CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, THE: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE - DVD review

C.S. Lewis began publishing his fantasy series "The Chronicles of Narnia" in the early 1950s, just shortly before his good friend J.R.R. Tolkien published "The Lord of the Rings." You'd expect the books to be similar, and in many ways they are. Yet "The Chronicles of Narnia" became children's classics almost immediately, while "The Lord of the Rings" books didn't really take off until they were published in paperback a decade later, and college students the world over took them up.

Clearly, "The Chronicles of Narnia," especially the second book in the series, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which was published first, incidentally, were designed for children, with children as their main characters, just as Tolkien's earlier "Hobbit" had been meant primarily for his own children. But just as clearly, Lewis's "Chronicles" also appeals to adults, just as Tolkien's more adult-oriented "Rings" also appeals to children. It's a nice reciprocal arrangement whereby everyone is pleased by both collections. Even those of a Christian religious bent will have fun with Lewis's unabashed Christian allusions, the story a poignant allegory of love, trust, betrayal, forgiveness, salvation, redemption, self-sacrifice, and the forces of good triumphing over evil, a symbolic sense from which the movie never shies.

Early on, filmmakers were tempted to adapt the Lewis and Tolkien novels for the screen, but the lavish canvasses both authors had created for their epics proved too daunting for most producers and directors to undertake. Animation seemed the only viable alternative in the days before computer graphic imagery, so Lewis and Tolkien first came to the screen via cartoons; later, there were several television productions of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Prince Caspian," "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," and "The Silver Chair," other books in the Lewis saga, none of these early movie versions entirely satisfactory.

Then came Peter Jackson's production of "The Lord of the Rings," and all bets were on. The vast scope, stunning graphics, and CGI cast of thousands proved that even the most elaborate literary fantasies could successfully be tailored to the screen in all their sweep and glory. Thus did Disney undertake the daunting task of fashioning "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," possibly the most intricate and sumptuous of the Lewis books, into a 2005 movie release. To say they succeeded is an understatement. The movie may not have the intensely dark, sinister, and tumultuous appeal of Tolkien's "Rings," but, remember, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" was never intended to satisfy an adult's longing for some kind of imaginary verisimilitude. It is a children's fairy tale, like it or not, that just happens to have enough elevated spirituality, drama, humor, inspiration, and invention in it to appeal to most adults.

"The Chronicles of Narnia" is a kinder, gentler world than Tolkien's Middle Earth, but not by much. Whereas Tolkien painted a picture based on his own horrific experiences in World War I and, I personally believe, on the circumstances of the Second World War, Lewis called upon his own rigorous moral and religious convictions as well as WWII to create the universe of Narnia. His main characters are children, younger than Tolkien's hobbits, elves, and dwarfs, and as such are never placed in quite as much mortal danger as the protagonists in "The Rings." This initially lead me to worry about a big-screen adaptation of the story, especially when I heard that Disney was going to do it, because there was every chance the result might have become cloyingly sweet. The books themselves come dangerously close on occasion. Moreover, the movie's director, Andrew Adamson, had previously made only two theatrical releases, the animated "Shrek" and "Shrek 2," both of them filled with satire and barbed wit but not a lot of sentiment. Fortunately, no such problems develop; the movie maintains all the mystery, emotion, mystique, danger, and adventure of the "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" novel on which it is based, without any excessive preaching and without talking down to its audience.

Comparisons, then, are inevitable but futile. Take "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" for what it is: a fascinating, visually compelling, and totally engrossing rendering of a well-loved classic.

Narnia, for those of you who have somehow missed the books, is a land that exists in another time and dimension. The four children of the story, a family of two brothers and two sisters, are spending time in the country with an eccentric old professor (Jim Broadbent) in his rambling country estate to escape the air raids over London during WWII. It's in this old house that through a wardrobe closet they stumble upon an entrance to Narnia, a land enchanted by our standards, to be sure. It's peopled by talking animals and Fauns and Centaurs and Nymphs and Giants and Dwarfs and Witches; and when you leave it, no matter how many years you've stayed there, when you return to your own world no time will have gone by, and you are exactly the same age as when you left.

The four young people are the Pevensies: the oldest is Peter (William Moseley); the most logical is Susan (Anna Popplewell); the most wayward is Edmund (Skandar Keynes); and the youngest is Lucy (Georgie Henley). They are all wonderfully played by the juvenile actors, but Ms. Henley is particularly noteworthy. As the most youthful Pevensie, she is the most persuasive, and while the eldest of the children, Peter, may be the leading character, it is Lucy whom you will no doubt remember best.

