Posted by: @carley

But I do like the idea Pixar uses for their stories.  Pixar is good at making movies that entertain kids, while at the same time adults can appreciate them for the quality and depth of the stories.  That's something that could be useful in adapting Narnia: making it appeal to both kids and adults. 

That's a good point — and Narnia NEEDS to appeal to both kids and adults, really. Well, the best kids' stories DO appeal to adults as well, precisely because they work on different levels, but Narnia goes deeper than most. Whatever Netflix decides to do with it, I hope they appreciate that and work with it.

I've been wanting animated Narnia to be in the style of either Cartoon Saloon (Song of Sea, Wolfwalkers) or Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky). I'm not sure if Cartoon Saloon has ever done a straight adaptation, but their stories are rooted in mythos and fairytales. Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle is very good, but nothing like the book. That being said, it was a Miyazaki film and he had a particular type of story he liked telling, but he's retired for the second time now so he probably wouldn't be in charge of a Narnia adaptation.

Posted by: @rose

I don't know if realism is exactly the right word... maybe intensely atmospheric. One example: whenever I read the line "The [water] drops dripped off the laurel leaves" in The Silver Chair, I am instantly transported to some long-lost early morning in my childhood when I was outside and it had been raining and the everything was misty, full of the sound of falling droplets and the scent of damp earth. I get such a visceral reaction out of that line!

Have you seen Pixar's The Good Dinosaur? That's a great example of what atmospheric 3D can look like. The river looked like real water and I could have sworn those were real leaves on the trees. If they went 3D for Narnia I would want something more like that than something like Frozen, which is pretty, but doesn't feel very real.

I still don't wish to see animated Narnia films or TV. I want to see real people plus CGI as required. 
If it all went animated, the least awful would be modern computer generated animations, looking realistic, not gawky, cutesy or huge-eyed anime.

Btw, I feel like I should clarify since I started this thread several months ago when COVID-19 first hit the Western world, and it was only recently dusted off for fresh discussion — I don't think it's very likely that we'll see an animated Narnia on Netflix. Netflix recently cast a child to play Matilda in a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's book of the same name, so I don't think that the virus is making it impossible to film a live-action Narnia. I think it's still possible they might animate a couple of the films, like MN or HHB, or that maybe spin-offs might be animated, but I'd be quite surprised if they went in the direction of animation for most of the series at this point.

On BBC1 this Christmas they had a short animated movie called "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse" based on the illustrated book of the same name.

I really liked the style of animation they used for this - it felt very much like illustrations come to life. Similar somewhat in that regard to other classic Christmas animated adaptations such as The Snowman.

The trailer is linked below:

If they could do this sort of animation for Narnia, but in the Pauline Baynes style, I'd be very happy.

Even though I would lean towards more live action, if Narnia was to be animated, then I would say traditional hand drawn animation. It's something we don't really see anymore. Everything they do now is CGI. I'm not dismissing CGI entirely, because some of it is quite good. But it comes to a point when you get tired of it.

So if Narnia was to be animated, then I would go with a traditional hand drawn animation.

@jasmine_tarkheena

CGI may be too modern for Narnia. I think something old fashioned like traditional animation might work better.  Another alternative would be claymation (like the Gumby and Pokey cartoons of the 1960’s) or stop motion. Some people might think these techniques are rather dated, but I think they might work well for something old fashioned like Narnia if they are done tastefully and with respect for the source material.  It is okay to animate something just as artwork based on Narnia can be a good thing.

Posted by: @icarus

On BBC1 this Christmas they had a short animated movie called "The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse" based on the illustrated book of the same name.

I really liked the style of animation they used for this - it felt very much like illustrations come to life. Similar somewhat in that regard to other classic Christmas animated adaptations such as The Snowman....

If they could do this sort of animation for Narnia, but in the Pauline Baynes style, I'd be very happy.

I've just recently watched this film (it's only just over 30 minutes long) and can highly recommend it, if it's available on any streaming services outside the UK (I should think it will be) — it's just incredibly beautiful, both the animation and the message. Very simple and pure and suitable for all ages and all shades of belief or non-belief! (As an interesting aside, just last week when I was in London for a couple of days, I was walking past one of the Anglican churches, Holy Trinity Brompton, and there was a sculpture there that really moved me — the father holding the prodigal son in his arms. The sculptor was Charlie Mackesy, whose name I recognised at once as the author and illustrator of the original book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, and now co-animator of this film adaptation!)

