Narnian Spy Runner writes: I went to see ‘The Aviator’ this weekend in Trier, Germany, and spotted this advertisement for the upcoming Narnia film!

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Hasbro surprised us today, with their upcoming Chronicles of Narnia figures, which I think a lot of LOTR fans will go nuts over…

It’s unusual to hear me gush about a Hasbro product, not because of any issues with the company, it’s just very few of their items are comparable to the best out there.

However, that could all change as Hasbro will be releasing thier Chronicles of Narnia Toys 6 weeks before the movie.

Hasbro has the master toy license for the upcoming “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” movie adaption, and were showing a number of lines at the UK ToyFair.

And you know what… they have some really nice potential. Unfortunatley, we aren’t able to bring you photos just yet, but we’re hoping we can show you come the US ToyFair. I think if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, you should start paying attention to this line. The sculpting is superb, and whilst I have wondered all day who sculpted the figures (Nomad and I quizzed Hasbro and also tried to work it out whilst we were there), I now think they bear the hallmark of Gentle Giant. Still needs to be confirmed, but hopefully this will give you an idea of the quality.

We paid attention to 2 main lines. The Action Figure line and the PVC Miniature line

The action figure line comes in regular and deluxe, the deluxe containing figures like the Minotaur and Cyclops. Style-wise they reminded me a lot of the first Episode 2 figures… dynamically pre-posed with limited articulation. My biggest issue with the line is that I feel it needs to be slightly bigger to capture a lot of Lord of the Rings collectors. The Action Figure line seems to be more to a 5″ scale than 6″ and I think that could be a dealbreaker for some people.

The PVC Miniature line reminded me instantly of Armies of Middle Earth, and Hasbro had a number of figures on display from the final battle.

We hope to get more details at the US ToyFair, but so far, this has been the line Nomad and I have been most impressed with.

If anyone has pictures, please send them our way: webmaster@narniafans.com

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C.S. Lewis uses many characters to represent multiple things in his Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan represents God/Jesus. The White Witch as the devil or just the essence of evil. Now, I think Lucy, at least in my eyes, represents a child’s view of life, death, and eternity. Now when I was a kid myself I always wondered why Lucy always saw Aslan first, and was the most believing in all situations. Well let me take you through my own theory on this one.

Now first off, I’m a Christian and this is my warning to those who are not Christian and do not want to read something that is very driven by Christianity. Now that I have that through with, let me point out a little part of the New Testament. The bad thing is that I can’t remember exactly where, but one day while Jesus and the Disciples were traveling and Jesus was ministering and healing those in need. Some children came running up to Jesus and played with him, now the Disciples yelled at the children and told them to leave. Jesus told them to stop and that children have as much place in heaven as adults do. Now the point isn’t that, but the fact that children came running up to him to play with him. Do not Lucy and Susan see Aslan that way and just want to bury their faces in his Aslan’s mane? Remember the romp between the three of them after Aslan returned from the dead at the stone table? I think that scene represents this side of Jesus that Lewis saw. Which is a part of the reason why I think he wrote these books as allegories for his nephew and nieces. Lewis’s point is to connect them with the reality that Jesus loves you. He has a special place for children in his heart.

Lucy was the first one through the wardrobe, as we all know. She is the youngest of the Pevensie children. She is the most imaginative of the four and desires something more in her life. Now Lewis does not let Peter and Susan back in Narnia after Prince Caspian, this is due to their age being too old. Again, this is another example of why youth plays an important role in Lewis’s created Narnia. Now I would say that Lucy is the most innocent and loving of the four kids. She has the personality that wants to be right and just with all. She would not want to hurt a soul that is either human or beast. She represents the mind of a gentle child. It is her way of thinking that allows her to see Aslan first every time I believe. She so blindly believes that he is a good lion and will not hurt her. She has an intuition; nay I say a child-like intuition, in which she knows deep down that he is good. She is frightened of him, but even so she is not fearful of her own self.

Now why do I think it matters how old she is, and why she is the first always due to age? Well its quite simple Lewis makes it rather apparent in the books. Now remember that Peter and Susan were not able to come back due to age; well just think about the voyage of the Dawn Treader. Do you remember when she first encounters Aslan? It was after she reads the spell out of the Magicians book. He comes walking up besides her, and she asks him where has he been this whole time, and he said here, you just made me visible. She has become older, and like her older siblings, is unable to see him really. You might say it was the spell that the Dufflepods put on themselves that did it, but I truly believe he was not there and is above that. Now she was not able to see him due to age, but had to counter a spell to see him. She has become older and her heart is not as believing. She may love him as much as she always has, but as we all grow older it is harder for us to be as believing in what might seem the impossible.

