(Victoria died in 1901 and still alive today)
he plays as Waif.
Ferrari
he plays as young Enzo Ferrari, (age 8).
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the novel by C.S. Lewis, see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. For other uses, see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (disambiguation).
| The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical Poster | |
| Directed by | Andrew Adamson |
| Produced by | Mark Johnson Phillip Steuer |
| Written by | Ann Peacock Andrew Adamson Christopher Markus Stephen McFeely |
| Based on | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis |
| Starring | William Moseley Anna Popplewell Skandar Keynes Georgie Henley Liam Neeson Tilda Swinton James McAvoy Jim Broadbent Ray Winstone Dawn French |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Cinematography | Donald McAlpine |
| Editing by | Sim Evan-Jones Jim May |
| Studio | Walden Media |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 8, 2005 (United Kingdom) December 9, 2005 (United States) |
| Running time | 143 minutes |
| Country | United States United Kingdom |
| Language | English German |
| Budget | $180 million[1] |
| Box office | $745,013,115[1] |
The film was released on December 9, 2005 in both Europe and North America to positive reviews and was highly successful at the box office. It won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Makeup and various other awards and is the first film in the series of films based on the books. An Extended Edition was released on December 12, 2006 and was only made available on DVD until January 31, 2007 when it was discontinued. It was the best selling DVD in North America in 2006 taking in $332.7 million that year.[2]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Plot
During the Battle of Britain, in the suburb of Finchley near London, Great Britain, the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, are endangered by an attack of numerous German Heinkel He 111 bombers. When running to the shelter, Edmund runs back to the house to get a photograph of his father for which Peter scolds him. The next morning, they are evacuated to the country home of Professor Digory Kirke, who is not accustomed to having children in his house as Ms. Macready, the strict housekeeper explains.While the Pevensies are getting used to the house and Playing Hide and Seek out of boredom, Lucy discovers a wardrobe and enters a wintry fantasy world called Narnia to her surprise. Lucy shortly encounters and befriends the faun, Mr. Tumnus, who explains about the land she has just entered and invites her back to his home to which she accepts. There, he puts Lucy asleep by playing a Narnian Lullaby on his flute. However, when she wakes up, Lucy finds Tumnus grieving and explains that Jadis, the White Witch, has cursed Narnia, and it has been winter for one hundred years. If a human is ever encountered, they were to be brought to her. Tumnus takes a huge liking to Lucy and cannot bring himself to kidnap her, so he sends her home. When she returns hardly any time has passed in the normal world, and her siblings do not believe her story since that when they look in the wardrobe, it has a normal wooden back. Peter than scolds Edmund when he jokes about believing Lucy to which Edmund responds by yelling at Peter and storms out of the room, believing that Peter is trying to be a father figure. (Persumably showing us that Edmund's behavior as bad began when his father was forced to fight in the war.)
One night, Edmund follows Lucy into the wardrobe, persumably to tease her about the country he thinks she has made up. However, he enters Narnia as well, and shortly after searching for Lucy. He meets the White Witch who claims to be "The Queen of Narnia" and her dwarf Ginarrbrik. She offers him Turkish Delight as well as the prospect of becoming king and having power over his siblings if he brings them to her house. After she departs Edmund and Lucy meet again and return; Lucy tells Peter and Susan about the experience, but Edmund lies about it. The Professor talks with Peter and Susan; he does not understand why they do not believe Lucy's story and gives them three possible logical explanations of Lucy's behaviour — madness, dishonesty and sincerity — the others know she is neither mad nor dishonest, so she must be telling the truth. However, they are still not convinced
While running away from Ms. Macready after accidentally breaking a window while playing Cricket, the four siblings retreat to the wardrobe and enter Narnia and apologize to Lucy. They discover Mr. Tumnus has been taken by the Witch's secret police and meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver who tell them about Aslan. According to the beavers Aslan is on the move to take control of Narnia from the Witch. The four must help Aslan and his supporters; it has been prophesied that if two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sit in the four thrones, the White Witch's reign would end.
Edmund sneaks off to visit the Witch, where Mr. Beaver explains the witch's motive and that the siblings now must resort to reaching Aslan to save him. When he arrives at her castle, she is angry that he did not deliver his siblings. The Witch sends wolves to hunt down the children and the beavers, who barely escape with the help of a fox. Edmund is chained in the Witch's dungeon where he meets Tumnus. The Witch demands that Edmund reveal where his siblings are because her police could not find them; Edmund then tells her about Aslan and the witch demands to know where Aslan is. Edmund hesitates when Tumnus claims that Edmund does not know anything and Edmund tells the Witch that he heard no further information regarding Aslan. Seeing that Tumnus is hindering the information, the Witch tells Mr. Tumnus that Edmund betrayed him, then turns Tumnus to stone.
While Peter, Lucy, Susan and the beavers travel to the Stone Table, they see what they believe to be the White Witch chasing after them, so they hide. It is really Father Christmas, a sign that the Witch's reign is ending. Father Christmas gives Lucy a healing cordial and a dagger to defend herself with, Susan a bow and arrows and a magical horn that will summon help when blown, and Peter a sword and shield.
Pursued by wolves led by Maugrim, the group crosses a thawing river, leaving the Witch unable to reach them. The Witch's wolves then appear who captured the fox that helped the Pevensies escape. The Witch then demands that the fox reveals the Pevensies destination. Refusing to comply, the Witch then nearly turns the fox to stone and Edmund reveals that the Pevensies are heading to the stone table and that Aslan has already plotted his army. The Witch however still turns the fox to stone and slaps Edmund in the face for hiding information from her. Arriving at Aslan's camp, the group encounters Aslan, who is revealed as a huge and noble lion. Aslan promises to help Edmund in any way he can. Later, two wolves ambush Lucy and Susan while they are frolicking by the river. When Peter intervenes Maugrim attacks him and Peter kills him with his sword. After some of Aslan's troops follow the other wolf to the witch's camp and rescue Edmund, Peter is knighted by Aslan.
After Edmund and his siblings reunite, The White Witch journeys to Aslan's camp and asserts her claim to the traitor Edmund, but Aslan secretly offers to sacrifice himself instead. That night, as Lucy and Susan covertly watch, Aslan is killed by the White Witch at the Stone Table with a crowd of creatures watching. In the morning he is resurrected because "there is a magic deeper still the Witch does not know". Aslan takes Susan and Lucy to the Witch's castle, where he frees the prisoners that the White Witch turned to stone, forming reinforcements for Aslan's army.
Edmund persuades Peter to lead Aslan's Army to fight the White Witch's forces. Though Aslan's army begins to have a winning streak, The White Witch's huge army is much larger than Aslan's (aka Peter's), which Peter's army soon begins losing. To stop the Witch from attacking and killing Peter, Edmund attacks the White Witch and destroys her wand, but is fatally wounded by the Witch in return. Peter, angered at what the Witch did, fights her. As the Witch fights Peter, Aslan arrives with reinforcements and kills her. After Edmund is revived by Lucy's cordial, the Pevensies become Kings and Queens, staying in Narnia until they are adults.
Fifteen years later, whilst chasing a white stag through the forest, they come to the same forest clearing where the lampost is. Lucy begins to remember, and with Edmund, Susan and Peter following, fights through the trees, where tumble through the coats and out of the wardrobe and return to England, becoming children again. The Professor enters the room and asks what they were doing. Peter replies, "You wouldn't believe us if we told you, sir." The Professor tosses him the ball that broke the window and replies, "Try me." Lucy later attempts to return to Narnia via the wardrobe, but the Professor tells her he has been trying for years, and they will probably return to Narnia when they least expect to return.
[edit] Cast
Further information: List of Chronicles of Narnia cast members
- William Moseley as Peter Pevensie, the eldest of the four Pevensie children.
- Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie, the second eldest child of the four Pevensie children.
- Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie, the third of the four Pevensie children.
- Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of the four Pevensie children.
- Tilda Swinton as Jadis, the White Witch, the main antagonist of the film who holds Narnia under an eternal winter without Christmas or Spring or Summer.
- Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan, the great lion who was responsible for creating Narnia.
- James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus, a faun who at first works for the White Witch, but befriends Lucy Pevensie and joins Aslan's forces.
- Ray Winstone voices Mr. Beaver, a beaver who helps lead the children to Aslan.
- Dawn French voices Mrs. Beaver, a beaver who helps lead the children to Aslan.
- Kiran Shah as Ginarrbrik, the White Witch's servant dwarf.
- Jim Broadbent as Professor Digory Kirke, an old professor. He lets the children stay at his country estate during the war.
- Elizabeth Hawthorne as Mrs. Macready, Kirke's strict housekeeper.
- James Cosmo as Father Christmas. He gives Peter, Susan, and Lucy their Christmas gifts.
- Michael Madsen as the voice of Maugrim, a wolf who is captain of the White Witch's secret police.
- Patrick Kake as Oreius, a centaur who is second-in-command of Aslan's army.
- Shane Rangi as General Otmin, a minotaur who is second-in-command of the White Witch's army.
- Morris Cupton as Train Guard, the guard of the train Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy ride.
- Judy McIntosh as Helen Pevensie, the mother of the four Pevensie children.
- Rupert Everett as the voice of a fox who helps the children along their way to Aslan.
- Cameron Rhodes as the voice of a Gryphon who helps Peter in the war.
- Noah Huntley as the adult Peter Pevensie, who has grown up as a king in Narnia.
- Sophie Winkleman as the adult Susan Pevensie, who has grown up as a queen in Narnia.
- Mark Wells as the adult Edmund Pevensie, who has grown up as a king in Narnia.
- Rachael Henley as the adult Lucy Pevensie, who has grown up as a queen in Narnia.
- Producer Philip Steuer voices Phillip, Edmund's talking horse.
