Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Greta Gerwig for Narnia?



 

I was going to make this about her previous works, but since I have only seen one up to date (Little Women), I realized I have really nothing to add to the conversation if I approach it this way.

But, I have been thinking instead about what I want for Narnia now, and so, instead of telling you what I think of Greta Gerwig (not Greta Thundberg, no matter how much I accidentally mess up and say this in real life, that would be a very different production.) due to her previous works, I will discuss what I would like to see from this production of hers. (I have no idea if she will do well or not, considering the directors we have had in past, I would have told you at the time of VODT that I thought Michael would do a better job than Andrew just based on their previous movies, but, that was clearly not the case. Andrew did pretty okay, and Michael failed miserably.)

I want Narnia to be it's own thing. I want it to set it self apart from the other fantasy worlds and also from the previous adaptations of Narnia. 

I want my next Lucy with blonde hair (we haven't had an  hair color accurate Lucy yet, except in animated form.), Edmund to have fair hair ( I love Skandar Keynes, but, we have to move on, and most likely in the book he had blonde or very light colored hair according to HHB), I want my Caspian (and age accurate) with blonde hair, and to stay the same actor in PC to VODT. I want Susan to be Susan the Gentle. I want to finally meet Aravis and Polly and to finally get the romance story of Aravis and Shasta (our interracial couple, and parents of King Ram the best King of Archenland). I want my Dryads and Naiads and Merfolks to have Human form and clothes.(The Dryads and Naiads marry into the Human race of Narnia and Archenland.) I want my White Witch to have black hair again. (I actually have a suggestion for this actress, Catherine-Zeta Jones). 




I want the world of Narnia to not feel so small, I want new landscapes and new shooting locations not filmed in New Zealand or Australia. Please, do not make Narnia look like all these other fantasy stories. 


Lastly, but not least, I want Narnia to make their own clothes. Narnia is not a just a medieval fantasy, but rather it is a whole different world with 1900s inspiration from the humans, and tons of magical and mythological creatures including Naiads and Dryads, Mermaids, Stars (that look like humans,) Dufflepuds, Fairies (Fairy Godmothers,), and Atlantis was real, the clothes should definitely portray this. Narnia should go through different fashion periods depending on the years in Narnia. Yes, there should be some medieval inspirations but, there should also be other time periods in there, and it should change and develop. Persian, Greek, Indian, East Asian, etc should all be involved. 



Please change Netflix Narnia for the better and go full out to make Narnia feel big and real. 















Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Narnia Spin-Off series for Netflix by Rebekah Walton


Since I am in general a Narnian Purist Book fan, you would probably expect me to be against Narnia Netflix spin off series (Any series that did not follow the Narnia books but, instead created it’s own story, which I guess they did with the VODT movie but, most people just say they did a bad job of following the story they started.), but, this is not exactly true.

 

I think that you can do it well if you follow certain rules. As such since it is going to Netflix and I expect them to eventually do this because of the way Narnia was marketed to them by having ‘‘3,000 characters’’ (not even close to that many characters named in the 7 books),and being a ‘‘universe’’.

With that in mind, I would like to give the Netflix fanfiction spin-off series, a chance to be loved by created a list of rules, they should follow in keep in mind while they write scripts, cast actors and film.

C.S. Lewis was not against fan fiction, in fact, if they ever want to finish Susan’s story (since he never told us her ending) they would be more than welcome to.

But, here are the rules:

1. Anything unNarnian should be kept out of Narnia. (such as, certain sins that are never mentioned in the series, those would be very weird and come off as trying to send a message about today’s culture in Narnia, when they are not the same.) 

2. Flesh out what Lewis left out. (example: Susan's story ending could be a spin off series or most likely a movie.)

3.  All the course of History, Narnia and Our World must stay the same.

4.  Cannonical to the books Lewis created. (All of the boundaries that Lewis created in the Chronicles must stay the same, and no extra trips to Narnia can be made other than the trips mentioned in the series. Characters can be added as long as they do not change the follow of the story, the series of events, or the character of other characters in the series)

(Of course, I would not want them to make anything like Anne with an E series on Netflix, but, this can barely be called an adaptation anymore, it strays so far from the material and changes the characters a whole lot. I am against anything along those lines.)

