I voted that it should still be live action, because I don't want the Narnia movies to be animated (unless they use ultra-realistic animation that looks like real people, but then it would take years to make, and we already know it's gonna take a long time for the next movie to come out, so... no).

I voted for the first option since I'd like animation to at least be considered, but it would really depend on a lot of things. First off, it would only work as a reboot. If for some reason Silver Chair gets made next as a continuation of the series, it needs to be visually consistent. To completely change the media halfway through would probably sour people. "Look how cheap and childish this series is getting" they'd say.

Because for the most part animation tends to be directed at a young audience and LWW and DEFINITELY Prince Caspian wanted the whole family watching and being engaged.

However, I actually think that the Chronicles would work well as animated movies, if they were different and artistically done. I think animation can tell stories very well, but differently than live action. Animation should be able to do anything fine art can do (to a point, making an animated movie look like da Vinci would be a tad pricey. )

But someone like Studio Ghibli would get a major thumbs up from me. Their movies are incredible visually, and often more poignant than most movies made for "adults" in the US. Of course, I agree with Warrior 4 Jesus. Their movies are all very Eastern and I don't think that studio would really be able to understand C.S. Lewis's perspective and a Christian, and Englishman.

I'd also love to see the creators of Secret of Kells (Cartoon Saloon) take a shot at it. They're a tiny company but their movie was gorgeous. And since they're Irish, they'd have a better shot at understanding Lewis's world view. I could even see them doing something more Pauline Baynes style. Here's a clip of Secret of Kells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFhd8RfCqVg

It's very stylized and simple, but in a way, so is CoN.

I'm personally more inclined toward live action, mainly because practically the only animation coming out nowadays is 3D, and I think Narnia would look positively dreadful in 3D animation (I can just see a "Samson the lion" (From The Wild) or even worse an "Alex" (from Madagascar) kind of Aslan running around with several "Incredibles" Pevensies...that would just look awful!!!!

I am a fan of 2D animation, (particularly Disney 2D animation) and maybe I wouldn't mind seeing Narnia animated in 2D in the style of Disney classics (like Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, etc.). That might be something very cool. But on the whole scale, I still think Narnia would be best in live-action because the books are written very realistically, and have this very realistic charm about them that would not be able to be conveyed in an animated film (in my opinion). So I vote for live action!

Uh, you do realise Aslan was a 3D creation in the recent movies.

Uh, you do realise Aslan was a 3D creation in the recent movies.

Yes, he's a very realistic 3D animation. I'd be fine with the movies being animated if it was realistic 3D animation like Aslan is in the recent movies.

Warrior 4 Jesus, Yes, of course he was. (so were the fox, the wolf, the beavers, etc.) But this kind of realistic animation rarely finds its way into animated films (at least, from what I've seen). Usually, 3D animated films stick to a very cartoonish style and rarely implement such realism to their characters - it is usually (again, from my experience) for live action films that CGI is used to make character look as realistic as possible (because he/she will be shot next to real people and real places).

There may be some very realistic cartoons that I have not seen, and, as NarnianMonkey, said, if Narnia would be animated very realistically, then that would be great. But, then, on the other hand that defeats the purpose of it being an animated film, because if it's supposed to be that realistic, it might as well be live-action. (Have I driven anyone in circles yet? ) At any rate, that's my opinion.

Warrior 4 Jesus, Yes, of course he was. (so were the fox, the wolf, the beavers, etc.) But this kind of realistic animation rarely finds its way into animated films (at least, from what I've seen). Usually, 3D animated films stick to a very cartoonish style and rarely implement such realism to their characters - it is usually (again, from my experience) for live action films that CGI is used to make character look as realistic as possible (because he/she will be shot next to real people and real places).

There may be some very realistic cartoons that I have not seen, and, as NarnianMonkey, said, if Narnia would be animated very realistically, then that would be great. But, then, on the other hand that defeats the purpose of it being an animated film, because if it's supposed to be that realistic, it might as well be live-action. (Have I driven anyone in circles yet? ) At any rate, that's my opinion.

I agree, CGI should still be used in the moives. There are fantasic elements that cannotbe used in live action/real sitituation. A good example here is the dryads. These are characters that would be very hard to film in a 100% live action sence.

But that is not the real issue.

The issue at hand is the consideration to here is to cut down on cost by switching the entire film(s) over to animation. Computer animation may work, but that market is already overflowing.

And we all saw how the 1979 LWW moive went.

