Chronicling Me Some Narnia, Part 3

I found this out a while back from Television Without Pity, but I wasn't excited to write about it because it's a bummer. Disney has dumped the Narnia series. Something about blah, blah, blah, hard economic times. Whatever. Maybe The Voyage of the Dawn Treader wouldn't be the biggest movie of summer 2010, but it would make you money.

There's some hope, I guess, that a different studio will pick up the project, but as those links indicate, the timeframe is tight. They only have the actors locked in for a certain amount of time.

Here's the thing: Dawn Treader would be a totally kickin' movie. (This lady agrees.) It's a nice mix of cohesive plot and episodic adventures (they're on a sea voyage to the end of the world, but they land on various strange and mysterious islands). They meet lots of interesting characters and, since it's Narnia, learn Important Lessons.

Plus, this is the book where C.S. Lewis discovered that children could have personalities! It features Annoying Cousin Eustace (the snotty British child you love to hate!), who has his own redemption arc within the plot.

After seeing Prince Caspian last summer, I gave some thought to the potential of each of the remaining Narnia books as films. Dawn Treader tops the list, I have to say. It's definitely better raw material than Caspian was; it would need less tweaking.

The Silver Chair would be tricky. (Also, even Disney's original deal only covered the first three movies.) By book 4, all the Pevensies are out of the picture--it stars Redeemed Cousin Eustace and his friend Jill. Jill could be fun, though. I like Jill. It would be a darker film, however. The main characters spend most of their time isolated, much of it on a cold, desolate landscape, and most of the rest in a miserable underground kingdom. And their adventure isn't fun like in Dawn Treader. It just wouldn't be as enjoyable to watch.

Then there's The Horse and His Boy. This is my favorite of all the Narnia books, but I don't know if that's a widely shared opinion. One thing I like about it is that it's the deepest you delve into Narnia--it's from the point of view of people who are from and live in that world. The Pevensies appear, but it's something of a mid-quel to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, since it takes place when the Pevensies are all grown up and ruling Narnia. The main characters aren't anybody you meet in any other books, but they're interesting and likeable. There's fun, there's happiness, there are pretty locations, and there's even some glitz (what with the royalty and all). I think it would be a lovely movie, but it might not be what audiences are looking for from a Narnia film.

The Magician's Nephew might be the best book qua book of the series, now that I think about it. This is the deepest you delve into the real world; it's the story of the professor from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe back when he was a kid. We see him interact with his family (his uncle is kind of evil!) and everything. Then he and his friend Polly go to a couple different planes of reality, and then they see the very creation of Narnia. I can't decide whether his alternate-reality adventures would be really cool or just too weird on film. Either is possible.

Then there's The Last Battle. I flat out do not know how they would make this a movie or, if they managed it, how they'd get anybody to watch. Most of it is just creepy and dark and unpleasant. (I remembered when I re-read it recently why I had only read it once before. It's not any fun.) Redeemed Cousin Eustace and Friend Jill show up to help the King of Narnia try to save the kingdom/world, but . . . well, they fail. They lose and Narnia is destroyed and then everybody dies. Even the Pevensies. But then everybody gets to go to Heaven (except for Susan, because she's a slut now? Or something?), so they're totally stoked about having died. Which makes sense with Christian theology--after your earthly life, you get to kick it in this fantastic place and hang out with Asla--I mean, Jesus forever, and it will be awesome. Nevertheless, it would be a hard sell in a kid's movie. The whole package is just not feasible as a summer blockbuster.

So basically, my guess is that even if somebody rescues Dawn Treader, there might not be any more made. I'll certainly take whatever I can get, though.