Honorable to C,S, Lewis' Vision

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2005)

At times I view myself as a writer, mostly as avocation, but a writer nevertheless. When a beloved book is converted into cinema, especially a beloved book, I view it with apprehension.
I imagined what Tim Burton would have done with this book and I simply shuddered. I can hear him now, "No, I must make this 'my' Narnia." While I recognize Burton as an imaginary and talented film maker, he is someone who does not normally respect the work of others. Fortunately for us all that he did not make "Narnia." When a film maker looks at this book, he is faced with the same challenges that Peter Jackson faced with the Lord of the Rings. First of all it was a book that belonged to J.R.R. Tolkien, and more recently the Tolkien family. Secondly it is a series of books that belongs to the generations of fans that sustained the remarkable publishing history. So it is with "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Andrew Adamson is a fine cinematic story teller as proved with both Shrek films. Here he took a book with tens of millions of owners, and made a film that carefully walks the line common to all of the owners. It was a joy to watch his rendering of the story, and caring not to water down the more 'dynamic' portions of the book.
I am amazed that Disney, better know for witches and ghosts, would allow a movie such as this to be made under their banner. The movie turns out to create a much better legacy than Michael Eisner deserves.
Three cheers for Mr. Adamson