I think that, really in the case of every movie made, the director and everyone involved is focused on making the best possible movie that they can. To an extent they can't look into the future at possible sequels and think "How will this effect a future movie?" All that does is hinder the creative process and cause the focus to be on setting up future sequels instead of the movie itself and the story it's trying to tell.

Of course it is important in the case of the Narnia films, or others based on pre-existing material, to look at the whole series and be careful not to make changes that would hurt the integrity of the series later on. For example, they couldn't kill off a character in PC that returns in a later story. But, things like defining the Telmarine's race, or adding the "romance" don't have any impact on future stories.

From a creative perspective, Adamson and the screenwriters felt that to tell the story the best way they felt they could, these changes and other decisions were for the best.

They do, but each movie is the interpretation of the director and writers. Its how they "see" the story and then they go from there. One of the things the Narnia series has on its side is that the characters and stories aren't the same. So small changes don't have as lasting an impact as if it was something that picked up exactly where the last story left off.

I have a feeling that most of the times they don't consider this, so I voted that they don't think about the rest of the books when making decisions. I could use the Susapian Romance as an example or the fact that Peter's attitude changed, or the fact that Susan was now thought to be a Warrior Queen. If they thought about it wouldn't they have realized that her being a Warrior Queen was a problem for The Horse and His Boy, and the fact that her title was Queen Susan the Gentle not Queen Susan the Warrior Queen, or Queen Susan the Valiant or Queen Susan the Courageous, or Queen Susan the Brave. If they thought about it wouldn't they have realized that Peter's trip to Narnia was completely useless if he was going to act like that in Prince Caspian, or that a King of Narnia never would act that way, (at least a true King wouldn't), or that he was worse than when he came back from Narnia than when he went to Narnia. If they thought about it wouldn't they have realized that the Susapian Romance was completely useless and caused problems for VDT and The Last Battle

I have to say, I don't think they thought very far ahead when doing the Suspian romance. I wonder how they will pick up the peices to make Caspian fall so quickly in love with RD. if they do it right, it'll go off nicely. but it could also make Caspian look a bit lovestruck.
and as for the Telmarine-Spanish-descent thing, I liked it for PC, but since they are abandoning the accent, I wonder how it will pull off.....

To be honest I think they read through the books to get their ideas from the other books. other then that I don't think they care at all if the put the majority of the Narnia Fans down by making the decisions we don't like. They are too busy laughing all the way to the bank while we're disappointed.

I agree with LH, with the whole Suspian thing it was not thought out properly. That could be why there is a lot of scenes deleted from the film of them and why it feels very thrown in at last minute in the film. If they really wanted to fix it, this kiss was all they could have taken out.

Now I wouldn't say that the future of the Narnia movies will do bad now because of this one stupid minor attraction. True fans will go see VDT including newcomers and if this does a good job then we'll be back on track.

I voted no, although I suppose in so far as not killing of characters goes they consider them. They also are aware of them and do plan on making them all. I think they also consider them in small details more than big i.e. making the wardrobe have scenes from MN and giving the audience more hints that the Professor had been to Narnia (changing his aditude when the wardrobe is mentioned, looking in the Wardrobe). I don't think they were thinking of the implications at all with Susan the Warrior or with Susan in LWW. She seems to be a stronger character than Lewis wrote her and I'm wondering how in the world they are going to pull of HHB. I doubt they thought about Ramandu's Daughter and Caspian when they added the Caspian and Susan subplot.

It seems like in describing my answer I need a different choice on the poll. No doesn't quite fit but neither do the yes options. I'll stick with no but yes and no would be better.

I voted "for big changes", because I think they do use the books at least as reference.
Although, if you notice, in the documentary, Andrew Adamson said "I didn't want to make a movie that went according to the book so much as to my memory of the book." The director was not so interested in going by the book as in giving his interpretation of it...which is interesting, but not something to be relied upon.
I didn't like Prince Caspian very much--I think the director took matters a little too much into his own hands. For example, If you watch the Audio Commentary, you'll notice that the whole Arrogant King Peter was his interpretation--his opinion--the way he imagined it when he was young That opinion, though, I think, had a devastating effect on the movie. So, although I think the books were referred to, I think that generally the movie Prince Caspian was not thought through well enough.
I'm actually quite glad about some of the changes going on in VDT, like taking away the accents, etc. I like the new director, and I like the way he's doing things. I don't think Prince Caspian was thought through, but I think VDT will put that all right...at least I hope it will
P.S. No offense to those who like Prince Caspian! This is just my opinion, not a fact.

I don't think that they have read the rest of the series, so my answer is no they don't think about the rest of the series when they make changes.

There is no dispute that they altered several characters in negative ways, most notably Peter and Susan, but just as they changed Susan's gentle spirit, I don't think you can deny that they got another element of her character exactly right.

