I’ve just learned that Ben Barnes was on a short list of four people to play the role of Edward Cullen in the Twilight Saga.  I’m pretty sure that it came down to scheduling conflicts with the Narnia series, as the reason he didn’t.  However, when it comes to casting for the films, it seems that he studio is all about the cash the films bring in, and will recast if there is any clash in schedules, as Bryce Dallas Howard is replacing someone in the third film (shooting prior to the release of the second).

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We now present to you, this week’s mailbag.  I’m losing track of the days of the week these days.  It’s been one crazy week, that’s for sure!  Look out for Kansas City’s Union Station launch of The Narnia Exhibition, opening tomorrow!  A press release will be available shortly.  Just to give you the heads up on other stories that I’m working on: both involve Narnia art.  Look for those as well, this evening.  Let’s get to the letter answering!

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In recent years, there have been two different fantasy series that share similarities. They have the same basic plots, the same basic creatures, and so on. Looking at the posters, cases, and trailers, you would think they were very alike, but when you look deeper, you see that they are very different indeed. This fact shows itself through the success of the books and films of their names. (more…)

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Actor Liam Neeson is best known to NarniaFans as the voice of Aslan, and has played other notable  roles ranging from Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Bruce Wayne’s mysterious mentor Henri Ducard in Batman Begins, and real life hero Oskar Schindler in the Academy Award ™ winning Schindler’s List. Now, he and Schindler’s List co-star Ralph Fiennes have signed on to go head to head once again in an upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans.

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Welcome to Tumnus’s Book Shelf where we review any and all books related to The Chronicles of Narnia and CS Lewis! For today’s book we will be reviewing Tales Before Narnia, edited by Douglas Anderson.

Title: Tales Before Narnia

Author: Various

Edited by: Douglas A. Anderson

Publisher: Del Ray

ISBN -10: 0345498909

ISBN -13: 978-0345498908

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A recent press junket went to both Disney’s Pixar studio, and KNB EFX.  Both are places that I dream of one day visiting.  Who knows, perhaps I could supply some voices to some characters in a Pixar film.   And I generally look like a faun, so KNB EFX would just have to apply some horns, a curly wig and ears, and I’d be just about set before Special Effects.

KNB EFX is the company that provided all of the furry prosthetics and creatures for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

With both films arriving on Blu-ray and DVD, Disney decided to have a press junket that covered Wall-E and Prince Caspian at the same time.  The first stop was a visit to Pixar, who has made no bad film!  I love them all!  Get Wall-E!

Pixar was just day one.  Day two lead to KNB EFX.  Everyone took a short flight to Hollywood, and went for a rendezvous with Disney’s head of disc production at Burbank.

The looked at the new Circle-Vision Interactive feature, on the Prince Caspian Blu-ray Disc, that allows for 360-degree scene navigation.

Following the preview, the group of reporters was driven to KNB’s studios, where Greg Nicotero and his team created the costumes for Prince Caspian.

All in all, the efforts of the teams at both studios showed the variety of work that went into making two very different films.  But it also displayed the passion that both teams had for the work they are doing.  And that is what drives each them toward perfection in their work.

You can read the whole story at News Shopper Online.

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Imagine a town completely surrounded by darkness…the only light and heat coming from an aging power plant driven by a massive underground river. Time is running out, as the city’s infrastructure begins to break down, and the town is repeatedly thrown into utter blackness. Ember’s unlikely savior may very well be two teenagers, Doon and Lina, who find clues which may show the way out and save them all.

Adapted from Jeanne DuPrau’s award-winning novel, Walden’s film version of City of Ember is in theatres now.

Learn More about City of Ember at Walden.com and at WaldenFans.com

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Eoin Colfer, author of the “Artemis Fowl” novels, has posted a list of his top ten chidren’s books, with “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” landing the number eight spot. Writes Colfer of “Prince Caspian”:

My introduction to the world of fantasy. The first Narnia book that I read, and the one that made the biggest impression.

The number one spot on the list went to Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn.” View the entire list here.

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James A. Owen is the author of a series called “The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica.” The first book in the series, “Here, There Be Dragons” introduced us to the characters that would become the heroes of the stories: Jack, John and Charles.

Jack is actually C.S. Lewis, John is J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles is Charles Williams. They were each members of a group called the Inklings. This series is based on fictional adventures that these characters embarked on, into the Archipelago of Dreams, where they became Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica.

The second book in the series is titled “The Search for the Red Dragon,” and introduces new characters and a few more writers from that era to the story.

