Interesting topic. Hopefully I understand.

I think Lucy's reaction to Narnia is based on her charactor. She is obviously excited about it and amazed, yet she believes in it fully.

Compare her first visit to Edmund's first time. The music is totally different. You just have a gut feeling that something, some how is not going to go right. Narnia is full of fog. Very mysterious.

But I think Adamson is trying to get us to see Narnia as the children do. Lucy sees it, as you said, as a magical wonderland. Yet, for the audience, Narnia is very real and believeable. To Edmund, Narnia is a lot more mysterious. And we all felt that when he falls into the snow and is tramping around the lamp post in the fog.

If the Pevensie's think Narnia is an escape, they find out very soon that it is not, when they arrive at Mr. Tumnus's house and it is totally destoryed. That's when Susan wants to go home etc. That's when they find out that Narnia has plenty of problems, too. We get the feeling that Narnia is dark (and I'm not afraid to say it, either) during the winter when we see how Mr. Beaver doesn't want to talk in the open, the fact that a faun might possibly kidnap a little girl, the statues at the end of Mr. Beaver's tunnel, Edmund at the Witch's castle etc. I think there is plenty of reason to believe that Narnia is in desperate, dark times without making Lucy's first trip too mysterious. It is a little mysterious as it is- a strange lamp post and then her meeting with Mr. Tumnus- she is genuinely *sorry about spelling* afraid at first!

One thing that Adamson says when talking about Narnia on the special features disc of LWW, is that he wanted Narnia to be a really place that the childern would go to- real and believeable- not that it was just an imaginary place in their head. I think he really achieved that.

Sorry this post goes all over the place!

Interesting topic. Hopefully I understand.

I think Lucy's reaction to Narnia is based on her charactor. She is obviously excited about it and amazed, yet she believes in it fully.

Compare her first visit to Edmund's first time. The music is totally different. You just have a gut feeling that something, some how is not going to go right. Narnia is full of fog. Very mysterious.

But I think Adamson is trying to get us to see Narnia as the children do. Lucy sees it, as you said, as a magical wonderland. Yet, for the audience, Narnia is very real and believeable. To Edmund, Narnia is a lot more mysterious. And we all felt that when he falls into the snow and is tramping around the lamp post in the fog.

If the Pevensie's think Narnia is an escape, they find out very soon that it is not, when they arrive at Mr. Tumnus's house and it is totally destoryed. That's when Susan wants to go home etc. That's when they find out that Narnia has plenty of problems, too. We get the feeling that Narnia is dark (and I'm not afraid to say it, either) during the winter when we see how Mr. Beaver doesn't want to talk in the open, the fact that a faun might possibly kidnap a little girl, the statues at the end of Mr. Beaver's tunnel, Edmund at the Witch's castle etc. I think there is plenty of reason to believe that Narnia is in desperate, dark times without making Lucy's first trip too mysterious. It is a little mysterious as it is- a strange lamp post and then her meeting with Mr. Tumnus- she is genuinely *sorry about spelling* afraid at first!

One thing that Adamson says when talking about Narnia on the special features disc of LWW, is that he wanted Narnia to be a really place that the childern would go to- real and believeable- not that it was just an imaginary place in their head. I think he really achieved that.

Sorry this post goes all over the place!

I even agree. Narnia is something between an escape and the world in desperate. I really know that they are in Narnia always when someone needs them. But in SC it's a real problem. If you read it, you know that they must hurry. When in LWW they learn that there are some creatures about what they read in books, they understood what that means. I always wonder how are called those one-eye creatures in LWW film, you know, they carry White Witch's chair...

to me, the beginning of LWW was just right. Lucy is a young innocent girl who stumbles through the wardrobe and finds herself in a magical land. she isn't aware at first of the impending danger. she knows nothing of this until Tumnus tells her. but to her, everything's black and white. bad is good, good is bad. I'm sure every kid experiences some of that sometime in his/her early years. so when Tumnus, who had become her friend, admits to taking her in so he can turn her over to the White Witch, everything gets dark from there. Lucy learns that the trees might be her enemies. she is told that she's not safe in this newly discovered world. evil is afoot. I've never had the impression that the beginning was too cheery. as it is, once Lucy knows evil has the upper hand in Narnia, the tension builds from there.

just my two cents

(Ok, soooo I'm somewhat confused by the title thread, but that's ok, I'll just spew out random comments hopefully related to the topic we're going for )

Anyways, I think that when Lucy steps into the wardrobe it's basically the whole "child-like wonder" thing... some of the first narnian shots are from lucy's perspective. It's not until she falls asleep in Tumnus' house that we really realize that the place is dangerous and it becomes less of an escape from the saftey (and boredom) of being in the country and the homesick-ness of leaving london

Lucy is natural. Her perspective is childish (the war is the first dangerous event in her life) and that's why her first thought is that it's nice place. Edmund, who started going wrong, understands that he can't feel safe. But it's foreign to him, so he quickly changes his mind. Susan is logic, so she's not so sure. And Peter can't believe first time. For Peter and Lucy it's the real escape. In all versions it's seen. On http://www.youtube.com there is a video "Three Different Narnias" which presents the same scenes in different versions. (LWW was filmed 4 times, but one has only 2 episodes right now and isn't avaiable for buy, but other versions are) But even they understand what goes on when it's time for fight. That's why Narnia is mysterious in feelings.