We grow more cynical with age and we tend to think about things more until we almost disbelieve what we use to believe. That is why you will see so many Christians lose their faith once they reach the college years then regain it later. Another thing is that statistics show that if you are not saved as a Christian by your junior high years, chances are you won’t ever become one. It is sad, but as we grow older our view of the world changes and we lose what could be the greatest thing we have. We become bigger than ourselves. We lose our imaginations and our ability to believe in something greater than our own being. Now then why do people come back to being Christians after they left it? Well sometimes its circumstances that push them in that direction. I think there is also the possibility that they realize life isn’t all about them. In today’s society we are a very self-focused group of people. Therefore God is being pushed out of the equation. Now I was realizing this while I was in Germany and I wrote a song about it. So I will just end this with that.

Be My Father 

Lord I ask that you
Remake me
A child in your midst
With a faithful heart

I have grown
And withered in this world
Rejuvenate me
Refresh my soul

Help me to let go

Of fear that binds me
Release my worldly cares
How I want to love you

Show me what worship is
That it’s more than just song
But the exaltations of my heart
That I may give you all of me

I want this fearless love
This childlike faith
To soar with heavenly doves
I wish to see Heavens Gate

May I walk the valley
With you by my side
Hold my hand
And be my father

Hope you enjoyed this song and editorial. Just a lost thought. If you are still young and young at heart, God bless you and do not wish your life away to adulthood. Cherish it for all that its worth, because its worth more than any old age is. Now for those of us that are aging, keep fighting your age. Do not become so cynical and just learn to love and enjoy life while you still have it.

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Production on The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe moved down to the Czech Republic this month. Pictures from what exactly they are doing down there are now up at a (Czech) website. For those who understand Czech: read an article about it here. For those who are only interested in the pictures from what looks like Tumnus’s cave and producer Mark Johnson, look below! Mind you, minor spoilers!

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Announcing the opening of an art competition of Narnian proportions. The Aslan’s Song Narnian Art Competition seeks submissions devoted to expressing the world of Narnia in a variety of artistic formats.

Submissions may be drawings, paintings, computer designed images, or other formats. The only limitations for this competition are the limits of your imagination.

The winner of the competition will have their work published as part of the artwork of an upcoming book on Narnia entitled Narnia Beckons.

Here’s what was posted in our forums just moments ago:

Hey all, I’m helping to work on a glossy coffee table book that’s coming out at the same time as the film. The book should be really cool, but we wanted to really open the artwork up to all the lovers of Narnia across the net. Anyone who knows Narnia knows there’s just not enough artwork out there for the series. The depth of work doesn’t really compare to what’s been done for Tolkien’s books by artists like John Howe and Alan Lee.

But there are so many who love Narnia! Won’t you consider designing or drawing something and submitting it? For the love of Lewis!

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In the nominations announced in Los Angeles yesterday, Andrew Adamson was nominated for best animated feature film for his blockbuster sequel Shrek 2. Adamson’s film is up against The Incredibles and Shark Tale. He won an Oscar for the first Shrek film.

Adamson’s film Shrek, the uproarious anti-fairy tale that proved a monster hit at the box office, last year won the first ever Oscar for a full length animated feature. This year Shrek 2 surpassed Finding Nemo as the highest grossing animated film ever.

Since June, Adamson has been shooting The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in New Zealand. The project could evolve into a big franchise similar to the Lord of the Rings, since it is based on one of author CS Lewis’ seven Narnia chronicles.

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Inspired by the forthcoming Walden Media/ Disney Film of the classic Narnia story The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, this conference celebrates C. S. Lewis’ contribution to literature, theology, apologetics, scholarship, popular culture, myth, and imagination.

‘Past Watchful Dragons’ will also consider the work of the constellation of writers associated with Lewis such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Dorothy Sayers.

Belmont University invites scholars, students, church and community members to attend this exciting event featuring Doug Gresham (stepson of C. S. Lewis and Consultant to the film); Christopher Mitchell (Director of the Marion E. Wade Center and Assistant Professor of Theology, Wheaton College); Bruce Edwards (Noted Lewis Scholar, Associate Dean, and Professor of English at Bowling Green State University); David Payne (British actor and President of Rising Image Productions, specializing in dramatizations of the works of C. S. Lewis); and Glass Hammer (literary progressive rock band specializing in original music based on the writings of C. S. Lewis).