With the exception of Tilda Swinton, who was the first choice to play Jadis, the White Witch,[5] casting was a long process. Beginning in 2002,[6] Adamson went through 2500 audition tapes, met 1800 children and workshopped 400 before coming down to the final four actors for the Pevensies. Moseley and Popplewell came from the very start of casting, whilst Henley and Keynes were cast relatively late.[7] Moseley was cast because casting director Pippa Hall remembered she cast him as an extra in a 1998 dramatization of Cider with Rosie. He quit school to learn all his lines and beat 3000 boys to the role of Peter.[8]
Aslan's voice was a contention point. Brian Cox was originally cast in the role on December 9, 2004,[9] but Adamson changed his mind.[10] Liam Neeson sought out the role,[6] and was announced as the voice on July 17, 2005.[11]
[edit] Production
[edit] Pre-production
During the early 1990s, producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy were planning a film version.[12] They could not find a space in Britain to shoot the film during 1996,[13] and their plans to set the film in modern times[14] made Douglas Gresham oppose the film,[15] in addition to his feeling that technology had yet to catch up.[14] Perry Moore began negotiations with the C. S. Lewis Estate in 2000.[16] On December 7, 2001, Walden Media announced that they had acquired the rights to The Chronicles of Narnia.[17]The success of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone prompted the producers to feel they could make a faithful adaptation of the novel set in Britain. "Harry Potter came along, and all those cultural or geographical lines were broken," Mark Johnson explained. "When The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was being developed at Paramount, the imperative was to set it in the U.S., and it just doesn't hold. [...] It's not the book."[18] Guillermo del Toro turned down the offer to direct due to his commitment on Pan's Labyrinth.[19] Following his Academy Award win for Shrek, director Andrew Adamson began adapting the source material with a 20 page treatment based on his memories of the book.[5] As such the film begins with the Luftwaffe bombing and concludes with an enormous battle, although they do not take up as much time in the novel.[16]
In the novel, the battle is never seen until Aslan, Susan, Lucy and their reinforcements arrive. This was changed in the movie because Adamson said he could vividly remember a huge battle,[7] an example of how Lewis left a lot to the readers' imagination. Other small changes include the reason all four children come to Narnia, in that an accident breaks a window and forces them to hide. Tumnus also never meets Edmund until the end in the novel. Minor details were added to the Pevensies, such as their mother's name, Helen, being the actual first name of Georgie Henley's mother.[3] Finchley as the home of the Pevensies was inspired by Anna Popplewell, who actually is from Finchley.[20] Adamson also changed the circumstances in which Lucy first comes into Narnia. He felt it was more natural that she first see the wardrobe while looking for a hide-and-seek hiding place, rather than just chance upon it exploring the house.[7] The film also hints at Professor Kirke's role in The Magician's Nephew, such as the engravings on the wardrobe when it is a simple one in the novel and the Professor's surprise and intrigue when Peter and Susan mentions Lucy's discovery in the wardrobe. When Lewis wrote the novel, it was the first of the series and the back-story later outlined by the subsequent books in the series did not exist. In the novel also, the father of the Pevensie children is in London with their mother, but in the film, their father is fighting in the war as Lucy stated to Mr. Tumnus when they first meet in Narnia.
Weta Workshop head Richard Taylor cited Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights as an inspiration on the film. He felt Narnia had to be less dark and gritty than their depiction of Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings because it is a new world.[21] Many of Weta's creature designs were designed for digital creation, so when Howard Berger and KNB FX inherited the practical effects work, they had to spend three months retooling approved designs for animatronics.[22] Berger's children would comment and advise upon his designs; they suggested the White Witch's hair be changed from black to blonde, which Berger concurred with as he realized Swinton's wig looked too gothic.[23]
[edit] Filming
Principal photography began on June 28, 2004,[24] shooting in primarily chronological order.[4] Adamson did this in order to naturally create a sense of mature development from his young actors, which mirrored their real life development.[15] Georgie Henley and Skandar Keynes[6] were never shown the set before filming scenes of their characters entering Narnia, nor had Henley seen James McAvoy in his Mr. Tumnus costume before shooting their scenes together.[3]The first scene shot was at the disused Hobsonville Air Base for the railway scene.[25] Afterwards, they shot the Blitz scene, which Adamson called their first formal day of shooting.[7]
The filmmakers asked permission to bring in twelve reindeer to New Zealand to pull the Ice Queen's sled. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry denied, citing the potentially deadly Q fever from which the North American reindeer population suffers as the reason. However, ten wolves and wolf hybrids were allowed in for filming in Auckland.[26] To replace the denied live reindeer Mark Rappaport's Creature Effects, Inc. created four animatronic reindeer that were used in shots where the deer were standing in place. The reindeer were designed with replace-able skins to get the most usage; brown for Father Christmas and white for the White Witch.
The cast and crew spent their time in New Zealand in Auckland before moving in November to the South Island. The castle scene was filmed in Purakaunui Bay, not far from the most southern point in NZ[27]
They filmed in Czech Republic (Prague and National Park České Švýcarsko) and Poland after the Christmas break,[4] before wrapping in February.[28]
[edit] Music
Main articles: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (soundtrack) and Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The soundtrack was composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. Gregson-Williams had previously worked with Adamson on Shrek (2001) and Shrek 2 (2004). In addition there are three original songs in the film; Can't Take It In by Imogen Heap, Wunderkind by Alanis Morissette and Winter Light by Tim Finn. Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee also wrote a song entitled Good Enough for the film, but it was not included in the soundtrack. Good Enough was later included in the band's album entitled The Open Door in 2007.[29]The soundtrack was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, and in Los Angeles, CA. Gregson-Williams employed the 75-piece Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra, along with a 140-member choir (mostly members of The Bach Choir) and numerous other solo musicians such as electric violinist Hugh Marsh and vocalist Lisbeth Scott (at his Wavecrest Studio).[30] He composed the original score and then spent late September through early November 2005 conducting the Hollywood Orchestra and overseeing the recording of the English choir.[30] For "colour", he employed instruments used in ancient folk music, and to underscore critical dramatic moments, he added choral textures and, occasionally, a solo voice. The score includes instances of electronic music.[31]
The soundtrack received two Golden Globe Award nominations: "Best Original Score" and "Best Original Song" (for "Wunderkind").
EMI also released a compilation soundtrack entitled Music Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released on September 2005. The album features songs by Contemporary Christian music artists, such as Bethany Dillon, Kutless, and Nichole Nordeman. It released Waiting For The World To Fall by Jars of Clay as a single. The album went on to win the Special Event Album of the Year at the GMA Music Awards.
[edit] Release
On December 7, 2005 the film premiered in London, going on general release the following day. The film was released December 8, 2005 in the United Kingdom and December 9, 2005 in North America and the rest of Europe.[edit] Box office
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010) |
- United States and Canada
[edit] Awards received
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe won several awards including the Academy Award for Makeup; the BeliefNet Film Award for Best Spiritual film; the Movieguide Faith & Values Awards: Most Inspiring Movie of 2005 and Best Family Movie of 2005; and the CAMIE (Character and Morality In Entertainment) Award. Others include the British Academy Film Awards for Makeup and Hair and Orange Rising Star (James McAvoy); Outstanding Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media; the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role (Georgie Henley, Female); the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Fantasy Film (Isis Mussenden); and the Saturn Award for Costumes (Isis Mussenden) and Make-up (Howard Berger, Greg Nicotero, and Nikki Gooley).Georgie Henley, in her performance as Lucy Pevensie earned critical acclaim for her performance. She won several awards, including the Phoenix Film Critics Society award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Performance by a Youth. She also won another awards either for Best Young Performance or Best Actress in a Leading Role.
The film was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Fantasy Films list.[46]
| Year | Award | Category/Recipient | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role - Female (Georgie Henley) | Won | |
| Satellite Awards | Outstanding Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media | Won | ||
| 2006 | Best DVD Extras | Nominated | ||
| 78th Academy Awards[48] | Best Make-Up (Howard Berger) (Tami Lane) | Won | ||
| Best Sound Terry Porter (Dean A. Zupancic) (Tony Johnson) | Nominated | |||
| Best Visual Effects | Nominated | |||
| Annie Awards | Best Character Animation Matt Shumway | Nominated | ||
| Australian Film Institute | Excellence in Filmmaking (Roger Ford) (Production design) | Nominated | ||
| Excellence in Filmmaking (Donald McAlpine) (Cinematography) | Nominated | |||
| 59th BAFTA Awards | Best Make Up/Hair Howard Berger Gregory Nicotero Nikki Gooley | Won | ||
| Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects Dean Wright Bill Westenhofer Jim Berney Scott Farrar | Nominated | |||
| Best Costume Design Isis Mussenden | Nominated | |||
| Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards | Best Family Film (Live Action) | Won | ||
| Best Young Actress Georgie Henley | Nominated | |||
| CAMIE Awards | (no name for this award was given) Charlie Nelson (Walt Disney Pictures) Brigham Taylor (Disney vice-president productions) Mark Johnson (producer) Philip Steuer (producer) Douglas Gresham (co-producer) Andrew Adamson (director) Ann Peacock (screenwriter) Christopher Markus (screenwriter) Stephen McFeely (screenwriter) Georgie Henley (actor) William Moseley (actor) Skandar Keynes (actor) Anna Popplewell (actor) (Walden Media) | Won | ||
| CFCA Awards | Most Promising Performer Georgie Henley | Nominated | ||
| Costume Designers Guild Awards | Fantasy Film Isis Mussenden | Won | ||
| 11th Empire Awards | Best Newcomer Georgie Henley | Nominated | ||
| Best Newcomer James McAvoy | Nominated | |||
| Best Sci-Fi / Fantasy | Nominated | |||
| 63rd Golden Globe Awards | Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score Harry Gregson-Williams | Nominated | ||
| Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song Alanis Morissette "Wunderkind" | Nominated | |||
| Hugo Awards | Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation | Nominated | ||
| Humanitas Prize | Feature Film Category Ann Peacock Andrew Adamson Christopher Markus Stephen McFeely | Nominated | ||
| London Film Critics Circle Awards 2005 | British Supporting Actor of the Year (James McAvoy) | Nominated | ||
| British Supporting Actress of the Year (Tilda Swinton) | Nominated | |||
| MTV Movie Awards | MTV Movie Award for Best Villain (Tilda Swinton) | Nominated | ||
| Motion Picture Sound Editors | Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Dialogue and Automated Dialogue Replacement George Watters II (supervising sound editor) Kimberly Harris (supervising adr editor) Richard Beggs (sound designer) David Bach (supervising dialogue editor) David V. Butler (dialogue editor) Laura Graham (adr editor) Michele Perrone (adr editor) | Nominated | ||
| Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Sound Effects & Foley Richard Beggs (supervising sound editor) George Watters II (supervising sound editor) Victoria Martin (supervising foley editor) F. Hudson Miller (sound editor) R.J. Palmer (sound editor) John Morris (sound editor) Suhail Kafity (sound editor) Chuck Michael (sound editor) Todd Toon (sound editor) Gary Wright (sound editor) Heather Gross (sound editor) Matthew Harrison (foley editor) James Likowski (foley editor) Dan O'Connell (foley artist) John T. Cucci (foley artist) | Nominated | |||
| MovieGuide Awards | Best Film for Families | Won | ||
| Epiphany Prize | Won | |||
| Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Breakthrough Performance(Georgie Henley) | Nominated | ||
| Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture Richard Baneham Erik De Boer Matt Logue Joe Ksander For "Aslan" | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture Dean Wright Randy Starr Bill Westenhofer Jim Berney | Nominated | |||
| World Soundtrack Awards | Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film Harry Gregson-Williams (music) Imogen Heap (music/lyrics/performer) For the song "Can't Take It In" | Nominated | ||
| 27th Young Artist Awards | Best Family Feature Film - Drama | Won | ||
| Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Age Ten or Younger Georgie Henley | Won | |||
| Best Performance in a Feature Film (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actor William Moseley | Nominated | |||
| 2007 | Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA | Best DVD Special Edition Release For the "Extended Edition" | Nominated | |
| 49th Grammy Awards | Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (Harry Gregson-Williams) | Nominated | ||
| Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media (Imogen Heap) For the song "Can't Take It In" | Nominated |
[edit] Reception
The film received positive reviews from critics, with a 75% "certified fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes and 157 of the listed 208 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. Metacritic gives the movie a 75 out of 100, based on 39 reviews.[49] Respected critic Roger Ebert also gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. Ebert and Roeper gave the movie "Two Thumbs Up". Movie critic Leonard Maltin gave the film 3 out of four stars, calling it, "an impressive and worthwhile family film," though he also said, "it does go on a bit and the special effects are extremely variable."[50] Duane Dudak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel gave the movie 3 out of 4 stars. Stuart Klawans of The Nation said, "All ticket buyers will get their money's worth."[51] Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News gave it 4 out of 4 stars and said: "A generation-spanning journey that feels both comfortingly familiar and excitingly original." Critic Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle listed it as the second best film of the year.[52] Kit Bowen (Hollywood.com) gives this film 3 out of 4 stars.[53]However, John Anderson from Newsday, reacted negatively to the film, stating, "…there's a deliberateness, a fastidiousness and a lack of daring and vision that marks the entire operation."[54]
[edit] DVD and Blu-ray release
The DVD for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was released on April 4, 2006. It is available in a standard one-disc set (with separate fullscreen and widescreen editions), and a deluxe widescreen two-disc boxed set with additional artwork and other materials from Disney and Walden Media. The DVD sold four million copies on its first day of release[55] and overtook Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to become the top selling DVD in North America for 2006.[56] As of December 2008 it has grossed $353.5 million in DVD sales, equivalent to 12,458,637 units sold.[57][58]Disney later issued a four-disc extended cut of the film on DVD. It was released on December 12, 2006 and was available commercially until January 31, 2007, after which Disney put the DVD on moratorium.[59] The extended cut of the film runs approximately 150 minutes. The set includes all of the features previously released on the two-disc special edition. The two additional discs include a segment called "The Dreamer of Narnia", a previously unreleased feature length film about C. S. Lewis, and additional production featurettes.[60] Most of the extended footage, besides the extended battle sequence, is longer establishing shots of Narnia and footage of the Pevensies walking in Narnia.[61]
The high-definition Blu-ray Disc version was released on May 13, 2008 in the United States, and on June 16, 2008 in the United Kingdom,[62] delayed from the original planned release date in late 2007
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the book, see Prince Caspian. For the video game, see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (video game).