Note: Calormens for the most part hate Narnians and Archenlanders, Narnians and Archenlanders have no problems them, as seen in the Horse and His Boy as Susan almost marries one, and Shasta and Aravis marry and their son is the best King of Archenland. (Shasta is an Archenlander Prince and Aravis part of the ruling house of Calormen.)

So, racism does occur (Calormens are a different shade of skin than the Narnians and Archenlaners but, it is only from the Calormen’s side, certain evil dwarfs are racist against all Telemarines because they are Telemarines and there are slaves but, not in Narnia only in countries that are not Narnia or Archenland, and they are not strickly sold because of their shade of skin but, rather their social status in the Lone Islands before it was banished and Calormen. If all of this is understood, racism may be present in the Netflix series.)

  

Keeping those rules in mind here are some ideas for Narnia Netflix Spin-off ideas:

1.      King Frank and Queen Helen series (building a kingdom, raising their kids)

2.      The Golden Age of Narnia series (The Pevensies ruling, Corin gets a girl, Cor and Aravis ruling, Ram the Great, ends with the Telmarines taking over, Queen Swanwhite. Lord Peridan)

3.      The Seven Friends of Narnia series (Living life in the UK. Jill Pole and Eustace meet the other friends of Narnia, school life, Jill Pole takes archery lessons, etc.)

4.      Susan series(Susan dealing with the aftermath of the traincrash) (this spin-off can be darker and gritter and rated differently than the rest, and since it includes our world can include issues not found in the rest of the series.

        It would be best for the series to try to include Lewis’ salvation story in essence in Susan’s story or have Susan meet Lewis (the narrator of the books) and tell him about their time spent in Narnia except for the Last Battle after she realizes they were not just stories they made up as children. Although, now that I think about it, Lewis or Susan could see what happens in The Last Battle through a dream and then record all that happens down in a book.)

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, August 8, 2019

The Horse and His Boy stage play by Rebekah Walton




The best stage play I have ever seen for this Underrated Narnia book. I am not sure why this book is underrated by those who do not really know the Narnia series, because this and Voyage of the Dawn Treader are some of the most popular among Narnia fans in general. 


In order to correctly review this stage play, I am going to compare what I saw the night I went compared to what other people saw on other nights of the same stage play, since some of the details changed as far as I can tell from their reviews. The night I saw the play was the last niight it was performed and I know that some of the actors changed from when the production was first performed earlier in the year, because they mentioned that Aravis and Shasta (the main two actors throughout the story) were able to stay with the production through the end. If all of your cast was the sae to the end, you would not talk about how these two actors were the same. They seemed to have changed Lasaraleen, Aravis' step mom, Rabadash, Older Shasta, Older Aravis, and Queen Susan actors from the begining of this play performance. 



Firstly, let me talk about a difference I noticed that I think they changed from opening night. According to Narniaweb.com, ''However, Aslan and Shasta do not at any point meet face-to-face. In the book, Shasta sees Aslan at the very end of their conversation, but in the play Aslan remains hidden in the fog throughout the entire scene.'' 


But, on the night I watched, Aslan and Shasta did meet face to face. The fog cleared up and Shasta saw Aslan at the end of their conversation.
So, it seems they changed that section from opening night. But, in general, the play seems to be performed the same way as all the other reviews.
Just to let you know, Shasta was played by 3 different actors and Aravis was played by 2 different actors (Married couple Shasta and Aravis, Teenage Shasta and Aravis, and younger Shasta, not to mention Baby Shasta, who I think was a doll.)
My favorite performances were done by Shasta (Isaiah Johnson ), Aslan (Nicky Chavers), Aravis, (Hope Barr), Lasaraleen (Nicole Stratton), and Rabadash (Wesley Cannon ). These  performances stood out and really helped the play in general.

Bree and Hwin were played by puppets that were controlled by three people, one moving the neck and head and the other two inside the puppet. It was an effect that was unsual but, I found the style easy to get use to and I found that I liked it better than just simply one person in a costume, not to mention, Aravis and Shasta also rode these puppets in the play which is something they would not have been able to probably do if the design was different.