Of course, we could always go back to Pattertwig's Puppet Productions!

LWW: http://www.thelionscall.com/fanfilms/lww_short.cfm?menu_parent_id=125&menu_item_id=161

PC: http://www.thelionscall.com/fanfilms/caspian.cfm

Here are some thoughts...

It's one thing to imagine how it could look in animation, whether you're for it or not for it... But it's an entirely different thing if we were to see someone do some kind of animation, using a segment from one of the Narnia books, that most everyone liked.

For instance, a lot of people think it would be cool if a live action Street Fighter film was made, which stuck faithfully to the source material. Many say it can't be done. However, someone did a live action fan short film, called Street Fighter Legacy, a few years ago and everyone loved it! It was well executed.

Just like that SF fan film, many people will say something won't look good in a different/unfamiliar format until they actually see it implemented well. Until then, it's really up to our imaginations. Why not examine all the options? The sky's the limit!

Look at how the last live action Narnia film turned out. The execution was really bad. Just because it's live action, that won't keep it from being a bad film.
So, it comes down to the execution. Who ever makes the next Narnia film (live or animated) needs to have clear vision of how to properly execute it.

I love animation, but I'm equally fond of live-action. I do believe animation has been given a bad wrap as something immature for kids, when in fact, it's a beautiful art form. While I believe this, I think I would like it to be live-action, because like someone said from the first or second page, Narnia seems much more real when it was live action--there was visual depth to it. (not saying that animation does not have depth; I just like live-action Narnia better.) But it would be nice to have it animated because then Will Poulter could somehow be incorporated into it. I think if it was Brave-like Animation, that would be well done. I think even well-done 2D animation would be breathtaking. Of course, I don't know which animation studio would do it if it were a different studio making the movie. I agree that Studio Ghibli would undoubtedly animate it beautifully, but I'd be a bit worried over the story.

I'm not sure why it has to be either-or, really. Why not combine them? Live action mixed with animation or motion capture. I mean, look at Avatar. Whether you like the plot of that movie or not, you have to admit that the look and feel of it was gorgeous.

~Riella

There are a lot of Non-Disney 2D animated movies with some very realistic looking animation. Many of which were made during the 70's and 80's.
There have actually been traditional animated movies, such as The Black Cauldron I believe, that used REALLY early CGI to help with scenes in the movie.
It would be cool if they did 2D animation and used the motion capture technology for the facial expressions of the characters or body movement.

So, if realism is what you're wanting, it's possible in traditional animation. We just haven't really seen much of it in recent times. Which is sad.

It's a toss-up, really. If they could get a hold of the kind of money required for Avatar-esque animation, then I'd be through the roof with glee. Also, if PIXAR wanted to take a crack at it, I don't think you could get me to form a coherent thought for days. Other than that... I don't think I'd want animation. It can't portray emotions the same way a human face can, although animation would have the benefit of being able to use older, more experienced voices for the kids.

So, I do prefer Live Action. But I could live with animation, especially if done well.

I've seen some pretty darn good live action fan films that were done on low budgets. The Hunt for Gollum proved that it isn't about the money or how good the CGI is, it's about the script and the story, the acting wasn't that good but it was totally enjoyable and I loved it. Stick with live acting and stick with the story. Please.

The Hunt for Gollum also had the bonus of not having to pay any of the actors, actresses, or a licensing fee, if I recall correctly. But you make a great point--plot > money, every time.

Also, if PIXAR wanted to take a crack at it, I don't think you could get me to form a coherent thought for days.

Hmm, there's a thought—Pixar doing the Narnia films? When I first read that, I wasn't sure whether Pixar could handle the deeper side of the Narnia books, but then I realized that wouldn't be a problem. They've already proved themselves to me when it comes to balancing lighthearted action with heartwarming moments: Up and Monsters Inc. come to mind specifically. I might not mind too much if Pixar did an adaptation. I think they could make it into a really beautiful, heartwarming, adventurous movie, and hopefully make it into a good adaptation to boot.

Other than that, though, I'm not too fond of the animation idea. I pretty much summed up my thoughts in my previous post on the first page of this thread. I won't boycott if the Narnia films are animated, but I prefer live action.

...although animation would have the benefit of being able to use older, more experienced voices for the kids.

Good point. I'd like to build on that concept. An interesting thought I brought up earlier in my previous post is that if they did animation, the former actors for the Pevensies & Eustace could potentially reprise their roles through voice acting. I thought that was an interesting thought. I hadn't remembered writing that brilliance.