I suspect that the BBC didn't do MN because the special effects would have been not just expensive, but impossible. I remember reading an old interview with someone from Walden, can't remember exactly who, where he explained that, although their main reason for filming LWW first instead of MN was that LWW was the most popular, a secondary reason was the special effects. They didn't feel that they could portray MN convincingly. At the time of the interview he wasn't sure if they'd ever do it because of the state of special effects. Of course, there have been a lot of advances since then.

I thought the main reason for Walden/Disney doing LWW first was because of the fame of this particular film. I'm not understanding at this stage precisely what Disney or Fox had to do with the decisions to make each film the way they were. Are Disney and Fox merely distributors, like VEA or other similar Australian firms who market films, sometimes from overseas, that might be useful to libraries, educational institutions or television stations? Or are they overseeing the whole filmmaking process?

I can see Disney jumping at the chance to make another famous children's classic, even if it isn't in their preferred animated format, and becoming disillusioned when the same director applied himself to a less than wildly popular PC. I can't see why they would refuse to do VDT or continue with a famous children's series.

And I did hear something years ago to the effect that once Barbara Kellerman played LOTGK in SC, she couldn't realistically go back to play Jadis in MN. That is a pity. If anyone could have played Jadis, with all her arrogance and aggression, it would have been Barbara Kellerman. She did play an over-the-top White Witch after all.

I can take or leave: VDT - An even mix of good and bad. I liked the fidelity to the book, at the same time, without the benefit of Lewis' prose the story felt kind of inert and pointless. The adults were very well cast. I also enjoyed David Thwaites as Eustace. Obnoxious at first and endearing at last. On the other hand, Lucy was as irritating as ever and Edmund was wooden. Still didn't like the animal costumes or the music.

Yes, Samuel West was a great Caspian who should have been retained for the ending of SC as well. And David Thwaites was a great Eustace in both VDT and SC. Animal costumes may well be outdated, but Warwick Davis' performance as Reepicheep led on to other acting adventures, from Glimfeather in SC to his current roles as Professor Flitwick and Griphook in the current Harry Potter films, not to mention his past role as Nikabrik in PC.

I absolutely love: SC - With the exception of the green lady, the cast was top notch, especially the 3 leads. No significant presence of people in freaky animal costumes! Yay! Loved the story. I actually found their visualization of Underland intriguing, although I'm sure Walden would do better.

So did I. And I think actors such as Dr Who's Tom Baker (as Puddleglum), Warwick Davis (as Glimfeather) as well as Camilla Powers' performance as Jill Pole and David Thwaites' performance as Eustace had a lot to do with the excellence of that movie. Do you know what is odd about the BBC SC version? I am sure that the same person who played the nurse and the queen in the SC version also played the same roles in the BBC radio drama.

And now that I am listening to the FotF SC audio drama I can't help but be struck that the Trumpkin in FotF sounds not too different from the Trumpkin in the other BBC versions. Despite the wild difference between other aspects of the different versions.

Nor am I sure that the special effects would be such an issue. There are plenty of ways for a film maker to think him or herself around something like a creation scene, by using music and orchestration, for instance. It isn't as if there aren't precedents in Walt Disney's Fantasia, the last Avatar movie and even in Harry Potter, with that Tale of the three brothers segment in the last movie.

Anhun, I can't believe you didn't like the BBC music for the series! It was one of the very few good things about it.

^^ I'm glad you like it, because I can't stand the music my sister always hums it, saying, "It's so cool!" and I'm plugging my ears hollering "FIND A HApPY PLACE! FIND A HAPPY PLACE!" lol
it always seemed so repetitive and boring to me

I voted that I don't like them. Maybe they were good for their time. But nowadays, the bad effects (more like puppet effects) just seem ridiculous. I thought a lot of the acting was bad too.

~Riella

I own the BBC versions and have re-watched them a lot. People can knock them all they want for bad special effects and amateur acting, and I've heard the same complaints on NarniaWeb for years. But these productions contain the beautiful words of C.S. Lewis, translating them faithfully to the screen. We're probably never going to see that with Walden's franchise. That's why I'm willing to overlook their weaknesses because in spite of all of them, the original stories I enjoy so much shine through.

I'm also less critical because I grew up watching these. It was the BBC's LWW that inspired me to want to read the books even before I was able to read novels. That's why they are always going to be special to me. I guess I can understand people disliking them if they don't have this kind of connection. To each their own.

For LWW and PC honestly there is no comparison. I find the Walden version superior in all aspects. I was not a huge fan of the Pevensie actors and the White Witch in LWW. Prince Caspian well, it was way too short. They cut so much out that is vital to the book.

However I LOVE both the SC and VDT BBC Versions. I have always enjoyed them and consider them to be excellent miniseries. They don't work well as a film together but If you watch it in parts I think it ends up a lot better. I Puddleglum in SC especially was great.

I grew up watching these episodes. Know that I look back on them I like the way they stuck true to the books. I remember, after I watched SC asking my mom to checkout all the narnia books our library had.

I'm only eleven but a year or two ago I found them on youtube and I watched some. I love them and I watched animated Narnia (If you want to watch animated LWW (Really it's the only Narnia anime) remember that Lucy's first visit in Narnia is only the flashback: the film starts when Lucy goes out from the wardrobe.) , which has great music, if you'll write the title of it (normal title) and The Battle (after colon), push enter and browse in Films, if you do it by Google, and if you are already on Youtube, look for the image of roaring lion and few persons near him. If you'll be not sure which to choose, PM me, but I hope you'll recognise Susan. It's the music video. As in 2005 version, besides the battle there are Lucy and Susan's themes and you'll recognise in which moment it starts. When it will start more friendly theme, wait a moment and you'll hear what is beautiful in that music. If you want to see what happens during that track, on the list (which is on the right of opened video) is one video with Spanish name and the description, but it has English audio (but it's probably American English, it was re-voiced later for British English television). You can't mistake with the title of Spanish video, I remember that it was"La Granda Batalla" and something after that. But when you'll open the Spanish video, on the list is English video about the same events in the same adaptation. It has an image of that leopard from the book, which was turned into stone a moment before Edmund broke White Witch's wand. Sorry for long post, I only tried to explain! Oh, and you can look for that anime in Internet shops. And you can also look for BBC versions! But if you're not British, you won't find BBC versions, but in America and Britain you'll find cartoon version. I hope I didn't bore you!

There is no Narnian anime. The animated LWW cartoon is from the 70's and American-made. It's seriously low-budget and a bit lame. The BBC versions are better (in some respects).

Warrior 4 Jesus, it's sometimes called that. Yes, I know that it's cheap, but it has its own charm. Maybe it's the music. I also love BBC versions. There was also 1969 black and white version and there are 2 episodes. But they aren't avaible today. They are on Youtube because they were found. Before I was born, BBC versions were on Polish television, (I'm Polish) but I hadn't watch it because when I was young, they already weren't on television. Only just 2 years ago I found them on Youtube! I started watching animated version and it's beautiful. I know funny thing about it: it had its premiere on April Fool's Day 1979!

No, anime is a Japanese animation art form. If it's made in another country or by non-Japanese people, it's no anime.