We’ve just posted the tenth edition of the NarniaFans Mailbag. We’ve answered ten letters this week, covering casting, battles, plays, and Christian symbolism.
Q: Hello! Me again! I would like to ask a question relating to this (fabulous) website. Do you put up everyone’s art/wallpapers/esseys that you get sent or just the ones that you think are the best?
-Nellie
A: Hello again, Nellie! To be totally honest, we try to put up wallpapers that are unique, well designed, and that would work well as a wallpaper. The best ones allow you to find your icons and not lose them among the background. They’re also well laid out, and very clean. We have to keep a level of quality to it.
Q: Hey, it’s Marie again (for the third time). I would just like to say how much I love narniafans.com. It is probably one of the best fan sites that I have ever seen! What I love about it is that it is so open about many topics that other websites might find to be questionable (such as religion). There is not an overwhelming amount of information like other fansites and everything is well organized. Also, I love the new Mailbag feature where people can write in and actually get a response. Thanks so much!
Alright, I have a question, too. I am a Christian, and I see many Christian promotions for Narnia. I was wondering what the connection is here? Like, what does Narnia have to do with Christianity? I have no problem with this (I think it’s great), but I never really understood why. If you could help explain it, that’d be great!
Ok, bye!
-Marie
A: Thanks very much, Marie. Now, I’m going to try to answer your question and hope that you don’t take offense to how I put it. Know that I mean no ill-will toward you, as many might miss the Christian imagery that the Chronicles of Narnia are loaded with. Narnia has everything to do with Christianity. For one thing, Aslan is Jesus. He’s not just some lion that the children meet. He even says that he goes by other names in other worlds. The long walk to the Stone Table, found in LWW, and the ensuing mockery, shaving, and killing are all symbolic. The same thing happened to Christ, although a bit different. He carried a cross and was mocked, stripped of His clothing, and hung on the cross. Aslan died to take the place of Edmund, paying the debt of Edmund’s treacherous sin. Jesus died on the cross, in a completely selfless act, paying the debt of all of our sin
Peter is crowned King, by Aslan. In Christian History, Peter is given the keys to the Kingdom (and is also first in the unbroken lineage of Popes).
There is much much more.. this is only scratching the tip of the iceberg. There are many books on the subject. [book 1] [book 2]
Q: Hey, I’m such a huge fan of what you guys are doing. But, anywho, I was wonder why Prince Caspian was push back so far; because I was really upset about it.
-Adriene Mountain
A: Well, it was originally scheduled for December of 2007, and was pushed to Summer of 2008. Six months seems like a long time, but in the world of film-making, that isn’t very long; especially in a special effects laden film such as this. It also gives them more time to get the movie, and it’s effects, right. I trust the wait will be worth it.
Q: Hi it’s Jason again, and as usual NARNIA ROCKS! and so that would mean your website ROCKS TOO!!! anyway, I sent in a review and it’s been i’d say 2-3 months since I sent in my review and it is still not here. Any Idea’s or have I done something wrong?
Thanks, may wisdom of Aslan be with you!
-Jason
A: Hello again! I have just looked through the reviews submitted (and activated the latest ones), and I can tell you right now, that I did not see your name, or e-mail address attached to any of them. If it’s not under your actual name, it could be a number of reasons that it wasn’t approved. We look for reviews to be written with proper punctuation, and not in ALL CAPS, primarily. However, if this isn’t how your review was written, it could have been a submission error. If that is the case, you have my profuse apology.
Q: Hi!It’s my first time sending this mailbag thingy, anyway, I just wanted to say what an amazing job you guys have done on this website! You guys provide so much information from the movies, to the books, to the music, that in contrast, when I go to other fan websites for other movies, the information provided is so minimal that I’d rather not bother even going after awhile.Anyway, I just wanted to ask if there was any other way of getting casting information on Prince Caspian, without having to sign up with the two casting websites.Thanks loads and keep up the great work with the website! 🙂
-Iniki
A: Thanks a ton! We’ve set out to build a website that provides everything that you could possibly want to know, and some that you didn’t, when it comes to Narnia and C.S. Lewis. More great information is added to the site on an almost daily basis, so that the static pages don’t remain static, and even change as new information is available. (If you find out dated information on any pages on the site, don’t hesitate to contact us about it.)
