There is no denying that Walden's VODT is a bit of a mess. Yes there were a tonne of behind-the-scenes factors in the pre-production stage which led to it being a mess, but it's a mess none-the-less.

That said, it's probably all to easy to just say "don't do this" and "don't do that" because the film's narrative flaws are so evident for all to see. It's very much like beating a dead horse at this stage.

Therefore i think it would be more interesting and more constructive to look at the things they were trying to accomplish with the changes they made, and suggest how they could do that in better ways.

For example, I think the key drivers behind making the changes they did were for the following reasons:

• Provide a greater sense of urgency to the quest (i.e the Green Mist)

• Provide greater connective tissue to link the various elements of the plot (i.e. The seven swords)

• Add more personal stakes to heighten the drama (i.e. Gael)

• To fit the whole thing into a 3 act movie structure.

I'm not sure I have a perfect answer to all those points right now (other than the obvious answer to number 4) but as a starter I would recommend watching the movie The Green Knight starring Dev Patel.

Its a very odd movie, but one that doesn't shy away from the inconventional nature of its storytelling, which is far more about exploring the nature of Chivalric virtue than it is about necessarily telling a story.

Like VOTD it is highly episodic, however rather than attempt to link those elements with an extrinsic plot point, it does so with an intrinsic character motivation. It's hard to explain, but if you see the movie I hope would see the parallels.

It's definitely not one for everyone (it's somewhat ponderous in nature), but worth a viewing in my opinion if you want to see how a story with all the same "flaws" as VODT can be executed well on screen.

@icarus Walden's VDT is a flawed movie, yes. Yet, of course, no adaption is perfect.

I think another reason for the Green Mist was that the book doesn't have a clear-cut villain (unless you count Governor Gumpas and Pug as villains, though I think they were just minor bad guys). I think that's what makes the book stands out from the rest of the series. Each of the characters struggle within themselves (Caspian with being the richest king, like where the pond turns things to gold; Edmund struggles with the same thing; Lucy wanting to be beautiful like Susan; Eustace wanting to keep treasure all to himself).

I think the Walden version was also trying to give them character arcs too.  Caspian wanted to prove himself a worthy successor to his father and wondered if he was at all like him; Edmund was finally out of Peter's shadow...how would he handle it? and Lucy wanted to be popular like Susan.  I truly liked the Caspian arc if it wasn't handled the best but Edmund and Lucy definitely felt out of character.  At this point, both Edmund and Lucy would be confident in their roles as Narnian kings and queens (once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen).  The power struggle occasionally seen between Caspian and Edmund in the film would never have happened in the books as Caspian would always have given way to Edmund and Edmund would respect that Caspian is the current king so would never demand his way while knowing he wasn't under Caspian's authority.  Lucy definitely had some jealousy of Susan and her looks in the book but the book made it clear that it was a darkness within Lucy herself.  She didn't want to BE Susan.  She wanted to be BETTER than Susan.  The movie made the lesson about her not liking herself enough.  It felt cheesy and flat. I am not sure how that sort of character arc could really be made into the full length of the movie.

I do like using the idea of their character growths to connect the adventures more than an overarching plot.   Eustace would seem to be the obvious choice of main character growth.  I thought the Walden version made the sensible decision to de-dragon him closer towards the end.  He kind of 'disappears' off the page afterward and other than fighting the serpent you don't see much of him.  I tend to forget about him.  Or, if they keep the change in the middle, I would like to see him grow into his role as successor to the Pevensies.

As part of a TV series, I think the screenwriters could take the break for a more episodic story.  It would change up the pace.  A theatrical release sort of demanded a more coherent plot, I suppose.

I admit that Walden's Voyage of the Dawn Treader is not perfect. I like the movie fine, but it's not like, "This is my favorite movie ever!" No, but there is still impressive things about it.

1. The transition from Earth to Narnia- this is usually a hard thing to do in movies. I thought it was creative that they had the water gushed out of the painting, and the bedroom was flooded.

2. The design of the Dawn Treader- I really like the design.

3. Tension between Caspian and Edmund- while it's different than in the book, I actually like the tension between those two in the scene where they're at the pond that turns things into gold. It almost got physical, but it was emotional as well.

4. The credits with the Illustration of Pauline Baynes- It was nice to see the drawings from the original books in the credits. Maybe Netflix can do that in all of the Narnia movies.

So here are the problems I had with it-

1. The green mist- I'm sure you saw this coming. It's too cliche to say, but I think we can all agree that the green mist is the main issue in the movie. It was intended to a set up for the Lady of the Green Kirtle in The Silver Chair. It like came out of nowhere. So Netflix, no green mist! What makes the book stand out from the other books is that each of the characters struggle within themselves, showing that these are human characters.

2. The pacing- It felt a bit rushed. It's like, "We need to find the seven swords fast to fight the green mist." It is one of the problems I have with the movie.

3. The message- Oh, I've liked the message, and I could kind of see what was trying to get across. However, it felt like I left me wondering, "What was that about?"