In general, I enjoyed the play and I would watch it again if I could and I want to see the rest of their stage Narnia plays when they come out.

When the first scene played out, (they started with the backstory of Shasta), I thought to myself that it was a musical since Corin and Cor's mom sang a song in the opening scene and I was excited, especially since no one had mentioned it was a musical.

Turns out, that was the only song in the whole play. It was not a musical. But, that did not detract from the play in general, and fans of the one of the only cannon romances in Narnia (Shasta/Aravis) will be happy to know that they did hint to it a couple of times before the weddding at the end of the play. Shasta and Aravis hug when he comes back to talk to her at the hermit's house as Prince. This hug felt more than a just friends hug. Plus, when they met at the tombs, Aravis was overjoyed to see Shasta and it felt like there was something more there.


The wedding scene was very pretty on stage and although the Pevensies stage hunting mention did detract a little from the scene it still felt very on point with the wedding. There was narration in the play but, not as much as the book had, they still did a lot of show rather than tell. This play seemed to make me have the same emotions I had while reading the book. I cried when Bree said, "Shasta didn't!" snorted Bree. "At least he ran in the right direction: ran back. And that is what shames me most of all. I, who called myself a war-horse and boasted of a hundred fights, to be beaten by a little human boy — a child, a mere foal, who had never held a sword nor had any good nurture or example in his life!"




Corin made me laugh quite a few times and I loved Lasaraleen's scenes. I wanted to see more of her. Overall, the play was awesome and I feel like a film version needs to follow this script to make it even half as good as this play.
To read more reviews on this play: https://www.narniaweb.com/2019/03/review-the-horse-and-his-boy-at-logos-theatre/, and https://www.thelionscall.com/2019/07/29/review-logos-theatres-the-horse-and-his-boy/ .






Saturday, November 10, 2018

Narnian Owls by Rebekah Walton

What kind of Owls should be used for references for the Narnian Owls? I have done some research on this subject because I believe it is an important factor. Firstly, how many owl types are there: 216 species.
(Pictures of each)

https://www.audubon.org/news/learn-identify-five-owls-their-calls

https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/learn-to-identify-the-distinctive-calls-of-owls/

https://www.thespruce.com/owl-identification-tips-387325

https://www.owlpages.com/owls/sounds.php

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/owls-you-might-hear-night


According to these I think the owls should be Barred Owls.


You read these pages and then go back and read the book lines and then you decide for yourself.

Is Susan Lost? By Rebekah Walton




Really, this a terrible question it presents the asker of it as a person who does not care about anyone else, the dwarves, Harold and Alberta and the rest of the people on that trainwreck. 

After all, those people should be important as well, but, the person asking Is Susan Lost cares nothing about those other people and only cares about a person who did not die and therefore the story does not tell us the ending of. We do not know the ending of Susan. 

All we know is that right now she thinks her siblings are being rather silly. But, earlier in the Chronicles of Narnia we say statements like ‘‘Once a King or Queen of Narnia always a king or queen of Narnia’’, which means to me if you just forget about something that does not make it any less true. 

Let’s look at what the seven friends of Narnia said about Susan.


“My sister Susan,” answered Peter shortly and gravely, “is no longer a friend of Narnia.”“Yes,” said Eustace, “and whenever you’ve tried to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says, ‘What wonderful memories you have! Fancy your still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.’”

 "Oh, Susan! She's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up." –Jill Pole

"Grown-up, indeed. I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can."- Polly

Now, let’s look at what Lewis mentioned about her later:

Lewis wrote to a young reader in 1957: “The books don’t tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there’s plenty of time for her to mend and perhaps she will get to Aslan’s country in the end . . . in her own way.”

In his Companion to Narnia, Paul F. Ford writes at the end of the entry for Susan Pevensie that "Susan's is one of the most important Unfinished Tales of The Chronicles of Narnia", but adds in Footnote 1 for that entry:
‘‘This is not to say, as some critics have maintained, that she is lost forever ... It is a mistake to think that Susan was killed in the railway accident at the end of The Last Battle and that she has forever fallen from grace. It is to be assumed, rather, that as a woman of twenty-one who has just lost her entire family in a terrible crash, she will have much to work through; in the process, she might change to become truly the gentle person she has the potential for being.’’

