Personally, I think that temptation is part of THE theme, just like glumPuddle said. The Voyage of The Dawn Treader is mainly a story about discovery - a discovery of ones self, that is.

Let me see, what examples can I think up that support this idea. Hmmm... oh yes! Eustace gets turned into a dragon and finds out that he had always been "dragonish". Talk about a wake up call!

Another example happens with Edmond and Caspian when they are on Deathwater. They both find out what greedy fools they both were! Okay, so they didn't find that out: their memories were erased. However, at any rate, they did acknowledge that they were fools.

Lucy also gets to know a bit about herself. When engrossed in the Magician's book she finds out that she really doesn't trust her friends. Would you spy on your friends?

Last, but certainly not least, all of us discover just how awesome is Reepicheep. Why is he so awesome? That is one of the dumbest questions I ever heard! He is awesome because Reepicheep didn't have to find himself: he knew exactly who he was! That is why he could act so calmly and coolly when everyone else held back.

Do you see what is outlined here? It is the story of the trials and discovery went through by people to discover themselves contrasted by the story of a person who knew exactly who he was -- and a person only two feet high to boot! That, in my opinion, is why we love VDT so much.

Now, after all that, I must come to the main point of the this thread. Is the theme of VDT temptation? NO! Absolutely not! Is the theme of VDT ABOUT temptation? NO! Absolutely not! Does the them of VDT have temptation in it? You bet!

I really like what you have to say Watziznehm. It makes a lot of sense.

I kind of hope that is they route the are taking the film.

I would say Tempation is the theme of VotDT, and I wouldnt say it isnt the theme.

I think its a theme of the story. I'd say the themes are tempation, redemption, longing for something greater, adventure, and faith.

Okay, let me clarify here a little bit. When I wrote my last post, I was thinking about the PLOT of VDT. The difference between a plot and just an idea is: a plot has movement to it where as an idea/theme is just an idea/theme. So, an idea for a story would be: a dog and cat get tempted about gluttony. A plot for a story would be: a dog and cat must overcome their gluttony. Do you see the difference?

So, in VDT, is the main plot about people overcoming temptation? No! I think that the temptation idea is part of the plot of discovery -- discovery of one's self, that is.

So, after having said all that, I cannot disagree with you: all those things you listed are, in fact, ideas that are incorporated VDT. However, none of the things you listed are plots, except redemption. As far as I'm am concerned, redemption is also incorporated in the plot I aforementioned.

So Watz, (can I call you that? It's a little shorter), do you think that the comment Michael Apted made about temptation was referring to the plot or the theme?

Well, I cannot be absolutely certain, but I think he was talking about the plot. Of course, you have to realize that temptation in itself isn't a plot. A plot would be something like: overcoming temptation. In the plot I have described before, temptation is something they go through to discover themselves, but isn't the actual plot itself. This is the essence of what Apted said, and please correct me if I am wrong: "The Voyage of The Dawn Treader is a story ABOUT temptation within an adventure story." The key word there is "about". If the story is ABOUT temptation, then that is what drives the story. A Race Car Driver drives a Race Car. A plot drives a story. Therefore, in this case: plot = ( ) temptation. Probably, the most logical word to replace the parentheses with is: overcoming. So, my interpretation of what Apted said works out to this: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader has a plot of overcoming temptation and is in the genre of adventure. Of course, I am speculating right now, so my credibility is far from sound.

Important note: Yes, you can call me Watz.

It's sounds to me, Watz, that what you're saying is in essence that Temptation is merely a singular idea, among many other ideas/themes, within the plot as a whole. Speaking of the book, I totally agree. However, I'm wondering whether that's really what Apted meant concerning the movie. Why would he say it's a move about Temptation, if temptation is only a part of what the movie is really about? Why not say it's a movie about self-discovery.
I don't know, maybe we're reading too much into that little statement by Apted; maybe he really did mean that temptation is only a part of the movie plot as a whole. Guess we'll see.

I think he meant that temptation is an important part of the story (which it is) but it's not the whole plot.

The essence of VDT is: The longing for one's true home, and ultimately, the joy of finding it. It is true that there are a few instances throughout the story where characters are "tempted" in some way, but I would be very reluctant to call temptation an important theme in the story.

I dissagree. I think longing is the main theme, but temptation is an important theme as well. It appears alot in the books. Many characters are driven by greed and are tempted in some parts of the story and have to overcome it. It is kinda essential to the story.

I agree with GP, I don't think temptation is any more of a central theme of the story than greed or self-love or anything else. Let's consider Eustace, his character is the one that changes and grows the most in this story. He doesn't learn to "overcome temptation", he learns to "get over himself"!

Watziznehm, I like what you said about discovery, if I had to pick an overall theme, that would be it.

Like glumPuddle, I do see the longing aspect woven in, especially in the character of Reepicheep. It is definitely a key part of the story, but I wouldn't say it is THE theme of the story.

I can completely understand why the producers would gravitate toward temptation, as it is also a key part of the story. Moreover, it is a key issue with several of the characters. Eustace is tempted by his own greed and becomes a dragon. Most of the main characters almost die at goldwater, being tempted by it's magic. Lucy is tempted in the magician's book to eavesdrop on what her friends REALLY think of her. Even Caspian nearly falls to temptation at the end and almost abandons his crew and duty as King!

At first, I was seeing the story through my favorite character (Reepicheep), but this story is not just about Reepicheep. Sorry, I must disagree with many of you, temptation is a MAJOR theme in VDT. Discovery, however, I must admit is probably the overall theme, and I'm sure there will be plenty of discovery taking place in the movie. Regardless, I feel the producers are going in the right direction.

yes, there is a lot of temptation in VotDT! like at Deathwater Island when greed makes Caspian and Edmund nearly kill each other for the rights to the island's gold. they were both tempted by the lust for gold.
or Eustace's temptation to take all the dragon gold in the dragon cave.
or Caspian being tempted to go to Aslan's country with Reepicheep, even though he had duties to do in Narnia.
temptation is very much a part of VotDT!

So interestingly enough, I found another interview, this time with Doug Gresham, that really touched on the theme of Temptation. I'll post this as a news story later today once the hype of the trailer has died down a bit, but DG is currently in NYC promoting The Screwtape Letters stage play. He did an interview with Max McLean (Screwtape). The majority of the interview is about the play, but at 17:51 Gresham starts in on VDT.

There aren't any spoilers really, but I found what he said to be very... enlightening. It makes a lot of the trailer make more sense (to me anyways).

http://video.christianpost.com/20100617/interview-with-max-mclean-and-douglas-gresham-son-of-cs-lewis

"The Screwtape Letters for kids" interesting............does that make the White Witch Wormwood?
But seriously, I agree that temptation is an important part of VDT, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that temptation is what VDT is all about. The trailer does sort of make more sense now. I had actually forgotten that temptation was supposed to the theme.

To me, this idea of "temptation" goes along with the trailer's indication that the theme of VDT is that the three English children are there to be "tested." To be honest, this makes sense. I rather like this plot idea. Lucy is already tested at Coriakin's. Eustace is tested by his dragon encounter. It's not by the book, but it does seem that Edmund could use a bit of development, so he's tempted by the White Witch. I'm a little aggravated that they would choose this test for him since he showed in PC that he was no longer tempted by the allure of the White Witch. But this idea goes nicely with the idea of "You must learn to know me by my other name". It's to prepare them for their real lives.

I think the line "You have returned for a reason. Your adventure begins now" will come at the end of the movie, indicating that they've returned, they've been tested, they've proven their mettle, grown stronger, and now return to England for the rest of their lives.