4. The plot- They've really botched the plot from the original source. It's not some epic quest about life and death; it's an emotional journey for the readers. They are obstacles they have to overcome.

So there a lot of improvements Netflix could do. There is way to add tension without being just physical. Now I understand it wouldn't translate well to screen, but there is way to add tension without action. There could still be tension between Caspian and Gumpas on the Lone Islands, but there doesn't have to be a fight scene. There could also be tension between Caspian and Edmund where the pond is turning things to gold, about who should have more power.

@jasmine_tarkheena the Green Mist is explained by the director Michael Apted in his commentary as what you say - the need for a villain. But who said there has to be a villain in a film? Its not a clichéd Disney movie. Sadly it became one, even though not released by Disney. Mr Apted also thought that the next film was to have a lot of kidnapped Narnians living underground. He had clearly NOT read it, and I would not have wanted him to direct SC for Walden.

Producer Douglas Gresham said in an interview that he had suggested some little signal (visual or sound) every time a character was facing temptation. He was horrified what they came up with. Poor man, having to feel slightly responsible for it!

It was also clear that they were planning how to mangle,  I mean make,  the next film, and insist on its being linked by the Green thing. 

Posted by: @coracle

@jasmine_tarkheena the Green Mist is explained by the director Michael Apted in his commentary as what you say - the need for a villain. But who said there has to be a villain in a film? Its not a clichéd Disney movie. Sadly it became one, even though not released by Disney. Mr Apted also thought that the next film was to have a lot of kidnapped Narnians living underground. He had clearly NOT read it, and I would not have wanted him to direct SC for Walden.

It might have explained why the franchise from Walden died after Voyage of the Dawn Treader didn't fare well as fans were hoping. It's true that 20th Century Fox adapted it, but now Disney owns that company. Hopefully Netflix doesn't tie the Green Mist to the Green Lady in The Silver Chair or even when Tash is coming into Narnia in The Last Battle.

Posted by: @coracle

It was also clear that they were planning how to mangle,  I mean make,  the next film, and insist on its being linked by the Green thing. 

Not only that, but it also felt like Walden was trending in the direction of setting the White Witch up to become Lady of the Green Kirtle, like they're the same person. They're not, despite all the speculations. We certainly don't want Netflix to do that, whichever actress they get to portray the White Witch.

I want to see casting of WW/Jadis very different looking from LOtGK.

After what I described above, Walden never got to adapt anything further for the C.S.Lewis Estate.

They thought they were just waiting to renew their deal, but the Estate said there would be no renewal. And there wasn't. It just expired, and the Estate waited the usual seven years before another company could produce another film in the franchise.

Posted by: @coracle

I want to see casting of WW/Jadis very different looking from LOtGK.

As they should be. The Green Lady needs to be her own villain, as every villain needs to be his or her own villain. The Silver Chair even addresses-

"Those Northern witches have always meant for the same thing. But in every age, they each have their own way of getting it."

Though I don't know if that is actually just talking about those two witches or could they be referring to other Northern witches. There could be other ones that we don't know about.

I was very sad how messy VDT's adaptation was. Certainly the green mist, to me, was the biggest culprit, and at some point it felt like the writers weren't even sure what they were doing with their additions. At least with some of the add-ons in Prince Caspian, they made it make sense to the narrative and (in my opinion) did some neat things in there for the most part. And despite how much I gripe about the mist, if they actually knew what they were doing with it, I wouldn't have hated it so much lol. I also thought the seven swords being the only thing to destroy it was silly and is undermining to the story as a whole.

But what can they improve? Well...

- If they were going for anything similar to the mist, instead of it being the focus, it should've been extremely mysterious, like showing up when there was temptation, and alluding to Dark Island's existence. I think it was focused on too heavily, especially the whole "sacrifice" thing. But if they had made it a more mysterious entity, shown very little, it might've been a pretty cool addition. 

- Show that glimpse of Aslan, like in the book, when Caspian and Edmund were at the pool that turned to gold. This little detail I feel was very important because Aslan felt strangely absent in this film. Just little hints of him here and there are very profound and powerful.

- Chemistry between Caspian and the star's daughter. Their scene was too short! Even when I read their conversation in the book I felt a chemistry, so when in The Silver Chair I was like "oh it makes sense he married her!". The film, their small little hint was just not enough. 

- Show Ramandu.

- Please mention about Coriakin being an ex-star. We don't need to know why he was stripped of that position, but a mere mention I think would add some intrigue. 

- I didn't mind Eustace being a dragon longer than the book, but I also felt the film dragged it out a little too long. So definitely do not drag out dragon Eustace, and when Aslan turns him back, do it at the point of the film it doesn't feel like an after thought. It's a very powerful scene when he's turned back. 

- Having the sea serpent battle near the climax could've been OK, if they did it right, and not have it happen at Dark Island, because again it's just connecting to the whole mist thing again too much! If it was a separate obstacle, like one of the final things they face before reaching the end of the world, it would've been fine... because honestly, the battle did look pretty cool, it was just poorly placed. 

