The lion witch and wardrobe

***The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*** is a British 2005 fantasy/family movie 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) and there is a talking fox, talking wolf, talking beavers and talking horse.

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.

## Cast

### Live action Cast

* William Moseley as Peter Pevensie, the eldest of the four Pevensie children.
	+ Noah Huntley as Adult Peter Pevensie, who has grown up as a king in Narnia.
* Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie, the second-eldest child of the four Pevensie children.
	+ Sophie Winkleman as Adult Susan Pevensie, who has grown up as a queen in Narnia.
* Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie, the third of the four Pevensie children.
	+ Mark Wells as Adult Edmund Pevensie, who has grown up as a king in Narnia.
* Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of the four Pevensie children.
	+ Rachael Henley (Henley's real-life sister) as Adult Lucy Pevensie, who has grown up as a queen in Narnia.
		- Tilda Swinton as the White Witch, who holds Narnia under an eternal winter without Christmas or Spring or Summer.
		- James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus, a faun who at first works for the White Witch, but befriends Lucy Pevensie and joins Aslan's forces.
			* Kiran Shah as Ginarrbrik, the White Witch's servant dwarf.
			* Jim Broadbent as Professor Digory Kirke, an old professor. He lets the children stay at his country estate during the war.
			* Elizabeth Hawthorne as Mrs. Macready, Kirke's strict housekeeper.
			* James Cosmo as Father Christmas. He gives Peter, Susan, and Lucy their Christmas gifts.
				+ Patrick Kake as General Oreius, a centaur who is second-in-command of Aslan's army.
				+ Shane Rangi as General Otmin, a minotaur who is second-in-command of the White Witch's army.
				+ Morris Cupton as Train Guard, the guard of the train Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy ride.
				+ Judy McIntosh as Helen Pevensie, the mother of the four Pevensie children.

### Voice cast

* Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan, the great lion who was responsible for creating Narnia.
* Ray Winstone as the voice of Mr. Beaver, a beaver who helps lead the children to Aslan.
* Dawn French as the voice of Mrs. Beaver, a beaver who helps lead the children to Aslan.
* Michael Madsen as the voice of Maugrim, a wolf who is captain of the White Witch's secret police.
* Rupert Everett as the voice of Mr. Fox, a fox who helps the children along their way to Aslan.
* Producer Philip Steuer voices Phillip, Edmund's talking horse.

## 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.

## Home media release

The DVD for *The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe* was released on April 4, 2006. It is available in a standard one-disc set (with separate full-screen and widescreen editions), and a deluxe widescreen two-disc boxed set with additional artwork and other materials from Disney and Walden Media. The DVD sold four million copies on its first day of release and overtook *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* to become the top-selling DVD in North America for 2006. As of December 2008 it has grossed $353.5 million in DVD sales, equivalent to 12,458,637 units sold.

Disney later issued a four-disc extended cut of the film on DVD. It was released on December 12, 2006, and was available commercially until January 31, 2007, after which Disney put the DVD on moratorium. The extended cut of the film runs approximately 150 minutes. The set includes all of the features previously released on the two-disc special edition. The two additional discs include a segment called "The Dreamer of Narnia", a previously unreleased feature-length film about C. S. Lewis, and additional production featurettes. Most of the extended footage, besides the extended battle sequence, is longer establishing shots of Narnia and footage of the Pevensies walking in Narnia.

The high-definition Blu-ray Disc version was released on May 13, 2008, in the United States, and on June 16, 2008, in the United Kingdom.