Aslan‘s on the Move
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

by Keri Wyatt Kent

Most people—churched and unchurched—in your community have seen this pulse-racing preview for the long-awaited film adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s beloved classic children’s story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrob e, one of seven stories in his “The Chronicles of Narnia“ book series. The buzz on this movie has been building since the trailer debuted in spring with the latest “Star Wars“ and “Harry Potter“ films, and life-size wardrobe props started cropping up in theaters and bookstores around the country. From Lewis scholars and Web bloggers to kids who simply love the story, people are talking about this high-budget, live-action film, which its makers say will rival “The Lord of the Rings“ trilogy in its scope and special effects.

Just another fantasy film, another cinematic epic, another children’s fairy tale? Some moviegoers may think so. But while it doesn’t pack the reality punch of 2004’s “The Passion of The Christ,“ embedded in this tale written by one of the 20th century’s greatest and most well-known Christian thinkers are rich symbolism and biblical truths of good and evil, forgiveness and redemption—essentially the Gospel story.

On the surface, the book tells the story of the Pevensie siblings—Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter—who stumble (through a magical wardrobe) into Narnia, a fantasy world of talking beasts, dwarves, fauns, centaurs and other mythical creatures. It is a world ruled by Jadis, the evil White Witch, who has cast a spell on the land, making it “always winter and never Christmas.“ The children find themselves involved in a cause greater than themselves as they eventually join forces with Aslan, a talking lion who’s the “True King of Narnia,“ to fight the witch and her evil forces. Aslan freely dies at the hand of the witch, then comes back to life to save Narnia and its inhabitants.

Yes, Aslan is the Christ figure in the story. But as with any good story, to leave it at that would be oversimplifying things. Through the film, like the book it’s based on, viewers can use story to discover truth about God (“Aslan is not safe, but he’s good,“ the children learn) and human nature. Edmund is seduced by evil into betraying his siblings and Aslan. And when Aslan forgives and restores him, we get a vivid picture of God’s grace.

Because of these story themes, the upcoming movie offers a prime opportunity to dialog with those who don’t know Christ, yet are seeing the extensive promotion and are already planning to hit theaters on Dec. 9 when the film premieres. Churches are talking about the opportunity to walk through the “Wardrobe“ to connect with their communities—pastors say they’re looking for some intelligent ways to join in the conversation that will already be going on.

THE STORY COMES TO LIFE

Finally making it to the big screen, the first “Chronicles of Narnia“ title published in 1950 has been a long time coming to a cinematic format.

After seven years when previous owner Paramount Studios’s options ran out, several studios immediately vied for the movie rights to the book. In an unexpected coup, Walden Media, a small, relatively new film studio (“Holes,“ “Ghosts of the Abyss,“ “Around the World in 80 Days,“ “Because of Winn-Dixie“), snatched up the rights in 2001 to all seven books that have sold a collective total of 85 million copies in 29 different languages. After “Harry Potter,“ the “Chronicles“ is the world’s second largest-selling book series. Appropriately, in 2003 Walden joined forces with Walt Disney Studios, one of the world’s largest film distributors, to bring “Wardrobe“ to theaters nationwide and across the world.

While the fantasy film genre has loaded theaters and movie studios’ bottom lines for several years now, Walden obtained the Narnia rights before the first “Lord of the Rings“ film even released. For the last four years, Walden, owned and bankrolled by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, has worked on the film.

To bring the story to life, Walden recruited a Who’s Who list of Hollywood names to work on the movie—led by “Shrek“ director Andrew Adamson and producer Mark Johnson (“Shrek,“ “The Notebook“ and “The Alamo“).

While Adamson brings highly lauded directorial skills and experience to “Wardrobe,“ he also brings a personal love of the story, having read all seven books in about 10 days at age 8.

“I loved it as a child, so when it came to me, it was like a gift. There was no way I could not do it,“ Adamson told a room full of church leaders in February at the Disney Studio complex in Burbank, Calif. “These books have been read by hundreds of millions of people through generations. So it’s a huge responsibility to make a film that’s going to live up to these expectations.“

To date, Adamson has taken his film crew to more than three countries, including the Czech Republic to shoot wintry Narnia and New Zealand, the setting of the battle scenes and the city of Cair Paravel. His work thus far (filming isn’t expected to be completed until later this year) has Walden Media excited about the studio’s first blockbuster film.

“I can’t be more pleased with what he’s doing,“ Walden co-founder and President Micheal Flaherty told Outreach. “He’s really hitting it out of the park.“

Like its Tolkien predecessor, “Wardrobe“ combines live actors in elaborate costumes with computer-generated images. Two years ago, Adamson, a native New Zealander, enlisted WETA Workshop in Wellington, New Zealand, to design props, including armor and costumes that brought to life more than 60 different species of mythological creatures—similar duties the company handled for “Lord of the Rings.“

And Disney recruited several well-known celebrities to lend their voices to Narnia’s talking animals, including Liam Niesen (Aslan) and Rupert Everett (The Fox).

