Psycho's Movie Reviews #167: Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 fantasy film co-written and directed by Andrew Adamson, based on the 1950 novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's children's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It was co-produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley play Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, four British children evacuated during the Blitz to the countryside, who find a wardrobe that leads to the fantasy world of Narnia. There they ally with the lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson) against the forces of Jadis, the White Witch (Tilda Swinton).

The film was released on December 9, 2005, in both Europe and North America to positive reviews and was highly successful at the box office, grossing more than $745 million worldwide, making it 2005's third-most-successful film. It won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Makeup and various other awards. An extended edition was released on December 12, 2006, and was only made available on DVD until January 31, 2007, when it was discontinued. It was the best-selling DVD in North America in 2006 taking in $332.7 million that year.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first of a series of adaptations of C. S. Lewis's series, and was followed by Prince Caspian in 2008 and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010. The three films have grossed a total of over $1.5 billion worldwide.

Plot

During World War II, the Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy) are evacuated from London to the country home of Professor Kirke.

During a game of hide-and-seek, Lucy discovers a wardrobe and hides inside, only to find that she has entered a magical winter world. Lucy finds a lamppost and encounters a faun named Mr. Tumnus, who invites her to his home and tells her that she is in Narnia. Tumnus puts Lucy to sleep by playing a flute lullaby, and when Lucy wakes up, he sadly explains that the White Witch cursed Narnia to eternally experience winter and never Christmas, and any humans encountered are to be brought to her. However, Tumnus instead sends her home, where Lucy finds hardly any time had passed, and her siblings disbelieve her story due to the normal state of the wardrobe.

One night, Lucy successfully returns through the wardrobe, but Edmund follows her. Edmund meets the White Witch, who claims to be queen of Narnia. Edmund tells her about his siblings and Tumnus, and the Witch offers him Turkish delight and kingship if he brings his siblings to her castle. After she departs, Edmund and Lucy reunite. Lucy informs Peter and Susan, but Edmund lies out of spite. When Peter and Susan bring the issue to Professor Kirke, he suggests Lucy is telling the truth.

While fleeing the housekeeper after accidentally breaking a window, the four siblings retreat to the wardrobe and enter Narnia. Peter berates Edmund for lying and forces him to apologize to Lucy. They discover that the Witch has taken Tumnus, and they meet a couple of talking beavers, who say Aslan plans to return and regain control of Narnia, and there is a prophecy that says if two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sit on the thrones of Cair Paravel, the Witch's reign will end.

Edmund sneaks off to visit the Witch, but she becomes furious that he came without his siblings. The Witch sends wolves to find the children, and Edmund is imprisoned, where he meets Tumnus. The children and beavers escape, and the Witch demands Edmund reveal their location. Tumnus defends Edmund, but the Witch reveals Edmund's treachery before turning Tumnus to stone.

While Peter, Lucy, Susan, and the beavers travel, they encounter Father Christmas, a sign that the Witch's power is weakening. He gives them tools to defend themselves — Lucy receives a cordial that can heal any injury, and a dagger; Susan receives a magical horn, and a bow and quiver of arrows; and Peter receives a sword and shield. After evading Maugrim's wolves due to the melting ice, the group finally reaches Aslan's camp, where he is revealed to be a noble lion who promises to help Edmund. Two wolves ambush Lucy and Susan, but Peter kills Maugrim, and some of Aslan's troops follow the other wolf to the Witch's camp and rescue Edmund.

The White Witch journeys to Aslan's camp to claim Edmund, but Aslan secretly offers himself instead. That night, as Lucy and Susan covertly watch, the White Witch kills Aslan, then deploys an army to slaughter Aslan's troops. Lucy and Susan send a warning, and Edmund persuades Peter to take command. In the morning, both armies violently clash, but Aslan is resurrected, citing magic beyond the Witch's understanding. Aslan takes Susan and Lucy to the Witch's castle to free the petrified prisoners. Edmund is mortally wounded while saving Peter from the Witch, but the reinforcements arrive and Aslan kills the Witch. Edmund is healed by Lucy's cordial, and the Pevensies are crowned King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just, and Queen Lucy the Valiant.

