In VDT, I think the idea more is that Aslan is watching over them and is there when they need him. He undragons Eustace, stops Lucy from saying the Beauty spell and then talks with her once he becomes visible, appears at Deathwater to stop the fighting, talks to Caspian in his cabin (although we don't actually see this), and then has his closing scene.

That is why I like the ship in the eye because it suggests that Aslan is doing the same role he does in the book.

I really like thus idea on the poster. I still have very mixed feelings about it but I really like this marketing strategy with holding everything back until a a few weeks before the movie. This way, we aren't over loaded with Narnia like we were with PC. I felt they marketed that movie the wrong way with all battles and that's it but they need to be careful because there are so many fantasy magic movies out there that I am having a hard time being impressed by them. For one: Avatar. I didn't like that movie. The plot wasn't the greatest and the CGI didn't impress me, I actually fell asleep because I was so bored. So I think it is important not to over do it. Simple is better.

But like I said before, the poster could have been put together better.

Can't wait to see what they do with the later versions!

And Teddy C, welcome to Narniaweb! We tend to debate and analyze EVERYTHING here

All this debate over a poster. How unbelievable. ITS JUST A TEASER POSTER!! Good grief. I like it, I think it does exactly what a teaser poster should do....TEASE! Now, if you will excuse me, its raining and I want to go out and jump in the glumpuddles.

Well, first off... welcome to NarniaWeb. We're geeky fans. That's what we do.

I've been thinking about this. Why does it bother me so much? I didn't like the second trailer for PC either, but that didn't bother me. Why is this different?

I think it really touched a nerve because of the 3D thing. I have felt from the beginning that Narnia was a franchise whose beginnings were commercially motivated. Although big movies are basically a business, I think most movies begin with some kind of creative spark. Someone saying "wouldn't this be cool?" Peter Jackson certainly did not decide to make LotR because he was convinced it would be a commercial success. Shooting three HUGE fantasy films at the same time was an enormous risk, especially since fantasy wasn't "in" at the time. With Narnia, I feel like someone saw the succe$$ of LotR, and immediately said "We gotta make Narnia next!" I don't think it began with that creative spark.

PC was also very forced. Mark Johnson himself said that "in a way, it's unfortunate that PC was the second book." Adamson also admitted to not really liking the book. In other words, they made it because they had to. Not because they were inspired.

I've said before that one frustrating thing about LWW and PC is that they seem to be based on the idea of taking very unique and memorable books and turning them into typical, formulaic PG fantasy films. As one critic put it: "These are not bad films. Just functional and uninspired." Then it was announced that VDT would be in 3D, which we all know was because of Avatar. It was a 100% commercial, not artistic, decision.

This poster is so obvious in what it's trying to do (tell you "Hey! That mouse you like is back! And even better, it's in 3D!!"). It makes the Narnia franchise seam more commercially driven than ever.

lol!

I love your siggy glumPuddle. It makes this forum all the better

Actually you're right with having Reepicheep on the poster to bring people back to this franchise. When I first saw him on the very first banner I thought the same thing. I think it's great marketing, especially on the first poster.

glumPuddle, that post was pure gold, especially the part about Peter Jackson. If anything, I agree with you: One thing I've noticed is that Disney at least was very cautious about these films, far more concerned about box office gross than the quality. Especially with PC. Really, they try to make it LOTR-for-kids, and they wonder why it flopped?

From what I've heard, fortunately, Fox seems to be somewhat more passionate for the series (or at least, it seems to be implied) than Disney was. Hopefully.

Though the poster tells us next to nothing about the movie, the teaser trailer better say something.

I haven't actually posted my thoughts on the poster as of yet, but I do have them.

Main thought: I really, really like the poster.
The LWW and PC posters were good. I don't really feel strongly that this is a lot better or a lot worse, I just plain like it.

The only two things I don't luurve about the poster is Reepicheep (he looks very out of place and as if he was added on last minute), and the fact as a few people have pointed out that it's similair to the Avatar poster. In regards to the latter, I can see why they'd do that, since it's pretty close on the heels of Avatar's success--using an idea from it's poster for Voyage's poster can appeal to all the hundreds of raving Avatar fans.

As I said above, I do love this poster. To me, the fact that the entire picture is Aslan shows us two things---the focus is back on Aslan, and the simple brilliance of the stories is back. It shows that they don't need battles and romance and three dozen main characters holding cool looking weapons (not to mention the villian!) on the poster to draw viewers in.

I'm really excited about Voyage even more then ever now, since this poster is definetly a step in the right direction for the film. If they'd tried to pull off the "epic fantasy" type of poster---you all know what I'm talking about--with as many characters as possible stuffed into the frame, each grasping a cool weapon, a dangerous villian, and some scary looking creatures...they try to pack every inch of the paper with Battle! Epic! Fantasy! Villian! Magic! Weapons! Love!
Choosing to showcase only one character (yea, Reep's on there but I'm not counting him right now ) shows definite restraint. And, they could have decided to have the Dawn Treader the main focus, but instead they chose Aslan, the "Christ figure"...and this is the movie with some of the most highly anticipated lines in the entire series ( "there I have another name" etc...). It's the one movie that we know they HAVE to get Aslan's part right, and by having the entire poster being Aslan, well, to me that proves we don't have anything to worry about in that department.

