Hey, Narnia Fans! Welcome to “Behind the Wardrobe” an Interview Series with Douglas Gresham. Join me as we find out about CS Lewis, Narnia and more in this interview series.
Special thanks to Paul Martin (The Webmaster for NarniaFans) and to Mr. Douglas Gresham himself for this amazing opportunity. And an even bigger thanks to Mr. Gresham for putting up with a few of my impossible questions. Thanks for being such a great sport about it!
For this week: On The Narnia Film Project.
JS: Why did it take so long for films of Narnia to be made?
DG: My theory? The Holy Spirit of God held them off until the time was right.
JS: Do you think the film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series helped Hollywood realized there was an opening for Narnia?
DG: Not really, we had a film deal in place long before they ever started on those two projects, It came to nothing in the end, but we had to wait until the
rights were free before we could move on.
JS: The time certainly was right for the Narnia films in terms of the technology to bring them to life as well as the fact that general film going audiences (beyond just the fans of Jack’s books) wanting more fantasy films. That was pretty much what you were waiting for, correct?
DG: No not really, I had already been trying to get good films made for many years before we actually got the first one done. It was in fact the Holy Spirit of God that held things up all those years until the time was absolutely right for LWW to appear before the public. It is true enough that we could not have made the movie that we did as little as a year earlier than we did, and indeed our teams pushed the available technology right to the edges of its performance envelope in making the movie. It is also true that to some extent Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series and the advent of J.K.Rowlings work did call attention to fantasy in film, but this was a market that I had already seen to be existent years before. In fact years before Peter made LOTR, and years before Rowlings even wrote her first book! I was all fired up and enthusiastic long before the time was right, and God had to yank my reins pretty hard to slow things down. For me, to be told to just shut up and wait, is one of His hardest instructions to obey.:-)
JS: Yes, I’m familiar with the early ideas for the Narnia film (the modernized version set in LA, with Edmund being tempted with a burger and milk shake instead of Turkish Delight). I take it that it is a case of “the less that is said about it”, the better?
DG: Absolutely. Looking back now though, it is rather gratifying to have been proven to be right to stick to my guns, through considerable pressure, on how the LWW movie should be written and made.
JS: Though I must say I don’t think that version could have even been done. Mostly for their reason all the names are too British to pass off as American. (I’ve never meet any one in the states with the name Edmund, Digory or Eustace)
DG: Interestingly, the US is the only place today where I do occasionally run into such names, the exception being Digory, but just wait till we make The Magician’s Nephew.
JS: Have you ever seen the old BBC mini-series versions of the Narnia books?
DG:Yes.
JS:What is your opinion on them(and please be honest)?
DG:With the budget they had and the technology available at the time they did a pretty good job other than the monumental miscasting of one or two of the characters.
JS:Why did they never do the other three books in the series?
DG: I have no idea.
JS: I’ve heard rumors they didn’t do The Last Battle or The Magician’s Nephew as of the seven books they were the most “Christian”. Are the rumors this true?
DG: Obviously not because they aren’t.
JS: I know that both Jack and Tolkien had very low opinions of what Disney had done with various fairy tales. … How do you think Jack would have felt about Disney releasing the new films?
DG: To straighten things out, Disney is the Distributor of the films, and they have actually (so far anyway) been extraordinarily good to work with. Disney have the best distribution network in the world and they are good at it, so I hope Jack would have no qualms about them distributing the movies.
JS: On the note of Disney, what are your feelings on seeing Aslan next to such characters as Mickey Mouse and Kermit the Frog on Disney websites and at stores?
DG: I don’t really feel anything about it as I have never seen it. I think Jack would have rather like Kermit, I know I do.
JS:I know a lot of fans were concerned about Disney releasing the films, primarily that the themes would stay intact, do you think their concerns were valid?
DG: As I said above Disney only distribute the films. A lot of people got their knickers in a knot over it all but you tell me, were their concerns valid (I am presuming that you have seen the movie)?
JS: I did see the movie of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I don’t think the concerns were valid. Just a case of reading way to much on the internet. I had the feeling though that the films would be accurate to the books and contain the same imagery and themes simply because it would have been impossible to tell the Narnia stories with out those aspects. ( That and you were co-producing and serving as creative consultant. I didn’t think you’d let them work around those parts).
DG: Part of my responsibility is to try to ensure that no matter how much the stories are changed to fit into film format (and major changes can be vital) the essential theme of the original book always remains the theme of the movie.
JS: How did you feel about Disney releasing them? Were you concerned at all about it?
DG: I had a good talk with Dick Cook and Mark Zoradi about it and decided that it was the right thing to do.
JS: What did you think about the merchandise?
DG: Well as co-producer it was (and is) one of the things I am in charge of so I really had better not comment other than to say that I think our team did a pretty good job.
JS: I do think the merchandising was handled well. Not too much, and not to little. I was quiet glad to finally have Narnia action figures to reenact my favorite parts with (or just to display Aslan next to my Gandalf from LOTR on the top of my book shelf where I keep my books by JRR Tolkein and CS Lewis.) I must commend you all for handling it so well.
DG: Thank you, but I was disappointed at how the merchandise was distributed and marketed and have to accept that I was something of a neophyte at that stage (to be perfectly honest I had very little knowledge of what I was doing) but I have learnt a lot and I hope to do better with Prince Caspian.
JS: What’s your opinion of having Narnia characters and various things about the world at Disney theme parks?
DG: As that is another of my areas of responsibility I am obviously for it.
JS: Filmgoers and fans compared the Narnia films with the Lord of the Rings adaptations in terms of quality, do you think this was a fair comparison?
DG: I think we did better than they did—obviously. But really that is a bit like comparing bulldogs with ballerinas.
JS: It’s been confirmed that all seven books will become films. What’s your opinion on this?
DG: That really is a silly question, almost everybody knows that my ambition has been for a long time to make all seven Narnian Chronicles, Jack’s Science Fiction Trilogy and Till we Have Faces into great movies.
JS: I knew full well you wanted to do all seven Narnian Chronicles as films, I’ve only just heard about Screwtape, but I never knew anything about wanting to do the Space Trilogy or Till We Have Faces as movies! ( Note to readers: this is what happens when you trust in WIKIPEDIA.) That’s awesome! I take it you have no word on how those projects are going yet?
DG: Screwtape is in pre-production and we have a very talented young writer wrestling manfully with the screenplay (a very difficult one to write). We have the core of the team in place and are progressing slowly. The Cosmic Trilogy and Till We Have Faces are as yet merely dreams and hopes in my mind, but if you know anybody who has a few hundred million dollars to spare and a real desire to make some great films, please give him or her my email address.
JS: Wait. What about The Great Divorce or Pilgrim’s Regress. Are there any intentions with those ones for film adaptations?
DG: I have had some talks about The Great Divorce, but nothing has come of that yet, and Pilgrim’s Regress is way down on the priority list. 🙂
JS: I guess I (and some other NarniaFans as well) will have to reserve spaces on DVD shelves to put the films inspired by Jack’s novels next to the LOTR Extended Editions!
DG: Its a nice thought.
Come back next week when we discuss the film of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe!