Someone  on Narniaweb said, ‘‘He never said Susan was permanently barred from Narnia, just that – at the time of LB – she was preoccupied with more shallow things to the neglect of the important things.’’

 Which to me is exactly the point. But, also, wow, no one is thinking about Harold and Alberta who lost their son and the Pevensies save Susan in a car accident. They were also too preoccupied about being healthy to think about Christ. But, surely  they saw what a different child Eustace was once he came back from Narnia. 

According to the books, when Eustace returns home after his adventures, his mother thinks he has become tiresome and commonplace, blaming the change on the influence of "those Pevensie children" — though everyone else thinks he has become a much better person. But, surely after the death of their son and the Pevensies, both Harold and Alberta would go over to the house where Susan was living and would mourn over their deaths. 

So, the question should not be Is Susan Lost, but rather How long is it going to take Susan to come back to realizing what is right? Susan was not the only person who lost people in that train accident and likely, some boy lost a family member in that accident as well. And then when she comes to mourn and put flowers at the accident she meets the young man who also came to do the same thing……Oh, sorry, a fan fiction in the works….

But, really when I think of Susan all I can think about is how her story is ripe for fan fiction. 

And this is the basis of Lewis’ beliefs about fan fiction in relation to Narnia. Writing to a young fan, C.S Lewis states, “I am delighted to hear that you liked the Narnian books. There is a map at the end of some of them in some editions. But why not do one yourself! And why not write stories for yourself to fill up the gaps in Narnian history? I’ve left you plenty of hints – especially where Lucy and the Unicorn are talking...I feel I have done all I can!"(104).

 In this way, Lewis is saying I have written books to encourage fan fiction and creativity. So, if you are so worried about Susan being lost, why don’t you write your own fan fiction already?






 Just to get you started, here’s an idea HPofNARNIA and Fireberry suggested  on Narniaweb:

 Susan has someone arrive at her door.
"Hey, I’m sorry to say this to you but- your family is dead"
Susan: *Eyes wide open* "What!"
"There was a terrible Accident. your Parents, your Brothers and Sister and your Cousin were in a train, it crashed and killed them, along with your Cousin’s friend, the Professor you stayed with and his friend. They’re all dead. I’m sorry."
Susan: *Gasp* 
That’s all I can think of.
… And the next day, Susan goes to the scene of the railway accident to lay down a huge wreath of flowers … and by the side of the tracks, she notices something … green and yellow rings? She approaches and reaches down to pick up a yellow ring. and … TO BE CONTINUED!

So, there’s your jumpstart, write away. 
Or since Netflix now owns Narnia, here's your ending to The Last Battle.



Sunday, September 10, 2017

Eustace /Jill Romance (Eustill) by Rebekah Walton

This is the only non-cannon Narnian Romance that I would say has real possibilities within the Chronicles.







Many would argue that the only reason that they did not together in Chronicles was because they died.

With that said, does that mean that I want a really fleshed out romance for them in the movies? No. I still do not.

 (I don't even want a teen romance between Aravis and Shasta. And they are a cannon couple.
I just want them to focus on the adventure story and then at the end show their wedding years later and them ruling the kingdom.)

I think fleshed out romance would take away from the core of the story and would be distracting to the audience. But, I see nothing wrong with having an implied romance. This romance is pretty popular considering the number of fan fictions on this pairing is quite high and only is below the dreaded romance that will not be named and Lucy and Caspian ( an inferred and possibly implied romance in the film).
Which means even if they do not imply the romance between Eustace and Jill, many people will still infer it.

I think implying a possible romance between Eustace and Jill is one of the best things that they can do considering what things might happen if they do not properly deal with other elements.

 In the Silver Chair there are three guys and a girl who are heavily involved in the story. Caspian does not count guys, he's really old and (spoiler) dies. We have the Prince/Knight Rilian, Eustace, and Puddleglum. Jill kissed Puddleglum, and Rilian calls her ''lady'', and ''damsel''.