Then it was announced that VDT would be in 3D, which we all know was because of Avatar.

This poster is so obvious in what it's trying to do (tell you "Hey! That mouse you like is back! And even better, it's in 3D!!"). It makes the Narnia franchise seam more commercially driven than ever.

I hear you on the bit about needing inspiration instead of monetary gains being the starting point...however, a few things: 3D does not = Avatar. Avatar brought a lot of publicity to 3D movies which is why we're going to see more movies being made in 3D. We may think that "well, Avatar is in 3D which is why this movie is in 3D"...well, it's true. But it's life. The producers and movie people have to make money out of their movies, they have to be somewhat commercially driven, and making the "Avatar made 3D films a success....so why not make more 3D films" conclusion is a logical one and a financially logical one. Of course we all know it gets to a point where everything becomes over done, and done too many times...but that's how fads are created. You said yourself that the LOTR movies started the "fantasy craze". Producers were encouraged from LOTR's success to create more epic-fantasy movies. Movie-people find out what's popular, what people want NOW, and then give it to them.

/rant sorry that was a bit off-topic

Love that post glumpuddle! And you sig too

To me, the fact that the entire picture is Aslan shows us two things---the focus is back on Aslan, and the simple brilliance of the stories is back.

ditto! But after reading all this negative stuff about it, I'm not sure how I feel.

Anyway, here are some recent movies which have used the half-face close-up as all or part of their poster:

The Day The Earth Stood Still
Iron Man
Avatar
Star Trek
"V"
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Watchmen
Aliens Vs Predator
The Bourne Ultimatum
Terminator Salvation

None of those movies are the highest grossing film of all time. Also, all of them are pre-Avatar. I can see making those posters and not be thinking about any particular movie. But after Avatar became the highest grossing film ever... there is just no way they could have made the VDT poster and not had that occur to them. Also, we already know the only reason the film is being converted to 3D is Avatar. So there's some precedent there.

Here's an example: Slow-motion obviously existed before 1999, but after "The Matrix," you couldn't include slow-mo in your movie without knowing it was going to remind people of that.

But either way, the list you complied shows just how totally unoriginal and boring the VDT poster is.

I thought they were thinking of making it 3-D even before Avatar came out?

^ They were no doubt waiting to see how Avatar would do. James Cameron has been hyping up the 3D in Avatar for the past few years. The whole industry was waiting to see if it would live up to his hype.

The more I look at the new poster, the less I like it. I love Reep, but that little mouse perched on top of the logo really annoys me. He looks so out of place there and the coloring is off. And the gigantic 3D!!!!!!!!!!!11!!! is bugging me too.

I still think it makes a good teaser poster. However, we got two posters with PC. So I'm expecting that we will see one more. Maybe with the Dawn Treader as the main focus. We got a bit spoiled with the last two films as LWW was the best known out of the books and they gave us so much with PC. This is more of a return to trickle out type marketing. We get a concept piece and later we get something that has more "meat" to the images included.

The one critique I have is that they obviously took Reep and the logo and wording straight off the digital poster that was released a few weeks ago. It might have been a touch better if they'd developed a layout a little more unique.

It makes me think that the actual teaser trailer will be limited with how much information they give out, but that's fine with me. We were overly spoiled for PC in my opinion.

Avatar may have been the biggest grossing movie of all time, but it just wasn't very good. I've put it from my mind.
So what if the poster looks fan-made, some fan-made projects are better than their official counterparts but even then, there is only so much you can do with a close up of half of a lion's face.

To be honest, I'm not quite following what gpuddle is saying...xD
*I'm being such a bad NWer not listening to the NW veterans!*

I get the feeling that the reason they made this poster was to get (us) fans excited, rather than encourage the general audience to go. Why? Because it is just a very simple poster, and, as gpuddle said, does not convey much of VDT. I am sure that this will not be the mass-market poster: I hope it isn't. I think we can expect something similar to LWW and PC for a 'proper' poster. Therefor, this poster didn't need to convey what the film will be all about. Us fans know what it is about, and we can admire the poster for that.

As a teaser poster, I like the idea. Aslan looks very artistic, and it's a nice touch to add the DT. I hate the text, reepicheep and 3D, as other people have also stated.

EDIT: on the avatar likeness, I don't really see the problem. Although it does look similar to Avatar, it also looks sufficiently different for me to like it.

Slashfilm.com posted the VDT poster on their website earlier today, along with several other upcoming movies, and the user comments have generally been very positive so far. Keep in mind that these are from people who probably aren't "Narnia nerds" (and I mean that in the best way) like most of the people here, but are more representative of the general movie going population. Here are are few of the comments:

"The Narnia poster was a great surprise because I'd been under the impression that they weren't doing another one. Also it looks great. Love the ship reflected in Aslan's eye."

"replace the lion with a Na'vi, seems familiar?"

"Love the Narnia poster. Can't wait for the movie....And the trailer! Let's get that thing going already!"

"The Narnia poster would be great if they didn't put the mouse on there. Putting him in just makes it seem like they're targeting an even younger audience than before, rather than making it for everyone."

"Agreed, that's really my only negative, the rest of the poster just looks awesome.
Can't wait for Narnia! Hopefully they release a trailer within the next few weeks."

Here's the link for those interested, but just a warning, the comments section is full of language that might be considered offensive.

^^ wow! that's awesome! I love it! yay!