While Flaherty wouldn’t confirm budget numbers, he says this is by far the studio’s largest and most expensive project ever. A May 2, 2005 USA Today article reported a production budget of $150 million-plus.

The film is also one of Disney’s largest-ever cinematic endeavors. “This is, without question, one of the most ambitious projects we have been a part of,“ Walt Disney Studios chairman and 34-year Disney veteran Dick Cook told USA Today. “Our one desire is to raise our level of storytelling and filmmaking.“

JUST SUPPOSED …

At the beginning of his book, Lewis dedicates The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to his godchild, Lucy Barfield: “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. …“

Though he wrote the story for a child, Lewis’s tale can be easily understood on multiple levels. While children love the fantastic characters and unexpected plot turns, adults who are “old enough to start reading fairy tales again“ will likely find his words speaking to them, as well.

Still, Lewis didn’t sit down to write an allegorical story, explains Christopher Mitchell, director of the Wade Center at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., which houses an exhaustive collection of writings by and about not only Lewis, but several of his contemporaries, including Tolkien.

Lewis didn’t set out to create a character that would be a Christ figure, Mitchell says. “He saw the story as ‘supposal’ rather than allegorical.“

That is, Narnia is a world imagined by Lewis, and one that he asks us to “just suppose“ is there.

Mitchell points out that the scene in which Aslan agrees to die at the hand of the White Witch, for example, is not Lewis’s attempt to tell the orthodox story of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. The scene doesn’t contradict the truth of Scripture, but neither does it provide an exact parallel to the biblical account.

“He’s saying to the reader, suppose that the same God who created our world created another world of Narnia,“ Mitchell says. “And suppose that world needs to be redeemed? What do you suppose would happen?“

Indeed, as Christin Ditchfield points out in her book, A Family Guide to Narnia (Crossway), Lewis once wrote to a friend: “In reality, however, he [Aslan] is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question: ‘What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to become incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He has actually done in ours?’ “

THE ’HOLLYWOOD VERSION‘?

Often in the world of Hollywood, movie adaptations of books end up looking significantly different than the written work. Knowing that, Lewis and Narnia fans are questioning whether or not the film will be true to the original—especially the Christian elements in it.

As part of the Narnia deal, Walden agreed to involve Lewis’s estate in decisions about the script, casting, costumes and special effects. Although the estate doesn’t have approval over the final cut, Douglas Gresham, Lewis’s stepson, did approve the script.

It was Gresham, the creative and artistic director for the C.S. Lewis Company, who agreed to let Walden make the film after he reportedly turned down numerous requests from other studios.

Gresham, a devoted Christian who’s dedicated to preserving the works of his stepfather, commented that filmmakers consulted with him on all aspects of the production, as “a sort of in-house Narnia expert.“ His consulting role even extended to games, books, toys and other licensed products.

“Making the movie has been a dearly held ambition and project for me for about 30 years (my children remember me dreaming, scheming, planning and talking about it all their lives) so every aspect of it is important to me,“ Gresham said in an interview posted on Narnia.com. “I suppose I represent Jack [C.S. Lewis] himself as a sort of creative ambassador.“

The studio Gresham chose is known for working closely with authors to accurately render their work on film. And the Wade Center’s Mitchell, who consulted with filmmakers in an “unofficial“ capacity, has read the script and thinks Lewis fans will be pleased with the movie.

Walden’s Flaherty says, “This movie is faithful to the book,“ though he admits some details have been changed. And those changes have die-hard Narnia fans blogging and chatting up a storm.

For example, in the film, when Lucy first discovers the wardrobe, it’s covered with a cloth, which irks some Lewis purists, since Lewis didn’t write about a cloth. Devin Brown, Asbury College professor and author of Inside Narnia (Baker), suggests small details like that are less important than other changes.

He points to the replacement of the white reindeer saddled with red leather harnesses and bells, which pull the White Witch’s sledge; they’re now polar bears. Lewis paints the White Witch as a perverted Father Christmas, who’s also in the book, Brown says.

“He uses reindeer to make a point: Evil often tries to disguise itself, not by being the direct opposite of something good, but by being similar to good,“ he explains. “The Witch tries to make the Narnians think she’s like Father Christmas, that she’s a Queen, not a witch. Changing the reindeer to polar bears, you miss the resonance there—the idea of someone evil trying to appear to be just like someone good.“

But the all-important Stone Table scene has been preserved, says Bob Belz, special advisor to Philip Anschutz’s film endeavors. Belz was on location when the crew shot the scene. “It was done almost word-for-word in the book. We knew that was the most critical scene in the movie.“

Currently, Walden has writers already working on a screenplay for the next book in the “Chronicles,“ Prince Caspian. At this point, both Belz and Flaherty say, the studio has made no further plans than that.