| The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Andrew Adamson |
| Produced by |
|
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Cinematography | Karl Walter Lindenlaub |
| Editing by | Sim Evan-Jones |
| Studio | Walden Media |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 16, 2008 (United States) June 26, 2008 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $225 million[1] |
| Box office | $419,665,568[2] |
Prince Caspian is also the last Narnia film distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, as it was announced in January 2009 that Disney will no longer distribute the Narnia film series due to 20th Century Fox taking over the franchise. Work on the script began before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released, so filming could begin before the actors grew too old for their parts. Director Andrew Adamson wanted to make the film more spectacular than the first, and created an action sequence not in the novel. The Narnians were designed to look wilder as they have been hiding from persecution, stressing the darker tone of the sequel. The filmmakers also took a Spanish influence for the antagonistic race of the Telmarines. Filming began in February 2007 in New Zealand, but unlike the previous film, the majority of shooting took place in Central Europe, because of the larger sets available in those countries. To keep costs down, Adamson chose to base post-production in the UK, because of recent tax credits there.
The film was a moderate success in the United States and Canada with a total sum of $141 million.[3] It also made $278 million in the rest of the world.
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Plot
1,300 years after the Pevensie siblings left Narnia, a Telmarine prince, Caspian, is awakened by his mentor Doctor Cornelius, informing him that his aunt, Prunaprismia, has given birth to a son and Caspian's life is endangered. Cornelius gives him Queen Susan's ancient magical horn, instructing him to blow it only at his greatest need. Knowing that his uncle, Miraz, would kill him to steal the kingship, Caspian flees. Pursued into the woods, Caspian hits a branch and falls off his horse. He is rescued by two Narnian dwarfs, Trumpkin and Nikabrik, and a talking badger named Trufflehunter. While Trumpkin acts as a decoy, Nikabrik saves Caspian. Confused, Caspian blows the horn to summon help.In England, one year has passed since the Pevensie children returned from Narnia. En route to their boarding school, the London Underground station they are in collapses and the Pevensies are transported to Narnia. They discover the ruins of Cair Paravel and realize it was attacked.
In the Telmarine castle, the lords of the council learn that Prince Caspian is gone. Lord Sopespian blames Miraz, but Miraz blames the Narnians and tells the lords to fight them to get Caspian back, though Miraz actually intends to kill Caspian.
The Pevensies save Trumpkin from being drowned by two Telmarines; he quickly realizes that the four children are the Kings and Queens of Old and they continue on together. On the way, Lucy glimpses Aslan and tries to convince the others that she has seen him, but only Edmund believes her.
Nikabrik and Trufflehunter lead Caspian to the Dancing Lawn, where the old Narnians have assembled. Caspian convinces them to help him win his throne so he can return their land. Caspian and the Narnians steal weapons from the Telmarines. They also encounter the Pevensies and Trumpkin; they all journey to Aslan's How, a huge barrow built over the Stone Table. Peter decides they will preemptively attack Miraz's castle. Lucy suggests waiting for Aslan to return, but Peter thinks they have waited long enough.
The Narnians raid Miraz’s castle, but Peter calls a retreat when they are overwhelmed by Telmarine soldiers. Peter, Susan, Edmund, Caspian, and half of the Narnians manage to escape, but the rest are slaughtered. When they return to Aslan's How, Peter and Caspian argue about the attack on the castle. Back at the castle, Miraz is crowned King of Narnia.
Nikabrik, with the aid of a hag and a werewolf, tells Caspian that they can help him claim his throne and guarantee Miraz's death. The hag uses black sorcery to summon Jadis, the White Witch. From inside a wall of ice, the White Witch tries to convince Caspian to free her with a drop of blood. Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Trumpkin arrive. Edmund kills the werewolf and Trumpkin stabs Nikabrik just as he is about to kill Lucy. Peter kills the hag and then, seeing Caspian being manipulated by the White Witch, knocks him down and faces the White Witch. She tries to convince Peter to release her. Before he can do anything, Edmund shatters the ice, destroying the White Witch.
As Miraz and his army arrive at Aslan's How, Caspian suggests Peter and Miraz duel one-on-one under the condition of surrender, to buy Lucy and Susan time to find Aslan. Miraz agrees to the duel, not wanting to look like a coward in front of his men. The girls are spotted by Telmarine soldiers, so Susan sends Lucy off alone, remaining behind to face the soldiers. A soldier on a horse runs into her, knocking her down. She is rescued by Caspian and they return to the battle. After a fierce fight, Peter defeats Miraz, but gives his sword to Caspian to finish him off. Caspian spares Miraz's life but says that he will give Narnia back to its people.
Sopespian kills Miraz with one of Susan's arrows and accuses the Narnians of shooting Miraz, leading to a battle between the Telmarines and the Narnians, with the Telmarines gradually winning. Lucy finds Aslan in the woods and he awakens the trees. The battle turns as the trees attack the Telmarines. Lord Sopespian orders retreat to a bridge, where they are confronted by Lucy and Aslan. Aslan summons the river god, who destroys the bridge, killing Sopespian. The battle is won with the surviving Telmarine soldiers surrendering.
Before the Pevensies depart Narnia, Peter and Susan are told by Aslan that they have gained everything they could from their experiences in Narnia and will never return. Caspian invites the Telmarines to remain in Narnia if they will coexist peacefully with the Narnians; but if they wish, they can return to the human world, from whence they originally hailed. Some agree to do so, and Aslan creates a portal for them and the four Pevensies. Susan kisses Caspian, knowing they will never meet again. The Pevensies return to England, leaving Caspian as King of Narnia.
[edit] Cast and characters
[edit] Pevensies
- William Moseley reprises his role as Peter Pevensie. In a departure from the novel, Peter has a rivalry with Caspian. Moseley explained, "Peter's got his own issues to deal with, and Caspian's got his own issues to deal with, and when neither is willing to compromise, there's bound to be friction. Peter came back to Narnia expecting to be king again and that everyone would do as he said, and Caspian is unwilling to let him take over, so that causes some of it. That's really what happens. And it's a lot about humility. I think they both have to learn a certain humility [...] and that's really what a great king needs is to be humble, to listen to his people, to be willing to compromise, and they start off as these sort of angry teenagers, and become kings at the end." In real life, the two actors got on well together. Moseley also stated that he identified with Peter, having gone back to school between shooting both films.[4] He trained for three months in New York City to improve his performance and his physicality.[5]
- Anna Popplewell reprises her role as Susan Pevensie, the second oldest Pevensie. Popplewell had been disappointed she barely used her bow and arrow in the first film.[6] Adamson convinced Douglas Gresham to have her present during the battles by suggesting her passive role in the novel indicated Lewis' view of women before he met Joy Gresham. "I think [Lewis] cast women down in the earlier books, but when you look at The Horse and His Boy, it has a strong female character. Doug's mother was a strong woman."[7] Adamson also chose to have her fall for Caspian, because "The kids are growing up. If you look at Ben and you look at Anna, it seems really implausible that they wouldn't have some feelings for each other." He knew it had to be "sensitively handled" though,[8] and ultimately it is not about romance, but "[accepting] the fact that you can have a wondrous experience, enjoy it and move on".[9] Popplewell added that it would not make sense for the Narnians not to use Susan, a talented archer, in battle, and that the romance contributed to her character's reconciliation with losing Narnia in the first place.[10]
- Skandar Keynes reprises his role as Edmund Pevensie, the second youngest Pevensie. Edmund matured during the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so the writers saw him "as our Han Solo", "[doing] the right thing" and "probably going to be a little low-key about it", highlighting the immaturity of his older brother.[11] Keynes bruised his heel when performing a stunt where he jumped onto a horse. He narrowly missed landing on it and hit his foot against a column when holding on. Excepting that, he enjoyed performing the action.[12]
- Georgie Henley reprises her role as Lucy Pevensie. Henley acknowledged Lucy represents faith in the story, being the youngest and therefore most open-minded of the Pevensies.[5] During filming, Henley's baby teeth were falling out, so she wore fake teeth to fill in the gaps.[13]
[edit] Telmarines
- Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian. Adamson said "Caspian is a coming of age and, to some degree, a loss of innocence story, with Caspian starting out quite naïve, then craving revenge and finally letting go of the vengeance."[9] While many readers interpret Caspian as a child, a passage in the novel mentions his age to be near that of Peter's, so an older actor was sought to match Moseley. Barnes had read the novel as a child, and was cast in two-and-a-half weeks after meeting with the filmmakers. He spent two months in New Zealand horse riding and stunt training to prepare for shooting.[14][15] Barnes modelled his Spanish accent on Mandy Patinkin's performance as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride,[16] though he also had a dialect coach aiding him.[15] Adamson did not expect to cast a British actor as Caspian, and said Barnes fitted well into the surrogate family of Adamson and the four actors playing the Pevensies.[17] When cast, Barnes was set to tour with the Royal National Theatre's production of The History Boys: producer Mark Johnson joked Barnes "probably isn't the Nation's favourite actor right now". Barnes left England without telling the Theatre.[18] They were furious when they found out that he had left them without permission, so they considered suing him for breach of contract, but decided against it.[15]
- Sergio Castellitto as King Miraz. Castellitto was not familiar with the novel, but his four children had enjoyed the first film. Miraz marks the first time the Italian actor has portrayed a villain, and he found it interesting to "act out a stereotype." Nonetheless, he also felt that he and Adamson brought depth to the role, explaining Miraz is a soldier, not a coward, and that he takes the throne for his son. He compared the character to King Claudius in Hamlet.[19]
- Pierfrancesco Favino as Lord Glozelle, Miraz's general, who intends to have his king killed in combat with Caspian and Peter in order to lead his own attack on the Narnians. However, in the end, Glozelle repents and is the first to volunteer to go into the Pevensies' world, and in return, is granted a good future by Aslan. This was Favino's idea, because originally Glozelle would have died in battle.[20] Adamson dubbed the character "a real Benedict Arnold".[9] Favino is able to speak several languages and generally acted as a translator to Adamson on set while working with actors and crew members of multiple nationalities.[6]
- Damián Alcázar as Lord Sopespian.[21] "In some ways Sopespian turns out to be the real bad guy of the film," Adamson said. "Where it seems that Miraz has the upper hand at the beginning, we see that Sopespian, like Shakespeare's Iago, is trying to manipulate the situation."[9]
- Vincent Grass as Doctor Cornelius: Caspian's mentor,[22] who is half-dwarf. Adamson compared Caspian and Cornelius' relationship to Aristotle and Alexander the Great.[9] Cornelius' role in the movie is significantly smaller than in the novel, and he is not named on screen, being referred to only as "Professor".