It is and it isn't. Narnia is an escape because it's different; it's new. It's not like our world. I do think Adamson took this to an extreme in PC with the Pevensies missing Narnia so much that Peter acts bratty about it. "It's been a year! How long does he expect us to wait?"

At the same time though, Narnia isn't an escape. It's a dangerous place--it's not safe. But even though all of the movies have at least one epic battle sequence I feel like Narnia is presented as safer for the kids than our world. They feel more...what's the word I'm looking for? Secure? Safe? In the movies the children are so attached to Narnia that they can't bear to leave and they hate their time in our world.

Yes, in the books the children are attached to Narnia. And yes, it is hard for them to leave their friends and Aslan. But they don't despise their time away from Narnia either.

As for Adamson's interpretation of Lucy's first venture into Narnia, I don't think he got it quite right either. Lucy's wonder and excitement is perfect (it's a wood in a wardrobe! Who wouldn't be excited?), but I do agree there's not quite enough danger to it. When I first saw the movie I really liked that scene, but then I remembered that in the book when Lucy arrives it's already dark, the sun has set. By changing it from evening to afternoon the entire tone of the scene changes.

I agree with Libby that the entrance to Narnia in LWW was done well. When I read the book, there is a sense of mystery more so than in the movie but I feel the innocence stronger than the mystery. It's surprising that Tumnus is planning on betraying Lucy.

Narnia is not an escape for the readers or the characters. It's true that there is joy and euphoria to be found there that can be be felt more clearly there than can sonetimes be felt in the real world. However it is all based on truth. Narnia isn't a sedative, it brings the kids (and the reader) face to face with truth. Eustace came face to face with the fact that he was a bad person by coming to Narnia and turning into a dragon. For the reader, it's similar. For me personally, Narnia made me come to grips with truths I didn't want to think about. This truth is presented in an accesssible way. As a child you would rather learn from the magnificent lion Aslan than from jaded adults or false conceptions of God.

So in sense I guess Narnia could be considered a sort of escape. It's an escape from 'the watchful dragons' that keep people from truth.

Evelyn, I think your post pretty much sums up my feelings of the beginning of the LWW. I think that while Narnia is indeed a dangerous place when Lucy first enters we don't get that sense in the film because we are seeing it through Lucy's eyes and to her its a wonderful magical place. I actually think that by making Narnia seem like a "wonderland" when Lucy first enters the wardrobe actually
strengthens the overall impact when she finds out that Tummas was supposed to kidnapp her. The darkness of the faun's house when Lucy wakes up (as opposed to the comparitive light used up until then) allows the audience to almost feel the same "shock" Lucy does when we discover that Tummas was going to kidnapp her.

So yes, the opening moments are seen through Lucy's eyes and as such are quite "light and airy" with a hint of underlying danger. As the film progresses it becomes darker with the arrival of Edmund, the beavers and their emphasis on talking inside in case the trees hear and so forth. It's a case of thinking everything is lovely when you first enter a place and then gradually finding out that it is in fact a really dangerous place full of spies and of course the White Witch.

Narnia is not an escape for the readers or the characters. It's true that there is joy and euphoria to be found there that can be be felt more clearly there than can sonetimes be felt in the real world. However it is all based on truth. Narnia isn't a sedative, it brings the kids (and the reader) face to face with truth. Eustace came face to face with the fact that he was a bad person by coming to Narnia and turning into a dragon. For the reader, it's similar. For me personally, Narnia made me come to grips with truths I didn't want to think about. This truth is presented in an accesssible way. As a child you would rather learn from the magnificent lion Aslan than from jaded adults or false conceptions of God.

My thoughts exactly!

I have been giving a lot of thought to Andrew Adamson's take on what Narnia means to the Pevensies.....Just some thoughts. Is the point of this thread clear?

Aww...I had hoped the question you were asking was "is Narnia an escape for its readers and viewers?" But I'll play with your meaning of the subject line.

I think LWW had a good mix of light and dark. I thought it was pretty dark up to the point the snow melted...you had the eerie uncomfortable feeling when Lucy fell asleep in Tumnus' house, the mystery and slight creepiness of Edmund being taken in by the White Witch (in a way sort of "kidnapped"), the wolf chase....I thought the lighting gave an appropriately ominous feeling and feeling of impending danger all the way through up until when the snow did start to thaw and Harry Gregson-Williams' great music showed us all that it was spring....with Lucy waving to her Mum in silhouette blossoms (great effect BTW).

