1979 Narnia's music grows up through the film. As other things do. When Lucy jumps out of the wardrobe, we think it's normal animated film. But if we watch Lucy's memories telling us about Narnia, we discover it's not only a cartoon. It's in the moment when you see the moon. Also with Edmund's visit we see it, but it's the sun, not moon. Later, when the centaur catches the Witch's hand, making her dropping her knife. And the Witch becoming herself. And the most important moments at the end. There's something making me loving it. I am happy that someone's interested in it. But, it's not so popular. Maybe I'll close this. Please, come here often and I won't close it. I wonder what says 1979 LWW takes place in America in 70s. Please answer!

The cartoon seemed to me like it was set in 1970s America because the kids were in 70s clothes and they had American accents, as did the professor.

Can be. Later it was re-voiced, but still American elements were seen. It's probably because of mading it in 70s America, as the cartoon takes place.

Fair point. But when VDT was made, to make it a live film they had to create a plausible Dawn Treader, a fine work of art, by the way, and use it for much of the filming. This is a real feat of engineering to make such a ship, set it on a gimbal for flexibility and to use it as a screen stage without actually setting sail in some of the most treacherous waters on the globe. The artwork alone of this ship left me gobsmacked, quite frankly. I really doubt that animation would be as expensive as the $5 to $10 million it would have taken to set this film prop up.

True, but I never said that a live action film didn't have its own set of challenges. Yes, setting up and building up the Dawn Treader as a workable prop is a difficult task, I have no doubt of that. If you want to talk about exspenses, it's not inexpensive to create an animated film either (an animated film isn't "easier" or less complicated). If you want recent examples, both Toy Story 3 and Tangled cost over $200 million each to make (around a similar ballpark for PC and LWW, not dead on, but in the range). Truth be told waggawerewolf27, I could argue the point until the end of days. The here and now is probably not the best time however, so I guess it's just best that I say we agree to disagree (if you ever want to go head to head at another time though ).

No, I didn't see anything in the 1979 animated version of LWW which positively screamed 'America', but if others have picked up on it, I wouldn't dismiss that criticism lightly. Stephen Thorne aside, this was a British story, after all. A proper production of LWW would reference the evacuation of British children once war had commenced, complete with a reference to searchlights, aerial bombardment and much else. This was the reason why the Pevensies were staying at Professor Kirk's house, outside of London.

Well, my whole argument is that there are two voice tracks, one is US and the other UK. Both versions were released on April 1, 1979, so it can't be argued that one is an original and the other a dub. While I did enjoy the inclusion of the air raid in Walden's version of LWW (arguably loved it as an addition in fact), I don't think it's necessary to see it in all productions (it's only a line in the book). Perhaps, as those at the Bill Melendez studio might have thought, the story has more focus in Narnia than the life in the real world. It probably should be noted that we do see a bit of the Pevensie's journey in the opening credits sequence (from the railway station, country roads, and the professor's house). Perhaps the whole reasoning for the two voice tracks is that really Narnia is for everyone, that the adventure could happen to anyone. This is why I don't argue the fact that the setting is America. Maybe it's really supposed to be a cournty estate from anywhere with a wardorbe big enough for all of us.

Those people who made LWW 1979 were Americans. I am happy that it released at April Fools (rocks!) and I watched original American version. I love all versions... BBC one was really, err... another, because of using costumes and another technic.

I also find that it is an interesting exercise to compare versions of each of the series, not only LWW, but also the other three books BBC televised, and the two audio versions of the entire series. I've noticed how very different versions each of them are. For example, take the wildly differing treatment in all four versions of PC of that incident in which Lucy sees Aslan but not the others. In which ones does Edmund take Lucy's side, as he does in the book? And in which does he not?

I like doing comparisons. I've only heard the FotF audio version though, so I can't comment on the other version. I have the animated LWW on DVD, the BBC's on DVD, and Walden's on DVD. I have seen the available clips of the old black and white ones. I didn't like the Aslan in the black and white ones. He was too rough and harsh. The Aslan in the Walden ones and the Aslan in the FotF don't seem strong enough. Rather surprisingly, the BBC had Edmund siding with the others and Walden had Edmund siding with Lucy. That and the through the tents fighting scene are my only complaints about the BBC's version. There are several things I don't like about Walden's PC but having Ed back Lucy and keeping the fight between Peter and Miraz contained are two areas they scored in that the BBC didn't.

