The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Nearly everyone I knew in school had read this book. Of course, we were all instructed to read it for English, but besides that it was still a popular book. So many fantastical creatures and situations are contained between its covers that the book still maintains a healthy popularity today, as it has since it was written during World War II. This is no doubt due to the wonderful whimsy of C.S. Lewis’ mythical land of Narnia and the myriad different creatures within. Anyone choosing to serialise it and make it into a mini-series for kids would have to use some pretty cutting edge technology and special effects to pull the wool over a kid’s eyes today. However, back in 1988 when computer animation was a pipe dream, such technology didn’t really exist as it does today.

"Lucy was perfectly alright when we left home but down here she seems to be going off her head... or else turned into the most frightful liar."

Whilst the BBC have attempted to produce the tale of Aslan and the Pevensie children in Narnia as it should have been portrayed, it comes across as fairly weak in the special effects department. Spoiled as we are by animation of realistic dinosaurs and terminators and space battles and reef fish, the technology of 1988 is found sadly lacking beside them. However, the story is still a great tale and well loved by children and I don’t wonder that kids will care as much as one jaded animator may. Having always loved the book I guess I made the mistake of seeing this for the first time recently, rather than when it was originally released (and the effects were cutting edge).

Everyone involved is obviously having fun and giving it their best and there are some classic campy performances from Barbara Kellerman as the White Witch and Jeffrey Perry as Mr Tumnus, the faun. The animatronic Aslan is pretty cool, even by today’s standards, and if you can ignore the lack of lip synch it’ll help a lot. I really wanted to like this show because its heart is in the right place and for that reason it is quite serviceable, but the special effects and makeup are a little limp. Anyhow, enough on that. The run down of each episode goes like this:

• Episode One: The Pevensie children go to the mansion in the country to avoid the bombings in London. Lucy and Edmund both venture into the secret wardrobe.
• Episode Two: Edmund meets the White Witch and returns before he and the others all enter Narnia together.
• Episode Three: The children meet the Beavers and Edmund sells them all out to the White Witch.
• Episode Four: The children and the Beavers head for the Stone Table and finally meet Aslan the Lion King of Narnia.
• Episode Five: Aslan bargains for the life of Edmund the traitor.
• Episode Six: The final battle for Cair Caravel.

This was shot for TV by the English, so everything has that interior studio look English dramas like The Bill and Rumpole have. Some of the darker scenes, however, manage to get a little grainy from poor lighting but are still clear enough to enjoy. There are several instances of compression and MPEG artefacts at these times as well, particularly as shifting pixellations in the dark. To that end as well, the shadows tend to get a little deep without showing details within, so there are several lighting issues here. However, much of this show takes place in broad daylight, so it is tolerable. Blacks are true though, as are the rest of the colours in the palette and flesh tones are all typically pallid (being English, haha) but natural.

The only other real fault is in the picture quality. At times it gets a little soft around the edges, most noticeably within the Beaver’s dam, but the picture is still mostly clear throughout and these other instances are sporadic at best.

Delivered hot and steaming from Dolby Digital straight to you in the delicious TV approved state of stereo. This is entirely adequate, as there isn’t a great call for the surround deal here. Perhaps during the pitched battle for Los Angeles in the end, but this was shot for TV 15 years ago. We’re lucky to get stereo.

Dialogue is all well spoken by the many faceted cast which ranges from children to older folks (and lions). The voice talent also speaks clearly with correct enunciation, though we would expect little else from the BBC. Sound effects are a tad stocky, particularly in the battle scenes (but this is really the only time they are used in multitude). Music is well suited to the piece and has been scored for the show, though some do strike mildly familiar chords (haha again).

An 11 picture photo gallery with captions is all that’s on offer here, unfortunately. There is also a typo in that they refer to a shot of the Beavers as ‘Badgers’. Oh well, the proofreader was on lunch I guess. The pics are all shot stills from the production, with some staged and some shot on set.

Don’t get me wrong about this show. It’s a really nice presentation for kids who’ve read the book and are under the age of 11. After that the dated special effects are gonna be less credible I think. However, it’s mostly well acted, a competent production and is sure to entertain the younger folks among us. Knowing the story helped and by the end I was actually looking forward to seeing how the battle and such would be handled. There are some 2D animations thrown in at various points which may raise a dubious eyebrow, particularly as they have been achieved quite cheaply by the look of things, but that’s how the BBC works I suppose.

A bit thin for the adults, but for true lovers of the books this will merely whet the appetite for someone to pull a Lord of the Rings on the whole series. And apparently, Andrew Adamson, director of Shrek, is doing a live-action/animation version even as I type...