 So, there are two very bad directions this film could go. (I am not sure if I even have to name them. But, just incase, we could end up with a love triangle or create needless shippings which are way worse and distracting from the story than Eustill.)

Now, they could just stick with the book and keep Eustace and Jill at age 9 and then they won't have any of these issues, but I don't have enough faith in them, to even think that they could do this properly. (VODT movie left me with no faith in producers, and directors, or script writers.) But, I am afraid all Hollywood knows is how to ruin things.


In order to make sure this is doesn't blow up, we have create the age difference factor for Puddleglum and Jill. Plus, make sure the kiss is on the forehead or something (in the book, Jill is nine, but in movies they like to age up characters). So, that would solve the Puddleglum problem.

Now on to the Rilian problem. Rilian is a prince and a knight and any girl might fall for him. In the books, Rilian is around 30. But, if they make Rilian really handsome and age them to their teens, no one will even care about age different and we will end up with another forbidden romance(the romance that will not be named). We could make a girl at home really like him, and when he comes back (she should not go on the journey with them.) he can see her and remember her from his childhood and they can hug, thus ruining any potential romance between Jill and Rilian.


 Also, a method to stop this from happening is to imply a romance between Eustace and Jill. Is this the only way they could stop the other potential romances with an implied Eustace and Jill romance? No, but this is an easy way to get around those other issues.


But, remember guys implied is implied, I still don't want a kiss or them declaring love or like  for each other.


Simple things like holding hands and hugging are fine if they do not distract too much from the story.

So, no, Eustill romance is not the worst thing that could ever happen. In fact, an implied romance might save us from worse things.

(By the way, the worst thing that could ever happen is Silver Chair movie to become like Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie, but that is another post for another time.)


Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Updates on Silver Chair by Rebekah Walton

There have been very few updates on the new Silver Chair film. The most we have gotten so far a writer for the Screenplay adaption: David Magee and the independent company making the film: Mark Gordon and the big company distributor Sony.

~Updated December 14, 2016~
In a recent interview, Douglas Gresham said these things about the Silver Chair movie:

  • -pre-production will begin early next year.
  • -For the fans that love Puddleglum’s famous speech from chapter 12… “We’ve got that in the movie,” Gresham confirmed.
  • -Tristar has been completely on board with Gresham’s wishes for the script. He called The Silver Chair “the best Narnia movie script we have ever had” and believes it will be a “corker” of a movie. (David Magee is the only announced screenwriter)


~Updated April 26, 2017~


The director has been announced: Joe Johnston

Gresham said:
 “It is very good news that Joe Johnston has agreed to come on board for The Silver Chair! We need a man with real feeling for beauty, enchantment, excitement and indeed humour and fun, all things that this Movie will be full of. I am really looking for to working with Joe on the project. In the best movies, the Director is always a vibrant, hidden character in the film — and I reckon we’ve got one!”

Joe’s directing credits include: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Hidalgo (2004), Jurassic Park III(2001), October Sky (1999), Jumanji (1995), The Rocketeer (1991), and Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989). Like Andrew Adamson he also has a visual effects background, having worked on the original Star Wars trilogy and Raiders of the Lost Ark. 



~Updated May 21, 2017~

Joe Johnston said a few significant things about The Silver Chair movie:


“Will Poulter is a very good actor, but he’s too old to play Eustace now. But beyond that, I want to set this apart from the other trilogy. So, I’m going to start with an all-new cast.”
“This is going to look different. It’s going to reflect my vision of what I think The Silver Chair is – the book. I have a production designer who is starting very shortly who I’m very excited about is going to design an amazing film. […] I want to open this film up; I don’t want it to feel like it was shot on a stage. So, a lot of it will be shot on location, probably in New Zealand on the South Island.”

“Everything is new; this is the beginning of a brand-new trilogy. We will make reference to characters and events in the other films as the book does, but think of this as the beginning of an all-new trilogy.”