I never noticed anything particularly American about the animated LWW. I like all of the versions to some degree. I love the BBC version. They are so close to the books. I really wish the BBC had made all of the Chronicles. I prefer their version of PC and VDT to Walden's. It is interesting that the BBC's have different versions based on where they were released. Some places they were released in 6 episodes per story (counting PC + VDT as one) but when my family taped them off the TV they were done in three episodes. When I got the DVDs, I found that in a lot of cases there were scenes I hadn't watched before. There were also some parts (mostly transition scenes) that were missing. However, the part in SC where Rilian describes the sun is missing in the DVD version. There might be others but I keep losing my notes and haven't finished comparing my two versions.

I never noticed anything particularly American about the animated LWW

Neither did I notice anything really American about the animated LWW. I watched it a night or two ago, having organised access to a combo DVD/VCR player. This was a charming production which starts when Lucy leaves the wardrobe the first time, and you see what happens to her in a flashback. There is no lead up to why the Pevensies are staying with the Professor in a big house in the country. Nor is there any real reference to time or place which might pin this animation to America.

My youngest daughter said she liked the music from this version best, and there is no doubt that Stephen Thorne, who did the Aslan voiceovers, just as he did for the BBC audio versions is the best Aslan ever.

Rather surprisingly, the BBC had Edmund siding with the others and Walden had Edmund siding with Lucy. That and the through the tents fighting scene are my only complaints about the BBC's version. There are several things I don't like about Walden's PC but having Ed back Lucy and keeping the fight between Peter and Miraz contained are two areas they scored in that the BBC didn't.

Of the four productions of the series it did do, the BBC television PC is clearly the weakest. I'm not saying there were'nt any good points. It was faithful to the book - what there was of it. And Barbara Kellerman, who played the White Witch in LWW as well as LOTGK in SC, was convincingly unrecognisable as the hag in that production. But it wasn't only that Edmund in that production did not stand up for Lucy, or the inadequate site for Peter and Miraz' duel that was not very good. It was also the complete absence of any trace of the Narnian set all to rights romp at the end of the book. Even Walden managed at least the bridge demolishing River God in its film production whilst the romp in all its glory was included in the FotF audio, at any rate.

Two other things annoy me about the BBC television PC version. There was the little boy who played Prince Caspian. It seems he was younger than even Eustace would be in BBC VDT, and yet he still got to play the resurrected Caspian at the end of SC. I really thought that Samuel West, who played King Caspian in the BBC VDT version would be a much more suitable Caspian for that role, and I wonder why they didn't choose someone a bit older to play Caspian, even in PC. Also, there was the way that on my DVD version, the BBC PC ending ran into the beginning of BBC VDT.

Otherwise, I agree that BBC should have made television productions of the other three books. The BBC SC version is still my favourite of the BBC television series. I liked Tom Baker's Puddleglum and Warwick Davis' Glimfeather, plus the children chosen for Eustace and Jill. Apart from that SC version, there is only the two audio versions for the remaining four books, for comparison. So far, I am enjoying comparing these.

I just watched all at Youtube and I noticed that though BBC was not so good, it makes us the mood we should have. When I was watching the battle, I think I felt the same thing as the characters, little bit of fear but also I felt they have a chance after Edmund broke the wand and those things you always feel during a movie. I think if we watch all versions of Narnia, we discover how technique changes throughout the years. 1979 Narnia wasn't excellent. When Peter turns around to see Aslan jumping from the rock, he's very near the Witch. When Aslan destroys her, he should sit in the same place the "gunpowder" was. The Witch turned into it, so Peter couldn't be there. Next shot we see him explaining Aslan and girls what happened. Later we see the animated characters in a match with costumes. But those were hard times and the technique wasn't so good. And in the 2005 one we see an excellent believeable things though there were a mistakes, but actually unseen.