that each child can only go there a couple of times – otherwise puberty hits and disqualifies you. The need to frequently cast new main character roles is perhaps a reason why attempts to keep the franchise going have foundered.

But though the later volumes remain in movie limbo, the first book is still masterfully brought to life. Starring four quasi-British orphans (William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley) who are sent to the countryside during the Blitz in World War 2. While their father is fighting in the trenches, the four are allowed to roam around the manor unsupervised, while the owner (an absent-minded professor) does whatever he does in his study and the housekeeper leads public tours. One day early on, the youngest (Georgie) takes refuge in a wardrobe while playing hide-and-seek with her siblings. Oddly there does not appear to be any dead end; instead she emerges in a snow-covered land, where she soon runs into a talking faun (James McAvoy). Yes folks, this is Narnia, but soon Georgie learns all is not idyllic – even with talking animals and cozy tea parties, it’s ruled by an evil witch (Tilda Swinton) who is such a spoilsport that she keeps it eternally winter. Also, Tilda is keen on meeting a “Son of Adam” or “Daughter of Eve,” (i.e. a human child) for no doubt nefarious reasons. Though James tries to lure Georgie to sleep, his conscience won’t quite let him, and he winds up helping her escape back through the wardrobe.

Surprisingly, Georgie’s sibs are skeptical of her claims, particularly since no time has passed in their world and they also can’t get back to Narnia when they try. However, the next time, Skandar tries and makes it in, where he meets Tilda herself, who with the help of Turkish Delight, convinces him to lure his siblings to her. The third time, all four make it into Narnia where they’re plunged (literally and otherwise) into a struggle between good (Aslan, a talking lion and Christ figure voiced by Liam Neeson) and evil (Tilda). This involves rescuing James and the other Narnians who have been turned into stone by Tilda at her palace, congregating in preparation to fight the bad guys, and a sacrifice by Liam in order that winter will end and spring will come.  The next two books (“Prince Caspian” and “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”) were subsequently made into movies, but as far as I know, the fourth (with an entirely new cast) has yet to appear. If only C.S. Lewis had set the series in a magical boarding school instead – but since he loathed his own time there, we get to have Narnia (equally magical in my view as Hogwarts) instead.