Maybe for VDT instead of the Edmund attempting to enlist in the army scene, show when they arrive at the Scrubb's house and maybe show a bit more of Eustace to set up his character (I know Walden also did expand on Eustace a little but maybe an extra minute of him before the painting scene could work).

@queencrunchytheweeb 

There's an idea. It could set up Eustace's character a bit more. We can hear Edmund and Lucy talking about their time in Narnia and how they feel about having to stay with Eustace during the holiday.

I was also kind of thinking for VDT is show Caspian and his crew getting ready to set sail. Then the opening credits could be where they're on board ship from Cair Paravel (rebuilt, of course) to the Island of Galma.

As for the opening credits for Narnia films, there are some ideas.

I kind of imagine in The Magician's Nephew, a shot of Victorian London. No dialogue, but with background music, the name of the company, the film title, cast and crew list.

I don't know if The Lion, Witch, And The Wardrobe would have the Pevensies on the train during the opening credits, like the Walden film did.

Ones that I think would be kind of tough to envision opening credits for would be The Horse And His Boy, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle. Ideas anyone?

I like your ideas, I personally would love to see the Magician’s Nephew open up with a dark sky and suddenly have stars appearing with a narrator describing creation. Could be from one of the main actors perspective. But I would love to see space in the opening scene.

@daughterofthestar 

I haven't thought of that one. Then I don't know how that would work for an opening credits.

I would like to see the Pevensies on the train for the opening credits in LWW again, though I'm not sure that's likely to happen.

@jasmine_tarkheena That's what they did in the LWW BBC version. In the Walden movie, I believe they were trying to build up the tension with war and the other tension between Edmund with Peter which I did like. I am hoping to few differences with Netflix. Personally I don't like remakes to be too much the same. It can work with the English country side and the camera panning in on the train and we see a solemn Lucy with her head against the trains window seal looking out.

Posted by: @daughterofthestar

 

 It can work with the English country side and the camera panning in on the train and we see a solemn Lucy with her head against the trains window seal looking out.

There’s an idea. I actually kind of like the idea no dialogue while the opening credits is going. 

I imagine for MN, a shot of Victorian London while the opening credits is going. 

Perhaps for HHB, a shot of a man with baby Shasta in the boat. 

LB is kind of a tricky one. Not sure what they would do for the opening credits. 

 

I imagine for MN, a shot of Victorian London while the opening credits is going. 

Perhaps for HHB, a shot of a man with baby Shasta in the boat. 

Shots of old London have always been beautiful on film. What I really love is when those scenes take place in winter because I love the smoke coming from the chimneys. But MN takes place in the summer. It can still be a beautiful opening though. 

I’ve always thought that about HHB opening with baby Shasta/Cor being found in the boat. 

I think it would be great with rural opening scenes which would show that the Professor’s house is in the country. That is an intriguing way to start The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  It would draw viewers to the film from the very beginning. I like the idea of showing woods and fields and people traveling through them.  It is much like the first locations described in the first chapter of the book.

The creation of Narnia is later in the story of The Magician’s Nephew so I don’t think as it happened it could be hinted at in the beginning of a film based on that book. But the Victorian London setting with its antique houses would probably be enough to attract interest. People like period dramas such as movies based on Charles Dickens’ books, which would appeal to those with nostalgic tastes.

Posted by: @narnian78

I think it would be great with rural opening scenes which would show that the Professor’s house is in the country. That is an intriguing way to start The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  It would draw viewers to the film from the very beginning. I like the idea of showing woods and fields and people traveling through them.  It is much like the first locations described in the first chapter of the book.

I haven't thought of that one. It's an idea, though. Then, the professor introduces himself, and the Pevensies introduce themselves. It could be a way to start a new Narnia film adapted from a story that's well-known.

As I remember the 1967 adaptation had the Professor narrating the series. It might be interesting if that were done again for the beginning of a new movie or film.  Narration is not used as often today in movies and TV shows, but it often makes the story more personal, and it makes the film seem more a book. But today there is an overemphasis on action and special effects, which may not be so good in movies based on books when representing an author’s real intentions.

Narration is interesting. I don't think I ever saw the 1967 production. I just really loved the music score in the BBC production that they used in all the films showing the clouds and hovering above what seemed to be Narnia and showing Aslan's face and the wardrobe/book and all of that to me was wonderful. 

@ilovenarnia82 

I found some clips on YouTube since only parts of the 1967 production survive:

This is the article here on Narniaweb, but unfortunately the videos were removed perhaps because of rights issues:

https://www.narniaweb.com/2010/12/footage-found-from-the-1967-version-of-the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe/

It might give you an idea of what the series was like.

I hope this information is helpful. 🙂

Posted by: @narnian78

As I remember the 1967 adaptation had the Professor narrating the series. It might be interesting if that were done again for the beginning of a new movie or film.  Narration is not used as often today in movies and TV shows, but it often makes the story more personal, and it makes the film seem more a book. But today there is an overemphasis on action and special effects, which may not be so good in movies based on books when representing an author’s real intentions.

Hmmm, a few months ago I was listening to the BBC Radio adaptation of LWW (not to be confused with the BBC TV series!), and that was one of the huge failings of it for me — it had the Professor as narrator, including him describing all kinds of details and the children's inner feelings, and that for me just didn't work well in telling the story. We do know that the four children told him about their time in Narnia at the end of the book, of course, but then to have him ostensibly retelling it all to us as the audience, when he wasn't actually there himself and couldn't have known all these things firsthand... it just stretches credibility a bit too much and makes the story seem less real. Having a narrator who was a direct witness of all or most of the events in the story can work well enough, but not one who could only have heard it all second-hand.

(Which reminds me, I must get back to my listen-through of each of the BBC and Focus on the Family radio adaptations of the Chronicles, as I was going through them all and comparing them in another thread. I haven't forgotten that, just have not had a lot of time in the last few months to sit and do nothing but listen to radio plays and type up notes on them!!)

Posted by: @ilovenarnia82

Narration is interesting. I don't think I ever saw the 1967 production. I just really loved the music score in the BBC production that they used in all the films showing the clouds and hovering above what seemed to be Narnia and showing Aslan's face and the wardrobe/book and all of that to me was wonderful. 

Oh, I LOVE the opening credits and music for the BBC TV productions too!! I saw them when they were first shown on TV in Australia, episode by episode, in the late 1980s / early '90s. I was about 7 years old and had only recently finished reading all the books for the first time, so to have a TV version was just ace — even though (as I often assure younger Narnia fans), trust me, the costumes and special (?) effects were incredibly cheap and hokey even for that time, and we all knew it and were cracking up laughing at the bottle-shaped Beavers and the hilariously bad flying effects and all the rest of it. But it was the best screen version we had then — the only screen adaptation of any of the books other than LWW, at the time — and it was sweet and well-meaning and those shows were a big part of my childhood, naffness and all. And there are times when they do manage to rise above their own limitations into something magical, and the opening sequence is definitely that, with that score by Geoffrey Burgon. That is still THE "Narnia theme" to me and still gives me goosebumps (and sometimes tears in my eyes) when I hear it.