To me a faithful adaption is not necessarily being strictly faithful to the plot of the books but rather to their spirit. I'll give a few examples.

In the first Walden film there seemed to be a consistent attempt to diminish Aslan, most notably by removing the Witch's overt terror of him.. Then there was that scene where Father Christmas said it was the Pevensies rather than Aslan that had weakened the Witch's power. Again in the second film a line from Aslan is altered to make it seem as if he would not have known what would have happened if the children had chosen differently. This sort of thing must be avoided like the plague. It should be clearly implied, or at the very least nowhere contradicted, that Aslan is ultimately in control and that no matter how powerful enemies like Jadis may be they are still limited while Aslan is omnipotent and omniscient.

There should be no attempt to 'soften' or 'tame' Aslan. A large part of the appeal of Aslan is that he is both wonderful and terrible, both tender and stern. So scenes like the one after the battle in LWW where Aslan reproves Lucy for concentrating on Edmund when other people need help simply have to stay in,as does the scene in HBB where Aslan wounds Aravis. They are essential for defining his character.

They also need to avoid the sort of secular nonsense we got in the third film about being true to yourself. The whole point of Christianity is that your natural self is fallen and imperfect and needs to be redeemed and sanctified. 

Those are the three main things I can think of for now.

Right. While I wouldn't necessarily expect a religious movie studio to produce or distribute Narnia films or series, there’s usually a concern that the message could get watered down. The message shouldn’t get watered down, yet at the same time, it should be made in a way so that even non-Christian audiences can enjoy.

As Narnia fans, we hope that there are certain things that a film or series must get right. At the same time, we like to speculate on what they're have to change or even cut out.

I think they should avoid giving a Message.

If the movie has something to say at all, it needs to be what Lewis showed: courage, truth, working together for good, trusting Aslan, joy and beauty.  The stories were written to help children get past the watchful dragons of 'churchyness' with rules and dullness. Now they also need to get the children past the other dragons of secular humanism and darker spiritual themes. If the stories and their adaptations do this, then they will be successful. 

Posted by: @coracle

If the movie has something to say at all, it needs to be what Lewis showed: courage, truth, working together for good, trusting Aslan, joy and beauty.  The stories were written to help children get past the watchful dragons of 'churchyness' with rules and dullness. Now they also need to get the children past the other dragons of secular humanism and darker spiritual themes. If the stories and their adaptations do this, then they will be successful. 

I honestly could not have put this better myself.

As a young child encountering Narnia for the first time (4 1/2 years old for LWW, 7 for the rest), I was reading the Chronicles in the midst of a completely non-religious family and secular society. There was something in those stories that was more beautiful and meaningful and that somehow spoke to me more deeply than anything else I had ever read (or had read to me). And I twigged very early on that it was definitely something to do with Aslan. Yes, I did realise immediately who he is in our world on reading the last chapter of VDT, and I knew this was just about THE most important thing I could know, even though there was no-one else in my life that I could talk to about this. 

It took many more years and a complete shattering of that (totally secret and inward) childhood faith before I eventually rediscovered for certain that what I'd seen in Narnia WAS true all along. So to this day I'm happy to call C.S. Lewis "the man who first introduced me to God" — because I wouldn't have known Him nearly as quickly and surely if I hadn't originally met Him through Aslan.

Maybe that's getting a bit personal, but I'm sure others here will understand. And I don't know exactly how — or if — that effect of the Chronicles could be reproduced in a film or TV version. But if it somehow could be... THAT is what I'd call a faithful adaptation.  

All really good points.

Plus, there are some things that would be hard to visualize for a movie or series adaptation.

The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe- Edmund's inner monologue as he is walking to the White Witch's castle. While he knows this is wrong, he tries to talk himself into it. Both BBC and Walden were each clever in their own way of doing it. In the BBC, Edmund disembodies from himself and he talks to his "conscious." In the Walden, Edmund sits on the White Witch's throne, showing that he wanted to be king. Then later, in the dungeon, he was seeing the consequences of his actions. What CS Lewis wrote in the book is great, but a movie or series would have to come up with how to do it visually. 

