Crazy to think that the Walden adaption of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe came out 17 years ago. I remember seeing it in theaters and own it on DVD. It is enjoyable to watch, with the good acting and impressive visuals. I am glad it exists to some extent. But some have felt they were trying to go for a Lord of the Rings knock-off.

I can't really say that any of the screen adaptions (the 1979 animated, the BBC, and the Walden) are done perfectly, because they're not. The 1979 animated adaption cut out Father Christmas and had Aslan giving the gifts to the Pevensies instead, the BBC at times got a little rushed and a little slow at times, and the Walden, while impressive with the acting and visuals, Aslan was kind of portrayed as an Obi-Wan kind of character.

I was 14 when I saw it on opening day here in Australia (and joined NW around the same time because my family bought a second computer and I inherited the old one that we had since 2000). The internet was a lot slower and nicer in 2005!

NW was my entrance to the internet and it was a very safe and welcoming space. 

I am 31 now and it’s interesting to watch LWW again as an adult. Nostalgia plays a big a part, but I think it still holds up. 

It succeeds on its own in quiet moments. 

That blow fly… I still have no idea why attention was given to that fly that buzzed around and died when Lucy first entered the room with the wardrobe.

Such an insect only lives for about a week, so I think it meant that someone (the Professor) had checked on the wardrobe a week or so before Lucy. That was a very nice and subtle cinematic moment.

If I remember the DVD commentary, the fly was frozen and they had to wait for it to defrost to capture that shot. 

It is kind of sad that the Professor checks on the wardrobe, but we all know he couldn’t pass through it. 

Adamson was amazing to do that fly shot. 

Posted by: @white-wizard

That blow fly… I still have no idea why attention was given to that fly that buzzed around and died when Lucy first entered the room with the wardrobe.

I actually know this one! It's because of this quote from the book. 

And shortly after that they looked into a room that was quite empty except for one big wardrobe; the sort that has a looking-glass in the door. There was nothing else in the room at all except a dead blue-bottle on the windowsill.

Thank you for clearing that up! We are all English speakers but we all have different names and terms and ways of talking.

Ooh… blue-bottle is a poisonous and deadly small jellyfish in Western Australia 😅

As a kid, I could spot sharks, dolphins and stingrays, but the jellyfish were nasty. The big ones were fine, but the smaller ones had deadly poisons on long tentacles and the blue bottles were the deathly ones.

We have names for different types of flies here 😅

I’m the cliche Australian who has encountered a lot of wildlife… big lizards, birds and marsupials… I wouldn’t know what to do if I confronted with a bear or cougar, like I have rhe wildlife here.

@white-wizard the dying fly was one of the tiny details that the writers or Adamson put into the film for the real book fans. 

The mothballs falling out of the wardrobe, and the dead fly on the windowsill were details that gave me a little thrill when I watched for the first time.  That attention to detail pervaded the first Walden film (the Beavers' House is another example). 

Oddly enough, the last BBC one had really excellent set details - the set dressing around Puddleglums home was delightful.

@coracle The little thrills and set details were very special! 

If I remember, the bottom of the lamppost was designed to look like the trunk of a tree. That was my favourite.

Perhaps it is because I am Australian and the flies are all coming out now on mass… if there is one fly, there always will be more!  

Did LWW take place in the summer in England? 

@white-wizard yes, it was summer. Lucy mentions it when she first meets Tumnus and she's amazed at the snow.

I suppose with the seventeen years of Walden's LWW, we might as well talk about what changes we've liked and what we didn't like, and improvements that Netflix or any other company could do.

Changes that I've liked: I kind of thought it was a clever idea where they had Edmund sitting on the White Witch's throne. He wanted to be king (at least, have leadership above Peter). I think the whole thing was about that he was jealous of Peter's leadership. And that kind of gave a demonstration of what he wanted. But of course, as you may already know, it doesn't work out as well as he was hoping.

Changes that I didn't like: I don't know if there were any that I could think of. I think the Pevensies could've been developed better. While they did have chemistry as siblings, I think they could have had better development. I think the story arch of the main characters could've been better.

What improvements could Netflix or any other company do: Well, I did mention that the story arch of the Pevensies could have better, so maybe giving more character arch could be improvement.

What are changes you've liked, what you didn't like, and what improvements that Netflix or some other company could do?

The Walden film of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the best of the three and generally I was quite pleased with it. Perhaps Georgie Henley was the best choice to play Lucy Pevensie since she fit the part so well. There were some minor changes from the book such as scene when the children were on the ice, which one wonders if it should have been included since it was not in the original story. And of course when Aslan’s name is first mentioned the children don’t react with as much awe as they do in the book. So that part could have been improved. But otherwise it was quite a good film, and I wish that the other two films had been at least as faithful to the book as the first one.

That's interesting. Considering the Narnia films are in the state of Limbo, who knows how much longer it will take?  

Wow, has it really been that long? I still remember my excitement going to the cinema, seeing it for the first time the day it came out! I was in awe the entire time, and when the credits rolls, everybody clapped! It was such a magical experience seeing it come to life on screen, and I was so happy they kept the scene at the stone table. Even now, that movie is so meaningful to me... but wow, it's hard to believe it's been all these years... sometimes I yearn for those days back haha. 

Tonight at midnight is the release anniversary of Dawn Treader 

I attended the Chicago Lion Party for VDT with Ryadian and her brother, and it may be telling that the things I remember most include meeting NarniaWebbers like Gymfan and Eric Novak - and having to delay our return to Minnesota because a massive blizzard made travel impossible, even by Midwest standards. Fortunately Rya had relatives in the area who let us extend our visit.

Posted by: @icarus

Not only is this a mind-boggling long period of time for a movie which (to me at least) still feels like it came out fairly recently, but 17 Years was also the same period of time that elapsed between the BBC adaptation of LWW in 1988 and the Walden Media version in 2005.

This is so weird to think about. The jump in production quality from BBC to Walden was so substantial. Hard to imagine Netflix (or anyone) taking that same leap.