The Chronicles of Narnia 8/27 (1 Viewer)

[Brandon Gantt]

they were distributed in the US by a company called WONDERWORKS

WONDERWORKS co-produced the series with the BBC. The actual VHS tapes were always distributed in the US by Home Vision/Public Media. The Wonderworks logo did appear on the sleeves along with the BBC and Home Vision marks. Sadly I don't know what became of Wonderworks or who holds video rights to their other titles.

 

[Sarah S]

I know that the Anne of Green Gables series was part of Wonderworks' library; and that has been released in Canada. Very likely all (or almost all) of their titles have been sold off separately whenever they could find a buyer. Very sad. I would love to have most of the movies they made. My family watched them every Sunday. I would adore Konrad, the one about the troll, (I think it was called something like The Boy Who Loved Trolls) and several other titles to be available on dvd so I could own them for when I have a family. What would be the coolest feature would be to have that rainbow hot-air balloon CG sequence at the beginning somewhere.

As for de-Christianizing the Chronicles of Narnia...if Di$ney does that, even though I am not Christian myself, I would not waste money on seeing them in theaters, or renting them, forget owning them. C.S. Lewis was a strong believer by the time he wrote these, & it shows in every book. I admire his writing too much to condone any "adaptations" or "sterilizations" of his books with my time & attention.

 

[Roberto Carlo]

I admire his writing too much to condone any "adaptations" or "sterilizations" of his books with my time & attention.

With all due respect to those expressing concerns, there's a mixture of two different stories and issues at work here. Yes, it's true that the Narnia tales are going to be made into feature films. That's being done by a new outfit called Walden Films. Walden's money guy is Philip Anschutz, a Denver billionaire who owns the MLS and is trying to bring the NFL back to LA by building a stadium downtown. He's rich enough that the NFL is taking his efforts seriously.

The creative people are the former heads of Dimension films, which, I believe, is an offshoot of Disney. (Hence the Disney part of the story.) The plan is to create a franchise a la Harry Potter. THey are pre-production for the Lion, Witch & Wardrobe. No one has been cast. Don't know anymore than that.

The "de-Christianize" part of the story is that the publisher of Lewis' stories, Harper-Collins I believe, plans to commission new stories based on the original series. It's these new stories that will supposedly downplay the religious elements and metaphors. The original Chronicles will not be revised.

I hope this helps.

 

[Jodee]

Are these live action?

I remember as a child seeing an animated version of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I immediately fell in love with it and ran out and bought all the books.

I would love to have that on DVD.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Wonderworks was not a home video company, but a series on PBS that aired filmed versions of classic children's books.

Also, the strength of the Narnia stories is that although a good chunk of them is made up of allegory, they were never heavy-handed. Most kids would never notice that the stories and characters are symbolic of Christian teachings. I know I didn't and I'm the son of a Methodist minister. They're just exceptionally written Fantasy stories that hold up as well today as the day they were written.

I hope the new films stay faithful to the stories without either removing the allegorical elements, nor making them overly-preachy. The BBC adaptations did this extremely well. I can't wait to purchase them.

 

[Anne M]

Jodee, yes, for the most part these are live action. I say for the most part because most of the flying animals are animated. But the films are 90% live action. I'm afraid this is not the version you saw as a child, but htey are wonderful nonetheless.

 

[Luis Esp]

I just hope they clean up the film for dvd. I recently borrowed these movie on vhs from the library and the audio was horrendous,and the video transfer was really soft.

I assume the video tapes were on their last legs. I've checked out the website and Amazon, and I couldn't find info on the boxset of the dvds, only the single titles.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

So, the "extra" episodes available in Europe that "complete" the set...are they a continuing part of this set or are they a different production/cast? Should we wait? Why wouldn't they be included here if they exist?

Eric, agreed 100% about the sad affair with the de-christianized Shadowlands. That closeing "secular" remark at the end of the movie almost had me reaching for my barf-bag...it was just such an inaccurate portrayal of a historical figure about whom these questions are not unanswered.

I didn't even know the BBC had done a version. I hope that it appears on DVD so I can add it to my collection.

-dave

 

[Brandon Gantt]

David, BBC Television only adapted four books:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian and/ the Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair. These will all be included in the DVD set. BBC Television never filmed the other three stories.

 

[Eric Paddon]

I believe David's reference concerned the BBC doing "Shadowlands" which they did do, and which has been on VHS but sorely needs a DVD release. The television version is so much more accurate to real history (Joy Gresham's older son David isn't zapped out of existence, unlike the movie) and also confronts directly that it was *Christianity* that brought them together, and ends with Lewis' faith restored and ready to teach Douglas about the faith.

BBC also did some other spectacular Christian-oriented historical dramas with professional casts during this time. In addition to "Shadowlands" they also did an outstanding biography of Martin Luther called "Martin Luther-Heretic" which starred Jonathan Pryce as Luther. That would merit a DVD release as well.

 

[Brandon Gantt]

Well the set is out. Did anybody pick it up? If so are the stories in their original 30 minute episodic format?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I know that the Anne of Green Gables series was part of Wonderworks' library; and that has been released in Canada. Very likely all (or almost all) of their titles have been sold off separately whenever they could find a buyer.

AFAIK Sullivan Entertainment were the original producers of AOGG (in conjunction with CITY-TV and the CBC), and have released the series in Canada. Kevin Sullivan produced, directed and wrote the screenplay for the 1985 version.

 

[Daniel J]

I must say that, although the Narnia stories hold an immovable place in my heart, I cringe when watching certain parts of these TV adaptations. The acting and P.V. is decent most of the time, (for TV, anyway) but in some of the scenes it's just laughably poor. I'll probably rent the DVDs, but I can't see myself buying the whole set.
The one esception is The Silver Chair; not exactly spectacular production values, but they managed to pull it all off with memorable acting and good direction. I'd reccomend this one over any of the others (If just to see Dr. Who as a Marshwiggle! Perfect bit of casting, that!)
Prof. Lewis was fond of allegory, (he wrote his own version of Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress") while his friend, Prof. Tolkien, detested it. But neither of these writers makes you think too hard about the "Christianity" in their books; it's simply and undisputably 'there', as an integral part of what makes the stories what they are.
When Lewis recieved letters from children saying they had discovered the "real" meaning behind his stories, he would respond that 'Young people almost always do; it's the grownups that don't see it.'
I love these stories, probably as much as I love any others I have read. I've always admired "High King Peter", always forgiven the traitor, always wanted to fight for Caspian, and I've always wanted to visit Narnia. There's something about the world that makes it purely exiting and serious, but never so heavy handed that you can't laugh. If you want your children to read a fun bunch of books, buy them the Narnia set. They'll thank you, as will your grandchildren, and probably your great-grandchildren (if the books are still in readable condition by that point )