C.S. Lewis vs. Catholicism

"Joseph Pearce surmises that at death Lewis was dispatched to the Purgatory in which he had come to believe, there to be worked upon until the sins that made him a Protestant are dealt with and he leaves it a proper Catholic..."

MORE HERE
Books and Culture, 29.11.04

Narnia Concept Art Exclusive

JUST ONE SAMPLE -- MORE HERE
Dark Horizons, 29.11.04

Producer Mark Johnson Speaks

"You'd be surprised at how superstitious we are in Hollywood," says Parkes, whose other movies include Twister, the Men in Black films and Gladiator. "The 'S' word, as in 'sequel', is not something that people utter until the first movie comes out."
The same is true for The Chronicles of Narnia's Mark Johnson, who also produced Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man and Galaxy Quest.
"Our emphasis is to get this book right and, if we do that, then we can look up and decide whether or not we should keep going," Johnson says. "Obviously, I'm not an idiot. Of course, there are a total of seven books. If this is hugely successful, there's a really ideal franchise built in. But right now Andrew Adamson and I are just looking at this one."
These two heavyweight producers share the view that their movies are for families rather than children. Parkes prefers the voguish Hollywood phrase "the four-quadrant movie", which means it is intended to appeal to the young, old, males and females.

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Syndney Morning Herald, 27.11.04

Set Visit Report

"I saw two of the sets. I think there is maybe 4 here. The smaller one was just a pond, they had finished here. All that was left was flattened grass, other plantlife and 'hot set' tape like caution tape. I spent most of the time at the bigger set they were filming on. The scene is of Aslan’s camp I believe. About 40 tents/pavilions with banners etc. All had a lion somewhere, either on the banners or the top of the flag poles were shaped as lions. Just as we arrived everyone was rushing off and they did some filming, no action though. Just some people standing around. They then stopped for lunch and everyone had to walk back up the path, directly past us. Most had bright green tights on, for digital effects I guess, but they were wearing armour on their upper body, wigs, helmets etc. I even saw the Witch..."

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NarniaWeb, 13.11.04

On Nov. 11, 1990...

"1990 -- Nigel Hawthorne weeps on stage and goes on to win a Tony Award for his performance as Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis in the drama Shadowlands, opposite Jan Alexander. It runs 169 performances at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre."

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Playbill, 11.11.04

Narnia Games from Disney?

"Andy Mooney, chairman of Disney's consumer-products unit, told the Journal that Disney is interested in the hand-held market because it skews younger than video-console games -- thus complementing the target audience for many Disney products.
"Mooney added that Disney plans to devote an additional $40 million a year to develop new titles based on such properties as last year's movie Pirates of the Caribbean or The Chronicles of Narnia, a new movie franchise that Disney will launch next year based on the books by C.S. Lewis..."


MORE HERE
ExpressIndia, 08.11.04

Local Rules Bent for Narnia Production

"Forest and Bird is concerned that five-metre-wide new roads have been constructed above Cave Stream on Flock Hill Station to provide access for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Field Officer Tony Lockwood claims Selwyn District Council allowed the roads to go ahead without resource consent. He says that after a fuss was made, the council arranged resource consent, but without any public notification or referral to councillors..."


MORE HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE. Oh, and HERE., too. But no more. Honest.
NZCity, 08.11.04

The Downside to NZ Filming...

"Springfield hotel owners Sharmaine and Mike Evans were not sure when to expect their first guests. Sharmaine Evans said a house and some rooms at the hotel had been booked and people were expected to start arriving about mid-November. It had been difficult to get start dates.
"She believed several locals had opted to give up their homes and move into a caravan at the camping ground, or move in with their parents, because it was worthwhile to rent out their homes..."

MORE HERE
Narnia Web (reprint), 07.11.04

The Latest (Minor) Casting News

"Sandro Kopp (an extra in LOTR:TTT and LOTR:ROTK) seems to be the latest addition to the cast of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Got it from the horse's mouth himself so to say ;)
"Sandro will play one of the centaurs in the final battle, filming of which has already started on the South Island..."

MORE HERE
Narnia Fans, 03.11.04

Yep -- More About the Wolves

"Wolfdogs play a major role in the Disney film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, being filmed in New Zealand. One of the wolfdogs, Maverick, was rescued and rehabilitated by a local organization, Full Moon Farm..."

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Black Mountain News, 03.11.04

New Warts-and-All Lewis Bio is Out

"At this point in the aftermath of Lewis' life, when his worldwide cult following comes all too close to preaching his sainthood, we are in need of biographies such as this, that remind us that he was, after all, just a man -- and a very complicated one. The members of the C. S. Lewis Society of Oxford discuss an angelic, High Church Lewis who was a lifelong celibate -- regardless of the facts that he was married for four years and before that lived with another woman for nearly 30..."

This biography (not to mention the review) is not for the faint-of-heart. You have been warned...

MORE HERE
The Boston Globe, 03.11.04