- Alicia Borrachero as Queen Prunaprismia.[23] Prunaprismia was Miraz's wife. When she had learned that her husband had killed his own brother, she became heartbroken. After Miraz's death, Prunaprismia was the second volunteer to go back to our world (with her child). Because of her repenting, Prunprismia and her child were promised a good life back in our world.
- Simón Andreu as Lord Scythley.[24]
- Predrag Bjelac as Lord Donnon.[25]
- David Bowles as Lord Gergiore. He served as one of the marshals during the duel between Peter and Miraz.
- Juan Diego Montoya Garcia as Lord Montoya.
[edit] Narnians
- Liam Neeson reprises his role as the voice of the lion Aslan. Aslan is "more parental here, [he] lets the kids, well, make their own mistakes".[9] Aslan's entrance was filmed as a dream sequence to emphasize his messianic nature, and not make it reflect badly on his absence when Narnia is in turmoil.[26] Although the character is considered C.S. Lewis' version of Jesus, Neeson "see[s] him more as the spirit of the planet – this living, breathing planet. That's what he stands for, for me; more what the native Americans would believe."[27] As Aslan has fewer action scenes than in the first film, the animators found it difficult to make him move interestingly. His pose had to be regal, but if he moved his head too much, he would remind viewers of a dog. As well as having his size increased by fifteen percent,[28] Aslan's eyes were also changed to look less "Egyptian".[29] Many of his shots were finished at the last minute.[6]
- Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin, a cynical red dwarf. Dinklage was Adamson and Johnson's first choice, having seen him in The Station Agent.[18] He accepted because "often, you get the hero and the villain and not much in between. Trumpkin is in between. He is not a lovable Snow White dwarf. Audiences appreciate these cynical characters. It helps parents and adults to go along with the journey."[30] Dinklage's prosthetics took three hours to apply,[18] and restricted his performance to his eyes. Even his frown was built into the make-up.[20] On his first day of filming, he was bitten by sand flies and fell into a river. "We were lucky that he returned after his first day!" recalled Johnson.[18]
- Warwick Davis as Nikabrik, a black dwarf. He is descendant of Ginarrbrik, who served the White Witch, and bears one of his rings, which was passed down from each generation.[31] Mark Johnson acknowledged casting Davis as the treacherous Nikabrik was casting against type:[18] Berger covered all his face bar his eyelids in prosthetics, to allow Davis to ward off the audience's perceptions of him.[32] Nikabrik's nose was based on Berger.[33] Davis feared filming in the Czech Republic, because the grass is filled with ticks, so he put elastic bands to hold his trousers against his legs.[34] Davis portrayed Reepicheep in the 1989 BBC production of Prince Caspian.
- Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepicheep, a swashbuckling mouse. Over 100 actors auditioned to voice the character.[35] Izzard approached Reepicheep as less camp and more of a bloodthirsty assassin with a sense of honour (a cross between Mad Max and William the Conqueror): Izzard interpreted Reepicheep as someone whose family was killed by the Telmarines.[32] The Narnia series were some of the few books Izzard read as a child, and he cherished them.[36] When discussing Reepicheep to the animators, Adamson told them to rent as many Errol Flynn films as possible.[18] Adamson credits Izzard for making the role his own; beforehand, the director was approaching the character similarly to Puss in Boots in Shrek 2.[37]
- Ken Stott as the voice of Trufflehunter the badger.[38] Adamson called Trufflehunter "a walking and talking Narnian library [who is] totally old-school".[9] The animators visited a badger sanctuary to aid in depicting his performance.[29]
- Cornell John as Glenstorm the Centaur.[39] Adamson had seen John perform in Porgy and Bess in London, and liked his long face.[32] John imagined the character as being 170-years old, and wanted to convey "honour, pride and tradition".[35]
- Lejla Abbasová as Windmane (Glenstorm's wife).[32]
- Yemi Akinyemi as Ironhoof (Glenstorm's son).[40]
- Carlos Da Silva as Suncloud (Glenstorm's son).[40]
- Ephraim Goldin as Rainstone (Glenstorm's son). He dies in the Attack on Miraz' castle, but pops up in the end of the movie.
- David Walliams as the voice of the Bulgy Bear.[41]
- Klara Issova as a Narnian Hag who attempts to resurrect the White Witch.[32] She used some Arabic words in her incantation.[20]
- Gomez Mussenden (son of costume designer Isis Mussenden) plays Lightning Bolt, a child Centaur.[42]
- Jan Pavel Filipensky as Wimbleweather the giant.[40]
- Shane Rangi as Asterius the Minotaur and Josh Campbell as the voice of Asterius. An elderly minotaur who aids Caspian. He is killed during the raid while holding the gate open to allow some of the army to escape. Rangi also stood in for Aslan, the Bulgy Bear, the Werewolf, another Minotaur, and the Wild Bear on set.[43] Rangi played General Otmin in the previous film and Tavros in The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. He was able to see more in the redesigned animatronic minotaur heads, though "in order to make the eye line straight and correct, you've actually got to hold your head down, so your view is only about a foot and a half in front of you, which still makes it a little bit hard". This resulted in Rangi knocking himself against the rising gate of the Telmarine castle, although he was fine and it was the animatronic head that bore the brunt of the damage.[44] The costumes were still very hot, reducing him to a "walking waterfall". Although a head sculpt of Aslan was used to stand in for the character on the first film, Rangi had to portray the character on set because Lucy interacts with him more.[45] Rangi lost four kilograms wearing all his costumes.[44]
- David Mottl and Michaela Dvorska each portrayed Tyrus, a satyr. He is shot by Glozelle when attempting to kill Miraz and then pushed off the balcony by Miraz.
[edit] Cameos
- Tilda Swinton reprises her role as Jadis, the White Witch. Her ghost appears as the hag and werwolf attempt to resurrect her. Swinton and her two children also cameoed towards the film's end as centaurs.[20]
- Composer Harry Gregson-Williams made a vocal cameo as Patterwig the squirrel, as Adamson felt he had a "squirrel-like energy".[20]
- Douglas Gresham cameos as a Telmarine crier.[46]
[edit] Production
[edit] Writing
We had some difficulty figuring out how to make Caspian work as a film. In the book, the children arrive in Narnia, and they all sit down around the campfire and Trumpkin tells them the story of Prince Caspian – which means that the four Pevensie children vanish for half of the book.
Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wanted to explore how the Pevensies felt after returning from Narnia, going from being kings and queens back to an awkward year as school children. They noted, "[C. S. Lewis] doesn't much consider what it would be like for a King of Narnia to return to being a 1940's schoolchild." They also decided to introduce the Pevensies back into Narnia nearer the start, in order to weave the two separate stories of the Pevensies and Caspian, in contrast to the book's structure.[50] A sense of guilt on the Pevensies' part was added, seeing the destruction of Narnia in their absence,[51] as was hubris for Peter to enhance the theme of belief: his arrogance means he is unable to see Aslan.[52]
Adamson also desired to make the film larger in scale; "I've gained confidence having gone through the first. This time, I was able to go larger [in] scale, with more extras and bigger battle scenes."[30] Inspired by a passage in the novel where Reepicheep says he would like to attack the castle,[53] a new battle scene in which Peter and Caspian make an attempted raid on Miraz's castle was created.[54] Adamson felt the imagery of mythological Greek creatures storming a castle was highly original.[17] Markus and McFeely used the sequence to illustrate Peter and Caspian's conflict and Edmund's maturity, in an effort to tighten the script by using action as drama. Adamson preferred subtlety to the drama scenes, asking his young male actors not to perform angrily. Adamson copied Alfred Hitchcock by "tell[ing] people at the end of the scene, 'Now just give me something where you're not thinking about anything.' By using it in context, the audience will read an emotion into it."[53]
[edit] Design
For the Narnians, Berger envisioned them as more wild in appearance, as they have been forced into the forests. He also decided to increase the portrayal of various ages, sizes and races.[57] The black dwarfs are distinguished from the red dwarfs as they have more leather and jewellery, and a darker colour scheme in their costumes.[31] Each race of creatures also had their fighting styles made more distinguishable.[58] The minotaurs have maces, and the centaurs use swords.[59] The satyrs were redesigned, as their creation on the first film had been rushed.[42] 4,600 make-up jobs were performed, which Berger believes is a record.[35]
The filmmakers interpreted the Telmarines, including Caspian, as being Spanish because of their pirate origins, which producer Mark Johnson noted made Caspian "a contrast to the lily-white [Pevensies]".[60] Production designer Roger Ford originally wanted the Telmarines to be French, as they had a confrontational history with the English, who are represented by the Pevensies. This was scrapped as the crew were unable to shoot at Pierrefonds Castle, for Miraz's lair, so they went for the Spanish feel.[61] Weta Workshop created masked helmets for their army, and faceplates for the live horses on set. The stunt soldiers wield two-hundred polearms in two different styles, two-hundred rapiers of varying design, over a hundred falchions, two-hundred and fifty shields and fifty-five crossbows. Caspian's own sword is a variation of the Royal Guard's weapons.[59] Costume designer Isis Mussenden looked to the paintings of El Greco to inspire the Telmarines' costumes.[51] She wanted to use colours that looked "acidic and hot and cool at the same time", unlike the red and gold seen in the Narnian soldiers.[31] Their masked helmets are based on conquistadors and samurai.[62] She visited the armour archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for inspiration.[35] An eagle emblem was incorporated into the characters' lairs to make them feel fascist.[63]
[edit] Filming
Eight months were spent scouting locations,[40] including Ireland,[64] China and Argentina,[65] before New Zealand, Prague, Slovenia and Poland were chosen.[40] Whereas the previous film was predominantly shot in New Zealand with a few months of filming in Central Europe, Adamson decided New Zealand lacked enough sound stages to accommodate the larger scale of the film.[55] The decision to film most of the picture in Europe also allowed the ability to shoot during summer in both continents,[66] although the weather turned out to be so erratic during filming that Adamson joked he had been lied to.[6]
On April 1, 2007, the crew began filming at Barrandov Studios in Prague.[68] There, sets such as Miraz's castle, Aslan's How and the underground hiding places of the Narnians were created.[54] The 200-foot-tall (61 m) castle was built to scale because Adamson felt he overused digital sets on the last film.[53] The castle was built in the open air during winter, where the temperature would drop to minus 20 °C.[67] Miraz's courtyard is the largest set in production designer Roger Ford's career, including the previous Narnia film. Aslan's How was modified into the hideout after filming for those scenes was finished.[54] To create Trufflehunter's den, Ford's crew put a camera inside a badger's den to study what it should look like.[40] The den's roof had to be raised by three inches because Ben Barnes was too tall.[20]
In June 2007, they shot the bridge battle near Bovec in the Soča Valley, Slovenia.[69] The location was chosen for its resemblance to New Zealand. A large bridge was built, which was modelled on the one Julius Caesar built to cross the Rhine.[61] Whereas Caesar supposedly built his bridge in ten days, the filmmakers had around forty. The schedule was short though, but the authorities would only allow them this build time to not completely disrupt normal summer activities on the lake. The filmmakers made a trench to change the river's course, so they could deepen the drained sides of the riverbed so it looked like one could drown in it. The crew also cut down 100 trees for shots of the Telmarines building the bridge; the trees were moved to another side of the river for decoration.[70] The bridge stood for two months before being dismantled.[71] As part of the clean-up, the cut-down trees and parts of the bridge were sent to a recycling plant, while other portions of the bridge were sent to the studio for close-ups shot against bluescreen.[70]
Part of the battle was shot at Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic.[72] Only the entrance to Aslan's How was built on location. Adamson wanted Peter and Miraz's duel to feel unique and not like a controlled, overly choreographed fencing match: Moseley and Castellitto began training for the scene in November 2006. The stunt coordinator Allan Poppleton doubled for Castellitto in some shots because they are similar in size. For claustrophobic shots, cameras were built into their shields.[73] The main camera was placed on a 360 degree track surrounding the ruin it takes place on.[40] The filmmakers dug a large hole in the ground for the scene where the Narnians cause the pillars supporting the growth near Aslan's How to collapse on the Telmarines. The earth was then restored following completion of the scene. They also had to restore the grass after filming numerous cavalry charges. 18,000 fern plants were imported to the Czech Republic to create a forest. A scene shot in Poland, which involved building a cliff face, also had to leave no trace behind.[67] Filming finished by September 8, 2007.[74]
[edit] Effects
