I grew up with the TV series (late 80's-early 90's) but I never thought much of them, except The Silver Chair which was reasonably well done (especially Puddleglum). The cosy but adventurous theme music was exceptional. The rest was rather forgettable.

I voted "Other, please explain".

I have extremely mixed feelings about the series. I think some of the actors do a marvelous job and others are just horrible. I think it was partly well-adapted and partly just...not. The special effect are lamentably lame. The cinematography, costumes, makeup and overall directing were pretty bad.

And yet they were my first exposure to Narnia on film, so I have a bit of nostalgia for the BBC version. Plus, the cheesy parts are always good for a laugh.

Tom Baker/Puddleglum is the best!

He did a great job.

*does a happy dance since she's finally seen all the movies* Or mini series (serieses?), however one ought to think of them.

I did not grow up on these movies. In fact, I first watched LWW and PC after the Walden versions were released. In many ways, I'm glad I did it this way-- I felt like I appreciated the things that were done right (Peter! Caspian! "Your majesty is very welcome here! ) more knowing just how un-like the book the adaptions could have been...

I voted "I like them". Very much.

okay: i grew up watching these movies, and from the time when I was 6 years old to the time when I was 10 years old, I got some enjoyment out of them. but then I started to see them through different eyes when I got older and the poor quality bothered me. I think they are more of an enjoyment for kids ages 10 and under, but i can't stand them now!
when Walden's LWW came out, I rejected them for good.
I especially am annoyed that the Pevensies in BBC don't look related!

^^yes they look completely different!

After I read the Narnia books for the first time and learned about how BBC had made movies of four of them, I thought, "Wow! How on earth did they do all the crazy scenes? How did they do the Underground scene in the Silver Chair, how did they do Aslan and fauns and centaurs and everything?"

When I finally saw the movies, it was sort of a " oh... " Some of the special effects must have been very impressive at the time, but they simply weren't convincing. It felt like I was watching an elaborate play.

I will admit, some aspects of the movies are very good. It was cool to see all the books acted out word for word in many places. The scenes of Gumpas' castle were PERFECT. This was me while watching the scenes:

But there were many REALLY annoying things for me.

1 - All the islands on VDT looked exactly the same.
2 - The White Witch, when she screams "NOOOO!" after Edmund asks her for turkish delight. It didn't quite fit...
3 - Trufflehunter was female. I hate it when they take characters and change the gender.
4 - Reepicheep was...um...too spherical. And way too large to begin with.
5 - The bears in LWW looked like they could barely move.
6 - Peter's duel with Miraz leaves something to be desired. I was kind of like when Peter just runs through Miraz's camp and knocks over stuff. In the book, Peter has the courage to at least try and fight.

etc etc

I know the budget for the films was tiny, but a tiny budget is not an excuse to make a mediocre film instantly a good one. The movies were ok, and I voted so because the movies did do a few things better than the Walden movies, and because they simply were made. It's nice, I guess, to have a film adaption of SC out there (no guarantee Walden will do one).

They were made as a TV series, not movies. I love your comment about Reepicheep being too 'spherical'. Hilarious! As for the White Witch, I have to agree, she was far too over-the-top. There's no way Edmund would be doing anything but running away from such a loud, creepy-looking 'lady'.

For those of you who don’t know, the BBC and Wonderworks released the LWW, PC / VDT, and SC in serial form on TV. LWW and SC were divided into three parts of roughly 1 hour each. PC was only one segment but was released with VDT to make a set of three (VDT thus being two segments).

The serials were actually made as 30-minute episodes.
LWW had 6 (plus a wonderful 30-min introduction, all of which I have on video from the original showing on BBC television), PC/VDT had six (two for PC, four for VDT), and SC had 6.

I loved a lot about the serials, then went off them, but in the last few years I have found that my memory was a bit unkind to them, and there is a lot that I do like still.
NOT the giant waddling kiwifruit playing the beavers though. Bad costuming!
And I think they had to cast children who were 12 or over, so they did look similar in age.

i don't know, I sorta hated the series.

It was so booooooooooooooooooooooring. It wasnt because it was long. LotR was long. But it just was a word for word adaptation that didnt work.

Many scenes dragged on, like when the Pevensies are just walking and walking. A lot of the actors werent good. The music almost made me fall asleep. The costumes ranged from okay to awful. The special effects were TERRIBLE!!! The beaver's looked more like bears, the White Witch's monsters were either fake looking outfits or paintings...yes they used paintings. Lets not forget the terrible puppet for the serpant in the Silver Chair. Speaking of serpants: THEY CUT OUT THE SEA SERPANT IN THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER!!!!

Aslan was also really bad. Fake affects aside, his voice made him sound like a sleepy old man. I would not be threatened by that lion. He didnt sound god like at all.

The scenes were just dull and too long. The only movie that didnt drag was Prince Caspian because THAT WAS LESS THEN AN HOUR!!! Way too short. They tried so hard to get things moving that we could hardly take in the moment. In about 10 minutes the Pevensies go to Narnia, discover ruins, find out the ruins are from there Castle, save Trumpkin, and start their journey to find Caspian. So much for taking in the moment. Also they made Trufflehunter a girl.

Now before I end the post I will name a few POSTIVES.

I liked the casting of Jill and Puddleglum, and I thought Susan was pretty close to how I pictured her (though I've grown to like Anna more). The White Witch, as crazy as she looked, also fit more with how I originally viewed teh character.

THEY CUT OUT THE SEA SERPANT IN THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER!!!!

You must have fallen asleep at that part because the sea serpent scene was there.

Actually there are versions with the serpent AND versions without. The DVD versions I got have the serpent scene in them, but the VHS versions I had previously did not. There are actually several scenes on my DVD versions that I had never seen before because they weren't on my VHS tapes.

I'll always be a,
NL101

How interesting, I did not know that. When I was little and they first aired on TV, we recorded them and that's what I watched repeatedly. I've never actually watched the official released VHS tapes. When I got the DVDs a couple years ago, they were exactly how I remembered. You learn something new every day I guess.

Actually there are versions with the serpent AND versions without. The DVD versions I got have the serpent scene in them, but the VHS versions I had previously did not. There are actually several scenes on my DVD versions that I had never seen before because they weren't on my VHS tapes.

I'll always be a,
NL101

Ditto. Up until I bought the DVDs, I hadn't seen several scenes that are included. I'd always watched it on VHS before. They apparently trimmed some things for the VHS release. The scene with the kids at the beach in LWW wasn't included in the VHS versions I saw. It went straight from the coronation to the adults in the woods.

Actually there are versions with the serpent AND versions without. The DVD versions I got have the serpent scene in them, but the VHS versions I had previously did not.

The scene with the kids at the beach in LWW wasn't included in the VHS versions I saw. It went straight from the coronation to the adults in the woods.

Weird.....we have the VHS and it has those scenes. Was there more than one VHS release?

It's been several years since I saw the BBC adaptations, but I definitely remember a sea serpent. We have the VHS tapes too, so I'm also wondering, was there more than one release?

I certainly agree that the acting and the qualities of the BBC adaptations leave something to be desired. But I think that they were much better in capturing the true spirit of Narnia. The Walden adaptations, while more exciting and better quality and less "cheesy", I suppose, are more oriented around the epic action that they really deviate from the source material.

*runs off before she forgets to cast vote for "I like them"*

PS. Trufflehunter's voice in the BBC adaptation (as for being male or female) always did confuse me.