As pretty as I think the poster is, I suspect that this will only be one of three posters. Or more. Because if this is all they have for a first teaser, I would be very disappointed. And it wouldn't make much sense for this to be only the first of two posters. The poster itself says nothing at all, except that it is going to be about a lion who is staring at a dragon-ship.

Honestly, when I was thinking of a poster, I thought the appeal of the ship would be more than attention-grabbing. It would have made much more sense to have the first teaser poster be something like this cover:

Or like one of Pauline Baynes' illustrations:

It's not like posters with half a character's face weren't around before Avatar and Spiderman etc. That's just silly.
I for one like the poster with Aslan and the VDT reflected in his eye. I too find the placement of Reepicheep to be distracting and out of place. Also the text is a bit cliche. But the simple Aslan and VDT design are excellent!

^ The only reason VDT is being converted to 3D is "Avatar." This poster seems like a very lame attempt at subliminal marketing. It is purely commercial; it has no artistic value.

The tagline needs to just go away. It doesn't tell us anything. Were they afraid that audiences might not realize that magic is in the film? Or that it takes place in the world of Narnia? I don't know what to make of "hope."

"A new age has begun" over the visual of Caspian being half light, half dark tells us something about the theme of the movie. The old age is passing away, and being consumed by darkness. It may be a lame tagline, but at least it has meaning.

If it was just Aslan with the ship in his eye, it would be fine. But the fact that they felt the need to throw in a lame tagline and Reepicheep totally changes my perception of the poster.

The thing that art does best is communicate a lot with a little (CS Lewis was a master at this). Here is a very simple poster that says a lot:

That tells us a lot about the movie. The character is doing something very reckless: Lighting a cigar with a flamethrower. We get the sense that the character is arrogant and unsympathetic. The tagline with it reads "We're society's only protection." The title, "Watchmen" (a reference to a Latin phrase) implies that he is supposed to "watch over us." The intended reaction is "oh no, THIS is our protection?" This poster is simple, but communicates a very important theme in the movie: Corruption, and abuse of power.

The only thing that the VDT poster communicates is that Aslan, Reepicheep, Narnia, the Dawn Treader, and magic will be in the movie.

To start with, you've got an immediate and direct focus on Aslan. Like i said earlier, Aslan is probably the single most significant and iconic image of the entire series (perhaps on a par with the Lamppost). If this poster is all about spreading the simple message that the Narnia series is alive and well to people outside the fan community, than a simple image of Aslan is all you need. Anything more and it would clutter the message - Narnia is back. That's what the public need to know right now, and taking them off in all sorts of new directions by introducing brand new imagery would just confuse the issue.

This. Everyone, this poster is not aimed at US! We KNOW the movie is coming out; we know about the ship; sheesh, we even got to see the movie being filmed. What we don't know about VdT, Fox isn't about to tell us until much later. This poster is not aimed at us, but at your average movie goer.

Let me say thtis. Every single person I've talked to, even "casual" Narnia fans, have had no idea the Narnia franchise even existed anymore, let alone that VdT was being made, filmed, and in post-production. When I mention VdT, they say, "They're making that?!!!" All they remember of Narnia is PC, which didn't do great, and ever since then Narnia has been completely out of the general public's eye. The last "big" Narnia news was that Disney dumped the franchise; not exactly the most inspiring thing ever.

This poster's sole purpose is to LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT NARNIA IS BACK. Hence the huge focus on Aslan (because he's so iconic with Narnia, and the previous Narnia franchise). There's little teasers for VdT, but this is not about VdT specifically. This is about the Narnia franchise in general.

And when I think that you look at it that way, suddenly it makes a lot more sense. Sure, we'd all love to see a grand poster featuring all the cast and the DT; that will come eventually. But right now, that would just overwhelm folks and they would think less "Narnia" and more "Epic sailing adventure". But with a poster so stark, simple and to the point, it couldn't be more clear. This is to reestablish Narnia in people's minds, and once that's been done, Fox can start introducing VdT as it's own individual movie.

It just frustrates me a bit when people are judging this poster because it doesn't represent VdT very well as an individual film at all, because that's not what this one is about. Trust me, there WILL be another poster, and it will "further" VdT's individual story much more. We've already had a sneak peek at that poster from the Cannes banner, right? 10 to 1 the "real" poster looks very, very much like that.

So, just look at it from a different perspective! You might be surprised.

^ Good point, GF. They're trying to let people know that Narnia isn't dead. That is the only purpose of the poster. As I said, it is purely commercial and has no artistic value.

Which is why I don't like it, and why it probably won't be going on my wall.

Is the movie going to be in 3D because of Avatar's success? Yes.
Is the poster reminiscent of the Avatar poster? Yes.
Is the poster plagiarising it? Not necessarily.
That's a good way of looking at it, Gymfan. Always the eternal optimist!

"One Poster to Please Them All"
Fat chance of that happening here or anywhere else in the foreseeable future.

This poster's sole purpose is to LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT NARNIA IS BACK.

Exactly. This first poster actually announces that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be released on December 10th (obviously of this current year).

That is its main purpose and it does it in a nice and simple way. I am sure that subsequent posters will convey more thematically and have more characters and a bigger Dawn Treader visual.

I'm just glad the marketing/advertising/publicity ball is rolling and Fox obviously didn't do too bad a job with Avatar last year. And besides all that, it gave our Watchful Admin, fantasia_kitty, the first opportunity in years to update her "Watchful Eye". That makes this poster special right there.

^ Good point, GF. They're trying to let people know that Narnia isn't dead. That is the only purpose of the poster. As I said, it is purely commercial and has no artistic value.

Which is why I don't like it, and why it probably won't be going on my wall.

Well, I disagree with you, for I think in the end, it is a nice poster. I know it resembles avatar, but that does not mean it's not artistic to me. It's less artistic, but still, I liked the Avatar poster, and I like it even more with Aslan instead of a Na'vi. The tag line isn't good, but it does not ruin the poster because it isn't bad either, they're just, well... empty words. The reepicheep does bring the quality down.

But, as this is just a way to tell the average audience Narnia is back, I'm pretty sure the next poster will be muchmore to your liking!

My first impression of this poster was, "Yes, it is Aslan! How appropriate. Wait...what is Reepicheep doing there?!" Whether I like Reep or not, I think he intrudes on Aslan's poster!

By the way, could someone post a picture of or link to the Avatar poster that people think inspired this poster?

I think that would be the poster that GlumPuddle shows in his post here.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1284&start=32#p67899

I agree with everyone who says that this poster is simply telling the average moviegoer that Narnia isn't dead. This is only the beginning of Fox's marketing campaign. I am sure there will be more posters, and "better" ones, in the future. Although, GlimGlum, I don't believe such a poster as "One Poster to please them all" will ever be found. (Thanks for the laugh, anyways!)

I think that would be the poster that GlumPuddle shows in his post here.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1284&start=32#p67899

Thanks! I'd read that post but I don't think the pictures were there then.

I'm sure we will never have a "Poster to Please Them All" (nor will there be "A Movie to Please Them All").

Absolutely. Love. The. Poster.

It's awesome! It shows how much Aslan will be present in this film, I think. Alsan looks so real too! Incredible! Reepicheep looks completely out of place on top of the logo, not a fan. The phrases are catchy, I think. I like them. It's so different from any of the other Narnia posters! I was sort of hoping for more of the characters to be in the poster (similar to the one from Cannes), but a lion is very eye-catching indeed! I cannot wait for the others!

Does anyone know when this poster will be available to buy ?