Prince Caspian has over 1,500 special effects shots, more than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe's 800 effects shots, yet the film had less time to complete them.[51] The scale of special effects led Andrew Adamson to base production in the UK, to take advantage of new tax credits. Therefore, it legally qualifies as a British film.[75] This also meant the director only had to walk five minutes from the editing room to supervise the effects.[76] British visual effects companies the Moving Picture Company and Framestore CFC were hired to create the visual effects alongside Weta Digital. Framestore worked on Aslan, Trufflehunter and the door in the air; Scanline did the River-god; Weta created the werewolf, the wild bear and Miraz's castle; MPC and Escape Studios did the main battle, the tunnel scene, the castle assault, the council scenes and all the other creatures.[76][77][78]Alex Funke, who worked on The Lord of the Rings, directed the film's miniatures unit.[51] These include 1/24th and 1/100th scale miniatures of Miraz's castle.[59] A scale model was built of the Narnians' cave hideouts during the climactic battle, which the actor playing the giant Wimbleweather was filmed against.[79] One of the improvements made over the previous film was to make the centaurs walk during dialogue scenes, so Cornell John as Glenstorm wore Power Risers (mechanical stilts with springs), to mimic a horse's canter and height.[54] The animatronic Minotaur heads were also improved to properly lip sync,[79] although this was not as successful as hoped and had to be revamped digitally.[80]
In the climactic battle, 150 extras stood in for the Narnians, while 300 extras were used for the Telmarines. These were digitally duplicated until there were 1,000 Narnians and 5,000 Telmarines onscreen. The animators found it easier to create entirely digital centaurs and fauns, rather than mix digital legs with real actors.[76] The dryads were entirely computer-generated, whereas in the first film digital petals had been composited over actors.[29] However, Adamson had chosen to make the centaurs not wear armour, meaning the animators had to make the human–horse join behave more cohesively. Combining digital characters with actors, such as when Lucy hugs Aslan, had become easier since the first film, as lighting had improved.[76] To achieve Lucy hugging Aslan, Framestore even replaced Georgie Henley's arm with a digital version.[29] For the gryphons, a motion control rig was created for the actors to ride on. The rig could simulate subtle movements such as wing beats for realism.[28] Adamson cited the river-god as the character he was most proud of. "It was a really masterful effect: to control water like that is incredibly difficult", he said. "The [visual effects company] told us they'd been waiting to do a shot like that for ten years."[76]
The film features catapults resembling windmills, that can fire rapidly, and a ballista that can fire three projectiles at a time. The practical versions of these were metal with fibreglass painted and aged to resemble wood on top. Weta created props of the missiles thrown by the Telmarine equipment. The practical version of the catapult had its upper half painted blue, to composite a digital version programmed for rapid firing movement.[81]
[edit] Music
Further information: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (soundtrack)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe composer Harry Gregson-Williams began composing the sequel in December 2007. Recording began at Abbey Road Studios the following month, and finished by April 2008. The Crouch End Festival Chorus,[82] Regina Spektor's song, "The Call", Oren Lavie's song, "Dance 'Round The Memory Tree" and Switchfoot's song, "This Is Home", are featured on the soundtrack. Imogen Heap, who sang "Can't Take It In" for the first film, wrote a new song which Gregson-Williams considered too dark.[83]Gregson-Williams' score is darker to follow suit with the film. Gregson-Williams wanted Caspian's theme to convey a vulnerability, which would sound more vibrant as he became more heroic. It originally used a 3/4 time signature, but the opening scene required a 4/4 and thus it was changed. To represent Miraz's cunning, the heroic theme from the first film was inverted. For Reepicheep, a muted trumpet was used to present his militaristic and organised character.[84] Gregson-Williams considered arranging his theme for a small pennywhistle, but found that it sounded too cute and broke the tension of the night raid.[85]
[edit] Release
The film opened in 3,929 theaters in the United States and Canada on May 16, 2008.[90] The Motion Picture Association of America gave the film a PG. To earn this rating, which the filmmakers were contractually bound by Disney to do, Adamson altered a shot of a fallen helmet to make clear that it did not contain a severed head.[91] Adamson made numerous edits to the film beforehand after showing the film to a young audience, explaining "When you sit down and you're watching it, and you see the kids' faces while making the film, you're just making an attempt, you're making it exciting, you're doing all of these things because you're essentially making the film for yourself. When you start showing it to an audience, that then influences how you feel about the film."[26]
[edit] Marketing
Adding to the film's $225 million budget (almost $100 million of which were spent on the effects), Disney also spent $175 million on promoting the film.[1] Play Along Toys created a playset of Miraz's castle, a series of 3¾-inch and 7-inch action figures, and roleplaying costumes. Weta Workshop's Collectibles unit also created statues, busts and helmets based on their props for the film,[92] and there was also a Monopoly edition based on the film.[93] In the UK, Damaris Trust was commissioned to produce resources relating to the film for churches and schools, which are available from the official UK Narnia website.[94] In June 2008, the Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian Attraction opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios, featuring a recreation of the Stone Table, behind-the-scenes footage, concept art, storyboards, props and costumes from the film.[95] The tone of the film's marketing focused on the film's action, and unlike The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Disney and Walden did not screen the film for pastors or give Bible-based study guides in North America.[96][edit] Reception
The film received mostly positive reviews.[97] The review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 68% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 180 reviews.[98] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 62 out of 100, based on 34 reviews.[97] Audience members polled by CinemaScore mostly gave it an A-.[99] Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film 3 out of 4 stars (as he did with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe), calling the performances "strong", the storytelling "solid", and the scenery "breathtaking", though he also said, "it's a dark tale, and the climactic battle scenes go on at length."[100]Two film industry trade journals gave the film positive reviews. Todd McCarthy of Variety felt Adamson's direction had a "surer sense of cinematic values" and praised the improved special effects, the "timeless" locations and production design. On the performances, he felt "the four kids overall have more character and are therefore more interesting to watch than they were before, and Italian actor Castellitto registers strongly with evil that's implacable but not overplayed."[101] Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter noted the film was darker than its predecessor, with "the loss of innocence theme [...] significantly deepened". He highlighted Peter Dinklage's performance, which "outmaneuver[ed] the title character as Narnia's most colorful new inhabitant";.[102]
A number of critics took issue with what they interpreted as the film's underlying messages. San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick Lasalle wrote in his parental advisory that "basically, this is a movie about kids who go into another world and dimension and spend the whole time killing people."[103] MSNBC reviewer Alonso Duralde noted that "all the heroes have British accents while the Telmarines are all decidedly Mediterranean in appearance and inflection".[104] An Anglican Journal review described the movie as reasonably faithful to the adventure elements of the book, much lighter on the religious faith aspects, which they found integral to the novel, and deficient on character and emotion.[105]
The Visual Effects Society nominated it for Best Visual Effects and Best Compositing.[106] It was nominated for Best Fantasy Film, Best Costumes, Best Make-up, and Best Special Effects at the Saturn Awards.[107] Keynes and Henley received nominations at the Young Artist Awards.[108]
In 2010 Mark Johnson, a producer from all of the Narnia movies, admitted that "We made some mistakes with Prince Caspian and I don't want to make them again." He also said Caspian lacked some of the "wonder and magic of Narnia," was "a little bit too rough" for families, and too much of a "boys' action movie."[109]
[edit] Box office
When released on May 16 in the United States and Canada, the film grossed $55 million from 8,400 screens at 3,929 theaters in its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the box office.[110] Disney said it was happy with the film's performance, although the opening fell short of industry expectations of $80 million and was also behind The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe's opening gross of $65.6 million.[111] By June 1 it grossed $115 million, while the first film had grossed $153 million in the same amount of time.[112] Disney CEO Robert Iger attributed the film's underperformance to being released between two of the year's biggest hits, Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[87][113]On May 16, the film also opened at number one in twelve other countries,[111] grossing $22.1 million, and bringing the worldwide opening total to about $77 million.[114] The film opened in Russia with $6.7 million, the biggest opening of the year; it earned $6.3 million (15% more than the first) in Mexico; $4 million in South Korea, making it in the third most successful Disney film there; $2 million from India, which was triple the gross of the first; and it earned $1.1 million in Malaysia, making it the country's third most popular Disney film after the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.[115] The film also opened with $1 million in Argentina on June 13, which was Disney's third biggest opening in the country and the biggest of 2008 at that time.[116] Prince Caspian made $141,621,490 in the United States and Canada while the worldwide total stands at $419,651,413. The movie was the tenth highest-grossing film of 2008 worldwide,[117] and was Disney's second highest-grossing film of 2008 after WALL-E.[1]
[edit] Accolades
 | This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2011) |
| Year | Award | Category/Recipient | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | MTV Movie Awards | Best Summer Movie So Far | Nominated | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Movie: Action Adventure | Won | ||
| Choice Movie Breakout Male (Ben Barnes) | Nominated | |||
| National Movie Awards | Best Family Film | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance – Male (Ben Barnes) | Nominated | |||
| 2009 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Family Movie | Nominated | |
| Costume Designers Guild Awards | Excellence in Costume Design for Film – Fantasy | Nominated | ||
| Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Foreign Feature Film | Nominated | ||
| Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture | Nominated | |||
| Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Ensemble Cast (Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell) | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress (Georgie Henley) | Nominated | |||
| Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor (Skandar Keynes) | Nominated | |||
| Taurus World Stunt Awards | Best Fight | Nominated | ||
| BMI Film & TV Awards | BMI Film Music Award | Won | ||
| MTV Movie Awards | Breakthrough Male Performance (Ben Barnes) | Nominated | ||
| Saturn Award | Best Costume | Nominated | ||
| Best Make-Up | Nominated | |||
| Best Visual Effects | Nominated |
[edit] Home release
Prince Caspian was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK on 17 November 2008, and on 2 December 2008 in North America. It was the top selling DVD of its release week in the U.S.[119] taking in $54.7 million.[120] The film was released in Australia on 27 November 2008. There were one-disc and three-disc DVD editions (two-disc only in the UK), and two-disc and three-disc Blu-ray editions (two-disc only in the UK). The first two discs contain an audio commentary by Adamson, blooper reel, deleted scenes and documentaries, while the third disc contains a digital copy of the film.[121] For the Blu-ray disc, Circle-Vision 360° was used to allow viewers to watch the night raid from different angles.[122] An additional disc of special features was only made available in Japan and Zavvi stores in the UK, while a separate version containing a disc of electronic press kit material was exclusive to Sanity stores in Australia.[123] By the end of 2008, the film earned almost $71 million in DVD sales.[124]The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
This article is about the film. For the novel, see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
| The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Apted |
| Produced by | Mark Johnson Andrew Adamson Philip Steuer |
| Screenplay by | Christopher Markus Stephen McFeely Michael Petroni |
| Based on | The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis |
| Starring | Georgie Henley Skandar Keynes Will Poulter Ben Barnes Liam Neeson Simon Pegg |
| Music by | David Arnold Harry Gregson-Williams (additional music) |
| Cinematography | Dante Spinotti |
| Editing by | Rick Shaine |
| Studio | Walden Media Dune Entertainment |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | November 30, 2010 (Royal Film Performance) December 9, 2010 (United Kingdom) December 10, 2010 (United States) |
| Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country |
|
| Language | English |
| Budget | $140[1][2]–155[3][4] million |
| Box office | $415,686,217[4] |
The film is set three Narnian years after the events of Prince Caspian. The two youngest Pevensie siblings, Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley), are transported back to Narnia along with their cousin Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter). They join the new king of Narnia, Caspian (Ben Barnes), in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and to save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a dark island. Each character is tested as they journey to the home of the great lion Aslan at the far end of the world.