And some of my no's:

- No additional characters on the ship. The new characters felt so tacked on and barely added anything to the story, and again, put too much focus on the mist!

- No seven swords to defeat some great evil at the end, or anything similar. This is simply an adventure story. With random troubles along the way! It's not like their journey was easy, they had perils, and unique perils depending on the island. 

With that said above, I do want to list what I did like, as whilst a later adaptation can learn from this film's mistakes, it should ALSO learn from what it did right! So, what did VDT do right?

- Eustace's personality! He was so spot on and wonderfully cast! I loved all his dialogue, he is such a little brat. He NAILED this role! I also loved how his friendship with Reepicheep developed (when he comforts dragon Eustace, it was so sweet) and by the end of the film, he became a better person, my eyes actually teared up when he wrote his ending log that when his cousins left, he missed them with all his heart.

- The entrance into the painting! I absolutely loved how they visualized entering the painting, it was spectacular and just so perfect!

- The Dawn Treader's design. *chef's kiss*

- Lucy's inner struggle with her self-worth, namely her looks. Originally I was a little "ehh" how this was handled in the film, with her wanting to look like Susan and basically become her, but over time I grew to appreciate what they did here, and whilst the whole thing could use some improvements and stand to do more like the book instead, what I did appreciate is when she ripped the page out and you hear Aslan's roar and he calls out her name, or when she realized she wished herself away and she's on the verge of tears when she sees Aslan speaking to her in the mirror. That really was a beautiful scene! Yes, it could use improvements overall, but the bits with Aslan were perfect.

- World's end. Reepicheep sailing away, leaving his sword behind. And best of all.... KEEPING IN MY FAVORITE LINE FROM THE BOOK! When Aslan said "In your world, I have another name" I gasped with delight because I was sure they would cut that line, but to my delight, for as messy as this movie was, one of the most important scenes were kept! This is why I cannot hate this movie, this scene alone redeemed a lot!

That's all at the top of my head. I feel like the VDT movie had so much potential, but by the introduction of the mist it began to fall apart, only stitching itself back together by the end. It had a very strong start and a wonderful end, it's only the middle that's sort of all over the place. Also the music.... was generic... I wish they had the same composer from the last two. But despite its flaws, there's still a lot I DO like about it I can't find myself completely hating it. There are good things in there, so whilst Netflix should learn to avoid its pitfalls, they should ALSO learn from all of its highs and take notes on what DID work! ^^

So I would say that Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie was more of a hit-miss, compared to The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Okay, they're not perfect either, don't want to be dismissive.

I think having additional characters is fine. It's mostly a human crew, except for Reepicheep. I think it's more interesting where it's a human crew looking for land out on the open water. It kind of makes it unique.

I was sad that they had to cut out Ramandu. Hopefully Netflix could find a way to include him.

I would also like for Caspian and Ramandu's daughter to take their time to get to know one another. One of the problems of romance in Hollywood is that it's often love at first sight. It's like, they run off and get married. They shouldn't rushed their relationship. The relationship could be taken on the levels of Beauty and the Beast, where they do it all without letting us know how long Belle and the Beast are together. So it would be great if Netflix could do something like that.

And with listening to Focus on the Family’s adaptation again, I was amazed at how good the audio version of Dawn Treader is.  In fact it seems like the book would be best adapted for the visual media,  but the radio drama was better in capturing the story.  So you wonder if a new TV series would be any better. They could probably make it at least almost as good if they follow the example of the audio version in its faithfulness and translate that into the visual media. Actually, the visuals of the Dawn Treader movie were quite good, and so was the acting. The issues with the movie were with the story adaptation (please don’t omit Ramandu and don’t have the green mist), which is something that hopefully the Netflix series will get right.

@narnian78 I find I have to check back in the books, to be sure I haven't taken FotF for canon. I listen to it frequently. 

It was once said in the mid 20th century that radio drama was better than TV, because the pictures were better! They meant, of course,  that a good audio helps the audience create great pictures in their mind.

Sorry this is wandering off topic!

I hope that Netflix will give us the sort of visuals we have created in our minds.

@coracle 

Even though it might not be an exact adaptation Focus on the Family comes pretty close.  It is better than the Walden films and even closer to the original books than the BBC version. I notice this every time I listen to it.  An adaptation is usually not completely according to canon, although it can be made so that it is reasonably close.  I would be surprised if Netflix did a better job in adapting the books.   Of course we don’t yet how good the series will be. I have talked to some people who say they don’t like audiobooks because there is no picture like a TV or movie screen. I tell them to just listen to the dramas and form a picture in your mind.  🙂

@narnian78 In the Focus on the Family Radio Drama, they did change where Caspian and his men are having a procession at Narrowhaven. They added where Governor Gumpas was talking to his secretary in his office.

I think both BBC and Walden struggled with depicting the Dark Island. In BBC, it was gray mist and in Walden, it was green mist. It could be good opportunity for sound design in Netflix's version. It could be a hint of something, like a total darkness all around. It can be a very creepy moment.