The problem with a spin-off movie or TV series is that the new stories would probably be very conjectural. There is more chance of a departure from what Lewis wrote than if the creators of the film or series had simply followed the plots of something that the author already created. It might not be such a good thing if it is something in Narnia that never could have happened in the time period of the books. In any event it is better if the stories of all seven books are adapted first with reasonable accuracy than to create new stories that Lewis never intended. I think that at least shows respect for the source material, which is the most important. 

@narnian78 

Perhaps, instead of a spin-off movie or series, there could be some kind of Easter egg or reference.

In Archenland, there could be a painting or carving of Olvin fighting the giant Pire, perhaps nearby Mount Pire.

Even in the Lone Islands, there could be a painting or carving of King Gale fighting the dragon. In VDT, Caspian asked if Peter conquered the Lone Islands and Edmund explains that the Lone Islands belonged to Narnia long before their time. But CS Lewis didn't go into detail on how it happened.

@jasmine_tarkheena

Yes, there are parts of the books that could be elaborated or explored in more detail. And it would be impossible to have everything exactly the same in the adaptation as in the original. Lewis didn’t have the time or space to tell all of the adventures of King Edmund or King Caspian aboard the Dawn Treader.  But I am not sure if they should be told by another author or a movie maker since Lewis created the characters and original stories.  They can be turned into something else that Lewis never intended.  There is more of a chance of that if new adventures are invented.  So I think it is much better to be faithful to the books whenever possible in all of the adaptations.

I certainly agree that I would want to see Netflix do all 7 books faithfully before I would trust them to do any spin offs. And by faithfully I don't necessarily mean follow the plot of the books slavishly in every detail, but rather be faithful to the spirit of the original. The first Walden film stuck quite closely to the plot of LWW but I felt it went against it's spirit far too much. For me the first red light was when Father Christmas said it was the hope the Pevensies brought that had weakened the witch's power, rather than Aslan being on the move, and it just got worse from that point on. 

Given what they did to the Ann of Green Gables franchise I have little hope Netflix will be any better.

Posted by: @hermit

And by faithfully I don't necessarily mean follow the plot of the books slavishly in every detail, but rather be faithful to the spirit of the original. The first Walden film stuck quite closely to the plot of LWW but I felt it went against it's spirit far too much. For me the first red light was when Father Christmas said it was the hope the Pevensies brought that had weakened the witch's power, rather than Aslan being on the move, and it just got worse from that point on. 

Oh good, I'm not the only one who feels exactly that way!! I'd forgotten that particular detail, but you're spot-on right. I'm pretty sure there were other aspects of that and the later films that also weakened the sense of Aslan as Saviour and tried to give more power and agency to the Pevensies, which of course is more in line with what film-makers want and audiences expect — strong, "relatable" human characters who save the day (and the world) by their own heroism — but that goes against the whole point of what Lewis was trying to say in LWW and all the Chronicles...

That's actually the main reason why I would cringe to the guts at, and probably refuse to even try watching, any Narnia spin-off series or movies apart from direct adaptations of the original seven books. I can't imagine any writer other than Lewis getting Aslan "right", so to speak. They'd either have to leave him out of the new films altogether — which to me would definitely make them not real Narnia stories (and again, would lose the whole point of the stories) — or else some modern scriptwriter would have to come up with their own concept of (to paraphrase Lewis loosely) what it might be like if the same Saviour who came to our world, came to another world that needed saving. I just cannot see that happening.

I think a lot of us are concerned about how faithful a Narnia adaptation would be. However, I think everyone has their own meaning of a faithful adaptation. For me, I want a faithful adaptation, but still acknowledges the need to make some changes.

Changes are usually 1 on 1 or misses, especially in Narnia adaptations. For instance, in the Walden, I thought some of the changes in LWW and PC were really well done (though I could have done without the melting river scene and the Caspian and Susan romance); I thought a lot of the changes in VDT were totally wrong.

I think the reason that LWW was the first successful in the Walden franchise because it didn't stray the plot too far from the book. I think some would agree that not straying too far from the book still counts for something.

A faithful adaptation would be idea. It would make me feel a lot better if Douglas Gresham has some kind of involvement with the production. But then, who knows? I think filmmakers would at least have to go to the Estate for ideas, suggestions and warnings.

Posted by: @courtenay

 

 

That's actually the main reason why I would cringe to the guts at, and probably refuse to even try watching, any Narnia spin-off series or movies apart from direct adaptations of the original seven books. I can't imagine any writer other than Lewis getting Aslan "right", so to speak. They'd either have to leave him out of the new films altogether — which to me would definitely make them not real Narnia stories (and again, would lose the whole point of the stories) — or else some modern scriptwriter would have to come up with their own concept of (to paraphrase Lewis loosely) what it might be like if the same Saviour who came to our world, came to another world that needed saving. I just cannot see that happening.

I can't either really. It actually shouldn't be that difficult to make spin offs that are faithful to the spirit of the original; all a writer needs to do is get his head around Lewis's world view, which is pretty much an orthodox Christian one. But that seems to be more or less impossible these days. I don't think it was always that way. My favourite Narnia adaptions are the BBC Radio dramas, which are very faithful to the spirit of the books, bur I fear those days are long gone. 30 years ago I would have (cautiously) trusted the BBC to make Narnia spin offs. Now I wouldn't and I don't trust Netflix either.

 

Holiday Special animated short about the guinea pig's adventures please.

I would watch this a billion times should it be made  

I also want to see a spin-off film about Reepicheep and his many adventures before meeting Caspian.

@queencrunchytheweeb I could list a few adventures that could each make a picture book, if not a spin-off series. 😆 
I would have it narrated by the guinea pig himself.
Starts with his early life in a late Victorian pet shop in London, and being carried in a basket to his new home (Ketterley's house). Next is the adventure of travelling by ring, and finding himself in beautiful green grass. 
After that each person/creature/group arriving has a new interest for the little chap. Each episode has him saying that his mother was right, and if you look around you there is always something new to see and learn about.

Sorry, it was just too tempting!

I would think that perhaps instead of an spin-off series, some of the things that CS Lewis only hinted at in the books could be expanded on or flesh out some. The Chronicles of Narnia are short books, and there's so much you could do with them for movies or TV series.

For instance, there's so much you could do with the guinea pig in a movie or TV series. We don't even know if the guinea pig stayed in the Wood Between The Worlds the whole time or went into Narnia when it was newly created, and was given the gift of speech (it's possible there could have been talking guinea pigs in Narnia).

@jasmine_tarkheena There certainly could be talking guinea pigs in Narnia. But I see no reason to assume it went to Narnia. C. S. Lewis certainly would have mentioned it if it had been touching when one of the "magnets" when Strawberry drank from the pool and it seemed perfectly happy to remain in the Wood Between the Worlds.

@col-klink 

True. As I was saying, there's so much you can do with a short book for a movie or TV series.

A movie could do so much with the deep friendship of Tirian and Jewel in The Last Battle. The book mentions that they "loved each other like brothers and each have saved the other's life's in the wars." A movie or series could show a glimpse of how they saved one another's lives in the wars. I don't know if I ever seen deep friendship really elaborated on in movies, especially in Hollywood. A fairly recently TV series, Sherlock, elaborated on the deep friendship of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. And that's a commercially successful TV series. So deep friendship that is only hinted at in the book could be explored on a bit more in a movie or TV series.