Who prefers BBC Narnia?

Well I finally finished rewatching the BBC The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I had started via my DVD player. However the remote control for that device seems to be broken and I had limited buttons to chose from on the actual device, so if I watched any another DVD and then returned to the BBC disc, I was unable to resume where I had left off. So all that is to say I finished up the last part(s) of it on youtube, where I found it available in the six episodes which of course brings back wonderful memories of my childhood.

The last episode of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is, in particular, so heartwarming and well done. The skilled directing and acting shows. It takes me back to a happy time when life was simpler and genuine love was more apparent in children's television programming.

As it begins, Lucy and Susan realize what the mice are doing to help break the cords binding Aslan to the Stone Table.

The contrast between Aslan and the White Witch could not be starker. There's the basic physical contrast of a proud, two-legged Jinn Giant clothed in snaky silver against the natural golden-haired king of beasts. The White Witch and company presume victory and in their bloodthirsty disregard for life pursue the Narnians. Meanwhile Aslan flies the true queens-to-be on his back over a scenic view of the Narnian countryside. They land in the abandoned castle of the preoccupied witch that seems to be, as Lucy and the change in now tiptoeing music suggest, "such a queer place."

In the forests surrounding Beruna, the fretting witch is unsure of her battle plans. In the open courtyard of the witch's stone castle, Aslan slowly breathes new life into the Narnians. Lucy finds Mr. Tumnus in a little cave partition within, creating a sense of familiarity associated with the last time we saw him, in a cave.

Meanwhile the witch is grasping for power, turning creatures both opposed and allied, left and right, to stone.

Pause is given to show the determined countenances of the boys. First, Edmund is frustrated by the witch's tactics and heroically pursues her, slicing her wand in half. After she stabs him in return, Peter turns toward her and sees her gloating in the aftermath. He follows her up a cliff just in time for Aslan's arrival. When the lion calls for the high king to stand back, he isn't taken aback, but breaks into his classic smile and listens to the lion roar. The witch's different smile is certainly her last as, faint with disbelief, she comes crashing down.

I love the coronation and the poise the Pevensies perfect as they take their seats and humbly receive their crowns. And in that moment we see Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers dressed their very best for such a time as this. To finally see the day, they then can breathe such a deep and lasting peace. On the shore, the children wade merrily among steady waves and look upon their king Aslan.

Trotting through the forest, they find themselves children once more, and the professor smiles upon their legacy.

Ahhh...the Golden Age of Narnia.
 
Last edited:
The BBC version of "Prince Caspian" _DIDN'T_ change Peter into a dorky doofus who would get into a fight, _AND_ lose it, and then try to _DENY_ that he lost, over nothing. Don't anybody try to tell me that it was "natural" for Peter to forget all his adult spirit just because his body got younger. Andrew Adamson just _WANTED_ to inflict a "Last Jedi"-type deconstruction on a manly hero.

Disney's "Dawn Treader" movie proved that there was never any need to humiliate a male hero that way. Edmund trying to join the British Army and being turned down is an _EXCELLENT_ humorous way to show the problem of readjusting to Earth, without setting Edmund up as a target for contempt.
 
Oh yes, at the time the Disney Prince Caspian arrived, I remember there was a poll on here asking which of the many changes made to the film was the worst, and the assassination of Peter's character was exactly what I voted on.

Likewise unnecessary was Disney Peter's attitude of, how shall I describe it, subordination or intimidation toward the White Witch. In Prince Caspian it's when she coldly appears to him in a conjured up vision and he looks momentarily lost, as if he's about to give her a drop of blood to somehow set her free, to do what? If you had cut him out from that scene and replaced him with Rey from The Force Awakens saying "You're Han Solo? This is the Millennium Falcon?!" it would have looked far better.

Disney planted seeds of nonsense though even in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. While certainly less severe, the brief exchange between Peter and the White Witch in "The Lion and the Witch" scene left something to be desired. It's actually "the Bull with the man's head," not Peter, who shouts "Come and take it then" to the witch in reference to Edmund's life. The witch responds by reasserting her claim..."little prince..." Why is it then, or only when the witch picks on Peter, that he looks so unbelievably belittled?

Contrast this with BBC Jadis who in fear moves away from an even younger Peter, up a cliff and consequently farther toward her demise in the ending battle. And while the BBC version did leave out the sword fight between the two of them, the text however describes it as so fast that it looked like three stone knives and three swords flashing at the same time. I don't recall seeing that in the Disneyland version that instead appeared to focus on methodical choreography and menacing but muted facial expressions. Revenge of the Sith Mace Windu versus Palpatine lightsaber duel, anyone?
 
Last edited:
BBC version is definitely truer to the source material. I wish for The Silver Chair, they hadn't used the same actress to play the Lady of the Green Kirtle who played Jadis. Of course the animatronics do not compare to the modern CGI but I cannot bring myself to the new Prince Caspian or Voyage of the Dawn Treader so the CGI is wasted in them.
 
The BBC Narnia is far truer to the book, although I have always been disappointed by the two-episode Prince Caspian, and especially that they cut out my favourite part where Edmund sticks up for Lucy, instead having him shrug his shoulders and follow the others. (I don't disagree with the comments above about how Disney changed Peter's character, but, as has been extensively discussed elsewhere, I do like the Disney Prince Caspian movie, though I don't like Disney's VDT.

The BBC's Silver Chair is the best of the three BBC series, I think, in terms of acting. I quite liked that the Lady of the Green Kirtle was played by the same actress as played the White Witch (and she also played the hag in PC) - even in the book it is mentioned that she might be 'one of the same crew' as the White Witch.

Peeps
 
Cook is softer skinned and more beautiful than Popplewell, but Wilcox is well... the creepy twins from The Shining in a single body.

The BBC's viewer feedback program Points of View said Wilcox looked like she was the daughter of the beavers. Ouch!

AA133QXP (1).png
 
I may rock the boat a bit when I say that the resurrection of Aslan was done best in the ANIMATED LWW. It just was. That said, the BBC version knew good and well that a higher percentage of its viewers had read the books and would object to serious change. Let's be frank: there are two ways a movie can be LIKE a book...either in its CLIMATE or its WEATHER. Where climate is the overall effect and weather is the details of scenes and characters. Walden Media's LWW had better weather, paws down. BBC's LWW had better climate.
 
Back
Top