Once in Narnia, the children learn that for a hundred years it has been under the spell of an evil Witch--brilliantly and icily portrayed by Tilda Swinton--who has made the country into a perpetual winter from which only the children can save it. An ancient prophecy foretells of the children's coming and their eventual jurisdiction over the land. The children also learn of Aslan, the legendary lion king of Narnia (voice by Liam Neeson), who comes when he is needed to all who believe in him. And they meet the captivating Faun, Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy), the equally delightful Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (Ray Winstone and Dawn French), the wily Mr. Fox (Rupert Everett), and the satisfying Father Christmas (James Cosmo).

I have to admit this film moved the Wife-O-Meter and me a good deal more than the trailers had led us to expect it would. It is grand filmmaking on the grandest scale, intimate in its opening scenes with the children and spectacular in its closing scenes of battle. Despite its 140-minute running time, nowhere does the pace slacken, and nowhere is the viewer left out of the story. I was a little disappointed in the music, the background score somewhat less than exhilarating and at times a little too gushing, but that was about my only concern. The CGI, animatronics, creature design, makeup (for which it won an Academy Award), lighting, matte paintings, and other special visual effects are convincing without ever overpowering the storyline; the location shooting in New Zealand, Guatemala, Poland, and the Czech Republic are on an imposing scale; the script sticks fairly close to the book; and, as I've said, the acting is splendid throughout. This is a beautiful picture and a joy to behold.

Video:
The engineers preserve the film's original 2.35:1 dimensions, the ratio measuring about 2.18:1 across my widescreen HD television, given a small degree of overscan. There is a touch of grain in some of the nighttime scenes, like the opening shots of the bombing of London, and there is occasionally a bit of glassiness to facial tones. That said, this high-bit-rate, anamorphic transfer is one of the most perfect imaginable: sharp definition, rich colors, natural tints, and excellent detailing. The video quality does justice to the film's visual delights.

Audio:
The audio engineers at BV were also up to the task of reproducing the sound in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 Surround. The sonics are well balanced and warmly characterized, with strong dynamics, deep bass, a realistic midrange, and well-extended highs. The directional effects add a note of excitement to almost every scene, yet they never impinge on one's enjoyment of the story by calling attention to themselves.

Extras:
Disc one of this two-disc special edition contains the feature presentation and several bonus items. The main things are two commentaries, one with director Andrew Adamson and the four children stars--William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley; and a second commentary with the production team of director Adamson, production designer Roger Ford, and producer Mark Johnson. In addition, the first disc contains "Discover Narnia" fun facts, pop-up pieces of information from co-producer Douglas Gresham, the stepson of C.S. Lewis. I wish there had been more of them, though. Then, there are a little over four minutes' worth of cute bloopers; twenty-four scene selections (with a chapter insert, a navigational guide, and several picture postcards); and Sneak Peeks at nine other Disney/Buena Vista titles. The disc provides English, French, and Spanish as spoken language options, with French and Spanish subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired.

The bonuses on disc two are divided into two categories. The first is called "Creating Narnia." Here, we find "Chronicles of a Director," a thirty-seven-minute documentary; "The Children's Magical Journey," twenty-six minutes on the young stars; and "Evolution of an Epic," which includes "C.S. Lewis, From One Man's Mind," "Cinematic Storytellers," (eight chapters), "Creating Creatures" (eleven chapters), and "Anatomy of a Scene: The Melting River." Of the various chapter segments, I enjoyed "Creating Creatures" best, two-to-nine minute passages that show us how the various creatures in the film were designed, made-up, and costumed.

The second section is called "Creatures, Land, and Legends." Here, we find "Creatures of the World" (eleven chapters), more background on the assorted mythological beings in the film; and "Explore Narnia," a map of the country whereon one can highlight different locations and get information and pictorial descriptions of the places. I counted five locations, but there may be more I overlooked. Finally, there is "Legends in Time," a timeline to the events in the story, with audio narration. As always with a Disney special-edition DVD, getting through the many extras requires a good deal of clicking around.

The two discs come housed in a double, slim-line keep case, further enclosed in a cardboard slipcover designed to resemble and open like the wardrobe closet in the picture. It's quite an attractive proposition.

Parting Thoughts:
J.R.R. Tolkien never liked his friend Lewis's "Narnia" books and told him so. Tolkien did not think it was appropriate for Lewis to throw around mythological creatures so willy-nilly as he did. But Lewis's books caught on sooner than Tolkien's, and today the two fantasy series are probably equally well respected, albeit probably by different age groups. Yes, Tolkien is more sophisticated and more mature, but Lewis has the advantage of innocence and simplicity.

C.S. Lewis dedicated "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to his goddaughter, Lucy Barfield, as follows: "My dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand, a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C.S. Lewis."