Decarus, please do make a point of revisiting the BBC Narnia series, even if only to see a different perspective of the films. If and when you do, you will find these problems with BBC PC, in particular, but also for VDT.

1.The visuals (Aslan, costuming, scenery etc) were really horrible. The costumes, in particular, looked like something dreamed up for a school play.

2.Half the story of PC was simply left out, then tacked on a combined PC/VDT DVD, more as a prologue than a separate movie in its own right. The duel with Miraz was pathetic, that boy who played Prince Caspian was far too young for the job, and nobody believed Lucy about seeing Aslan, not even Edmund. There was not even a river god from the Narnia romp and all in all, Lucy, in particular, might just as well have stayed at home.

3. I've been saying this for a while, ever since I joined NarniaWeb, and I feel like Lucy did about telling her siblings about seeing Aslan when they didn't. The main difficulty with filming PC was that fully a third of the book is exposition. There is nothing cinematic about watching a bunch of people having a picnic brunch at a ruined castle whilst being filled in with what has been going on, even if some nice picnic games afterwards helped the participants digest their meal and work off the calories. The movie overcame that particular defect quite well, and I thought it was quite a creditable effort. Maybe I'm not quite so picky about adaptations.

Actually BBC VDT looks good besides Walden's effort if you ignore the horrible costuming, the pathetic Sea Serpent and the much plainer Dawn Treader. Mainly that is because of Samuel West who makes a much better Caspian than the PC boy. It so happens also that the major weakness of the Walden movie was actually the greatest strength of the BBC version. The BBC version fitted neatly into four or five television episodes, instead of a continuous film as VDT Walden was trying to do. VDT the book does lend itself to episodic reading - you read one island adventure per night.

I'm not sure what problems either Walden or others would find in filming the other books. Compared with VDT and PC I don't see any difficulties in filming MN, HHB, or even SC, though the walking through Ettinsmoor to the Ruined city might drag somewhat. I suspect that both PC and VDT were the least cinematic books of the entire series.

I am not really here to discuss whether or not the BBC is better or worse then the Walden series. It was a different time when they were made and therefore any comparison would not be fair. Though i think the duel was terrible in the Walden PC as well. There was no romp at all in the Walden PC though that didn't bother me. There was no following Aslan and seeing him one at a time in the Walden PC which is sort of the main event of the book.

The first third of the book is not exposition. It is a flashback. They are not the same thing. And i think they did they right thing by showing that in real time and pulling the Pevensies into the story early. I just don't see the need to compare the two different iterations to each other instead of to the source material. Also like you said the BBC is a series of tv episodes and not a movie so that is another thing that makes it difficult to compare.

Susan's character was just so messed up in PC. On one hand they have her being all warrior like which is fine. Then they had the bizarre scene where Susan freaked out and held her shot while Lucy almost got killed by a bear. That scene was shot terribly. I mean Susan had just killed a Telmarine from afar and she won't shoot the bear that is about to kill Lucy even though she had more then enough time. It wasn't like in the book where she just held the shot for a second and just got out shot. Then they have a bizarre scene where Susan does save Lucy by sending her on and taking out the guards, but of course she is saved by Caspian who what kills one guard after she kills eight. Dumb. It is like they are trying to connect those two scenes, but since the first scene was so badly done and out of character the second seemed out of character too.

And while i liked the idea that Peter and Susan were having a hard time being back in the real world. Peter was over the top at some points just looking really in a rage at times even once they were back in Narnia. Also i hated that Susan was only happy she was back in Narnia after meeting Caspian not Aslan.

wagga: I see where you are trying to get at but I'm still siding with decarus on this. These movies do not have to be word for word like the books. I'm not expecting PC and VDT if they do end up getting rebooted to be exact with the books. It's just we want a good, enjoyable, well paced movie. You can tell by the lines, filming techniques, and character development in both PC and VDT were very fast paced and rushed through as if the scriptwriters just rushed through the book and wrote the script without planning character bios and certain other steps to keep their characters in character and keeping new plots in order to build up on them instead they were scattered all over the place and never explained.
The reason for LWW being so successful was that it was a great adaptation. It wasn't 100% like the book, but people love it because it was well thought out because Andrew Adamson wanted to direct it, and in order for him to get the job he worked hard for it. He wrote pages of premises, summaries, character bios. He prepared to make a great and decent film to get the job, and rightfully he earned it. That was why LWW did great. It was a great adaptation.
Sorry but PC and VDT was not. And if Walden continues being lazy on adapting these films i can't see them making three more films.

I really wouldn't mind seeing it in animation. The same animation they did with Beowulf would be awesome. It would attract a lot of audiences in since it's the new fad a lot of general audiences love now.

Oh please, no. The stlye used in Beowulf is a waste in animation terms. Rule number one in animation: if you're going that route, you'd better have a reason for doing so. With Beowulf, the animation is pointless. I mean, if you're going to do a film with CG modeled characters that look exactly like the actors portryaing them, you might as well go live action. Trying to be both animated and realistic makes the visual experience of the film rather boring. It almost has a fake feel.

I wouldn't mind seeing Narnia rebooted in animation, but it has to be done so for the right reasons- as with any filmmaking technique. However, I don't really want to see anything happen in terms of a reboot in the near future. I believe that it would almost dry up the series, that audiences really wouldn't care about the stories seeing a new version in a "soon" range.

Lions Emblem, care to explain Avatar will you? It's live action as well with the same animation and the only thing audiences found boring in the film was that it was too long, everything else everyone loved. And I was just suggesting the idea.