Moving back towards the main topic, I just loved seeing a new animated film done in a traditional hand-drawn style — I'm sure it's "realised" digitally to some extent, but still all based on hand-drawn artwork — after a couple of decades of increasingly same-y CGI dominating the industry. I would LOVE to see the Chronicles of Narnia animated in that kind of style too, if only a production team had the heart and the guts and the vision and the talent to do it. (Why do I suspect Netflix wouldn't?? )

Of course we've already had one animated adaptation of Narnia — LWW in the late 1970s — which was very sweet, though the animation style looks a bit dated now (I can't help thinking they made Aslan look something like one of the Voltron robot lions with a big '70s hairdo ). Basing a new version on Pauline Baynes' style would be a lovely idea, although I would guess most studios would probably decide that wouldn't look modern / cool / edgy enough. But we can always hope...

I do think (and I may have said this before) that a fully animated adaptation of Narnia would be a brilliant idea. It means finding the right team of artists and animators, of course, but then there are no major practical restrictions on what can be done, no need to find filming locations or props or costumes, no worries about finding actors who look the part — just getting the voices right... gosh, it could be fantastic. Will anyone ever have, as I said, the vision and the courage to do that? Should we maybe hope that Netflix's vague plans will fall through — I still really don't trust them — and, maybe after the copyright on the books expires in late 2033 (if I'm right there — 70 years after the author's death), someone with their heart in the right place might take this up? Well, I can dream, can't I...  

Posted by: @courtenay

Interesting that the Pixar-ified version of Susan is blonde, while the others are all obviously taken pretty directly from the Walden films. What always bugs me a bit, though, is that every adaptation except the late 1970s animation of LWW has got the Pevensie sisters' hair wrong (and actually, so did Pauline Baynes in all her drawings of Lucy). Lewis only mentions it a handful of times throughout the series, but in the books, Susan has black hair and Lucy has golden hair. It's only a minor point, really, but it's still a bit of unarguable canon that constantly gets ignored!!  

I think Susan was portrayed as a blonde in the BBC series as well. At least they kept true to her character. Even when CS Lewis gives a physical description of the character, you still kind of have to use your own imagination. I think what really counts is the character is portrayed right in personality wise, not so much how they're described physically in the books.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

I think Susan was portrayed as a blonde in the BBC series as well.

Yes, she was (by Sophie Cook).

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

I think what really counts is the character is portrayed right in personality wise, not so much how they're described physically in the books.

Oh, I agree, and for live-action films I'm not really so fussed about whether the actors look physically like the characters as described in the books — as you say, what matters is whether they can convey that character's nature convincingly. It's just that in animation (and in artwork), there are no such limitations, so artists who draw Lucy with dark hair or Susan with blonde hair are merely demonstrating that they haven't read the books very carefully!!  

As far as Disney goes, I can't see a CGI Narnia any more than I could see a CGI New Testament. Though some of their recent hand-drawn animation is lovely, like The Frog Princess, Disney's pacing has become too frantic for my taste.

I think Don Bluth would be perfect. 

The old fashioned way is better for Narnia.  I think it is probably better to use something dated or looks old fashioned for making any new series about Narnia.  If it is tastefully done and makes it look classic like it was made in the time and place that the book are set then it will be done right. The world of Narnia is like a medieval fairy tale in our world.  The CGI would probably not be able do this as well as some older type of animation unless it was only used for talking animals as in the first Walden movie. If Narnia becomes “retro” I think it is better and closer to what Lewis intended it to be.

@courtenay who knows what may happen, from the Estate and the publishers.

I don't have much to add to this discussion but I think I'd be disappointed if we heard Narnia was headed for animation. I love animated movies but Narnia has always been 'live-action' in my imagination.

Posted by: @icarus

If they could do this sort of animation for Narnia, but in the Pauline Baynes style, I'd be very happy.

Simply stunning! There's so much charm & delight with that visual style. Maybe a distinctly Pauline Baynes version could convince me... 🤔 

I liked the Rankin Bass of the LOTR cartoons but I'm probably in the minority on that.