Development on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader began in 2007, while Prince Caspian was still in production. Filming was supposed to take place in Malta, Czech Republic and Iceland in 2008 with Michael Apted as its new director, for a planned release in 2009. But production was halted after a budgetary dispute between Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures concerning Prince Caspian's performance, resulting in Disney's departing the production and being replaced by 20th Century Fox. Filming later took place in Australia and New Zealand in 2009 and was converted into 3D in 2010. It was released in traditional 2D, RealD 3D, and Digital 3D, and a limited release in 4D.[5][6]
The film premiered on November 30, 2010, at a Royal Film Performance in London[7] and was released worldwide on December 10, 2010 and was commercially successful but met with mixed reviews praising the performances and visual effects but criticizing the script and pace. The film received moderate success in North America with a gross of $104 million, which was lower than its predecessors. However, it fared better than Prince Caspian internationally with $310 million. The film was the 12th highest-grossing film of 2010 worldwide with nearly $415 million and received a nomination at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. It then became 20th Century Fox's highest-grossing film in 2010.[8] The Magician's Nephew was to be the fourth entry to the series,[9][10] but in fall 2011 Walden Media's contract with the C.S. Lewis Estate expired, placing the possibility of another film on indefinite hold.[11][12]
Contents[hide] |
[edit] Plot
Three years after the events of Prince Caspian, Lucy and Edmund Pevensie are staying with their irritating cousin Eustace Scrubb. A magical painting of a ship on the ocean transports Lucy, Edmund and Eustace into an ocean in Narnia.They are rescued by the Dawn Treader. Caspian invites them on a voyage to rescue the seven Lords of Narnia whom his uncle Miraz banished. In the Lone Islands, where people are sold as slaves, Caspian and Edmund are captured and imprisoned while Lucy and Eustace are sold as slaves. Caspian meets one of the lost lords, who reveals that the slaves are not sold, but sacrificed to a mysterious green mist. The crew of the Dawn Treader then rescue the four. The lord, who becomes the new governor, gives Caspian a sword originally given by Aslan.
At another island, Lucy is abducted by invisible Dufflepuds who force her to enter the manor of the magician Coriakin to find a visibility spell. Coriakin encourages the crew to defeat the mist by laying the lords' seven swords at Aslan's Table, but warns them that they are all about to be tested. Lucy recites a beauty incantation she found, and enters a dream in which she has transformed into Susan, and neither Lucy nor Narnia exist. Aslan chides Lucy for her self-doubt, explaining that her siblings only know of Narnia because of her.
Another sword is recovered from a magical pool that turns anything that touches it (including one of the lost lords) into gold. Meanwhile, Eustace discovers and steals treasure from a dragon hoard. While Edmund and Caspian look for Eustace, a dragon approaches and is driven away from the Dawn Treader. The dragon is Eustace, transformed by the enchanted treasure after succumbing to its temptations. Reepicheep befriends Eustace, and touched by the mouse's kindness, Eustace has a change of heart and becomes useful to the crew.
They arrive at Aslan's Table to find three lost lords sleeping. As they place the swords on the table they realize one is still missing. A star descends from the sky and transforms into Lilliandil, a beautiful woman who guides them to the Dark Island, lair of the mist, where they discover the last surviving Lord. Edmund's fear manifests itself as a monstrous sea serpent that attacks the ship. Eustace as a dragon fights the serpent, but Eustace is wounded by the last sword and flies away. He encounters Aslan, who transforms him back into a boy and sends him to Ramandu's island with the last sword. The mist tries to distract Edmund by appearing as Jadis, the White Witch. Eustace overcomes the mist and puts the sword on the table, awakening the three sleeping lords and destroying the mist and Dark Island; Edmund slays the sea serpent and they liberate the sacrificed slaves.
Eustace rejoins Lucy, Edmund, Caspian and Reepicheep, and they sail to a mysterious shore before a massive wave. Aslan appears and tells them that his country lies beyond, although if they go there they may never return. Caspian refuses, but Reepicheep is determined to enter, and Aslan blesses him before he paddles beyond the wave. Aslan opens a portal to send Lucy, Edmund and Eustace home, but informs Lucy and Edmund they have grown up and can never return to Narnia. Aslan encourages them to know him in their world by another name, and tells a reformed Eustace that he may return. The three enter the portal and are returned to the bedroom. Eustace hears his mother announcing a visitor, Jill Pole.
[edit] Cast
[edit] Pevensies and Scrubbs
- Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie: Lucy is the youngest of the Pevensie children. A Queen of Narnia who first discovered the world of Narnia during the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, she comes back to Narnia to save it from a threatening evil while her faith is being tested along the way. Henley feels that Lucy's desire to be more beautiful than her sister Susan represents the dilemma of modern teenage girls on beauty and image.[13]
- Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie: Edmund is the second-youngest of the Pevensie children and a King of Narnia. He is more matured after the events of Prince Caspian, and he takes good care of his younger sister and cousin while they embark on a voyage to defeat the enemy. On his last journey, his hunger for more power against Caspian and the White Witch is being tested.[13]
- Will Poulter as Eustace Scrubb: Eustace is the Pevensie children's annoying cousin who gets transported to Narnia for the first time. At first, he irritates everyone with his bad attitude, but he dramatically changes after he is cursed and becomes a dragon. With the support of his cousins and the warrior mouse Reepicheep, Eustace becomes a more generous and cooperative soul. He uses his dragon form to good advantage first when the Dawn Treader is caught in magically induced doldrums by towing the ship and later attacking the sea serpent, earning the crew's respect.[13]
[edit] Dawn Treader crew
- Ben Barnes as King Caspian: Caspian was raised as a Telmarine prince and was helped by the Pevensie children to ascend to the throne as the new King of Narnia during the events of Prince Caspian. As the King of Narnia, he has grown into a wise young man and embarks on a voyage to seek the seven lost lords of Narnia and to defeat an enemy who threatens to corrupt it. Along the way, his faith is tested when he is tempted by the green mist of Dark Island, which appears to him as his greatest fear - his father feeling nothing but disappointment in him. Also on the voyage, Caspian finds a new love interest when he meets Lilliandil on Ramandu's Island and is instantly smitten with her. The Spanish accent that Barnes used in the film Prince Caspian was changed to his own English accent for this film.[13]
- Simon Pegg as the voice of Reepicheep: Reepicheep is the valiant swashbuckling mouse who aided Caspian and the Pevensie children during the events of Prince Caspian. He joins Caspian in the voyage on the Dawn Treader because he is aware that his time is at an end; he must seek the unseen Aslan's Country as his last voyage. Pegg replaced Eddie Izzard because director Michael Apted thought that his voice is more mature and serious compared to Izzard's.[13][14]
- Gary Sweet as Lord Drinian: Drinian is the captain of the Dawn Treader and Caspian's best friend. He is a very cautious and protective captain, and is somewhat superstitious about stories of sea serpents.[13]
- Shane Rangi as Tavros the Minotaur: Rangi also played Asterius the Minotaur in Prince Caspian and General Otmin in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.[13]
- Morgan Evans as Randy the Faun[13]
- Steven Rooke as Nausus the Faun[13]
- Tony Nixon as 1st Mate (Rynelf)[13]
[edit] Narnians
- Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan: Aslan is a great lion and the highest of all the Kings of Narnia. He tests everyone's faith as they embark on a voyage to defeat evil and to seek his country in the ends of the world. He finally reveals to Lucy and Edmund that they will no longer visit Narnia and they must know him as someone else in their own world.[13]
- Laura Brent as Lilliandil: Lilliandil is the daughter of the retired star, Ramandu and the Blue Star that shines over Ramandu's Island; the crew on the Dawn Treader follow her position in the sky to reach the island. She aides the crew in destroying the evil of Dark Island and is also Caspian's love interest. The name of Ramandu's Daughter is not mentioned in the novel, so producer Douglas Gresham coined the name "Lilliandil".[15]
- Bille Brown as Coriakin: Coriakin is a wizard and a retired star who guides the Dufflepuds to wisdom. He reveals to the crew the evil that threatens to corrupt Narnia and warns them that each one of them will be tested in their faith by Aslan.
