Since the mid-nineties, Disney has been drawing allegations from conservatives that the company’s media implicitly promote, among other things, witchcraft and lewd sexuality. Some of the accusations are blown totally out of proportion, while some are grounded in legitimacy: in one Disney cartoon, a tasteless editor spliced several photo-frames of frontal nudity into a scene. In an obscure piece of correspondence concerning his reservations about making a Wardrobe film, Lewis was quoted expressing an explicit dislike for Walt Disney’s treatment of morality, saying that he’d consider a cartoon version, “If only [Walt] Disney didn’t combine such vulgarity with his genius!” Some fifty years later, the film has been made and by none other than The Walt Disney Company. The controversy notwithstanding, let’s look at how the film measures up to the classic book many know and love.
The Adaptation
C.S. Lewis isn’t known for mincing words, the relative thickness (or thinness) of his religious non-fiction compared to theological books by other authors is a testimony to that. If anything gets cut from one of his stories, there’s a good chance that it actually means something, and it’s not just fluff. Fortunately, the few details that were shaved off for the screen adaptation didn’t put a dent in the story or significantly alter the trajectory of the narrative. By and large, the story remains faithful to the original text with very little added and little taken away.
One of the most obvious hurdles that director Andrew Adamson (of Shrek franchise fame) faced was dealing with pacing. In the movie, it may seem like it takes forever for the kids to get to Narnia; true Narniacs will notice that Adamson actually puts them there much earlier than Lewis does, and under slightly different circumstances. In fact, most of the changes that take place in the story seem simply for the purpose of getting to Narnia quicker. Once all four children tumble through the wardrobe and into the snow, the real fun and fantasy begins.
Wardrobe’s true strength is in bringing to life certain details and nuances that are not easily conveyed on a written page; the snowy wood is snowier, the lamp-post is lit with flames, Aslan’s mane looks more inviting and the foreboding hills leading to the White Witch’s lair are actually two craggy mountains. Everything is just as you imagined it, only better. And Aslan’s army is a sight to behold!
The Acting
The shining star of the film is undeniably Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy with such admirable wisdom and innocence that viewers of every age group will find themselves inspired by her character. Skandar Keynes plays a perfectly hateful Edmund, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll relate to him. Anna Popplewell lends a very welcome sense of depth to the role of Susan that many may have missed in the first book. Seeing her act out the part, full of purpose and emotion, gives birth to a whole new perspective on the children’s journey to Narnia. William Mosely’s Peter is also fuller than you’ll remember from the novel, rounding out the group with a very pronounced reluctance and insecurity about accepting his role in Narnia. Tilda Swinton (Orlando, Constantine) is eerily captivating as the White Witch, and Adamson gives her some very interesting costume changes that enhance her character all the more. The voice of Aslan is Liam Neeson (Star Wars Episode I, Batman Begins), and it fits the not-tame-but-good lion very well. Also noteworthy is James McAvoy (Band of Brothers, Wimbledon) who plays the unlucky faun Mr. Tumnus.
The CGI
Many people scratched their heads when it was announced that Adamson would helm this project without any prior experience directing live actors. The critics should have focused on Adamson’s strengths, not his weaknesses. Perhaps the single quality that made Adamson best suited to direct was his incredible intuition when it comes to working with CGI. What does a faun look like? How does a centaur run? What’s the best way to represent a dryad? Adamson rises to these and many more challenges, providing an exquisite menagerie of believable mythological characters. Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, in particular, look very realistic and are fun to watch. In interviews about the prospect of making a Wardrobe movie, Lewis always said that creating a cinematic Aslan would be the most crucial part of the process. He felt that if Aslan wasn’t believable, the whole project would fail. Adamson meets Lewis’ legitimate concern with the most photo-realistic CGI lion to grace the big screen yet; a lion worthy of Aslan’s mane. For any animation geeks out there, Wardrobe also boasts some of the best-rendered photo-realistic CGI hair around!
The Action
Anyone fearful that the battle scenes in a PG-rated movie might be too mild or subdued to seem realistic can lay their anxieties to rest. There’s ample high-shutter-speed swordplay, the only thing missing is the blood and gore. There are, however, some places where the movie feels decidedly mild. Adamson does hold off on the violence for as long as he possibly can, until the story absolutely calls for it. One climactic pre-battle scene of thematic violence involving Aslan and The White Witch is so heavy that you’ll understand why Adamson isn’t just willy-nilly with Peter's Wolf’s Bane sword.
The Funny Business
I keep trying to convince my mother that Wardrobe is totally appropriate for my five-year-old brother and my two young nieces (who happen to be excited out of their minds about the movie). My mother is a tough sell, and justifiably so; she has every reason to expect what I call ‘moral funny business’ from Disney, but this time, there is none! There’s no glamorized witchcraft, no lurking frightening images, no fixation on the darkness, no divination, no implicit gay agenda, no ambiguous morality—nothing! Having read the books, I can say with near absolute certainty that anything questionable in the film, unless there’s some underlying subliminal satanic soundtrack, is directly from C.S. Lewis’ manuscript. If you have any beef, take it up with him, Mom!
The Jesus
He’s there! For those of you who don’t know, Wardrobe is Christian allegory through and through. Unlike J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings, there is no question whatsoever that Lewis intended to convey a Christian message wrapped in the symbolism of Narnia. When Disney became involved in the development of Wardrobe, Douglas Gresham (a professing Christian in active ministry and C.S. Lewis’ stepson) poured all of his energy into making sure that the message of Christ was not taken out of the film. As a Christian with ears to hear and eyes to see, I can say wholeheartedly that the message of Jesus Christ is alive and well in Wardrobe. It’s so deeply rooted in the story that it can’t be removed without severely altering the storyline beyond recognition. It’s like a city on a hill: It can’t be hidden. Don’t misunderstand this as an open endorsement of all things Disney, far from it! I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit about everything you watch. Say a silent prayer before you see a movie; you never know what God is going to use to speak to you, but you always want to be ready to receive it.
Thanks to strategic and ubiquitous advertising in both the secular and sacred communities, Wardrobe is already poised to be a tremendous box-office success. Many insiders are looking to it as a Christmas-time savior to drag Hollywood out of an ongoing revenue slump. When Wardrobe does well, Disney will most likely be acquiring more Christian-themed properties, and the rest of the industry will doubtless follow suit. In much of the same way that, as a mere children’s book, Wardrobe changed the face of literature, the movie is sure to leave its historical mark as well. You might decide to see the movie simply to be part of a spiritual change in cinema, or you may be hopelessly obsessed with C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece. Old fans and newcomers alike are certain to be satisfied and challenged by Disney’s release of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