The beginning of PC, like in LWW, shows a reluctant Susan. In the train station, she tells the rest of her siblings that their place is in England and that there's no use pretending any different.

In the campfire scene, Susan asks why she didn't see Aslan. Lucy suggests that she might not have really wanted to. Susan then admits that she's a bit annoyed to be pulled out of England again right when she was getting more comfortable. Her change of attitude toward Narnia is further established when Lucy asks if she's happy to be there. "While it lasts," is all Susan tells her. That is a great setup for the future of her character and I don't remember if the book even had this sort of clear, defining moment. For that, I applaud the writers.

But I think this also shows that the writers were merely inconsistent in their decisions. Apparently, they maintain character cohesiveness only when it's convenient for the kind of movie they are currently making and that's the unfortunate part.

The beginning of PC, like in LWW, shows a reluctant Susan. In the train station, she tells the rest of her siblings that their place is in England and that there's no use pretending any different.

In the campfire scene, Susan asks why she didn't see Aslan. Lucy suggests that she might not have really wanted to. Susan then admits that she's a bit annoyed to be pulled out of England again right when she was getting more comfortable. Her change of attitude toward Narnia is further established when Lucy asks if she's happy to be there. "While it lasts," is all Susan tells her. That is a great setup for the future of her character and I don't remember if the book even had this sort of clear, defining moment. For that, I applaud the writers.

yes, I think this was a very good choice on part of the writers to show Susan getting farther away from Narnia and Aslan!

and in LWW, in the scene when Lucy and Susan are splashing in the stream, Susan mentions that she and Lucy used to have fun and Lucy says that Susan has gotten "boring". this shows that Susan is already trying to grow up too much.

It's reminding me that every time Susan is away from Narnia she seems to forget the purposes she is supposed to learn while being there and going back to her own world. Good wording there Skilletdude and LH.

Skilletdude

But I think this also shows that the writers were merely inconsistent in their decisions. Apparently, they maintain character cohesiveness only when it's convenient for the kind of movie they are currently making and that's the unfortunate part.

I'll agree with you on that one. Another interesting thing to notice is how they seemed to switch Susan's character around in the movie. What I mean is, in the book LWW, Susan is portrayed as a sweet, mild-tempered young teenage girl. In the movie LWW, she's quite sassy, arguing with Peter, and so on. Then, in PC, her character is fairly mild--she doesn't get into almost any disputes with anyone, not verbal, at least. However, in the book PC, she's the one that is sassy, not believing Lucy, etc. It's just an interesting observation I made when I saw PC the second time. And, also, I don't understand what they did to Peter in the movie. According to the book, he's supposed to be the the wise king, and Caspian is supposed to be the boy who doesn't know anything. Caspian is supposed to be a teen who hasn't led an army before and Peter is, at least in Narnia, a grown king who has fought many battles.
There were some good things in PC, of course. I liked Miraz and the two Lords who betray him, and Trumpkin was perfect. I wish they'd expressed they same thoughtfulness in planning the main characters as in the sub ones.
Once again, no offense to PC fans! This is just my opinion, not a fact.

They do consider how it will affect the other movies, I'm just not sure how much. As Pattertwigs Pal stated, they foreshadowed MN (or is that not the right word...) by hinting that the Professor knew more than he said, although in the book this wasn't the case.

I imagine what probably happened with the Suspian romance is that Ramandu's Daughter simply was forgotten, or they thought that it would be "such a small thing" that it wouldn't matter anymore when Ramda enters the picture. The evidence of Susan's own foreshadowing is proof, in my opinion, that they are thinking of the other books. (Even if I don't agree with their methods....)

I don't believe that Susan being a warrior queen in PC will mess up HHB. Only those who have read HHB would recall the Dwarf saying that Queen Susan never fights in the battles, even if she is an excellent archer, whereas Queen Lucy does. Susan's only appearance is in Tashbaan when they are planning to escape Rabadash, and she would easily be excused not appearing in the battle (because if Rabadash were to find her there, he would kidnap her). So it is an obstacle easily passed, in my opinion.

I couldn't find an option I agreed with so I didn't vote. Because on some matters they worked real hard for continuity, but on the other hand, I got the impression from AA in the PC that it was his last Narnia film so he wanted to put anything he could from other books. He took a good line from the Last Battle and used it in PC! To me that did the movie a small favor but stole from the last movie.
But at the same time many decisions are made thinking about future films. Instead of choosing a older actresses and actors for the parts of the Pevensies, they chose actors and actresses with about the right ages. And they chose Ben Barnes on the basis that he could be made to look teenage and then age him a few years with just not shaving him.
So yes and no. They make decisions with other movies in mind, and they don't. But I think in the case of PC especially, AA was not thinking of other movies.