- Terry Norris as Lord Bern: Bern is one of the Lost Lords of Narnia who settled on the Lone Islands. He later succeeds as its new Governor.[13]
- Bruce Spence as Lord Rhoop: Rhoop of the Lost Lords of Narnia. He gets trapped on the Dark Island.[13]
- Arabella Morton as Gael: Gael is a Lone Islander whose mother was sacrificed to the green mist. She later sneaks onboard the Dawn Treader to follow her father, (Rhince, played by Arthur Angel) who also joins the Dawn Treader crew to look for his wife. She is good friends with Lucy and sees her as her heroine, as Lucy acts much like a big sister to her.
- Nathaniel Parker as Caspian IX: The late father of Caspian X, who was murdered by his brother Miraz shortly after his son's birth. The green mist of Dark Island appears to Caspian as his father, telling him that he is ashamed to call him his son.
- David Vallon as Governor Gumpas[13]
- Michael Foster as Gumpas's money collector[13]
- Roy Billing as Chief Dufflepud[16]
[edit] Cameos
- William Moseley as Peter Pevensie: Peter is the oldest of the Pevensie children, who was crowned as the High King of Narnia during the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was too old to experience the wonders of Narnia after the events of Prince Caspian.[17]
- Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie: Susan is the second-oldest of the Pevensie children and a Queen of Narnia. She was too old to visit Narnia a third time along with her older brother Peter. She went to America with her parents, leaving her younger siblings to spend their vacation with their cousin.[17]
- Tilda Swinton as Jadis, the White Witch:[17] The White Witch is a former queen of Charn and a witch who ruled Narnia after the events of The Magician's Nephew and during the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Edmund's memories of her are revived by the mist to torment him in his test to defeat temptation.
- Douglas Gresham as a slave buyer: Douglas Gresham is the step son of C. S. Lewis and has made cameos in all three Narnia films all of which he produced.
[edit] Production
[edit] Development
Michael Apted took over as the film's director from Andrew Adamson, who opted to produce, with Mark Johnson, Perry Moore, and Douglas Gresham. Steven Knight wrote the script following a draft by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Richard Taylor, Isis Mussenden, and Howard Berger continued their roles working on the production design and practical effects, while visual effects supervisor Jim Rygiel, composer David Arnold, and cinematographer Dante Spinotti are newcomers to the series.[18] The film was officially budgeted at $140 million,[1][2] although some estimates put the cost at $155 million.[3][4]
When Apted signed on to direct The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in June 2007, filming was set to begin in January 2008 for a May 1, 2009 release date.[19] Shooting would have begun in Malta, and then moved to Prague and Iceland.[20] A few months later, Disney announced that "in consideration of the challenging schedules for [its] young actors", they were delaying the release date to May 7, 2010,[21] and filming was moved to October 2008.[22] Johnson rescheduled the shoot to Playas de Rosarito, Baja California (Mexico), where two-thirds of the film would be shot at the water tank that was used for Titanic and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.[23] Filming was also scheduled for Australia.[24] Disney and Walden eventually grew concerned over safety in Mexico, and Australian officials at Warner Roadshow Studios in Queensland offered to become the project's base for the whole shoot.[25]
Disney announced on December 24, 2008, that it would no longer co-produce the film. Disney and Walden disputed over the budget after the box office performance of Prince Caspian grossed far less than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Disney wanted to limit it to $100 million, whereas Walden wanted a $140 million budget, of which Disney would only need to provide half.[26] Another reason why Disney opted not to produce the film was because they feared the budget would only grow during filming and post-production. The Los Angeles Times also reported "creative differences" led to the split.[27] Times columnist Mary McNamara noted that Disney leaving the series could be a mistake, because Voyage is the most popular Narnia book, while Caspian was the series' least popular and did not create the anticipation surrounding the first film.[28] Walden had to find a new distributor for the film. Several other studios, including Sony's Columbia Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox were in negotiations to distribute the film, although several markets already predicted that Fox would take over.[29]
It was announced in January 2009 that 20th Century Fox would replace Walt Disney Pictures as the distributor while Disney would still retain the rights for the first two. Fox had pursued the Narnia film rights in 2001 and distributed various other Walden projects. Producer Mark Johnson admitted that "we made some mistakes with Prince Caspian and I don't want to make them again." He said it was "very important" that filmmakers regain the magic for Dawn Treader.[30]
[edit] Writing
Michael Petroni was hired to rewrite the script with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely,[31] following a draft written by Richard LaGravenese and Steven Knight.[32][33] The previous two films have been described as remaining more faithful to the original stories than the third installment.[34] Apted noted the episodic and disconnected nature of the story would need to be revised for a film version, such as the material involving the Dark Island, the Sea Serpent, and Eustace. They even discussed combining The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with The Silver Chair, much as the BBC combined Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian in its television serial. As a result, some elements were borrowed from The Silver Chair, where Narnians are held hostage and rescued. The author's estate did not initially receive the change well, but it gained favor after review.[32]Eustace has a greater role as a dragon in the film such as not only allowed to proceed with the ship to the next islands in that state, but also proves a valuable asset for the crew for the remainder of the voyage. This is so he could take a major part in the action and not merely do expedition work duty as in the book. The book's stream of consciousness description about Eustace gradually realizing that he had become a dragon while sleeping is effective as text, but it could not easily be translated onto film. Further, a noted passage from the book where Aslan peels Eustace's dragon skin off in layers is not used.[34] Walden President Micheal Flaherty remarked about it that "people don't earn grace; they receive it once they are humbled and aware of their need." [32][35] The old dragon which Eustace finds, and sees it die of old age, in the valley in the book, is not used in the film.
[edit] Filming
Ernie Malik, a unit publicist for the film, confirmed[36] that filming began on July 27, 2009, on location in Queensland, Australia.[37] Filming took place at Village Roadshow Studios in August and September 2009, with filming of exterior shots on board the ship at Cleveland Point and the Gold Coast Seaway in September 2009. Apted stated that fellow directors Gore Verbinski and Peter Weir recommended him not to shoot on water, so they built a giant Dawn Treader on a gimbal at, which allowed it to rock and shift as if on the high seas. At the extreme end of the town's peninsula, jutting into Moreton Bay, the 145-tonne (160-ton) boat could be rotated through 360 degrees to keep the sun angles consistent.[38] Additional shots were taken at the Southport School, also located on the Gold Coast.[39] It was also filmed at White Island in New Zealand.[1][edit] Effects
There are 1,400 special effects shots that were made for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,[40] more than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe's 800 and fewer than Prince Caspian's 1,500 shots. Angus Bickerton served as the lead visual effects supervisor of the film while Jim Rygiel, who supervised the effects on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, worked as the senior visual effects supervisor.[41] British visual effects companies the Moving Picture Company, Framestore CFC, and The Senate VFX were hired to create the visual effects alongside Cinesite and The Mill.[42] Moving Picture worked on the dragon Eustace and the Dawn Treader. They say the dragon is "amongst the most heroic characters ever created, and is scheduled to be featured in around 200 shots of the movie." They also revised Reepicheep from the previous film by saturating his color, giving him bushier eyebrows and ear hair, and made his whiskers a little more wiry just to give him a sense of age. Framestore also revised Aslan, changing his color palette to be a more realistic lion than a golden lion and adding a darker mane; they also created 16 different dufflepuds to replace Jonathan Fawkner and Angus Bickerton running around first as dufflepuds on the set; The Senate worked on the opening shot of King's College, Cambridge, as well as the star effect on Liliandil at Ramandu's Island; Cinesite worked on the Dark Island, and Fugitive Studios did the end titles and credits, which featured original drawings created by Pauline Baynes for the Narnia books.[41] These illustrations were included because the film's creators wanted the credits to have visual interest, and also because they wished to include an acknowledgement to Pauline Baynes, who died in August 2008.[43] Richard Taylor revealed that Weta Workshop created new set pieces for the film and reused the ones created for The Lion, The Witch, the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, such as Lucy's Cordial, Susan's Horn and Edmund and Caspian's swords.[44]
[edit] Conversion to 3D
"Well, the thing about us is that we have a long time. We decided in February [2010] to make Dawn Treader a 3D movie, so we had nine months to do it. Some of these other films put 3D in very quickly. I believe something like Clash of the Titans had about eight weeks. So we have had time to think about it, so it hasn't been a rush. I think we'll get very good value out of it. They won't see anything cheap or nasty. Rest assured on that."
[edit] Music
Composer David Arnold scored the film, with themes composed by Harry Gregson-Williams (who scored the first two films). It was the Arnold's fourth collaboration with Apted, after The World Is Not Enough, Enough, and Amazing Grace. Arnold worked with Paul Apted in editing the score, which he said was "going to be epic."[49] The scoring sessions took place during September and work was completed on October 8, 2010. An original song, "There's A Place for Us" written by Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, and Hillary Lindsey, and recorded by Carrie Underwood, was released on November 16, 2010 exclusively on iTunes.[50][51][52][53] It was released on December 7, 2010 by Sony Masterworks.[citation needed] Covers of the song have recorded by various singers around the world.[citation needed][edit] Marketing
[edit] Promotions
In addition to its production budget, Fox and Walden spent around $100 million to promote the film around the world.[54] In late November 2009, three still pictures from the film were released on the social networking site Facebook.[55] In February 2010, Narnia.com, the official domain, returned after a nine-month hiatus, bringing exclusive reports from the set. The full site, with the first trailer, information on the film's story and cast, and other content, opened on June 17, 2010.[56] The film's first promotional banner was presented at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, which was followed by a teaser poster in May 2010.[57] A Christian Narnia conference was held from June 3–6, 2010, at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Director Michael Apted and some of the producers gave exclusive commentary on and first looks at the film, including a 5-minute "super trailer". Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse program promoted an international relief campaign entitled Operation Narnia to donate relief goods to children around the world from July to December 2010.[58]The historic caravel ship The Matthew was transformed into a replica of The Dawn Treader to promote the film.[59] It sailed from the Atlantic Ocean to the English Channel on August 2010. National Geographic Channel and Fox conducted a series of contests in Europe for people who want to visit the ship for three days.[60] The National Maritime Museum in Cornwall made the ship available to the public on August 28 to August 30, 2010.[61]
"It's a story that has English roots but its relatable to every child on the planet because its about growing up, finding yourself, coming to terms with yourself and knowing what your values are."
The first official trailer for the film was released online on June 17, 2010. The trailer was attached to the theatrical release of Toy Story 3 on June 18, 2010. and then attached to Alpha and Omega on September 17, 2010.[65] 20th Century Fox released the trailer on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD release. An international poster and trailer for the film was shown on October 7, 2010. A third trailer was released November 9, 2010.[66] To promote the film's release, American television networks ABC and Disney Channel broadcast The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe on December 11, 13, and 14. Cable network Syfy screened Prince Caspian on December 12 and 13.
