Time Online Lewis Article

Time's online edition has just put up a pretty good article on C.S. Lewis. For those unfamiliar with the author's place in literary-religious history, it's a pretty handy summary. What's really kind of cool is that, a the bottom of the page, there's links to archived Time articles on Lewis and related topics.

MORE HERE
Time Online, 30.10.05

Newsweek's Advance Look

Newsweek is weighing in with its Narnia preview, which includes some nice bits about the production of the film and writer Jeff Giles' reactions to the rough cut. Nice photos, too—but they may tax your internet connection. Be patient!

MORE HERE
Newsweek, 29.10.05

Risky Narnia Business

Business Week is running a terrifically researched article on the business gamble that the upcoming Narnia film represents. It's thorough, and very educational in that it manages to see the film for what it really is: a business enterprise. And it doesn't muddy the waters by trying to overanalyze the artistic or spiritual ramifications.

So if you really want to focus on perhaps the most important secular aspect of this upcoming movie "event," this article is a good bet.

MORE HERE
Business Week, 29.10.05

Actors Help Unveil Attraction Plans

This week, the child actors in the upcoming Narnia film participated in a press conference unveiling elaborate plans for a new Narnia-themed attraction at Disney-MGM in Flordia. The press release has more details than you'd ever want to know at this point.

MORE HERE
Yahoo! Finance, 27.10.05

Madsen Voices Maugrim

Okay, here's a question maybe someone can answer for me: In Lewis' book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Maugrim is identified early on as the Chief of the White Witch's secret police. Toward the end of the book, Peter uses his Santa-gift sword to slay Fenris Ulf, then identified as the chief of the Witch's wolves. So which is it? Fenris Ulf, or Maugrim? Because Maugrim is nowhere to be seen at the end of Lewis' book...

Anyhoo... In the movie, it's Maugrim all the way. And in Narnia film producer Perry Moore's new book, The Official Illustrated Movie Companion for Narnia, released earlier in the week, Moore records a conversation he had with Michael Madsen, the actor providing the voice of Maugrim.

So at least one mystery is solved...

MORE HERE
NarniaWeb, 26.10.05

Weekly Christian Opinion Roundup

This week, two major publications weigh in with opinions about the upcoming Narnia film.

First, Dr. Marc Newman at Agape Press offers the opinion that the "defining question on the upcoming film" is: "Can Christians trust Disney to faithfully deliver Lewis' book to the silver screen?" Personally, I think the defining question is: Will it actually be a good movie? But Newman does a good job of reviewing what's at stake with the film, and offers a pretty sane perspective.

Second, the UK's Christianity magazine primarily focuses on the film being an opportunity to explore "creative ways to link into what is widely predicted to be the must-see blockbuster movie this Christmas." The lengthy, pragmatic article offers a variety of resouces, inlcuding a synopsis of the story, ten church "programming ideas," plans for a Narnia "Carol Service," a list of use websites, and a Narnia sermon outline. Whew! And I thought this was a movie coming out...

MORE HERE and HERE
Agape Press, 24.10.05 and Christianity, 24.10.05

Yeah, But This is Our Book...

Yes, it's true. Everyone has got a Narnia book out this fall. And Hollywood Jesus is no exception.

Two Roads through Narnia (HJ Books, 2005) has just been published and can be orderd through Hollywood Jesus, Amazon and other online sources.

So how is our book different? First, it doesn't focus on just The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It takes a balanced look at all seven books in The Chronicles of Narnia, offering a synopsis of each story in addition to the expected essays. It also features an introduction by Greg Wright (that's me!) titled, "Spirituality, Art and Narnia," which takes a hard look at how our culture—and the religious subculture in particular—tends not to think very deeply about art and how it informs our spirituality.

Second, while most other competing titles offer a sort of "faith and values" review of Narnia, this book is designed around the idea that the Chronicles needs to be appreciated as both literature and spiritual commentary—in parallel, but not simultaneously. So our team of essayists—Kathy Bledsoe, George Rosok and Jenn Wright—has spent this year putting together essays that answer two questions: First, how does each book in the series work as literature? And second, what then is the spiritual significance of the work?

Finally, the book concludes with an extensive and entertaining glossary of the obscure and archaic terms that Lewis employs in the Chronicles.

