We’ve just posted the twenty-eighth edition of the NarniaFans Mailbag. We’ve answered eleven letters this week from such topics as the directors, trailers for Prince Caspian, Fenris Ulf vs. Maugrim, Narnia video games, and the coronation dance scene from LWW.
Q: Hello again! Just a quick one: Do you know why Andrew Adamson is not going to be directing “Voyage of the Dawn Treader”? I personally, think he has done and excellent job and the kids (Will, Skandar, Georgie and Anna) all have a unique and special bond and way of working with him. I understand that he may be too busy, but is there a specific project or problem that you know of? Thanks.
-Marie H.
A: Well, there are a few reasons. For one thing, Disney and Walden Media want to be able to release the Narnia films on a quicker schedule. With only one director, it would take far longer to produce the films. Instead of a year to a year and a half between films, it would remain about two and a half years between. Also: The actors would grow up faster than they’re supposed to between films. Andrew Adamson is going to be very busy getting Prince Caspian ready for release at the same time that they want to be filming Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Think of it like this: Peter Jackson spent about seven years on The Lord of the Rings. And that was three films released a year apart. They didn’t produce each one on the year of its’ release, they were constantly filming, and re-shooting up until weeks before each release, having filmed over about 3 years straight, up until the release of Fellowship of the Ring. (Correct me if I’m wrong on these numbers, but I think it’s pretty close to this.
With Narnia, they aren’t filming them all at once, and that far in advance, so they need to bring in new talent. It’s also a good idea. With seven films based on seven books (each one a bit different from the last, from here on out), it’ll be good to have different hands guiding each story.
Q: Hi! I just wanted to say- thank you so much for posting the answer to the question about Edmund’s throne! I’ve wondered what his symbol was for a while, and it was so cool to see that people have reported it to be the Witch’s breaking wand! Also I have a question- do you have any idea when the Prince Caspian trailer will be available? Thank you!
-Elizabeth
A: I’m going to guess that the Prince Caspian teaser will be launching this fall sometime. Perhaps in time for Walden Media’s fall film releases, or something that Disney is offering.
Q: I looked at comingsoon.net recently, and it said that Prince Caspian might have a world premier on May 14, 2008. Oh, and I was thinking that Andrew Adamson should direct all the Chronicles of Narnia, even VDT, which has a rumour of somebody else directing. Oh, and a great job on the website!
-TrueNarniaFan
A: I’ve looked at Coming Soon, and found it to have the release date still listed as May 16, 2008. Also, I know that many of the fans would like Adamson to direct all seven films, but we have to remember: Alfonso Cuar�n directed what is widely considered to be a far better Harry Potter film than Christopher Columbus’ first two films. That’s not to say that Adamson is a bad director by any means. Just that other directors can and should be allowed to play in the fields that C.S. Lewis wrote for us. In the end, they’re Lewis’ books, not Adamson’s.
Q: Hello again I have been on a camp lately so I missed the latest mailbag and I spent half an hour catching up on all the amazing infomation you have come up with! I was just wondering maybe seeing as we will have to wait until 2008 for Prince Caspian maybe you should have some sort of competition to see who can make the best Prince Caspian fan-made trailer. Just a thought, because I’ve seen a few fan-made ones and they’re preety good and I’d like to see what else they can do. thanks bye
-Jason Fotheringham
A: Funny you should suggest that! That’s exactly what we’re doing. I’m going to announce it on the contest page, and then update this mailbag with a link right to it. But in the meantime, here’s what you do: Create a trailer for Prince Caspian. Use pictures and video from the first film as well as any of the production blog videos that go up on Disney.com. Be sure to include “NarniaFans.com” somewhere in the trailer, either at the beginning or at the end. Post the video on YouTube or Xianz or some video site that I can post the videos from. We’re going to add a fan trailer page to the fan section for the entries as they come in. Good luck! Prizes will be awarded when we figure out what to give! If anyone has something to donate for the competition, just e-mail us, and mark your e-mail clearly.
Q: Who will be starring in Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian? Will the four kids from the last one still be in it.. um, because they are just pretty much awesome =]] lol..well, just get back to me on that one! OH! and when can you do another interview with Skandar Keynes again? I really want you to somehow do that again, thanks!!
-Ashley
A: Take a look at our Cast Page for that list. They’re all back! As for another interview with Skandar Keynes, we’ll see! We’re currently working behind the scenes on many things that I can’t reveal just yet.
Q: I was wondering something. I’ve read some interesting articles by someone (I wish I could remember his name) who signs off with a (I assume) latin phrase: Ut fidem praestem in difficultate. I was wondering what it meant? Thanks.
-Michelle
A: That is a good question, and something that is a very powerful phrase in the life of Joseph Richard Ravitts, a writer here on NarniaFans.com. He writes: This is my Latin motto, which translates as: “May I be faithful in adversity!” I found it on his blog, Faithful in Adversity.
Q: Hi. Thanks for keeping me up to date on all of the happenings with the new movie! Do you know if they plan to release any pictures from the set so us fans can get a glimpse into the making of the movie?