Prince Caspian- The back story of Prince Caspian is hard to do on screen. CS Lewis spends like four chapters on it, where the Dwarf is telling the Pevensies of Caspian. But it's hard to do that visually.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- The undragoning of Eustace is hard to do. I think both BBC and Walden struggled with it. In the book, Eustace tries to take the scales off of himself, but couldn't do it. Then Aslan chomps his mouth into him, and Eustace is a boy again. So that can be something hard to do for a movie or series.

The Silver Chair- How can a movie or series handle the reveal of Prince Rilian? It's a challenge not to give too much away. There is a back story of how he goes missing. Then there's the scene where Puddleglum, Eustace and Jill meets the Lady of the Green Kirtle and the Black Knight. It would be hard not to give too much away for a movie or series.

The Horse And His Boy- Unwelcome Fellow Traveler is hard to do visually. The book describes Shasta riding a dumb horse and he hears a voice in the background. The voice reveals to be Aslan. Plus, hear Aslan say "Myself" each time in a different voice- deep and low, loud and clear, and almost in a whisper. It's a powerful moment in the book, but it would be hard to do in a visual way.

The Magician's Nephew- How a movie or series handle the battle of Charn? It's more like a backstory. It's possible to show the Battle of Charn and have Jadis narrate it in voice over. Another option would be as she tells of it, we hear the sound of the battle itself. We don't see it, but hear it in the background. "It is silent night but I stood here when the city was filled with the noise of Charn." Plus, we can even see Digory and Polly's reaction.

The Last Battle- How can a movie or series handle where Emeth tells of his meeting with Aslan? In the book, it's quite a few pages, and tells in narrative form, like a backstory. It's possible to have him just tell it or even show a flashback as he tells of it in voice over. It's my favorite scene in the series, and I would love to see it done visually. But I could see that a movie or series would probably rush through it or even tweak it.

We tend to find things to criticize or complain about things in the previous adaptations (like the Green Mist in Walden's VDT). Though I think some adaptations get close on occasion.

In the Walden LWW movie, Lucy's child-like wonder where she first encounters Narnia was done just about right. I know there was a minor change where she first discovers the wardrobe during the game of hide and seek instead of the exploration in the book. But they were able to manage to capture Lucy's child like awe and wonder. 

When it comes to faithful adaptations, I don't think we should expect an 1 on 1. Oh, stay close to the books, but make some changes or tweaks if needed to. I'm sure there are fans out there that would like an 1 on 1 adaptation, though it doesn't have to be.

Then of course, we each have our favorite scenes that we want to be done right. For me, it is Emeth's meeting with Aslan in The Last Battle. Though I could see where they might want to rush through it or even tweak it. I would like it to be 100% from the book, though it may not happen that way.

In my opinion, the Radio Theatre adaptation was the most accurate to the books. They even did all 7!

As for the scene I hope the do correctly is the Undragoning of Eustace both BBC and Walden I believe did good with the film, BBC even showed him removing his scales! In, my opinion I think that they can be a bit more creative with it while sticking to the book and it not being too graphic for a PG audience.

@queencrunchytheweeb 

We actually have a discussion here on Narniaweb about Rating System for Narnia Movies, and this could be especially be where how a movie or series would be able to do the undragoning of Eustace for a PG-audience. I think both BBC and Walden struggled with it, so it would be interesting how a new adaptation would be able to handle this scene.

Posted by: @queencrunchytheweeb

As for the scene I hope the do correctly is the Undragoning of Eustace both BBC and Walden I believe did good with the film, BBC even showed him removing his scales! In, my opinion I think that they can be a bit more creative with it while sticking to the book and it not being too graphic for a PG audience.

I've been thinking about that one too, as it's also one of my favourite scenes. Perhaps they could show Eustace the dragon scraping away at his scales (as the BBC did) but finding there are more underneath — they don't really have to show him removing multiple whole skins (as he does in the book) to make the point that he can't get rid of these "dragon-layers" on his own. Then Aslan could say "You must let me undress you" (or similar words); Eustace looks down at the Lion's feet a bit apprehensively but he braces himself; then we could see Aslan lunging forward with his claws outstretched before quickly cutting to a close-up of the dragon grimacing in pain and then gradually relaxing a little... then cut to a wider shot, obviously a few minutes later, of the now smaller and scale-less, probably rather pinkish-grey dragon with the huge knobbly dragon skin on the ground before him, and Aslan still looking at him intently. Then follows the sequence with him going into the water and coming up again as his human self. Hopefully that would convey the point about Eustace needing Aslan to strip off all the dragon skin (and how it hurts like anything but it's worth it!), without having to show anything too graphic for young viewers!

