I wonder if the people who want to create the series would ever go to PBS or a network which offers educational programming. Netflix is available for people who want to pay for it, but I think public television is more oriented to its viewers. PBS has a wider viewing audience.  It would be much like the programs that PBS currently offers.  Perhaps it would be like what used to be on Masterpiece Theatre many years ago.  That wasn’t all bad.  Today there is better technology and a higher budget to make a quality production.

Posted by: @courtenay

Posted by: @rose

However, Douglas Gresham has been pretty adamant in the past about not approving of an animated Narnia, particularly an animated Aslan, saying that he only considered making Narnia films after seeing Star Wars and realizing that a believable CG lion was within reach.

Now that's interesting... I assume he wasn't consulted about the 1979 animated film of LWW, then? (Which is sweet, and very faithful to the book overall, but it doesn't exactly have the "you are there, this is real" feel that a well-done live-action version can give the audience, especially with good CGI.)

Back in 1979 Doug Gresham was living in Australia, and had very little to do with the books (except presumably some financial benefit as an heir?). These were the days when he was doing all those interesting careers, farming, radio, etc. I don't know whether the publishers and the animators had to write to him and his brother for permission, or whether an agent handled it all - I suspect the latter but I don't know.

Posted by: @narnian78

I wonder if the people who want to create the series would ever go to PBS or a network which offers educational programming...It would be much like the programs that PBS currently offers.  Perhaps it would be like what used to be on Masterpiece Theatre many years ago.

I'm pretty sure the PBS didn't actually produce most of those shows. They were or are imports from the BBC. I'm not an expert on the topic though, so don't cite me.

@col-klink

If Masterpiece (I think that is what Masterpiece Theatre is called now) could import a drama series about Narnia from the UK I would love to watch it.  I used to love the Dickens novels like David Copperfield that were serialized.  If you have cable TV or YouTubeTV they usually include PBS so you don’t need a Netflix subscription.   I like PBS better than Netflix anyway. It has more of the programs I like. 🙂

Posted by: @col-klink

I'm pretty sure the PBS didn't actually produce most of those shows. They were or are imports from the BBC. I'm not an expert on the topic though, so don't cite me.

I was just going to say, "Going by what I've heard from my American friends, doesn't your PBS nick a lot of shows from the BBC?"  

Posted by: @narnian78

If Masterpiece (I think that is what Masterpiece Theatre is called now) could import a drama series about Narnia from the UK I would love to watch it.

Did they ever show the late 1980s / early '90s BBC version of Narnia? I doubt it would ever be replayed now, though... I watched it when it was first shown on ABC TV in Australia (that would have been soon after it premiered in Britain) and I can tell you, even by the standards of the time, it was SO HOKEY that even as kids, we were pretty much falling about laughing a lot of the time.  (There were in fact some very realistic and beautifully-made fantasy films being produced back then (The Neverending Story was a brilliant example from a few years earlier), but the Beeb in those days was known for having an extremely tight budget, especially for children's programming.) The whole series was still lots of fun and very faithful to the books, but especially now that there are the three films from the 2000s for comparision — which were visually spectacular, at least, even if they stuck a lot less closely to the original stories — I don't think anyone could say the BBC version has aged well.

Jumping back to the actual point you were making...

Posted by: @narnian78

I wonder if the people who want to create the series would ever go to PBS or a network which offers educational programming. Netflix is available for people who want to pay for it, but I think public television is more oriented to its viewers.

... now there's a thought. I've always assumed that Netflix itself "wants" to create the new series. But if they've stalled and they eventually end up scrapping the idea, could another studio or producer take it up? I'm guessing that as Netflix owns the rights, some more money would have to change hands, but I suppose it's not impossible. I would just love to see a Narnia series — if one is to be made at all — that's created by people who genuinely, deeply love these books and want to do them justice, which I don't think any screen version has truly done so far.

@courtenay

I remember that the BBC Narnia was shown on my local PBS station. It was part of a series called Wonderworks, but they just broadcast it locally.  Wonderworks had other shows like Anne of Green Gables, which were intended for the same audience (mostly children and young adults). This was something that the commercial networks didn’t have much interest in.  Programs like that were considered educational television.  The major networks were more interested in shows that made them large amounts of money. At that time the series was also available on VHS tapes. Of course the tapes were rather expensive to buy if you wanted to own them.  It was much cheaper to watch the series for free on the local station. 🙂

The BBC Narnia hasn’t been broadcast on television in years, but the DVD’s are still in print. So people still want to buy the sets and watch them.  The series is something that was made many years ago which has a nostalgic quality.  I enjoy it with its old fashioned look.  Whenever I watch it I wish the creators of the show had more money, but they probably did the best with what they had. The special effects are laughable, but the series had a kind of campy charm which I still enjoy.

