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The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe: 1979 Animated VS. 2005 Live-Action

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Personally, I think the 1979 animated version is better, because it's a near-perfect conversion of the classic story.

There are so many problems with the 2005 live-action version it's take a whole page to explain them all. Its advanced technology and special effects don't make up for its inaccuracy.
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I haven't seen that one. How accurate is it to the book?
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Very accurate. It was a series, so lots of time to include all the plot points etc. The show covered the entire Chronicles of Narnia, not just TL,TW&TW.

War does not make one great.

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i liked all the puppet ones from the bbc
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was that the kid who played Peter? Cool!

I too watched and loved the BBC version when it aired. I've still got the VHS tapes somewhere...

[Man, I'm coming over like some kind of VHS fetishist - I do own a lot of DVDs! Honest!!]
Don't you call me a mindless philosopher...!
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The sacrifice of Aslan had more emotion in the animated one, imo.
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I remember watching the animated one as a kid, but I don't remember too much about it. But at least it wasn't called, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: *whisper*thelionthewitchandthewardrobe*whisper* like the 2005 one was. I have to admit I'm impressed that they actually decided to do LWW first instead of The Magician's Nephew. Stupid revised order...

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Urm, I believe the 2005 movie is meant to have sequels, which would explain why "TLWW" was just a subtitle.

I enjoyed both the 80s BBC version and the 2005 movie despite innacuracies to the book in the latter. After all, no movie ever translates the book exactly. I've never seen the Animated version.

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Are you sure it's the whole chronicles, because I thought it was only for the first four: TLWW, Prince Caspian, The Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair.

If it's for all 7, then I'd like to get myself a copy, because it will combat the movie version. The 2005 team is doing all 7 books, and judging from the first one, they're all most likely going to be only 25% accurate.
And if the BBC version you say is extremely accurate, then that will be my new favorite.
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I think the disappointment I felt in the movie version was due to its lack of character. The makers were obviously falling over themselves to emulate The Lord Of The Rings.
What they should have realised is that CS Lewis' fantasy was a different beast to Tolkein's and merited a different approach.
The pointlessly OTT action scenes (particularly under the frozen waterfall) were so histrionic that it was almost funny. And the photography was all so bright and cheery, in that oh-so-Disney way, that it couldn't hope to match the brooding gloom of LOTR.
Don't you call me a mindless philosopher...!
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Originally posted by: Darth Chaltab
Urm, I believe the 2005 movie is meant to have sequels, which would explain why "TLWW" was just a subtitle.


I'm aware of that. It still doesn't make it any better, in my opinion. I hate all movie series that do that. And, even worse, movies that didn't do that, like The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (which, admittedly, did have a tiny Star Wars at the top) have been renamed to... well, you know. It's as if they think the viewing public is too stupid to realize it's the next movie in the series, so they have to pump up the series name as large as possible and have the real title hidden somewhere at the bottom.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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I hate the 2005 movie version so much, I'm thinking about doing a ChefElf0-style review called "Reasons to hate 2005's The Chroni-blah blah blah". And in it, I'll explain all the movie's inaccuracies and offensive changes. In fact, I think I'll do that tonight. I'll post the thing in a thread, then someone here can make it into a site. And then I'll do the same thing for the 6 other pieces of shit Walden Media is making.
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I didn't even know there was an animated Lion/Witch/Wardrobe. I thought that only Lord of the Rings got that animated treatment.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

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ditto, and I love Narnia. It's because of reading those books as a kid that I'm not a chav today!

FINISHED:
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Originally posted by: Ingo Sucks
I hate the 2005 movie version so much...


Dude, chill. It changed things, and sure, some scenes could have been better. But overall it was a pretty good adaptation. Thank God it wasn't like LXG, adding random American characters just to appeal to US audiences.

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The 2005 movie version is a piece of shit. I'm sorry but it is. It will take me too long to explain all the film's problems, so I'll be brief. They went to places the book wasn't meant to go. They made the enemies meaner than they should be, and they made the heroes too wimpy. Basically, they turned what I deemed an unoffensive story offensive. It hurt me so much that Narnia is no longer my favorite book of all time. Instead, it's the Black Cauldron, because I've seen its movie and like it. I will get around to reading it soon.

Sorry about this, but I just couldn't let Chaltab get away with saying it was a good conversion, because it's not.
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Originally posted by: Ingo Sucks
I hate the 2005 movie version so much, I'm thinking about doing a ChefElf0-style review called "Reasons to hate 2005's The Chroni-blah blah blah". And in it, I'll explain all the movie's inaccuracies and offensive changes. In fact, I think I'll do that tonight. I'll post the thing in a thread, then someone here can make it into a site. And then I'll do the same thing for the 6 other pieces of shit Walden Media is making.


Then finally we'll all be able to understand why ANYTHING offends you so much.
MTFBWY. Always.

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Seriously dude, if you can't or aren't going to explain why you don't like the movie, quit b****ing about it. Nobody I know hated the movie.