The book also features wonderful cover art and black-and-white illustrations by Dawn Davidson.

The core of this book is taken from the essays we've carried on our Narnia Features columns this year; but for handy reference (or as a gift, of course) you can't beat the old hard-copy!

MORE HERE

Lewis the Ulster Native

The Observer has an excellent (and mostly accurate) article up about Narnia author C.S. Lewis and his upbringing in Ireland. The article has some interesting news about what's going on these days in Ulster, as well as some good biographical info on Lewis and his links to the area.

MORE HERE
The Observer, 23.10.05

Disney, Narnia and AOL

Disney has signed a deal with AOL for hosting of official promotional materials for the upcoming Narnia film. The partnership also provides Disney access to AOL's huge online presence for marketing.

As for us, what that really means is that Moviefone.com will be the best, most up-to-date source for trailers, photos and other promotional doo-dads.

MORE HERE
NewsWire, 21.10.05

Liam Neeson, Voice of Aslan

USA Today ran a brief article on the upcoming Narnia movie the other day, and included some comments from Liam Neeson about his role as Aslan.

After clicking on the link, scroll down to the middle of the page to find the article. It's pretty short.

MORE HERE
USA Today, 20.10.05

Going to the Royal Premiere?

If you're interested in see the royal premiere of the upcoming Narnia film in London on 7 December, NarniaWeb has got details posted about how you can get tickets. It may not be cheap, but it sure could be fun!

MORE HERE
NarniaWeb, 19.10.05

Rough Cut Report Roundup

Another "review" of the upcoming Narnia movie has surfaced, so we figure we ought to just collect the links to all such rough-cut reports in one place. So we've summarized them here, and will continue to add links on this post as more come in.

When reports on the finished movie start coming in, we'll collect those links on a different post.

BTW: Check these out only if you're really interested in details, and don't mind a ton of spoilers!

MORE HERE and HERE
Ain't It Cool News & Box Office Mojo, 01.09.05

AND HERE
The Stone Table, 15.09.05

AND HERE
Mission America Coalition, 17.10.05

Shane Rangi Interview

NarniaFans is running an exclusive interview with character actor Shane Rangi, featured in the upcoming Narnia film. It's pretty light stuff, but quite entertaining. Rangi was also seen in various roles in the Lord of the Rings films.

MORE HERE
NarniaFans, 14.10.05

Those Naive Christians...

Actually, the Biblical Recorder, an online Baptist publication, is running a pretty darn decent article syndicated through the Religion News Service that puts the lie to that charge of naivete. The author, Sarah Price Brown, asks the right questions regarding the current evangelical fawning over Lewis and Narnia, and comes up with answers that are neither insulting, patronizing nor glib. Particularly good are quotes from Dr. Bruce Edwards, and a great closer from Doug Gresham.

MORE HERE
The Biblical Recorder, 14.10.05

Barbara Nicolosi Weighs In

The highly influential Barbara Nicolosi has seen a rough cut of the upcoming Narnia movie and is pretty solidly behind it, calling the movie itself "deep magic." Beware of some spoilers—and consider that she admits that the Lord of the Rings movies did nothing for her whatsoever. So deal with her comments as you will...

MORE HERE
Church of the Masses, 08.10.05

October Feature at Hollywood Jesus

This month we're finally getting around to talking about the movie, after having spent the last seven months taking a detailed look at the seven books that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia.

The essay is titled, "Andrew Adamson's Narnia; or, Why I Hope Disney’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is NOT Exactly Like the Book." Here's a snippet...

"There is another criterion that tends to get lost amidst the utilitarian evangelical rumble and the marketing scramble to mollify the religious community: as Time also observes, Adamson’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe must first be a good film. If it is not that, it will be useless both as art and as fodder for 'outreach.' If audiences don’t enjoy the film, they won’t much care about its message. And at the risk of being called a heretic, I’ll assert that the film will only be good if it is uniquely Adamson’s."

MORE HERE
Hollywood Jesus, 08.10.05

HarperCollins and the Books

The Scotsman is running a very thorough article on what's happening with the book-publishing end of the upcoming Narnia frenzy. Included are quotes from reps at HarperCollins, the publishing house that owns the rights to the Narnia franchise.

