Wow, just when we thought it was a lost cause, footage from the oldest film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been found. This rare footage is an incredible find, as it was common practice to only air something once, and then destroy or erase the video. The Associated British Picture Corporation released the ten-part serial adaptation in 1967 and only two episodes out of of all of those are known to still exist today: Part 1 and part 8. It’s a fascinating look back deep into the past of Narnia adaptations.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1967), Ep. 8 (1/2)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1967), Ep. 8 (2/2)
Discuss these videos here as well, where we discovered them!
These are amazing!! The greatest cinemalogical findings of the decade (yes, I made that word up just for this momentous occasion).
Does anyone else find it a bit strange at the end of part 1, where the White Witch says, ” “…all Narnia would be overturned, and perish in a Holocaust.”?
I guess that would have more significance back in 1967, with WW2 still fresh in peoples’ minds.
Great find!!!!
Amazing discovery!
well, they are better than the BBC versions. Good effort for the times they were created in.
This is an amazing find…just hard to watch. Aslan looks like a wookie…and WHY does every single British incarnation of the WW have to be SO melodramatic? It took me a while to warm up to Tilda Swinton (no pun intended, I swear), but at least she didn’t see the need to yell every other syllable of her lines.
Still, this is fascinating to watch. I *do* like the narrator, whoever he’s supposed to be (the professor? Edmund in his old age?). Thanks for posting this! 🙂 <
C. S. Lewis perhaps?
Ah, no, it says Professor in the end credits.
Edmund in his old age? I don’t think so… 🙂
I love how they show the Witch can transform.
Wow, that’s so cool that these were found! I love their accents 😀
That witch sounds just like the one on the cartoon version of LWW. I wonder if that’s her? Good find, interesting to watch!
Where are the Satyrs and Fauns in these clips? URGH!
wow, cool find!
ack Aslan is on two feet…..oh well 😛
Ugh, how awful… Aslan could be the White Witch’s brother, he is so mean.
so funny! such a long way we’ve come!!!! super cool find.
Alright, I’ll address it since no one else will. Did the production get the themes right? Because that’s really all that matters.
😀
These episodes look like the sort of thing that Lewis wanted to avoid.
Exactly. I think we can now see precisely why Lewis wasn’t crazy about the idea of filming The Chronicles of Narnia.
However, I’m still delighted that these have been posted. The clips are as good as you’d see in many stage productions. I can’t get over how scary and harsh the Aslan is though!
I love the way Aslan is spinning around all the time! Great find.
Best acting ever.
cool, great to look back at acting in 1967, too bad all the other parts were lost, i would have loved to watch them. anyways i was wondering where i can find part 1???
It’s crazy that they made a movie that long ago. I grew up with the BBC ones and thought those were the only other narnia movies out there. I just skimed them and they seemed pretty close to the books. Though of course the effects are very bad. And it’s kinda funny the animals are just full sized adults in costumes.