I personally enjoyed it a lot, and you're of course free to think whatever you want; just quit acting like your opinion is the word of God.

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Originally posted by: auraloffalwaffle
I think the disappointment I felt in the movie version was due to its lack of character. The makers were obviously falling over themselves to emulate The Lord Of The Rings.
What they should have realised is that CS Lewis' fantasy was a different beast to Tolkein's and merited a different approach.
The pointlessly OTT action scenes (particularly under the frozen waterfall) were so histrionic that it was almost funny. And the photography was all so bright and cheery, in that oh-so-Disney way, that it couldn't hope to match the brooding gloom of LOTR.


Interesting thoughts. I myself had to pull my foot out of my mouth after see the movie. I rather enjoyed it. I had thought that Disney would give a treatment that stripped it of its meaning (obviously the religious allegory, but also its paralles with childhood) that I was surprised how much got through. There were times when it looked like what it was, a series of sets in Hollywood, and had that stiffness that made Chris Columbus's Harry Potter films so cramped. It isn't as gloomy a tale as LOTR. Most of the film's issues, to me, stemmed for overreaching. Hopefully Adamson will improve his technique with the sequels. But it was infinitly more satisfying that I though that it would be.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Originally posted by: Ingo Sucks
Basically, they turned what I deemed an unoffensive story offensive. It hurt me so much that Narnia is no longer my favorite book of all time. Instead, it's the Black Cauldron, because I've seen its movie and like it. I will get around to reading it soon.


Wow, I have never heard of anyone disliking a book because a film version that came out some 55 years later. I was not too impressed with the Lord of the Rings films, but I didn't go chucking away my leather bound copy of the book. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe film wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be, still it wasn't that great. It was too CG and too Disney. I was impressed, being from Disney and all, that they made it as faithful to the book as they did. I have yet to see any book that has been adapted to film faithfully enough to appease long time fans of the book. TLTWatW was bound to disapoint many long time fans of the book. Come on, don't loose your fondness for the books just because Disney decided to use them to cach in on the Lord of the Rings hype, there are still plenty of copies of the books out there that don't have movie advertisments printed all over them. Also, is the Black Cauldron actually your favorite book of all time? the way you said "I will get around to reading it soon" makes it sound as if you have not yet read it. I am only vaguely familar with the Prydian Chronicles of which it is a member.

The Animated version came out in 79, from what I remember of it as a kid it is very accurate to the book. It is my favorite adaption of the book by far. However, the animation has that 70s 80s animation feel to it so most people to day who watch it for the first time dismiss it merely for its poor (for todays standards) animation. I noticed that (for people in the US) Wal-Mart has it in their childrens DVD section for under $10 (I think it was $7.99).

The 1988-1990 BBC made for TV versions were also pretty good, extremely cheesy by todays special effects standards, as some of the monsters on the queens side are actually cartoons. And all the animals are people dressed up in animal costums. In fact it was even a bit cheesy for 1988 standards, typical budget of made for TV BBC features. They only made The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Price Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair.

They are actually only three features since they combined Prince Caspian and Dawn Treader together. I think all three are about two hours long each. These are fairly easy to find on DVD. There is a three disc collection of them all, or you can buy them all individualy.

Another thing of interest to fans of the series, there were two different dramatized radio adaptions made, one by the BBC that is fairly old now (don't remember the exact year), and one made by a Christian organization called Focus on the Family that was made just a few years ago. I have not listened to either all the way through, but what I have heard the BBC is more accurate, though I think they cut out a lot, and it feels like the Focus on the Family one takes to many liberties in making unnessicary changes in dialogue.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

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Ooooh, I've always liked the animated one. Very hard to find. I've watched it maybe 4 times total my entire life. At this point I don't have or know exactly where to find a copy, but would be interested in finding one not too far down the road. It was a good telling of the story, and the animation and characters and music were really cool from what I remember.
I do like the 2005 version. I didn't care too much for the BBC version. One of the main things that bothered me was the girl who played Lucy. Buck teeth, and quite often went about with her mouth hanging open. Mary Poppins would say: "We are not a codfish!"
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Lol. I remember the buck teeth, poor girl. The 1979 animated version isn't that hard to find if you are in the states, like I said in my previous post I have noticed it is availible at Wal-Mart. Check the childrens DVD section. It isn't with your typical DVDs, instead the poor thing resides in the same section with "Barney" and "The Best of Seasame Street".

Another thing I just remembered about the 2005 Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, it is annoyingly non violent. We should at least see a cut or a scrape here or there. The scene where Aslan tells Peter to wipe his sword we don't see a thing. I know it is made by Disney and made for kids, but I remember Sleeping Beauty and the Lion King being considerably more violent.

Oh, I almost forgot. The biggest inaccuracy of the 1979 animated film to the book, was that the animation left out the scene with Father Christmas and instead had Alslan give them their gifts when he first met them. That is one part of the book I have never been able to get over. Even when I read them when I was very young I thought it was weird and kind of lame having Santa Claus show up and give the kids weapons.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape