Is Disney Really Nervous about Narnia?

Specter

Specter

Ghostbuster Meets World
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Jim Hill Media, a blog written by Jim Hill, is all about the inner workings of Disney's film business. It's a blog that I've been reading for quite some time now. However, it is only one of many Disney-related blogs that I read, and one of the most pessimistic. That being said, I have seen a few good optimistic articles over there. Today, Jim Hill writes about Narnia and the John Carter of Mars series of films

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I think Walden/Disney need to face the reality that the Narnia films will (or won't) appeal most to an established and entrenched fan base. The books have been a beloved part of growing up for a couple generations now, and those who love them love them passionately. This means having the storyline "reworked" by a couple of unknown hack screenwriters in order to suit "modern" (i.e. their) tastes is a violation of classics written by a master. This very forum has a couple of threads wherein diehard Narnia fans are expressing great trepidation about what is slipping out regarding what has been done to Caspian.

If the Narnia films falter with Caspian, it will not be because there are too few Narnia fans out there, but because there are too many - too many who love the stories too much to endure them being rewritten by postmodernists who think they can tell the story better than Lewis. In short, Walden and Disney, if you want the film versions of the Narnia stories to be a fantastically successful franchise, eclipsing even Harry Potter,

STICK TO THE STORIES!!!!​
 
my thoughts exactly, I will be devestated if they don't produce the entire series, but I really belive they should stick to the stories obviously they are attractive enough without hollywoods rewriting skills.
 
I agree. The only thing that could keep Narnia fans from supporting the films is if they corrupt the stories and their symbolism. If they stick to the stories, if they get real Narnia fans to write the scripts, people who understand the critical themes of each book, then they will be guaranteed a built-in audience. If they go way off course and make them into standard adventure stories, then they lose the audience. And as for whether they can attract a new audience based on a de-Lewised version of Narnia ... I think it's doubtful.
 
PrinceOfTheWest said:
I think Walden/Disney need to face the reality that the Narnia films will (or won't) appeal most to an established and entrenched fan base. The books have been a beloved part of growing up for a couple generations now, and those who love them love them passionately. This means having the storyline "reworked" by a couple of unknown hack screenwriters in order to suit "modern" (i.e. their) tastes is a violation of classics written by a master. This very forum has a couple of threads wherein diehard Narnia fans are expressing great trepidation about what is slipping out regarding what has been done to Caspian.

If the Narnia films falter with Caspian, it will not be because there are too few Narnia fans out there, but because there are too many - too many who love the stories too much to endure them being rewritten by postmodernists who think they can tell the story better than Lewis. In short, Walden and Disney, if you want the film versions of the Narnia stories to be a fantastically successful franchise, eclipsing even Harry Potter,

STICK TO THE STORIES!!!!​
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AMEN BROTHER!!!
 
Of course that matters what kind of audience you're looking for. Sure; if they go away from the original story and to much away from the books, they will loose their REAL fanbase, but they will probably gain another one who's not to much fan of the books, but very much a fan of the movies.

I read the books AFTER I saw the narnia movie. The movie is what made me read the book. And the only reason I did was because there was alot of flashes and bangs and alot of good commercial (which made me see it at all).

( just to clarify. I loved the books more then the movie. But the thing that made me read it was a actionfilled and good adventure movie)
 
I have to agree with Doffen on this point. And this is my own opinion: if the films were made exactly like the books, they'd be dragged out, boring, and wouldn't gain a new fanbase other than the book fanbase. I was in fact shocked at HOW close Lion was to the book; I was scared that it'd be so far from the book that it wouldn't even be worth watching; but yet again, and no one seems to take heed of this fact, THE MOVIES AREN'T OUT YET OR FINISHED!!!!!!! So we should stop griping about the changes. And, if you don't like them after you see them, DON'T see them again. There, I've made my point, but it'll probably be ignored. :rolleyes:
 
One of the things that's good about TDL is: we can voice our fears here. If Disney happens to be checking what people out in fan-dom are saying, they can look here and see what fans ar saying. If we all just shut up about how we feel and what we would like to see in the movies, then we would not have much to discuss in these threads. And if the producers were looking for the reaction of the fans, they would not find it, because we would have just trusted that everything was going to be fine and never said a word about what we had heard or what we feared or what we would like to see.

Telling people not to post their opinion until after the movies come out is taking away half the fun of having this forum where we can discuss what we're hearing and how we're feeling about it.

Also, no one is saying the movies have to be exactly like the books. However, we are asking that the critical themes CS Lewis built into each book be respected. I don't think that's too much to ask, and I don't think anyone ought to be told not to state their opinion until after the movies come out.

And I don't think the books were drawn-out and boring.
 
I agree with Steph and Doffen.

I don't think the books were bad, but they weren't the MOST INTERESTING things I have ever read. Sure, the plot and characters were awesome, but the books seemed to drag a bit (actually, that's really only true for some of the books). Maybe this is just my personal opinion, but movies really help me understand and comprehend books better. :)

Oh yeah, and I know a guy named Jimmy Hill. :p That's kind of ironic...
 
xBella.MyEdwardx said:
I agree with Steph and Doffen.

I don't think the books were bad, but they weren't the MOST INTERESTING things I have ever read. Sure, the plot and characters were awesome, but the books seemed to drag a bit (actually, that's really only true for some of the books). Maybe this is just my personal opinion, but movies really help me understand and comprehend books better. :)

Oh yeah, and I know a guy named Jimmy Hill. :p That's kind of ironic...
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No no, please don't misunderstand me. I think I didn't clarify myself good enough. I looked at the book as alot better then the movie (I think that the book was a sign of true art, while the movie was a casual one).

My point was that the creators are now in a turning phase where they have to choose what kind of audience they want. I think that many of the previous fantasy film makers chose the wrong kind. Like Harry Potter. My gosh how I despice those movies now. They even made the characters WAY WRONG.
 
There are so many kinda fans:
Those who love the books
Those who love the movies
Those who love both
Those who love the cast
I don't think it's bad if they change a bit from the story as long as they don't create a whole different story. They should keep the main storyline in it. We read in LWW how the children entered Narnia and how Aslan sacrificed himself to save Edmund. If they would have changed that, then it would have been a worthless story (leaving the christian meaning aside for one moment) because the book told us about this. I think they should not make any decisions before the movies are actually done (VotDT as well if it happens) because there are a lot of people who are happy to see these Chronicles made on screen in general. It depends on their own decision what they want to make out of the movies. I would love to see all 7 on screen.
 
They took so long to film the second one and the third is taking time as well with strikes and such...I'd guess that Disney doesn't think that Narnia will be the franchise they wanted it to be. They haven't seen enough cash flow coming in from it and the momentum from the first movie was lost. It seems like they're saying a few things with this to me...first, that they're back where they were with LWW in the fact that they want to see how PC will do before encouraging the rest of the movies (which sadly is part of what took so long for a sequel to be made), and 2 that they don't want imput from fans. Disney wants to put out what they want to put out with no imput and they expect people to like it. If you notice, there's no place that I know of to leave feedback about anything Disney on their sites. They're not interested in fan opinion...only fan $$$$$$. It seems they think they're above reproach.

In my mind if that is the case they should have picked books that weren't beloved for over 50 years to start a franchise. I love the Narnia stories and they're loaded with themes that society needs to see these days. Time will tell if they'll make the rest of the films. I hope that Disney loses some of it's arrogance in the meantime.
 
I agree that Disney/Walden Media shoudl stick with what the master C.S. Lewis wrote. However I think we should give some leway to the movies. Afterall the LOTR Trilogy isn't exactly par to the books. Yet still they were great film adaptions of the books. In truth the movies can never totally capture the exact essence of books. It's just a fact we have to live wth. I personally thought LWW was an exellent adaption of the book and I think if we give Prince Caspian a chance it might be too. I however won't deny that I myself have conserns. I'm at the moment going to hold my breath so to speak and keep an open mind until I see the film for myself.
 
I think most of the fans will go see PC at least once if not a few times regardless of what they think about it before hand. I'm sure they'll do well with the film. I'm a book purist, but I get the fact that they can't be completely faithful to the books. I prefer the dialogue from the books as the BBC has. Then they're less apt to miss the themes and stay faithful to the spirit of the characters. I'll give the films a chance. What I won't do is shut up about it ahead of time. I'll voice my concerns when I want to. I'm not a puppet who will just like what is put in front of me with no commentary. The movies aren't out yet, but I can comment on spoilers at will and there's nothing wrong with that. We have a group going to see the film after LionCon as it is so yes, Lord willing, I'll see it more than once. I hope the film will be faithful to the books. Time will tell.
 
Sir Godfrey said:
I agree that Disney/Walden Media shoudl stick with what the master C.S. Lewis wrote. However I think we should give some leway to the movies. Afterall the LOTR Trilogy isn't exactly par to the books. Yet still they were great film adaptions of the books. In truth the movies can never totally capture the exact essence of books. It's just a fact we have to live wth. I personally thought LWW was an exellent adaption of the book and I think if we give Prince Caspian a chance it might be too. I however won't deny that I myself have conserns. I'm at the moment going to hold my breath so to speak and keep an open mind until I see the film for myself.
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Well, I'd disagree that the LotR films were good adaptations of the books. I think they started out all right, but went downhill with the second and third films. Lion was a decent adaptation, and a good demonstration that a film can be made as a film, leveraging the advantages of film, without remaining word-identical to the book.

That being said, my concerns about Caspian go well beyond the simple questions of adaptation, and may touch on some central themes. But I'll wait and see.
 
It remains my biggest concern that they might have gone too far in accommodating the modern mindset that rejects ALL authority. With so many movies in which parents, teachers and police officers are shown as morons compared to brilliant children, I dread seeing Peter Pevensie shoved into the role of "stupid authority figure" so that Caspian can be a wisecracking Ferris Bueller with a sword.
 
I agree that if they stick with the main storyline, its okay to change things a LITTLE. Yeah, the LotR movies got a little out there, but Im okay with them because I know they did it to try to make the best MOVIES they could. Movies arent made out of books, they are BASED on the book. I try to keep an open mind and even though when I see a movie adaptaition butchered half to death, I want to scream and throw things at the screen (...Eragon....) I try to keep an open mind. (Doesnt always work...:)) I just hope Walden sticks with Narnia, even if Disney does not. And if Doug Gresham stays with the franchise I have good feelings about it too. I REALLY want to see HHB on the big screen!!!!!
 
Doffen said:
No no, please don't misunderstand me. I think I didn't clarify myself good enough. I looked at the book as alot better then the movie (I think that the book was a sign of true art, while the movie was a casual one).

My point was that the creators are now in a turning phase where they have to choose what kind of audience they want. I think that many of the previous fantasy film makers chose the wrong kind. Like Harry Potter. My gosh how I despice those movies now. They even made the characters WAY WRONG.
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Oh, I see what you mean. :o I agree with that... except I do think that some movies ARE better than the books. (In SOME cases.) Harry Potter, though.... no way. The books are SOOO much better. The character portrayals have been slightly terrible so far... XP
 
From what I understood, when the rights were sold there was an agreement that the central themes of the books would remain. I hope those will stay in tact. I wish a lot more would stay in tact, but I'm biased. I'm too much of a book purist.
 
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