I can actually see where the undragoning of Eustace would have to require some changes in a film or series adaptation to make it work for a new medium. It raises the question: what changes are acceptable?

There are some book purists who wouldn't even like the smallest changes, "Oh no! You're ruining it!" There are those who say, "Okay, it's not quite like the book, but I can see why you have to change that to make it work for a new medium." I'm in the category of, "What is written in the book is great, but I see that you have to change that to make it work for a new medium."

Now that we've got the confirmation that Greta Gerwig will write and direct at least 2 Narnia films (we still don't know which of those two will be, but I'm sure we'll something before too long), now it raises the question how faithful will her adaptations be.

We could even now talk what are we look forward to seeing the most and what are things that could happened that we as fans of the books are concerned about.

@jasmine_tarkheena I think that discussion on Greta is well under way on the other thread! Please don't double up, as it gets too hard to follow.

 Right. Now as for the previous adaptions, I am glad they exist to an extent.

The animated LWW was actually first screen adaptation I've watched when I was a kid. While not perfect, it kept me entertained as a kid. I think it's fine for kids, given that it's only 90 minutes long.

The BBC TV series, while not perfect either, it's pretty decent. The cartoon characters in LWW is a bit cheesy. PC and VDT were paired, for some reason.

The Walden movies, though not perfect, I'm glad they exist, to an extent. Though I kind of preferred the first two, LWW and PC, to VDT.

There are probably some of you who prefer the animated LWW to the BBC or Walden or even some who prefer the BBC to the animated LWW and Walden or prefer the Walden to the BBC and animated LWW. That's fine, whichever you prefer. It's all a taste thing.

I'm sure I've said these things before in other ways, but to me as a fan, a "faithful adaptation" needs to...

* Stick closely to the original storyline all the way through. Obviously not word-for-word, scene-by-scene identical, as of course there are scenes that work well in writing but wouldn't translate well on screen. But to me, where scenes are changed or outright added, they should still clearly serve the purposes of the original plot and get the same story across, even if it has to be done in a slightly different way from the books.

* Not add entirely new sub-plots or unnecessary invented characters just to pad the story out — and definitely not make substantial changes to the plot, like the Walden film of VDT making it a quest for "seven swords" instead of seven lords and trying to add some kind of villain (the Green Mist) to a story that doesn't have one. To me, that's like saying "We don't much like what C.S. Lewis originally wrote, so here's the story we think he should have written." If you don't want to adapt the actual story, why not write your own original screenplay rather than messing with a classic?? (Of course Peter Jackson managed to do a brilliantly faithful adaptation of The Lord of the Rings — no substantial changes to the plot, no invented characters, only a few minor issues for purists to quibble over... and then he went and did the exact opposite with The Hobbit.)

* Keep the same overall tone and the "spirit" of the original books. The main place where the Walden version of LWW failed for me was that, with the desperate "escape from the White Witch" chase scenes and the huge battle at the end, it felt like it was trying to be an action movie and it totally lost the simple, gentle, understated feel of the book. Narnia is not meant to be an epic universe on the scale of LOTR!

* And (perhaps most of all) not downplay, let alone remove, the Christian essence of Narnia. Or overdo it either, for that matter! (Highly unlikely with any mainstream director and production company.) Getting it right shouldn't be too difficult if the books are followed closely, since there's nothing theologically explicit or preachy in them, just gentle little hints for those who are receptive to them. As I said somewhere else recently, about the most direct the books ever get is when Aslan tells the children that he is in this world too under another name, and that they were brought to Narnia so that by knowing him for a while there, they may know him better in their own world. But it's left to the audience to figure out what (and who) he means, and to decide what that means to them, if anything. And the stories in general have a very wide appeal and continuing relevance, which is why they're still in print and selling well (and being made into screen adaptations!) 70 years later.