Gresham said he will continue to consult on any other movies that will be made from other Narnia books. “It’s a strange experience to have a life-long dream slowly come true before your very eyes and to see it not only coming true but exceeding your own expectations.“

JOINING THE CONVERSATION

Similar to the months preceding “The Passion of The Christ,“ churches and ministries are already exploring ways to join in the conversation and use “Wardrobe“ to share Christ with those who may not even notice its theological underpinnings.

In a June 2005 Outreach Inc. [publisher of Outreach magazine] survey, 23% of 2,200 respondents said “yes, definitely,“ they plan to use “Wardrobe“ as an outreach opportunity, while 46% responded “maybe.“ Outreach Inc. has been designated an “official church resource provider“ for Narnia and is providing direct mail postcards, banners, bulletins and other promotional tools, as well as ideas, children’s outreach curriculum and sermon outlines.

“As early as May and June we began hearing from churches asking what they could do to leverage Narnia as an outreach tool,“ says Scott Evans, president of Outreach Inc. “ ‘The Passion’ showed all of us that movies can provide a powerful springboard for spiritual discussion, and in some ways Narnia is an even greater opportunity because it engages children as well as adults.“

Others are hoping to reach a broader audience. Mission America (missionamerica.org), a coalition of evangelical ministry leaders, is plan- ning what it calls “Sneak Peek“ events—gatherings of ministry and business leaders in key cities featuring a short movie preview and discussion of the evangelistic opportunities. In 2004 the group helped put together similar forums to promote “The Passion of The Christ“ when it first released.

However, “The Passion“ was a different kind of movie. The script was essentially Scripture passages, and it was considered a religious film.

“Wardrobe“ is a fantasy film and has been heavily marketed, not just to churches, but in bookstores and theaters. It will likely draw a much broader audience, not to mention a larger one, than “The Passion.“ The challenge is not to convince people to come and see this movie, but rather, in knowing how to engage in a dialog about a movie most people will want to see anyway.

Some churches are planning events around the movie’s release. Currently, Willow Creek Community Church (willowcreek.org) in South Barrington, Ill., is working on two specific projects, says Mark Ashton, pastor of spiritual discovery at the church.

First, the church’s TruthQuest Coffee House ministry, a monthly seeker-targeted apologetics forum, will host Wheaton College professor and well-known Lewis scholar Jerry Root a week before the film releases to discuss the movie’s symbolism and Christian themes. Willow Creek is also developing its own curriculum that parents and children can use to discuss the movie and book together. Ashton recommends that rather than telling seeking friends what the movie means, churches open dialog by asking questions (see page 60).

Other churches plan to leverage the film in their children’s ministries. The Lambs Fellowship in Murrieta, Calif., for example, is planning a weeklong children’s program with meetings each night prior to the movie’s release. The program will culminate on Friday, Dec. 9 when the church will take kids (with free tickets for friends they invite) to see the movie, Pastor John Hansen says.

Bob Rognlien, senior pastor at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (lcgs.net) in Torrance, Calif., and author of Experiential Worship (NavPress), has scheduled a sermon series around the movie. Even before the movie buzz began,

Rognlien used a wooden wardrobe as an interactive prop for his sermon series on the transcendence of God, “Embracing the Mystery.“ Rognlien plans to teach a six-week Christmas outreach series tied to the book’s themes.

“This film gives us as ministry leaders the opportunity to invite people into a more compelling experience of the Gospel,“ he says. “Film is our culture’s pre-eminent art form, and we can use this film to connect with people in the general culture.“

“The reason these books have been so powerful and endured is because they are a great story well told,“ says Scott Bolinder, executive vice president and publisher for Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Zondervan, whose parent company HarperCollins is the official publisher of the “Chronicles.“

“Christians have a remarkable opportunity to take something that’s happening in the popular culture and, not to get an agenda across, but to have a wonderful and meaningful conversation about spiritual things,“ says Bolinder.

The Wade Center’s Mitchell agrees that dialog, rather than preaching at people, should be the goal.

“Let people explore the story and let anything deeper as far as meanings that parallel the truth of the Bible emerge organically,“ he says. “When talking about the movie or the book with people who are not Christians, don’t cut them off so quickly and say, ‘Oh, Aslan is Jesus’—that just shuts people down. It’s good to leverage the movie, but do it appropriately.“

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

Lewis ended his first “Chronicles“ work saying: “And that is the very end of the adventures of the wardrobe. But if the Professor was right, it was only the beginning of the adventures of Narnia.“

Churches are now embarking on the adventure of finding ways to use this story to reach people for Christ. The fact that this movie is a cultural event makes outreach easier in some ways, more challenging in others. Churches and ministries will need to equip their members not just to go to the movie and bring friends, but to speak into the culture about its Christian themes.

As Lambs Fellowship’s Hansen observed: “This is a poignant moment where we can grab hold of something in the popular culture, and say, yes, it’s a great story, but it’s more than that.“

Chicago-based freelance writer and author, Keri Wyatt Kent’s love for “The Chronicles of Narnia“ began as a child when she read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Like millions of Narnia fans, she can’t wait to see the story come to the big screen in December.

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