Our friends at MundoNarnia.com have received the first picture of Aslan on the beach for a scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It looks like they’re again using their Aslan statue as a stand-in for the computer animated version when the effects artists have a go on him. I can’t wait to see what this scene will be when the movie comes out. As we all know, Liam Neeson is returning to the role that he’s played so well in each of the last two Narnia adventures. This is our first look at a location in which Aslan appears in the film, which looks like he’ll make an appearance on the beach. Looks like there’s also a green screen there. I wonder what they’ll be putting into the shot. Any theories on the scene?
NarniaFans has just learned that Aslan voice actor Liam Neeson has decided to apply for US citizenship. In an interview with Diane Sawyer on ABC’s Good Morning America he said that he has lived in America for twenty years and that the country has been good to him. He cites the outpooring of support from fans following the death of his wife Natasha Richardson a few monthes ago, as his main reason for coming to this decision.
This week’s mailbag is a little late because I was waiting for the upgrade to the software on which NarniaFans.com runs. It finally was released late last night, and by that time, I was too tired to write this. Not to mention that I’m working on a secret project that I think you’re all going to love. But there’ll be more time for that in the future. If you want to submit a question as to what it could be, hint free, be my guest. I’ll answer every question with one that brings you closer to the answer.
This morning a message came to me from Salembr on Twitter, about some concept art that was found for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It is artwork by Spalenka, and is brilliant artwork.
The art appeared on the website, MundoNarnia, but has been removed at the request of the artist. We apologize for any trouble this may have caused, we meant no harm, and truly felt the art to be beautiful.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie director Michael Apted says of the artist: “Greg is highly imaginative, with a real understanding of how to create magical images out of the beauty of the natural world.”
Link removed at the request of the artist.
The artist also did work on The Ant Bully, among other.
Now for the thirtieth edition of the NarniaFans Mailbag! It’s good to be back, and I’m having a great time at this so far. I just need more letters. Then my esteemed team will be able to help answer questions (the earlier you ask them, the better). It gives us more time to do research and give you the best answer possible on the Thursday release date! This week’s questions cover the qualifications of Michael Apted, if there is any more Dawn Treader promotional material and scenes that a reader feels were missing from Prince Caspian.
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.
I was optimistic about her condition, and sadly I was wrong. Aslan’s voice actor Liam Neeson’s wife, actress Natasha Richardson has passed away due to the injuries she suffered while learning how to ski.
It wasn’t but a year ago when I saw her in New York, full of life and I wasn’t really sure what I would have said to her, had I the guts to go up and talk to her.
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 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Fight For The Throne
Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Fight for the Throne.
Based on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by CS Lewis
Adapted by: JE Bright
Publisher: HarperEntertainment (April 1, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0061231584
ISBN-13: 978-0061231582
Summary of the book:
Late one night in the Telmarine castle in the land of Narnia, Prince Caspian was woken up by his mentor Dr. Cornelius. Caspian’s uncle Miraz had a son, and Caspian had to escape as his uncle was trying to kill him. Before leaving Cornelius gave Caspian a gift, the horn of Queen Susan Pevensie to use to summon the heroes of old.
Fleeing from his Uncle Miraz’s soldiers, Prince Caspian falls into the company of three of the Narnians, Trufflehunter the badger, along with Nikabrik and Trumpkin, two dwarves. Caspian blew the horn to summon the heroes. The three of them were pursued in the woods and Trumpkin was taken captive. Guided by Nikabrik and Trufflehunter, Caspian was led further into the woods where he then meet Reepicheep and other Narnians. They were afraid to trust him at first as they hated the Telmarines because they had stolen their land. He assured them that he would restore Narnia to them if they fought alongside him.
The Narnians agreed and training begun. Sometime during their training Trumpkin returned with the four Pevensies who were only children.SPOILERS! By the urgings of Peter, and despite the protests of Lucy, the Narnians engaged in a futile Night Raid, in which Caspian rescued Cornelius and learned that his uncle Miraz had killed Caspian’s father.
In the process of this night raid many Narnian lives were lost. Nikabrik and some companions of his attempted to convince him to resurrect the White Witch. With the help of the Pevensies he was able to defeat Nikabrik and his two friends.
They at last decided to do the right thing. After sending Lucy out to find Aslan, Peter decided to engage in a duel of single combat with Miraz to by time. Peter won the duel and was given the choice to kill Miraz he refused as it was not his job. To deal out justice He handed over the sword to Caspian who also refused as he would not sink to Miraz’s level. Miraz was then killed by two of his generals and they blamed his death on the Narnians.
A massive battle broke out. The Narnians routed the Telmarine forces to the river where they meet up with Lucy and Aslan. Aslan summoned up the River God and the forces of the Telmarines were defeated. Caspian was crowned king and the Pevensies returned home.END SPOILERS!