Now, author James A. Owen has revealed the cover art for the third book in the series: The Indigo King.

Having listened to the books on CD (I have the unabridged audio books!), I am very curious to learn what happens next in the adventures through the Archipelago of Dreams.

Check out the cover art on James A. Owen’s LiveJournal, and come and see him at LionCon, later this month!

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Welcome to Tumnus’s Book Shelf where we review any and all books related to Narnia and CS Lewis! For this weeks review, we will be looking at Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia

Book Title: Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia
Author (Editor): Herbie Brennan
Publisher: Teen Libris (Produced by BenBella Books, Inc., for Borders, Inc.)
ISBN-10#: 0979233135
ISBN-13#: 9780979233135

Summary of the book:

For over fifty years, CS Lewis’ beloved Chronicles of Narnia have inspired, thrilled and enchanted millions. For some they have even lead others to following the same path as CS Lewis and enter into the world of writing. Edited by Herbie Brennan, Through the Wardrobe is a collection of essays by sixteen different authors celebrating the magical world of CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

Review of the book:

In CS Lewis’s The Last Battle there is a rather haunting scene. As the creatures are called to the door in the stable, they are divided right and left. Then one of two things happen. For those who look at Aslan with fear and hatred are swallowed up in his shadow never to be scene again. For those who look on him with love they are allowed to enter into his kingdom. In my humble opinion, this book is collection of essays written by those who would look on Aslan with love.

Through the Wardrobe is one of those few books that does not look at Narnia from a devotional standpoint but instead look at some of the other themes present in Narnia. And there are a great deal of them. From Lewis’s love of nature, to growing up, to simply the magic of stories, there are many wonderful themes in the stories to be gleaned. All these themes and more are dealt with in this new book.

Teenagers are the primary audience for this book, but that does not mean it is poorly written. To often when writers try to write a series of essays written for teens, they tend to try and pander to the lowest common denominator. Not so here. Great love and care goes into every single essay. This book ends up being well written, well crafted, and insightful; and at the same time witty enough to engage the reader. I would even be so bold to venture that they would make excellent secondary sources for term papers in high school and college on CS Lewis and the Narnian Chronicles.

Don’t let any of the essay titles fool you! Diana Peterfreund’s essay “ King Edmund the Cute” may seem like it’s about one of those raving fan girl crushes on a literary character of Edmund Pevensie, but instead it ends up being in the end a thoughtful, insightful analysis of the character. Herbie Brennan’s “The War of Light and Darkness” is an eerie examination of how the White Witch parallels Hitler, and not just Satan. “Waking up the Trees” by Susan Juby looks at Lewis’ love of nature and how humans play a big role in our world. “Minding the Gap” by Zu Vincent and Kiara Koenig is a great examination of Susan and Lucy and how they compare to each other and what they tell us about them as characters and allow us to wonder about ourselves which one we’d rather be more like, Susan: the one who only sees things at face value, or Lucy the one who goes beyond appearances.

The essayists are not afraid to address some of the controversies of the Narnian Chronicles such as the charge of sexism. This is not only dealt with but refuted. The essay, “ Serious Action Figures” looks at how Lucy, Jill, Polly and Aravis are good role models for girls and how they play an unconventional role in Lewis’ fiction in contrast to the role of women in other books written around that time and gives a great analysis of each of the female characters.

The only essay which readers might not enjoy much is “The Kingdom of Colormen” which addresses the charge of racism with the Colormen characters. Readers may find a bit of frustration with it as it may seem that as soon as the writer of that particular essay constructs the argument against the charge, the argument is later deconstructed and you’re left wondering “so is it or isn’t it?” However the goal of the essay, much like with the book, isn’t to make readers think one way or another about the books but rather foster discussion about these topics.

A few readers may find it off putting that the book is not written from a strict Christian perspective. That’s fine! There are plenty of books that look at that. This book shows that Narnia belongs to every one and that it is in fact a well loved series not just by Christians. Narnia is not a “Christian” book in the same sense as Left Behind. Specific patterns of salvation are never given and every single aspect of Christian doctrine and the Bible is not dealt with or symbolized. Narnia is, first and foremost, a magical fantasy word, and an epic myth that speaks to every one if they let it.

For Narnia fans young and old this is a welcome edition to their library. The book is exclusive only to Borders Bookstore and should be available on their website, and it is well worth the purchase. If ever you’re in a Borders bookstore this is definitely one worth picking up. You’ll enjoy it. I know I did.

Five out of Five Shields.

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