Since we've had a thread about The 7 Deadly Sins of Converting Narnia to Film, how about the positive side: Seven Golden Rules of Converting Narnia To Film? 
#1. Narnia is a real place- Narnia is not some faraway, fairy tale place. Narnia should feel real to the characters, like child-like wonder for Lucy when she steps into the wardrobe or when Caspian hears the stories of the old days, his longing to have lived in the old days. Plus, if the story are to be character focused, it should have like a documentary instead of a big epic helicopter shop of landscapes.
#2. The story is focused on character- The first three books have no clear-cut main character (though you could argue that LWW is about Lucy, PC is about Caspian, and VDT is about Eustace). However, SC is about Jill learning how to trust, HHB is about Shasta learning about his true identity, MN is about Digory "undoing the wrong", and LB is Tirian being loyal to his best friend Jewel and Aslan. So the plot should be focused on character instead of a big epic adventure.
#3. Aslan is good and terrible at the same time- Hence the line, "Not safe but good" or "Not a tame lion". It should be that the characters and audiences doesn't have any idea what Aslan is capable of. For instance, when Jill goes to get a drink of water by the stream, she doesn't know whether to trust Aslan. She doesn't know if he's going to eat her. Another is when Aslan scratches Aravis across the back. That was to teach her a lesson, that she needed to know what it felt like for the maid, who was most likely beaten. Even when Emeth meets with Aslan, he feels that he is at the hour of death. So Aslan is to be good and terrible all at once, not knowing what he's capable of.
#4. The boy and girl characters are just close friends- Specifically talking about Digory and Polly in Mn and Eustace and Jill in SC. Digory and Polly each needed have someone to play with, since his father is away in India and his mother is sick to the point of death and she mentions that all her friends are away on Holiday. Jill is being bullied at school, and Eustace is the only friend she has. But being close friends is just about it.
#5. Emotional Conflict- That is, not to make the plot about saving the world to defeat the villain at the end. For instance, SC should be about is Caspian is going to die without an heir. That's why we want Eustace and Jill to follow Aslan's signs to find the lost prince. In MN, we want to feel sadness for Digory with possibility of losing his mother and we're hoping that after he strikes the bell and unintentionally brings evil to Narnia, that he will make a better choice. In LB, the world of Narnia is coming to an end, who what would be the point of being about saving the world and defeating the villain at the end? The real drama comes from the whole thing about manipulation and whose side their on. Shift is the manipulator, then of course gets manipulated himself. Then whose side are the characters on? That's what it comes down to.
#6. Great Storytelling- Great storytelling is very crucial. Now we can't expect adaptions to it 100% right (it probably wouldn't be a very good adaption if it was). But 75% or 80% right will still count for something. There still might have to make changes, but there has to be a reason for a change. On that note, great storytelling should not be used from source materials, like The Giant Surprised: A Narnia Story for SC or LWW board book where the White Witch is purple for LWW or the devotional book Roar: A Christian Family Guide To Narnia where Rishda Tarkaan is Prince Rishda for LB. No, great storytelling is from seven books brought to life.
#7. Emphasize on Joy- I'm sure @fantasia and @gp will be 1 on 1 with this. It's the emotion of the cycle of despair and hope. In PC, there's the sadness of that the old days are gone and we want to feel that. But there's also the joy of that the old days are back with the freeing of the school children and the romp with Bacchus and Silenus. And who can't forget about the New Narnia in LB with all of the beloved characters in Narnia's past? The joy should be emphasized.
Do you agree on any of these seven golden rules? Do you have any of your own?
"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
Since I already answered the previous topic in the form of 7 Golden Rules, I'll just link directly to that:
I never did think of a Seventh Rule though... 🤔 .
Posted : April 1, 2023 6:20 am
I'd like to take this opportunity to share a controversial opinion. The Narnia books are not character driven.
At least not all of them are.
Edmund's character arc is, of course, highly important to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But he's the only one of the four leads for whom this is true and even in his case, a lot of his development is implied rather than shown. (His first conversation with Aslan for example.) That's not to say characterization is unimportant to the book! The Pevensies' different personalities keeps their dialogue interesting, but the characters whose personalities really driven the plot are Aslan and the White Witch. (They are in the title after all.) But when people talk about a book being character driven, they're usually referring to the main characters.
Eustace and Reepicheep's personalities and the former's character arc are integral to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's appeal. But you could replace Caspian with Tirian (another noble leader character) and Lucy with Jill (another young girl character), and it wouldn't make any difference. The characters mostly function as placeholders for the reader who can imagine what it would be like to visit all the amazing locations they do. I'd say the book is more of "a big epic adventure" than a character piece.
Puddleglum's specific personality is super important to The Silver Chair, but the actions and emotions of Jill and Eustace are common to just about anyone.
I would argue that one of the main differences between the original books and the Walden Media movies is that they tried to make the stories more about the main characters. For example, they had the Pevensies be responsible for returning Christmas to Narnia rather than Aslan and they developed the coming-of-age aspects with Peter's character more, as well as Susan's maternal instincts and her struggles with trusting Aslan. They also tried to give Caspian more emotional range in the story that bears his name, having him display guilt, anger, etc. In the VDT book, Edmund has the fewest "character" moments of anybody. In the movie adaptation, they tried to give him a major arc, though they did so by basically recycling the arc they gave Peter in Prince Caspian.
I feel character driven stories are considered the best nowadays, so we, as fans, assume that the Narnia stories are character driven. But I think what we should do is question whether the character driven story is really the only great method of storytelling.
Again, let me stress that I don't consider any of the characterizations in the Narnia books to be bad or even incidental to the writing, but...they're not exactly Les Misérables, people! 
For better or worse-for who knows what may unfold from a chrysalis?-hope was left behind.
-The God Beneath the Sea by Leon Garfield & Edward Blishen check out my new blog!
Posted : April 1, 2023 9:02 am
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Eustace and Reepicheep's personalities and the former's character arc are integral to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's appeal. But you could replace Caspian with Tirian (another noble leader character) and Lucy with Jill (another young girl character), and it wouldn't make any difference. The characters mostly function as placeholders for the reader who can imagine what it would be like to visit all the amazing locations they do. I'd say the book is more of "a big epic adventure" than a character piece.
I actually haven't thought of that, but of course, what story would The Last Battle be if Tirian, Eustace and Jill were on the voyage on the Eastern Ocean?
Posted by: @col-klink
In the VDT book, Edmund has the fewest "character" moments of anybody. In the movie adaptation, they tried to give him a major arc, though they did so by basically recycling the arc they gave Peter in Prince Caspian.
That's true. In the Walden adaption of PC, the scene with the White Witch, Edmund stopped her from fully coming out of the ice block. It's like he has overcome that. However, in VDT, it's almost like he's never really overcome her, which almost doesn't making any sense.
So I think the potential for converting Narnia to film is that where Narnia is at for the beginning of each story- the hopelessness and the darkness. Then the picture becomes clearer and clearer that will each end with a pay off. It's that emotion of despair and hope.
I think Douglas Gresham said it best in the prologue in the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre adaption of The Last Battle- "For in the midst of great darkness, a light bursts through with hope." Narnia is a place of joy as well.
"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
Topic starter
Posted : April 1, 2023 9:44 am
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