Thus, I'm doubting that Narnia is greenlit. It does appear that Netflix wanted, and very likely still wants, to make Narnia films. However, it seems to me that Netflix doesn't know if they will be able to reach an agreement with the Estate, which is why Netflix, Hasbro, et al have nothing to say about it at this point in time.

After long hoping for The Silver Chair I was very sceptical too if the whole Narnia Neflix adaptation was going to happen at all. Let alone that it would be good (which for me would be: close to the books). But in march the French Netflix Twitter account posted this which I just found out about in a German article:

https://twitter.com/NetflixFR/status/1371142820778622978

The Netflix series and movies are in preparation. At least some sign of progress.

It makes me more hopeful. Still there is a long way to go... I just hope not to go through a similar canceling disappointment again. I would really love to see all the stories come to life on screen!

Posted by: @ladymiranda

After long hoping for The Silver Chair I was very sceptical too if the whole Narnia Neflix adaptation was going to happen at all. Let alone that it would be good (which for me would be: close to the books)

Hello, @ladymiranda! Welcome to Narniaweb, by the way! 

Yes, that is everyone's dream. Of course for everyone a "good" adaptation varies differently. For me, for example it is close to the books, but also the director's own take on the movie. I like seeing adaptaions that are meaningful and truly mean something to see Narnia on screen, not just some movie to make money off of. 

Posted by: @ladymiranda

Still there is a long way to go... I just hope not to go through a similar canceling disappointment again.

We have all been waiting for Narnia to come and after waiting so many years, you are right, it would be a terrible disappointment if if were to all go to waste.  Yet with the pandemic, I didn't expect much progress, this year or last year. But like you said, we should always remain hopeful. 

I realize I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but the thought that Narnia could have yet again been mired in development was a depressing one to have to consider. The point about Shadow and Bone being announced, created and released all within the time since Narnia was announced is a pretty solid indicator that something is wrong.

But that said, there's always hope. I still have a hard time believing Netflix would buy the rights to a popular classic fantasy series and then completely refuse to try to make any money on it. 

The series is delayed, but something will probably still happen, even if it turns out to be something disappointing or horrible.

And if Netflix somehow doesn't come through, I say the Lewis estate should put together their own independent film group with fan donations and make an adaptation themselves. I'm sure we would all gladly contribute. 

My problem is not with the show being on Netflix, it really is just the idea of getting Aslan right. Nothing about the people who are working on the show makes me think that is going to happen. Regardless of how people feel about the religious implications, Aslan being a different character, not having the characteristics that are of the good, just makes the stories feel more like just some pedestrian fantasy thing, which is not what Narnia is supposed to be, in my opinion. Narnia is a story that supposes what might God be like in a land where there are talking animals. So when they just make Aslan this random character who shows up an does magic and helps out the kids and don't make him God, that does not work for me. Lewis was trying to write theology into a children's book, so when they pretty much make Aslan a different character it changes everything about the feel of the stories for me. It takes the depth out for me.

I am going to watch whatever they make. That is just really the thing that makes it good or not to me. Is Aslan right or not. That is why VoDT is so bad to me. It is that Aslan is so off as to just come off as silly. None of the Walden movies are perfect, but there was something in LWW and PC about Aslan that worked for me, even though there wasn't enough mention of Aslan in them, the longing. Also, no making the White Witch the big bad of the series because that is not a thing and i don't know if tv shows will get that. 

I just think whomever writes this is not going to get Aslan and they are just not going to be able to help themselves about the big bad or about fight scenes or romance. Stuff like that. Though that is all secondary for me to Aslan needing to be right as in as Lewis wrote him.

Posted by: @decarus

My problem is not with the show being on Netflix, it really is just the idea of getting Aslan right.

Nothing about the people who are working on the show makes me think that is going to happen.

By my reckoning there are only two people who could currently be said to be "working" on Narnia - Matthew Aldrich and (at a stretch) Mark Gordon.

Though the former has so few credits to his name that I would struggle to decipher a single thing about his personal sensibilities from the one movie I've seen, whilst the latter has been involved in such a wide range of movies, and at such a high executive level, that I would equally struggle to pin him down to any particular creative idelogy.

