Narnia and Education

Over at the Financial Times, Tim Burt has written an article discussing the educational programs being prepared and promoted in connection with the December release of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It's easy, when reading articles like this, to assess the marketing strategies for the movie and attribute far too much to Disney and far too little to Walden Media.

Walden's pattern of development and promotion has been the same for Narnia as it has been for their other films, such as Holes. Their interest is in taking popular children's literature and translating it faithfully to the screen (with the cooperation and involvement of the original authors when possible), faithfully translating the literary experience into a cinematic one in conjunction with the classroom.

It's to Walden's credit that their deal with Disney doesn't force them to change their modus operandii. And it's to Disney's credit that they're willing to let Walden operate with non-Hollywood interests.

But we should be clear that the education angle (not to mention the use of Christian publicists) is not a marketing strategy purely attributable to Disney. Narnia has been Walden's baby a lot longer than it has been Disney's.

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Financial Times, 28.06.05