Fifteen years later, the Pevensie children, now young adults, pursue a white stag. They encounter the lamppost Lucy first saw and suddenly tumble out of the wardrobe at the same time and day they left, becoming children again. Professor Kirke finds the children, asking why they were in the wardrobe.

In a mid-credits scene, Lucy attempts to use the wardrobe, but Professor Kirke tells her he has also tried, and they will probably return to Narnia when they least expect it.

Production

Pre-production

During the early 1990s, producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy were planning a film version. They could not find a space in Britain to shoot the film during 1996, and their plans to set the film in modern times made Douglas Gresham oppose the film, in addition to his feeling that technology had yet to catch up. Perry Moore began negotiations with the C. S. Lewis estate in 2000. On December 7, 2001, Walden Media announced that they had acquired the rights to The Chronicles of Narnia.

The success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone prompted the producers to feel they could make a faithful adaptation of the novel set in Britain. "Harry Potter came along, and all those cultural or geographical lines were broken," Mark Johnson explained. "When The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was being developed at Paramount, the imperative was to set it in the U.S., and it just doesn't hold. It's not the book." Guillermo del Toro turned down the offer to direct due to his commitment on Pan's Labyrinth. Following an Academy Award win for Shrek, director Andrew Adamson began adapting the source material with a 20-page treatment based on his memories of the book. As such the film begins with the Luftwaffe bombing and concludes with an enormous battle, although they do not take up as much time in the novel.

In the novel, the battle is not seen until Aslan, Susan, Lucy and their reinforcements arrive. This was changed in the movie because Adamson said he could vividly remember a huge battle, an example of how Lewis left a lot to the readers' imagination. Other small changes include the reason all four children come to Narnia, in that an accident breaks a window and forces them to hide. Tumnus also never meets Edmund until the end in the novel. Minor details were added to the Pevensies, such as their mother's name, Helen, being the actual first name of Georgie Henley's mother. Finchley as the home of the Pevensies was inspired by Anna Popplewell, who actually is from Finchley. Adamson also changed the circumstances in which Lucy first comes into Narnia. He felt it was more natural that she first see the wardrobe while looking for a hide-and-seek hiding place, rather than just chance upon it exploring the house. The film also hints at Professor Kirke's role in The Magician's Nephew, such as the engravings on the wardrobe, when it is a simple one in the novel, and the Professor's surprise and intrigue when Peter and Susan mention Lucy's discovery in the wardrobe. When Lewis wrote the novel, it was the first of the series and the back-story later outlined by the subsequent books in the series did not exist. Additionally in the novel, the father of the Pevensie children is in London with their mother, but in the film, their father is fighting in the war as Lucy states to Mr. Tumnus when they first meet in Narnia.

Weta Workshop head Richard Taylor cited Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights as an inspiration on the film. He felt Narnia had to be less dark and gritty than their depiction of Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings because it is a new world. Many of Weta's creature designs were designed for digital creation, so when Howard Berger and KNB FX inherited the practical effects work, they had to spend three months retooling approved designs for animatronics. Berger's children would comment and advise upon his designs; they suggested the White Witch's hair be changed from black to blonde, which Berger concurred with as he realized Swinton's wig looked too Gothic.

Filming

Principal photography began in New Zealand on June 28, 2004, shooting in primarily chronological order. Adamson did this in order to naturally create a sense of mature development from his young actors, which mirrored their real-life development. Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes were never shown the set before filming scenes of their characters entering Narnia, nor had Henley seen James McAvoy in his Mr. Tumnus costume before shooting their scenes together.

The first scene shot was at the former RNZAF Base Hobsonville for the railway scene. Afterwards, they shot the Blitz scene, which Adamson called their first formal day of shooting.

The filmmakers asked permission to bring in twelve reindeer to New Zealand to pull the White Witch's sled. The were denied by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, citing the potentially deadly Q fever from which the North American reindeer population suffers as the reason. However, ten wolves and wolf hybrids were allowed in for filming in Auckland. To replace the denied live reindeer Mark Rappaport's Creature Effects, Inc. created four animatronic reindeer that were used in shots where the deer were standing in place. The reindeer were designed with replaceable skins to get the most usage; brown for Father Christmas's and white for those of the White Witch.