Hmm... good point about the darkness level gP, I see what you mean. As for it being an escape for the Pensevies, I'd have to say... kinda. It's not necessarily an escape from danger or a troubling situation, but an escape from being unable to do something about it. After all in England WWII is going on but all they can do is hide in Professor Kirke's house, whereas in Narnia they can help to defeat the WW. (I hope that all made sense)

If we're talking about the Narnia of the LWW and PC movies, then I would say no. VDT, I honestly never felt the danger there. It felt safer than even the book did. But LWW definitely had some darkness to it. Like pretty much everyone else is saying, it does feel all sparkly and happyfuntime when Lucy first travels there, but it does have some pretty severe mood shifts once Lucy falls asleep and then again when they all come into Narnia together. And any scene with Jadis in the first two movies felt dangerous.

I have been giving a lot of thought to Andrew Adamson's take on what Narnia means to the Pevensies.

In LWW, the real world has very muted colors, but then the saturation opens up when Lucy steps through the wardrobe. The feeling Adamson seems to have been going for with Lucy's first adventure was "wow! what an awesome magical wonderland!" I think it was supposed to feel like an escape from a difficult situation in the real world.

That's a valid interpretation of the book. But it's not quite my interpretation. (That pretty much sums up my feelings on the whole film as an adaptation actually)

I half agree with Adamson. I think the post-winter Narnia is an escape from the real world. But I don't think the winter-Narnia is. I think a --dare I use the word "darker"-- tone should have been maintained until the snow started to melt. I think Lucy's first adventure should have had a more ominous feel to it. Exciting? Sure. But the over-riding feeling should have been mysterious. Narnia is in a really dark (yeah that's right, I used it twice!) situation during the winter. I don't think that quite came through as powerfully as it should.

Just some thoughts. Is the point of this thread clear?

I know what you are saying about LWW, but are you referring only to LWW? In any case I disagree quite a bit if it is only LWW you are referring to. One thing that I applaud Andrew Adamson for was his references to World War Two. As far as I can see, no other version of LWW did this, except for a stage play I once saw at Sydney's Star City Lyceum. Even the audio versions do not emphasize this bit as they should, as far as I know. This was a time when London, itself, was sure to be under attack and the British Government took the precaution of evacuating young children for their own safety.

The trouble with this picture is that were such children really all that safe? What sort of people were their new carers, for example? And who is going to save such children from themselves or their siblings? And in depicting LWW did Andrew Adamson really need to ramp up any danger?

When Lucy and her siblings were sent to the Professor's house, it was in itself an escape from very real, real life danger. Lucy, of course, was the most vulnerable child there, being the youngest, and so the story is told through her eyes. Lucy has an older sister who likes to see herself as a grown-up lady and who is more dismissive than caring of her younger sister. Edmund thinks Lucy is someone to make fun of whilst Peter, who has a conscience about his younger siblings, also has his own uncertainties.

Quite frankly I think the version we saw was quite good enough. I loved Lucy's entry into Narnia which gave me goosebumps. Mr Tumnus was done masterfully, showing just how vulnerable Lucy was, however wonderful Narnia was. Seeing the first speaking animal - I think it was the Beavers - was another spine-tingling point. And I was quite happy with the rest of that interpretation of LWW.

On the other hand, having spent my life with 'the hot gold hush of noon', I have no problems with what you see as darkness in LWW. All that part of the world, ie, anywhere above 35 degrees North, is overly dark in winter, whatever the time of day. In fact I wonder if you know at that time of year, exactly what decent daylight is, given the miserable sort of temperatures they get in UK in midsummer.

Besides, I don't think Narnia was ever a legitimate 'escape', especially if it refers to the series as a whole. I know that Shasta was escaping from slavery in HHB, but he was already in the world called 'Narnia', and whilst he could escape from Calormen, it still led to a different kind of service elsewhere. I know also that in SC, Eustace and Jill are attempting to escape from bullying, but their trip into Narnia is hardly what you would call a safe refuge. Harfang anyone? Not to mention LOTGK's underworld, or facing Rilian's health problems.

In the other five books, including LWW, there is no choice about whether or not the children concerned actually want to be in Narnia. Eustace positively does not want anything of the sort, and VDT, the film, for all the faults you perceive, does stick to this idea. In PC, the four Pevensie children are summoned by Queen Susan's magical horn, whilst waiting on a railway platform, whilst in LB all participants get into Narnia, thanks to a rail accident, without using the rings manufactured by Uncle Andrew in MN, after all.

Whilst I can see what you are saying about Narnia being an escape, I can also see that a better interpretation is as 'time out' in which to reflect and learn. After all, in each of the seven Narnia books, there tends to be a problem which is sorted out to the eventual benefit of the seven Narnian friends, as well as Narnia, itself. Lucy in LWW meets Aslan who rescues her brother, defeats her enemies and crowns her Queen of the Eastern Seas, Andrew Adamson's masterful stroke. Why is it so surprising that Lucy, on her first trip to boarding school, should be the first one to see Aslan, whilst her world-weary siblings fail to discern him?

Anyway, that is my POV.

waggawerewolf27, I agree. I think that always[b/] the world of Narnia is seen by the best (do you understand what I mean?) character in new films. Usually in books it also happens, but not so often as in the films. And yes, they all want to escape. I mentioned here (in one of my posts) video comparing all avaible film versions of LWW. Watch it and try to understand!