[edit] Books
HarperCollins published new editions of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Chronicles of Narnia on October 26, 2010, with new images of the film. Harper published a new edition of The Chronicles of Narnia, commemorating the 60th anniversary of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and released it the same day.[67][68] A movie storybook and several other tie-in books were released by HarperChildrens, Walden Pond Press, and Zondervan to promote the film.[69] On November 12, 2010, HarperCollins released an enhanced multimedia e-book of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader for several platforms including iPad and Android.[70][71][72]Group Publishing released three previews from the film and included it in their vacation Bible school resource kit called Fun for the Whole Family Hour on August 19, 2010.[73] Grace Hill Media released a resource tool entitled Narnia Faith for ministers and pastors on October 12, 2010.[74]
[edit] Games
Nihilistic Software and Disney Interactive Studios was supposed to develop a video game based on the film for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii when Disney was still involved in the project. But when Fox took over the production, Nihilistic sought out negotiations with Fox Digital Entertainment division. They failed to agree on a settlement, which resulted in the cancellation of the video game.[75] Fox Digital Entertainment later collaborated with Gameloft to produce a mobile game for iPhone and iPod Touch which was released on November 18, 2010.[76] There is no further information if a game will be made for Xbox, PlayStation 3 or any other platform.[edit] Release
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader held its world premiere on November 30, 2010 in London at the Royal Film Performance in Leicester Square. It was the first time the Royal Film Performance was screened in Digital 3D and the second time a Narnia film premiered at the event, the first being The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in 2005.[7] The premiere was attended by various personalities, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.[77][78][79] It was given a pre-release gala on December 8 in Knoxville, Tennessee followed by a North American premiere in Louisville, Kentucky on December 9, 2010.[80] The film was originally set to have a May 2009 release date when Disney was still producing it.[19] But was later delayed when Disney pulled itself and Fox helmed the production. Fox later announced a December 2010 release date because it felt that Narnia will do better during the holidays. It had its major release in Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and 2D formats in Asia and Australia on December 2, 2010 and in North America and Europe on December 10, 2010.[81][edit] Critical reception
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has been met with mixed reviews from critics. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 49% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on a sample of 153 reviews, with a rating average of 5.7 out of 10. Among Rotten Tomatoes' Top Critics, which consists of popular and notable critics from the top newspapers, websites, television and radio programs, the film holds an overall approval rating of 50%, based on a sample of 28 reviews.[82] The consensus was: "Its leisurely, businesslike pace won't win the franchise many new fans, but Voyage of the Dawn Treader restores some of the Narnia franchise's lost luster with strong performances and impressive special effects." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating from film critics, the film has a rating score of 53% based on 33 reviews.[83] CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave the film an A- on an A+ to F scale.[84]Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film and gave it three stars out of four, saying "This is a rip-snorting adventure fantasy for families, especially the younger members who are not insistent on continuity."[85] Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave it a three stars out of four; he remarked it is "a worthy challenger to the far more popular Harry Potter pictures".[86] The Guardian gave the film a positive review. They stated that the film "arrives with confidence and bravado intact. ... and arguably the most Tolkien-esque of the Narnia books".[87] IGN was positive, stating "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a solid sequel that might even surpass the first entry as the best in the series for some fans. It also bodes well for the future of this once iffy franchise." [88] Several film critics have praised Apted's direction in character development and Poulter's performance as Eustace. Among them, Arizona Republic's Kerry Lengel said, "the best thing about the film is neither the top-notch CGI nor the shallow moral lessons but the performance of Georgie Henley as Lucy as well as the performance of her and Edmund's insufferable cousin Eustace Scrubb." [89] Luke Y. Thompson from E! Online praised the performances, stating "Henley and Keynes are charming as ever, and Poulter's turn as Eustace injects a welcome note of comedic cynicism into the sea of sentimentality. Simon Pegg ably succeeds Eddie Izzard as mouse warrior Reepicheep, Bille Brown's sorcerer Coriakin has a fun performance and a sequence in which Lucy inadvertently wishes her life away is brilliantly disorienting and nightmarish."[90]
Despite the movie adaptation of the book to appeal to the "everyman" and not just to Christian audiences and Lewis fans (with the introduction of the search for the seven swords side plot, the continued reoccurrence of the White Queen, and the larger role for the dragon Eustace), Christian reviewers found much to like about the movie. Key for many was the closing scene with Lucy and Aslan in which Aslan assures a sobbing Lucy "that he's very much in her world, where he has 'another name'. and that "This was the very reason why (Lucy was) brought to Narnia, that by knowing (Aslan) here for a little, (she) may know (him) better there." This was in direct contradiction to the first two Narnia movies in which Christian reviewers felt that the director failed to grasp and accurately reproduce key sections and overriding themes from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.[91][92]
[edit] Commercial analysis
Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo stated that "There certainly will be an audience for this picture, I just don't think it is going to restore the franchise to its former glory." He added that the film would be considered a relative success if it made anything close to Prince Caspian's box office numbers, which would increase the likelihood of further Narnia films.[93]"They got a little careless by taking the faith group for granted — and by neglecting it paid the price. We realized we can't make the same mistake. We've got to sell the film to everybody."
—Michael Apted on focusing The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to the Christian audiences[94]
[edit] Box office performance
The film grossed $415,686,217 worldwide, including $104,386,950 in North America as well as $311,299,267 in other territories.[4] It is the 12th highest-grossing film worldwide of 2010, as well as Fox's highest-grossing film of that year since, ahead of Knight and Day and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.[8]The Voyage of the Dawn Treader opened in 3,555 theaters across the United States and Canada on December 10, 2010. On its opening day, the film grossed $8.3 million, which was far lower than the $23.0 million that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe made on its opening day in 2005, and also much lower than Prince Caspian, which had an opening day gross of $19.4 million in 2008.[95] Although The Voyage of the Dawn Treader debuted at #1 at the box office and grossed $24.0 million for its opening weekend, it was far less than the opening weekends of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ($65.6 million) and Prince Caspian ($55.0 million).[96] Despite The Voyage of the Dawn Treader's disappointing opening weekend, Fox believed that word of mouth and the holiday season would help the film hold well.[97] In its second weekend, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader dropped 48%, the smallest second-weekend drop in the franchise, and came in with $12.4 million, in third place to Tron: Legacy and Yogi Bear.[98] During its third weekend, the 2010 Christmas weekend, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader dropped only 24%, the smallest decline among nationwide releases, and grossed $9.5 million.[99] In the 2011 New Year's weekend, the film increased 8% from the previous weekend, grossing $10.3 million.[100] On January 22, 2011, the film's forty-fourth day in theaters, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader became 20th Century Fox's first film to gross $100 million in the United States and Canada since Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel crossed that mark in December 2009. However, it is the slowest Narnia film to reach $100 million in these regions, taking much longer than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (nine days) and Prince Caspian (thirteen days).[101]
Overseas, the film performed better. On its limited opening weekend (Dec. 3-5, 2010) when it opened in only 9 territories (among them some limited releases), it earned $11.9 million ranking 4th for the weekend.[102] On its first weekend of wide release (Dec. 10-12, 2010), it expanded to 58 countries and topped the box office, earning $65.8 million, for an overseas total of $79.8 million. The film's biggest opening market was Russia, where it opened with $10.9 million (the best start for the franchise) including previews. It had the best opening of for a Narnia film in Mexico ($7.1 million including previews) and South Korea ($5.3 million including previews). Its opening in the UK, a mere $3.9 million, was less than half of what Prince Caspian opened with and about a quarter of the first film's UK opening in 2005.[103] However, the film held well throughout the holiday season in the UK, and on the weekend ending January 9, 2011 it outgrossed the £11,653,554 that Prince Caspian made in that region.[104] It has so far made £14,317,168 ($23,650,534) at the UK box office.[105]
On its second weekend, it held to the top spot at the box office, but declined 53% to $31.2 million for an overseas total of $125.2 million.[106] It fell to fifth place on the Christmas weekend ($23.1 million) and on New Year's weekend it went down to sixth place ($19.3 million) for an overseas total of $210.2 million.[107] It eased 5% to $18.4 million from 53 markets on its fifth showing for a fourth place finish. It had a major opening of $6.3 million in China, which was better than Prince Caspian's $3.9 million.[108][109] On its 12th weekend (February 25–27), it surpassed Prince Caspian's foreign gross ($278 million) when it opened in Japan, with a $6.6 million gross, which is behind the first film's opening ($8.9 million) but better than the second film's ($5 million).[110]
[edit] Accolades
On 14 December 2010, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated The Voyage of the Dawn Treader for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song ("There's a Place for Us") at the 68th Golden Globe Awards.[111][112][113][113][114] It received three nominations at the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards: Best Youth Actor (Will Poulter), Best Live Action Family Film, and Best Original Song.[115] Poulter received a nomination for Young British Performer of the Year at the 2010 London Film Critics Circle Awards.[116] The film also received four nominations at the 37th Saturn Awards. It was awarded the Epiphany Prize as the Most Inspiring Movie of 2010.[117]| Year | Award | Category/Recipient(s) | Result | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards | Best Family Film | Nominated | |
| Best Youth Actor (Will Poulter) | Nominated | |||
| Best Original Song ("There's a Place for Us") | Nominated | |||
| 2010 London Film Critics Circle Awards | Young Performer of the Year (Will Poulter) | Nominated | ||
| 2010 Art Directors Guild Awards | Excellence in Production Design for a Fantasy Feature Film | Nominated | ||
| 2011 | 68th Golden Globe Awards | Best Original Song ("There's a Place for Us") | Nominated | |
| 9th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards | Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture (Reepicheep) | Nominated | ||
| People's Choice Awards | Favorite 3D Live Action Movie | Won | ||
| 2011 London Critics Circle Film Awards | Young British Performer of the Year (Will Poulter) | Nominated | ||
| 32nd Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast (Georgie Henley, Skander Keynes, Will Poulter) | Nominated | ||
| 19th MovieGuide Faith and Values Awards | Most Inspiring Movie | Won | ||
| Crystal Dove Seal Award | Best Adventure | Won | ||
| 37th Saturn Awards | Best Fantasy Film | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Will Poulter) | Nominated | |||
| Best Costume | Nominated | |||
| Best Special Effects | Nominated | |||
| National Movie Awards | Fantasy | Nominated | ||
| Performance of the Year (Ben Barnes) | Nominated | |||
| Performance of the Year (Georgie Henley) | Nominated |
[edit] Home media
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader on Blu-Ray and DVD on April 8, 2011.[127] The release included a single disc DVD, a two-disc DVD double pack, a single disc Blu-Ray, and a three-disc Blu-Ray with DVD and Digital Copy.[128]The two-disc DVD double pack will feature an animated short film entitled The Untold adventures of the Dawn Treader, a guide to the Dawn Treader, seven featurettes aired on Fox Movie Channel and 5 minutes of deleted scenes.[129] The three-disc Blu-Ray edition will also feature 8 international music videos, a sword game, five Island explorations, two additional short films entitled Portal to Narnia: A Painting Comes to Life & Good vs. Evil: Battle on the Sea, a visual effects progression reel, and a digital copy.[130][131]
[edit] Collector's Edition and Blu-ray 3D
20th Century Fox, have announced that the 3D Blu-ray will be released in the US on August 30, 2011.[132]Walden Media President Micheal Flaherty stated in an interview that 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment are developing a collector's edition box set DVD and Blu-ray containing the first three films.[133]