As far as more information about casting, I wish that I could give you that information, but that wouldn’t be very good stewardship, on my part. Those websites are given that information, and they are providing a service that casting directors know is in good hands. We’ll continue to post casting call information as it comes in, or is made available to us, but we cannot justify posting privelaged information that others have paid to access.
Q: Hello Narnia fans staff,
Thanks for putting up this website. I really appreciate the fact that somebody at least recognizes Narnia as Christian and has a Christian website. Ok, here’s my question(s). I totally love the Narnia books
read them when I was seven and practically memorized them. The movie, LWW, was a lot better than I expected. But I was wondering, wasn’t anybody a little disappointed with how they made the White Witch look in the movie? Especially her clothes, makeup etc.? To quote Lewis, “She also was covered in white fur up to her throat and held a long straight golden wand in her right hand and wore a golden crown on her head. Her face was white, not merely pale, but white like snow or paper or icing-sugar, except for her very red mouth. It was a beautiful face in other respects..” I guess what mainly disappointed me was that she didn’t really come across as that beautiful or impressive, like she was in the book. Do you think they’ll do a better job with the witches in later movies? Especially in The Silver Chair, it seems really important to me that the witch is very beautiful.
One last thing. A friend of mine thought that when they make the movies, they might not do The Horse and His Boy, or they might change it a lot, because the book sort of makes fun of Arab culture, and they wouldn’t want to offend Arabs as our relationships as a country with them are sketchy enough already. I don’t want to offend Arabs, either, but The Horse and His Boy is my favorite book and it would be a shame if they had to leave it out or change it. What do you think?
That’s all! Thanks!
-Grace
A: Thanks, Grace! Okay, as far as the White Witch is concerned, I’m sure that you’re not the only one that was dissatisfied by the look of the White Witch. There are a lot of creative decisions that went into translating her look to the screen. Her pale complexion had much to with actress Tilda Swinton’s request. Her crown was made with ice, to represent her faltering power in a very simple way, as it melted throughout the film. Granted, the description would have been very powerful to behold on screen. But not everything can appear as written. A shame, but the character was still effective.
As for later films, we’ll have to put our trust into the filmmakers to do so. I’m not sure they can stray very far from the books in any case. As long as the character stays true to the written word.
They do plan on making The Horse and His Boy, but there have been no decisions made on whether or not they’ll alter the story to make it more “politically correct.” If we all remember when it was written, and the subject matter, it could be considered “edgy” filmmaking. That’s a wait-and-see question, though, and it’ll be a while.
Q: Hello, Narnia Fans. I’m looking for a script to “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” that children could follow. I want to put one together with the children from my church for next Easter. If you can help me, please let me know. Thanks.
-Shannon
A: We have a good lot of scripts available on our Script Page! Personally, I have seen none of these plays, so I can’t vouch for them, but they are the most popular versions online, and the most common.
Q: Do you know if an extended soundtrack will be released in the near future? There was a lot of music in the film that didn’t end up in the soundtrack. I know a bootleg copy of a Narnia soundtrack had 30-second clips of some of its track, which weren’t heard in the official Narnia soundtrack. (http://www.hans-zimmer.com/fr/disco_detail.php?id=583)
-Anonymous
A: I wish that I knew. This is something that we’ve had no word on. If anyone from Walt Disney Records knows, please contact us.
Q: Hey, I was just wondering if any casting would be done in the states, such as the northwest, and would there be any part a girl of 5″8 could play in PC? Probably not,just wondering though!thanks!
-Eaith Elizabeth
A: From what I understand, they’re doing much of the casting in Europe. We don’t have information on their casting plans outside of what is currently available.
Q: Dear Staff,
Is it true that the movie “Narnia” was going to be rated PG-13 instead of PG because of a certain “battle scene?” Please respond soon! THANKS!
-Narnia Fan
A: Yes, it is true. To avoid a PG-13 rating, they had to cut some of the fight scene out of the end of the film. Presumably, it could end up as part of the Extended Edition.
And that’s it for Mailbag #10!