Conference to be held November 3-5, 2005 on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Scholars working on C.S. Lewis and the Inklings are invited to present paper proposals on the following suggested topics:

1. Fantasy and Film: Lewis and The Inklings.
2. Archetypes in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
3. The Image of the Messiah and the Works of C. S. Lewis and the Inklings
4. Overcoming Evil with Good: The Theology of Lewis
5. Fairy Stories: Worlds of Imagination in the Writings of Lewis and Tolkien
6. Surprised by Words: ‘Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms’ and the Aesthetic Experience
7. Lewis and the Integration of Faith and Learning
8. The Appeal of C. S. Lewis: Exploring the Mystery

Papers on other topics considering the work of C. S. Lewis and suggested panel discussion topics are also welcomed. Please limit proposals to a 300 word abstract. Papers should be 20-25 minutes long.

All paper submissions due by May 1, 2005

Click here to submit a paper proposal

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Foreward: This editorial is based on the book: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; and includes story points from that book. -Paul Martin

—– 

I remember pretty well what I used to be like as a teenager. With my parents being very busy and having little time for me I turned into a pretty independent person very early on. Most of the time I was on my own and therefore I had things go my way. I liked to make my own decisions. Now imagine my mom coming and telling me what I should do and what not. Boy, I could give her a hard time about it and be sulky and grumpy all day long. Which of course not only spoiled her day but mine also. But it was all her fault and not mine, at least from my perspective.

I’m a couple years older now and you should think I have grown out of that kind of behaviour. But I haven’t. Most my friends think I’m a smart girl and I got some wisdom in me. But sometimes I’m just a little girl still. Last year in January I had meant to go skiing with my best friend. We had everything booked and the bill was paid and we were both looking forward to it like none other. Two days before we would have left for our vacation my friend got sick with the flu and we had to cancel everything. It is understandable that one would be disappointed then. But I could convince myself perfectly that it was all my friend’s fault and that of course things had to come this way. I wanted to hate my friend and there was no way I wanted to see that it’s no one’s fault that he got sick and that it was best to stay home. I cried about it like a little girl, because my vacation got spoiled, and the whole world was bad to me.

Well, I don’t know if I’m an exception with that kind of behaviour. But there’s at least one other person, who has that same problem. He has the art of denial perfected and knows just too well how to give other people a hard time about not enjoying himself while there’s only himself to blame. Lucy and Edmund’s cousin Eustace. From the first minute on that he spends in Narnia it is all Lucy and Edmund’s fault that he is even there. Eustace is a perfectly reasonable boy. He knows everything about state of the art ships, he knows what is healthy to eat and he knows that the British consulate is the place to go when his rights are violated in a foreign country. And above all things Eustace detests people who cannot see the facts for what they are, performing animals and all sorts of adventures and tales. So what else would you expect other than him denying having his very own adventure born out of magic. Do you see the irony? One moment we fret about other people and the circumstances we are in not being what we expect them to be and at the same time we are in absolute denial of the facts ourselves.

I often catch myself in situations like that. I can even watch myself acting all silly and childish. But it might just hurt my pride if I admitted that the person I’m arguing with is right, and it’s easier to be upset then than to have a good laugh at myself.

I’ve often hurt people’s feelings that way and left them entirely clueless about just why I am even upset. The sad thing is that I am fully aware of me doing that. And when I’ve realized often enough, how much my selfish pride can hurt instead of bringing me any gain, all that is left for me to do is fall down on my knees. It is then that I would like to unzip my skin and leave it behind and be someone new.

Eustace goes through very much the same experience. Things have to turn really bad first, though. He needs a real eye opener before he actually realizes what a beast he is on the inside. He turns into a dragon as a reflection of his inner being. Only at this point Eustace cannot remain in denial any longer. All this time he was able to conceal the beast inside and it felt quite comfortable. But being bared like that he hardly dares show himself to his friends. His condition pains him so much that he doesn’t know how to help himself other than finally starting to be of use. He simply has to take who he is and make the best of it. It is not before this point of painful realization of his own nature and his willingness to be no foe anymore that he is in fact offered to strip off the old self.

And even then he is unable to do it himself. He peels of his dragon scales several times only to find that underneath he is still a dragon. It takes Aslan’s assistance to bring out the boy inside the dragon.

This point in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader touches me deeply. It is this metamorphosis that I often long for, that I think everyone longs for every now and then. We simply want to come undone and be made new, but no matter how hard we try we cannot accomplish it on our own. We have to ask God to do that for us, to turn us into who he wants us to be.