Also the only audiences that wont care if this series gets rebooted are: I'm sorry

It's true, I see everyone writing this around the internet. It's the general audience that lost interest and the majority of general audiences are into watching the new fads in both animation and live action.

So yes I think live action animation would be the best route to go if these series reboot in 8-15 years from now. All in favor?!

edit: Also again it depends on the adaptation and the pace of the story. Beowulf in my opinion wasn't even that good.

*puts on shiny mod hat*

A lot of the most recent posts are getting off topic. This thread is for discussing how long it will take you to give up on the series, not how they should reboot the series. There is a separate thread for that. Please stay on topic.

In 8-15 years I might not be around to see any movie. So I'm not giving up either on the Narnia series or Walden or another filmmaker completing the series.

It's true, I see everyone writing this around the internet. It's the general audience that lost interest and the majority of general audiences are into watching the new fads in both animation and live action.

Fair point. That is why I'm still hoping to see moves to get the present Narnia series completed, as soon as the moratorium period is ended. I read somewhere that the moratorium takes anywhere between 12 and 18 months, and I think that 6 months of that moratorium is already up.

I'm sure that the options can be renegotiated so that there is no need to start afresh. Yes people might love a reboot at some future time. And for all we know, the series would be completed best with animation, especially for things like the Creation of Narnia, Tashbaan, Underworld, or the end of Narnia and the ending of Last Battle. Provided that Walden is the one doing the filming of, say, SC, animation would remove the need to get a new actor for Eustace.

But to start over again filming the same three books all over again, will make the general audience merely groan and complain they have seen those stories already and don't want to see them again even with new, fancier, better, whizgigs. If that is what happens to the series I really will give up. I don't want to see endless remakes of LWW, PC or VDT, even if they are better ones. I want to see the next four books in the series filmed.

I read somewhere that the moratorium takes anywhere between 12 and 18 months, and I think that 6 months of that moratorium is already up.

Gresham said he hopes to start production in "3-4 years time." That must mean the moratorium ends in about three years. Why would he say he hoped to start production in three years if he knew that was legally impossible?

In the first place when I heard that interview I thought that Doug Gresham said he looked forward to a Narnia production in three or four years' time, not necessarily starting a production in three or four years' time. I would have to see a transcript to be absolutely sure, as I may have not caught the actual word 'starting'. But I think it makes little difference whether or not Doug Gresham included the word 'starting'.

According to this Wikipedia article, linked to the news item, the option period is something like 12-18 months as in this quote:

Film options are exclusive, usually for an initial period of 12-18 months. After the expiry date, the producer no longer has an exclusive right to buy the screenplay and the writer can option it to a different producer. Most option agreements specify the prices of additional extensions (most commonly one extension, also for 12-18 months), should the producer be unable to put the movie together in the originally specified term, and choose to extend.

If Doug Gresham is looking forward to another Narnia production in 3 or 4 years' time, 12 to 18 months moratorium would still take us to the end of 2012 or early 2013. Even if any options are taken up immediately, plus an extension for 12-18 months, much of late 2013 will be spent on legal agreements such as setting out which films are to be done, in which order, and under what circumstances, plus signing on the dotted line. Once that is resolved - and lawyers usually take their time - the next step, is getting a good script for the film, finding a suitable producer, arranging a suitable budget, getting the film greenlit etc., finding suitable sites for filming, starting to put a cast together, and booking for a time to start filming, ie production, to start, possibly as early as late 2014.

This definitely is the 3 to 4 years' time Doug Gresham mentions. Since it is 28/10/2011 right now, 8:31 pm to be precise, three years from now is 28/10/2014, and 4 years from now is 28/10/2015. And depending on exactly when the options expired in the first place, at a guess last April or May, six months has already passed. Meanwhile, until it is greenlit, the next Narnia production, if any, is in what is called Developmental Hell.

All the legalities, scriptwriting and casting before actual filming is started is called pre-production. It would seem that production doesn't actually start until filming is ready to commence. And since Doug Gresham did also say in that interview that he hoped to get all 7 films made, and didn't specify which Narnia production could be started in 3 to 4 years' time, very likely one could be on its way in that timeframe if all goes well.

We have to wait and see to the end of next year which way the wind blows. Meanwhile I still hope to see the remaining four books being filmed first.

November 10. Hard to believe VDT hit theaters 11 months ago.... Wow.

I'm honestly anxiously waiting what is next in this whole story and I probably will be until new news arrives. I'm pretty much up for anything but ultimately I would want the rest of the books to be made into movies before anything else

I'm not going to give up on this series for a long, long, long time. I know a lot of people disagree with me, which is fine, but I LOVE the series so far, despite it's changes, and will continue to support it!! I love the books, and I love the movies.

I hope these three/four years go by quickly! I don't think we can give up on Will Poulter being Eustace. I mean, Will Mosely was 20 in PC, and Ben Barnes was 25...makeup and acting can do a lot to make a person look younger.

I'd like to hope that it's going to be kinda like the Professor's words at the end of LWW, "It'll probably happen when you're least looking for it."

Go Narnia!

I gave up when I saw PC in the theater. I started hoping again when I saw VDT (not a perfect movie, but so much better than PC) and now... I don't know, I don't have a lot of hope for the series being done well or done at all.

I've pretty much already given up on the Walden series. The green mist was pretty much a jump the shark moment, in my opinion. The series is beyond saving. I just recently realized that over the past year, I have almost completely forgotten about the Narnia films which starkly contrasts how I closely followed them every day for the five years previous. It's really sad now that I think about it.

(BTW I used to be a frequent poster on these fourms, but got rid of my account shortly after VDT. Just now getting back into it.)