Also, I have been researching for the longest time to find out why C.S. Lewis changed the name of the character “Fenris Ulf” to “Maugrim.” I know “Fenris Ulf” was the characters name in the Britian release of “the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and was changed to “Maugrim” in the U.S. editions, but I can’t find out why. Can you help?
-AslanJudah
A: They’re releasing video from the set! And you can bet, pictures to follow! As for the changing of Fenris Ulf to Maugrim, I did some research, and found this:
The substitution of Fenris Ulf for Maugrim is an interesting example of a highly specific, externally verifiable, allusion, replacing Lewis’ own invention. (There is apparently no source for “Maugrim,” although I was once under the impression that a version of “Reynard the Fox” had something similar.)
There were a few others, plus some other changes, all of which are documented in (the successive editions of) Paul F. Ford’s “Companion to Narnia” (1980 and following). The 1994 edition decried the announced change from the American to British texts, and he continued to protest in the new (2005) Fifth Edition.
Ford makes a good case that (barring some actual errors) the revisions were made by Lewis in galleys, and were deliberate improvements, in some cases responses to observations by readers; and worth preserving.
In connection with Fenris, he points out that Norse material was injected into LWW at another point — a substitution of “the World Ash Tree” for “the fire stones of the sacred hill” in one of the White Witch’s comments. The Norse element in the whole book seems to have been made a little more overt, as if to counterweight the existing, very obvious, classical material.
Someone commented in response:
As C.S Lewis’ heritage is Northern Irish, this ‘source’ for the name Maugrim suggests itself.
Maugrim looks and sounds very like ‘Aughrim’, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. (pronounced ‘Aw-krim’ with a long first/short second syllable).
It was in 1691 the site of a battle between Jacobites and Williamites – respectively, if a little simplistically, the forebears of the Catholics (or Nationalists) and Protestants (or Unionists) of the modern era.
Both words share a similar disticntion in the odd -‘grim’ ending. In the case of ‘Aughrim’ this derives from its being a rendition into English phonetics of ‘Ath na gCurrach’; ‘boating ford’ or ‘ford of the boat’)
Q: Thank you for responding to my questions last time. I know that Georgie Henley wrote a story called “The Snow Stag.” And I was wondering… does that story have to do with anything with the mention of a snow stag that appears in L.W.W.? Please respond soon and thank you!
P.S. I submitted a letter for the Narnia cast and crew and I wanted to know if it made it through. Yep, it’s the letter that you plan to send to the cast and crew!
-NarniaFan
A: When it comes to the snow stag, I have no idea if it is in reference to the stag of Narnia. Sorry! We’ll have to wait and see if Georgie mentions her inspiriation for the story. As for the cast and crew letter, yes, I believe I got your contribution. I’m currently prepping it for mailing to Prague!
Q: Hello! I have a couple questions for you. First, do you know which companies are developing the video game(s) for Prince Caspian? Secondly, do you know of where I could purchase the soundtrack for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe video game? Thanks.
-David
A: Buena Vista Games has recently become Disney Interactive Studios. I believe that they’ll be the company producing the Prince Caspian games. No word yet if Traveler’s Tales will be returning to help produce the games. They’re the company that is also behind the incredible LEGO Star Wars games, as well as the upcoming LEGO Batman. I wouldn’t mind seeing LEGO Narnia! (hint hint)
I haven’t heard anything about a soundtrack being made available for the game. Video game soundtracks are becoming more and more popular here in the US. In Japan, they’ve been popular for years. This gives us some hope that it is possible to have a soundtrack for the LWW game, but well have to see what happens.
Q: Hey! Just wondering if NarniaFans has an official myspace address or something?
-Nellie
A: We do! And not just MySpace. We’ve invaded MANY social networks. Read all about our invasion on the Narnia Fans Blog! You’ll probably discover a social network that you’ve never heard of! Just click the corresponding social network title to get to our official account on each. For the record, out MySpace is here.
Q: Hi! I was looking forward to seeing the cut dance scene at the coronation in the extended edition of LWW. That was one of the main reasons why I bought it…. I was disappointed, as I think many other fans were, that it was not included. Do you have any inkling why this happened, or if the footage will ever be available. I understand that the production staff liked the ending without this scene, but come on, this is the EXTENDED edition for loyal fans.. If you can give me any feedback I’d appreciate it greatly. It is almost a teasing effect, they show some cuts of it in other places, but never show it fully…. 🙁
-Marie H.
A: Hello Marie! Thanks for writing. I, too, would like to know why this scene wasn’t included anywhere, even without finished effects. I can make a guess as to what happened. I’ve answered this before, but I’ll tackle this from another angle. We did see a small portion of the coronation dance in a trailer, and it was footage that didn’t appear to have need of many special effects. However, some behind the scenes footage of that scene showed us that most of the characters appearing were wearing green screen pants. The sequence would require MASSIVE effects work (no pun intended) and would have had a big cost attached to it. Who knows what elements the scene would have needed on top of just effects? Would there have been need for special Narnian music to be written for it? Would Harry Gregson-Williams have needed to write some celebration music for the score? We’ll have to wait and see if any details come out at some point. Who knows, perhaps Andrew Adamson himself will address these questions someday.
That’s it for Mailbag #28!