MORE HERE
The Scotsman, 09.10.05

Special Effects Presentation

In Austin, Texas last Friday, Narnia special effects guru Howard Berger made a presentation on the portion of the work his company did for the upcoming movie. The website cinematical is carrying a report on "Fantastic Fest" in Austin which includes extensive comments about Berger's presentation. Beware of some spoilers.

MORE HERE
cinematical, 08.01.05

More on Marketing

The Los Angeles Times has published a very up-to-date and thorough commentary on Disney's marketing campaign for the upcoming Narnia film. There's nothing earth-shakingly new in the piece, if you've been following developments over the last few months, but it's a good summary and does have some pity quotes from the parties involved.

MORE HERE
The Journal News, 09.10.05

Sneak Peek Roundup

Another report from Disney's "Sneak Peek" events has been posted on the website cinematical. All during October and into November, part of the Narnia publicity campaign includes advance looks at the upcoming movie, and certain regional events will include time with Douglas Gresham and reps from both Disney and Walden Media.

We'll be collecting links to reports on these "Sneak Peeks" here on this post, updating the list of links below as more come in; but be warned: these reports are spoiler-heavy.

MORE HERE
NarniaWeb, 04.10.05
AND HERE
cinematical, 07.10.05
AND HERE (NB: some vulgarity)
Ain't it Cool News, 08.10.05
AND HERE
NarniaWeb, 11.10.05
AND HERE
NarniaWeb, 22.10.05
AND HERE
World Magazine, 22.10.05
AND HERE
NarniaFans, 31.10.05

First "Sneak Peek" Report

The first of the major "Sneak Peek" events coordinated by Paul Lauer's Motive Marketing, the outfit hired by Disney to consult on promotions for the upcoming film (and the same company that designed the campaign for Gibson's Passion), took place this week in Dallas. NarniaWeb is carrying a pretty thorough report on the event.

Alas! but the local event here in Seattle won't be taking place until November 1, so we can't personally report on the "Sneak Peeks" for a while yet...

MORE HERE
NarniaWeb, 06.10.05

Interview with Walden Media Head

Christianity Today is running a new interview with Walden Media president Michael Flaherty, who says that if you end up not liking the movie, blame Walden and not Disney. It's a good piece!

MORE HERE
Christianity Today, 04.10.05

What Makes Lion Christian

Time magazine is running a "web exclusive" feature on the upcoming Narnia movie, surprisingly focusing (and rather well, I might add) on the aspects of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that are uniquely Christian. Many Christian publications seem wholly unequal to that task, so it's rather unusual for a mainstream periodical to hit the nail on the head so well.

Unfortunately, the article's title and opening paragraphs suggest that if the movie doesn't exactly duplicate key passages of the book, it will lose the Christian character of Lewis' novel. Of that I am not so convinced. What if the movie adds other things of Christian character?

MORE HERE
Time, 04.10.05

Politics, Marketing and Narnia

Governor Jeb Bush of Florida is under scrutiny for recommending The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as part of the state's "Just Read" campaign. But that's what happens when you mix marketing and religion. The recommendation comes as part of Disney's and Walden Media's promotional campaign for the upcoming film: three lucky essay-contest winners get to see a private screening of the movie plus two nights at a Disney resort. Complicating matters, of course, is the fact that Walden Media financier Philip Anschutz is a Republican, and naturally therefore a contributor to conservative political causes. And if the SBC were still boycotting Disney, I'm sure Bush would be under scrutiny from them, too.

UPDATE: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State has now waded into the fray, officially asking Governor Bush to withdraw the title.

Oh, how does art get so complicated?

MORE HERE and HERE
Palm Beach Post, 04.10.05 & 21.10.05

"Outreach Training" by Satellite

The Church Communication Network is offering a two-hour "Outreach Training" session for the upcoming Narnia film. During the two hours, Douglas Gresham, Michael Flaherty of Walden Media and Paul Lauer of Motive Marketing will present strategies for using The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a tool for evangelism. CCN seminars are conducted by satellite downlink to subscribing organizations. The inital hookup costs about $2000, and monthly or yearly fees apply for their program of seminars. (Presumably, a one-shot fee would be available as well.)

The event is October 20, so get more info now if you're interested.

I'll be looking for one of these locally, just so I can see what Gresham and Flaherty have to say.

MORE HERE
Christianity Today, 02.10.05