In an interview about Dorian Gray, Ben Barnes was asked about the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Specifically, what may have changed between the book and the film. This is a question that we all have about the film, and though many fans would like to see the film shot page for page with the book, movies are completely different animals. Sometimes books don’t translate very well into movies as they are written. In our own minds they seem as movies, though, and based on each of our own imaginations, when we read Narnia, each of our experiences is going to be different. So how do you take C.S. Lewis’ very loose, open descriptions to film and make everyone’s version? You really can’t. But what about a story like that found in this book? Well, on film, it needs more than the book has. Here’s what Ben has to say about it.
Let’s talk about the “Dawn Treader” movie. I know you can’t reveal any spoilers, but what’s in the movie that’s different from the book?
Ben Barnes: They’ve stolen a couple of ideas from some of the later [“Chronicles of Narnia”] books. [It’s] a very difficult book to adapt, because it’s very episodic. It’s chapter by chapter. They go on the voyage, they go to one island, a bit more voyage, another island, a bit more voyage, another island. It’s very satisfying to read; every chapter by chapter, it’s very exciting. But it has no real through line. And so they have to kind of steal other elements to sew it all together. I think they’ve done it in a really clever, unobtrusive way.
What’s interesting is the first thing he says here: they’ve stolen a couple of ideas from some of the later (emphasis added) books. The questions I have now are: What books and what ideas from those books? Anybody have ideas for what it could be?