I think all you can really say at present is that a content-neutral distribution platform (Netflix) has hired two people to potentially work on a Narnia project for them, and that these two individuals may or may not have done any actual work so far towards that goal.

Posted by: @icarus

I think all you can really say at present is that a content-neutral distribution platform (Netflix) has hired two people to potentially work on a Narnia project for them, and that these two individuals may or may not have done any actual work so far towards that goal.

 

I agree with your point certainly. It is, as far as we know, a neutral point at this time. My pessimism though, just doesn't think that the television/movie industry are going to understand the complexity of what Lewis is doing in the book with regards to Aslan. The little we do know seems to suggest fantansy genre, cool, people like fantasy, sounds like a good plan, lets make it big and sweeping and cool.

I just want more than that. 

I would completely agree though that the information we have still leaves us at neutral with regards to who is involved, but my neutral with regards to Narnia is just a little bit pessimistic and the two we know about hasn't moved me to a more optimistic place.

Once again, i am going to watch the show or movies no matter what, so i very much doubt that i am the person they are going to try to write for, which is, i think, extremely unfortunate. TV shows and movies are just too simple now to even attempt this complication because the world thinks people are stupid, in my opinion. I think that people would love the depth even if they didn't understand everything. That is actually how i think you create a fanbase, by hinting at more.

I want it to be good. I am going to watch it even if it isn't.

I kind of wish the series would ever go to another network. There might be more of a certainty that it would be made if it were on PBS or a cable channel.  I watched Netflix through a shared subscription about a year ago, and although I liked a few of their programs I did not think it was worth paying for a subscription.  If the Narnia series is made I may decide to try them again for while, but I wouldn't be too interested in paying for their services after the series is broadcast. 

Posted by: @narnian78

If the Narnia series is made I may decide to try them again for while, but I wouldn't be too interested in paying for their services after the series is broadcast. 

That would also be me! I have absolutely no interest in getting a Netflix account, unless something was there specifically (mainly Narnia), and even so I'd prefer to buy actual DVDs or something so as to rewatch whenever I wanted, without an internet connection (if they were good, I would definitely rewatch them...).

Personally I feel like even if they fizzle out after just one film, if they make the Magician's Nephew well I would still be satisfied. I really want to see that done, even though it could be difficult to get the change between the places done well. I wouldn't mind them expanding the time while the children and Jadis are walking through Charn and she's telling them things; it could be quite interesting, to actually see things happening while she has a voiceover of sorts, to perhaps expand that section, and then cut back to the dark deadness of Charn right before they go to the Wood again. I think the hardest sequence to get right would be the creation, though; the first revealing of Aslan would be very difficult. Still, I would love to see them take a crack at it!

I live in hope of Narnia coming to screen properly! The only reason I wouldn't watch something is if it were rated too highly (for that reason, I have never yet watched the film of Prince Caspian). I wish they'd take pointers from the BBC version, only make it better... obviously.

Posted by: @lady-jill-the-loyal

Personally I feel like even if they fizzle out after just one film, if they make the Magician's Nephew well I would still be satisfied. I really want to see that done, even though it could be difficult to get the change between the places done well. I wouldn't mind them expanding the time while the children and Jadis are walking through Charn and she's telling them things; it could be quite interesting, to actually see things happening while she has a voiceover of sorts, to perhaps expand that section, and then cut back to the dark deadness of Charn right before they go to the Wood again. I think the hardest sequence to get right would be the creation, though; the first revealing of Aslan would be very difficult. Still, I would love to see them take a crack at it!

Ooh, I keep trying to imagine that too — how they would do Jadis and Charn, and then how they might handle the creation of Narnia... how on earth are they ever going to do that justice?? But now that CGI technology has advanced far enough for them to be able to make it look realistic and breathtaking, I hope they'll give it a good go. I grew up in the era of the BBC versions — which, I can assure everyone who's younger, were hopelessly hokey (but lovable) even for their time!! — and I knew very well that there was NO WAY they'd be able to do The Magician's Nephew (or The Last Battle) back then!

I quite agree with your comments on Netflix too, Lady Jill. I don't have a Netflix account and would have no interest in having one, unless and until Narnia comes on — and then if it's worth keeping, I want to buy it on DVD or as digital downloads so I can have it forever. I just wish we had more news beyond the recent statement that they're still working on it...