~ Updated June 27, 2017~
Tristar president had some things to say about the Silver Chair:

 Silver Chair is a perfect moment to rejoin the franchise because it introduces a new character, a young girl named Jill, going into Narnia for the first time. Thematically, the story of a young girl who is being bullied but who has to find the courage to stand up not just for herself but ultimately all Narnians has such strong positive messaging.



~Updated August 12, 2017~


David Magee was interviewed Narniaweb and he had a lot to say about the Narnia Script:

http://www.narniaweb.com/2017/08/david-magee-interview-transcript/

“What’s interesting in the book is it’s not clear what [Jill] has been bullied about. [….] It’s not clear what the context is. Now to some extent maybe it doesn’t matter. The interesting thing about a book like The Silver Chair is it has an almost fable quality to it. […] But, as you make things real on screen and as you bring characters on screen it’s only natural to ask ‘Well, what is it that happened? What’s going on in your world?’ and so we spent a lot of time thinking about that. Obviously it’s still a dramatic time in world history, we’re still in wartime, we’re at a boarding school and this girl has gone through a lot of some sort or another. So, that’s where we began our exploration.”

He also mentioned that Puddleglum's speech was very important.


~Updated November 4, 2017~

We learned two things from Joe Johnston:

1. It's his finale film, then he is retiring.

2. The filming will start in next winter of 2018, so the movie will probably be released in 2019.


~Updated November 8, 2017~

We finally got rumored Casting news on the Silver Chair. I personally think this is my favorite part of all the production side of the film. I love seeing actors casted for parts. Also, it makes it feel like the movie is actually happening now, although the process has been really slow and drawn out.

Millie Bobby Brown is a possible Jill option in this rumor. Since I have only seen her in Once in a Wonderland as the younger Alice, I can only speak on her acting in that, but, it is good enough. Of course, as Jill she will probably have her normal brown hair, not bald like she is in Stranger Things and not a blond like Alice. I think I would be fine with her as Jill. For me, she just has to look the part and as long has she brown hair she looks the part to me. I think getting actors that are well known might help the film in the end so I am all for it.



~Updated October 3, 2018~

We finally got real news about Narnia! It seems that Narnia is heading over to Netflix. At first, I was very hestitate about this news but, it has come to grow on me especially because they said they were making both a tv show and movies based on the Narnia Universe.

If the tv show can be the movies they already did, LWW, PC, and VODT, and the movies are SC, HHB, MN, and LB I will be quite pleased. Some people are suggested an animated version for the tv series and live action for the movies and I like this idea as well. Also, for right now, I feel that mabye since they have both, if they want to make spin-offs, maybe they can make those only on the tv series and I can just not watch those and just watch the movies instead.




Either way, I think right now I should keep positive they could still hire Millie Bobby Brown as Jill and I think she would be great as Jill.
~ Updated June 12, 2019~



Matthew Aldrich who co-wrote Coco, has now been given the title of  creative architect of the Narnia Netflix series and films. No one is sure of what that means but it probably is similar to Kevin Feige over Marvel. 

https://www.narniaweb.com/2019/06/matthew-aldrich-to-oversee-netflixs-narnia/

~ Updated January 22, 2020~

It's been confirmed that The Silver Chair movie is definitely cancelled for now unless Netflix wants to make a Silver Chair movie. Also, there has been no update since Netflix has taken over Narnia, not even Douglas Gresham has heard anything. Someone mentioned on Narniaweb that it was 4 years since Amazon bought the rights for LOTR and now they have announced a casting call, so, it might take another 2 years or so for Netflix to do the same.




https://www.narniaweb.com/2020/01/douglas-gresham-hasnt-heard-a-word-on-netflixs-narnia/

~ Updated July 3, 2023~

We finally got confirmed news that Greta Gerwig (not Thunberg) will be directing two Narnian movies.



~Updated March 11, 2024 ~

According to Deadline: 

that Narnia “more than likely” will begin filming either late this year or early in 2025. It’s not set in stone though as there are many “key department heads” yet to be hired – a timeline backed up by former Netflix Film Chief’s comments from November.

So, we could get pictures behind the set or pictures of the filming is this happens by the end of 2024.

I will update this page every single time we get an update.