I’ve never gone through a literal metamorphosis like Eustace. But like him I’ve been dipped in a pool of water and came up as a new person. And every once in a while I get some of my old skin stripped off when I’ve grown out of it.

More often than not growing is a painful process and your skin itches and stings terribly when it gets too tight on you. But it is a grace, too. We never have to be anyone else than who we want to be and we can be comfortable for quite some time. But if we wish to be greater than we’ve let ourselves be, then we have a faithful helper who we can rely on to open the zipper like a father helps his kid to take off its coat.

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Gloomy Halls and Golden Pillars

SPOILERS!
Note: I’ve cut out much of the detail. For the full article, visit the source link.

The Witch’s House. The architecture is not exactly spiky, but the details on the walls are full of angles, like Art Deco only more threatening. Ranks of icebound pillars march down either side of the hall, and stalactites hang from above. It is truly a winter palace.

It’s a place designed to put the White Witch’s subjects in their place. The main floor is a sunken court surrounded by steps on all sides – no doubt the Queen’s guards and bullies can look down from there onto anyone standing before her throne.

The throne itself is an angular heavy thing, once again looking like Art Deco furniture gone subtly wrong, and it sits on a platform well above the floor of the hall. A huge white fur rug is thrown carelessly across it. When somebody is sitting in that throne, there is no question of who is the boss in this place. The rest of the hall is utterly without comfort. It is empty.

Cair Paravel. Plaster pillars are being cast and decorated for another set. Nothing could be more different from the pillars of the Witch’s hall. These ones are rounded and beautifully proportioned, and they are painted to look like marble of a soft and delicate green colour. There are lots of curves and spirals that seem ready to spring to life. In some cultures, (like the New Zealand Maori, for instance) spirals are a symbol of life and growth. Such things will go into the set for Cair Paravel, and their colours and forms seem full of a Spring-like energy. They should form a perfect opposition to the cold and deadly architecture of the Witch’s house.

Edmund’s Rescue. On my last visit, I’d heard that the other children were fleeing across the melting ice with the Beavers on their way to rescue Edmund from this dungeon. More than one worried correspondent had written to ask whether this meant that Aslan’s role would be downplayed. What if Aslan doesn’t rescue Edmund? I’m able to ask film’s publicist, Ernie Malik, about this apparent plot change. He stresses that the film follows C.S. Lewis’s works very closely and keeps its themes intact. The official word on that is, Lamp Post Productions confirms that Edmund’s rescue is very faithful to Lewis’ book.

Edmund may be imprisoned, and the children may intend to rescue him, but apparently they do not carry out their plan. The Beavers are there, after all, to warn them not to attempt it. There is time for Edmund to be taken away on the dreadful sleigh journey by the Witch first, and her plans for him can be thwarted by Aslan as in the book. Certainly the Stone Table exists for Aslan’s pivotal scene, and film crews have been working around it for over two weeks.

Mr. Tumnus’ Role. What is interesting is that nobody’s denied that at some point Tumnus is imprisoned with Edmund, instead of spending most of the story as a frozen statue in the Witch’s courtyard. I think this may add up to some additional scenes that don’t detract from the book. After all, if the film has a fine actor like James McAvoy playing Tumnus, it’s a shame to have him appear only in one scene near the beginning, when he invites Lucy to tea, and then let him disappear from the film until near the end. It would make sense to give us more time with the character of Tumnus. He is a typical Narnian, and the audience has to get a chance to care about Narnians and their fate. If Edmund spends time imprisoned with Tumnus, we may see him realise that he has been misled by the Witch. He must see that the nature of Narnian creatures is very different to what she made him believe. Perhaps in that dungeon he will finally realise what he has done by betraying them. That could be a very emotional moment. It would lead naturally to his moment of pity later on when he sees the Witch turn other innocent creatures into stone. One of the themes of the book is Edmund’s learning to feel sorry for others besides himself, and the movie won’t suffer from spending time on that.

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Lewis wrote poetry, too. My first encounter with one of Lewis’ poems, was through the lyrical arrangement made of “As the Ruin Falls”, by the consummate guitarist, Phil Keaggy. I have memorized sections of it that had struck me profoundly.

One afternoon, some years ago, when I had a chat with a colleague about Lewis, I was most surprised to learn that Lewis was passionate to become a poet but was not considered by his own colleagues to have achieved that goal. Even so, Lewis sallied forth and crafted poems. One could speculate that they were possibly published on the merits of his skills as an already published author:

“You’ve read the stories, now read the poems!”

By Paul R. Miller

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