The cast and crew spent their time in New Zealand in Auckland before moving in November to the South Island. Shooting locations in the South Island included Flock Hill in Canterbury, the area known as Elephant Rocks near Duntroon in North Otago, which was transformed into Aslan's camp. The castle scene was filmed in Purakaunui Bay, in the Catlins district, not far from the most southern point in New Zealand.

They filmed in the Czech Republic (Prague and National Park České Švýcarsko), Slovenia and Poland after the Christmas break, before wrapping in February.

Post-production

The film was edited by Jim May and Sim Evan-Jones. Jones states that he really liked the problem solving that one can do with editing. According to Sim, "The way you can just take stuff and sort it out and be the keeper of the story without having to interact with actors, crew and reign", is what fascinated him into the editing world.

Jim May had worked at several visual effects facilities—Boss Film, ILM and Sony Pictures Imageworks—and eventually, moved into feature editorial as the visual effects editor in the cutting room.

Music

Main articles: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (soundtrack) and Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The soundtrack was composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, who had previously worked with Adamson on Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 (2004). In addition there are three original songs in the film; "Can't Take It In" by Imogen Heap, "Wunderkind" by Alanis Morissette and "Winter Light" by Tim Finn. Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee also wrote a song for the film, but it was not included in the soundtrack.

The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, and in Los Angeles, California. Gregson-Williams employed the 75-piece Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra, along with a 140-member choir (mostly members of The Bach Choir) and numerous other solo musicians such as electric violinist Hugh Marsh and vocalist Lisbeth Scott (at his Wavecrest Studio). He composed the original score and then spent late September through early November 2005 conducting the Hollywood Orchestra and overseeing the recording of the English choir. For "colour", he employed instruments used in ancient folk music, and to underscore critical dramatic moments, he added choral textures and, occasionally, a solo voice. The score includes instances of electronic music.

The soundtrack received two Golden Globe Award nominations: "Best Original Score" and "Best Original Song" (for "Wunderkind").

EMI also released a compilation soundtrack entitled Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released on September 2005. The album features songs by Contemporary Christian music artists, such as Bethany Dillon, Kutless, and Nichole Nordeman. It released "Waiting for the World to Fall" by Jars of Clay as a single. The album went on to win the Special Event Album of the Year at the GMA Music Awards.

Another song inspired by the movie is "Lazy Sunday" (also known as "The Narnia rap") by The Lonely Island and Chris Parnell. The song and its music video was released as a comedy sketch in an 2005 episode of the TV show, Saturday Night Live. The song and its video are both a spoof of Hardcore Rap songs. In "Lazy Sunday", Parnell and Lonely Island member Andy Samberg rap about among other things, going to see The Chronicles of Narnia at a afternoon matinee. The joke is that the song's lyrics are not typical for Hardcore Rap, which normally depicts scenes of crime and violence. Samberg himself describes "Lazy Sunday" as "two guys rapping about very lame, sensitive stuff." Both the song and its video became an overnight hit, surprising its creators. "Lazy Sunday" is credited with helping revive Saturday Night Live which was stagnant in the years before the song's release. Several bootleg copies of "Lazy Sunday" were uploaded to the video-sharing YouTube, which had only launched earlier in the year, where they were very popular and gained a combined total of five million views (a very large number for an online video at the time). The video's popularity brought widespread attention to YouTube and kick started the site's success, quickly becoming the most popular video website on the internet and one of the most popular websites overall, remaining so as of the early 2020s.

Release/Reception/Box Office

On December 7, 2005, the film premiered in London, going on general release the following day. The film was released December 8, 2005, in the United Kingdom and December 9, 2005, in North America and the rest of Europe.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on 217 reviews, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "With first-rate special effects and compelling storytelling, this adaptation stays faithful to its source material and will please moviegoers of all ages." On Metacritic the film holds an average weighted score of 75 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade.

Critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. Ebert and Roeper gave the movie "Two Thumbs Up". Movie critic Leonard Maltin gave the film 3 out of four stars, calling it, "an impressive and worthwhile family film," though he also said, "it does go on a bit and the special effects are extremely variable." Duane Dudak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gave the movie 3 out of 4 stars. Stuart Klawans of The Nation said, "All ticket buyers will get their money's worth." Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News gave it 4 out of 4 stars and said: "A generation-spanning journey that feels both comfortingly familiar and excitingly original." Critic Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle listed it as the second best film of the year. Kit Bowen gave the film 3 out of 4 stars.

However, John Anderson from Newsday, reacted negatively to the film, stating, "…there's a deliberateness, a fastidiousness and a lack of daring and vision that marks the entire operation."

Worldwide, Narnia earned $745,013,115 marking it the 55th-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. It had a worldwide opening of $107.1 million, marking Disney's fifth-largest opening worldwide (at the time it was the largest). It is the third-largest movie worldwide among those released in 2005 and it currently still remains the highest-grossing movie of the Narnia franchise worldwide, and separately in North America and overseas. Finally, it is also the most successful film of Walden Media worldwide.

Budget $180 million

Box office $745 million

My Review

To describe this film as beautiful doesn't even to begin to explain what it encompasses. The world that C.S. Lewis created in words comes to life in a vision that is just drop dead gorgeous. For me Chronicles of Narnia was so brilliant and epically told and was not made with just children in mind but rather for everyone. The actors in the film do an incredible job of going from mere children to heroes of this magical world. Although you might think that they would have rushed it (trying to fit everything from the book into the film) everything fits together so nicely and flows at a terrific pace considering the 2 1/2 hour time frame. It felt like an hour!! Chronicles of Narnia just stuns you and keeps you completely riveted to this fairly tale like world and story. While it is dark enough to keep you enthralled it has this wonderful spiritual undertone, the exact way in which I believe Lewis had envisioned his books and the film makers actually managed to keep that feel alive. It doesn't try to hide the spiritual significance that likely some won't get but those who are looking will still find it.

Newcomer Georgie Henley who plays the youngest and the first to discover Narnia is a delight to watch. She's adorable and has some terrific expressions and moments in the film. She will for certain be a familiar face in films to come. William Moseley who plays the oldest, protective brother Peter also does a great job of becoming the knight and protector of Narnia. Anna Popplewell as the eldest sister also does a great job. I must admit I was not an "Edmund" fan. That was the youngest brother. I know he was meant to have a bit of a mean streak in him but I never quite thought that Skandar Keynes performed as well as the other children in the film. But he couldn't possibly bring it down. Tilda Swinton plays the evil White Witch and plays a brilliant adversary to the Children and to Aslan and it's no small mention that her sheer image added to her character. She was downright disturbing to look at!! She is most certainly a memorable villain in film history.

Director Andrew Adamson who, up until now, has been telling his fairy tales on the animated screen front with Shrek and Shrek II performs his greatest film to date with this remarkable creation. This is absolutely sure to be an instant classic that will exist forever. The absolutely amazing CGI creations of animals and the voices that went with them created such amazing and real characters. The Beavers, the fox, and of course the incredible Aslan himself (voiced by Liam Neeson.) They created and treated Aslan like he was meant to be...a true King. From his introduction, to his death, to his resurrection, it was all done with such reverence. Normally not a CGI fan, but I wasn't bothered by the beautiful CGI creations in this film. The Battles in the film, no matter how "toned down" were still magnificent and thrilling and still not for the younger viewers as they still managed to be more than a little violent although in the end all the good live again with the help of a magic potion given to Lucy by none other than Santa Clause himself (although he is never named as such.) The film is just such a brilliant fairy tale, beautiful and enthralling and will draw you in for the 2 hours and never take a breath. You could watch this a million times over and never get bored. I think this is one of the best adventure films I have ever seen!! The ending for me was almost a little too cutesy but this truly is meant to be a wholesome, touching film much like C.S. Lewis intended his stories to be I am sure. You must see this, alone or with your family, it's beautiful!! 10/10

{I love the soundtrack to this film; Harry Gregson Williams did an amazing job}