Review of the book:
Let’s see if you can follow this. This book, Prince Caspian: Fight for the Throne, is an adaptation of the movie, which is an adaptation of the book Prince Caspian pretty much like most tie-in books dealing with the Narnia books. It’s almost a given fact for a big movie release. With this book, however it does something different. It looks at Prince Caspian’s story through his perspective.
It is meant for readers who are in the early junior high stage. It is meant to be like it were Caspian’s journal so it is written in a very simple, strait forward manner, with no frills attatched to it, much like a journal entry. This, combined with the books choice on limiting the perspective, means that it does not try to be too challenging. The concept itself of telling the story from Caspian’s perspective is interesting and does intrigue a reader enough. However, it also means that many key plot points for the original novel are cut out as it is based on the film.
SPOILERS!Caspian and Peter do butt heads, but on the plus side Peter seems like less of a jerk in this book than he did in the film and more like he’s trying to help free Narnia. This book also does not have the apparition of Jadis appear in the ice or the “kiss that was heard around the world.” In many ways this book flows like a possible fan edit of the film would.END SPOILERS!
The battles are described in detail but they come off as very lethargic. While they are fun to watch on screen they are less enjoyable in print. One becomes grateful that CS Lewis did not focus on battles as much. Readers realize that he knew what he was doing. By not describing the battles in detail he left them for the readers to imagine and choreograph on their own, which when you are reading a book is much more fun than having it spoon feed to you.
There is also much less of Lewis’s symbolism in this book.SPOILERS!The limited perspective features Aslan only briefly at the end and we have no idea what else is going on in the other parts of story, such as with the Pevensies.END SPOILERS!In a small way, the original book’s beauty is taken away and in it’s place is a quick adventure story for adolescent boys to read in between rounds of playing Nintendo Wii. But in another way there is more mystery about Aslan and the Pevensies as no one sees them until they come.
There are no pictures as this is not meant to be a children’s story book. This is a young readers novel. The advantage of this is that it does give the reader more room to imagine what the characters may look like, even though their versions of the Pevensies in their minds may be the ones played by William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley.
Readers may enjoy this book just for the virtue it looks at a favorite story from one characters perspective. However, in reading it there is one thing that must be kept in mind: this book is not a supplemental book, a replacement, or even an introduction to the story. It’s a companion story. It should only be read if readers have first read ( or heard) the original novel by CS Lewis and then seen the movie, other wise there will be huge blanks left to fill.
Prince Caspian: Fight for the Throne has an interesting premise behind it and does make for a good read for a few times. Next to the original book however, this book is merely the Shadowlands: a good reflection for readers of the wondrous world of Narnia.
3 ½ out of 5 shields.
Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Tail of Reepicheep.
Based on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by CS Lewis
Adapted by: EK Stein
Illustrated by: Justin Sweet
Publisher: HarperEntertainment (April 1, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0061231568
ISBN-13: 978-0061231568
Summary of the book:
Reepicheep was a brave little mouse who lived in Narnia. He wanted to free the land from the Telmarines and help Prince Caspian take his rightful throne. Reepicheep and the other mice took part in a big battle. The brave mouse was wounded in the battle and lost his tail in the process. The other mice were willing to remove theirs in honor of him. For their devotion, Aslan restored Reepicheep’s tail.
Review of the book:
Reepicheep! Yes, he is a mouse. Need I say more for any long time fans of the Chronicles of Narnia? If a fan sees his name on the book alone, they are immediately interested in reading it. Forget any comparisons to him and Puss n’ Boots in Shrek, Reepicheep the mouse is to Narnia what Chewbacca the Wookie is to Star Wars. He’s brave, fearless, courageous, heroic, but at the same time he’s also fluffy, cute and cuddly ( just don’t let him catch you saying that). Irregardless of who their favorite character is, fans will always have a soft spot in their heart for that lovable fur ball.
Naturally, due to his place amongst the vast collective of fans, a tie in book focusing on him would be in order. This book is by no means a brand new story. It is a nice retelling of the exploits of Reepicheep from the book Prince Caspian. It would have been difficult to try and come up with a new story focusing on him. Fans of the Chronicles can be very protective of the series and to many of them adding a brand new story to the legends would be unacceptable. The fact that it is the “same story” just different, doesn’t at all take away from the enjoy ability of the story. It is, afterall meant for the youngest of readers, so young children will finally have a Narnia book that is “just for them” as the novels are better suited for their older brothers, sisters and cousins.
The title of the book is a pun on Reepicheep’s actual “tail” and the type of “tale” that is a story, similar to what was done with the title the animated movie An American Tail with the mouse Fievel. As it is about him loosing his tail in battle and Aslan restoring it is a very natural one to make.
Unlike a lot of tie in books, this one does not feature pictures from the movie. Instead it utilizes some of the concept art and employs the art very nicely. The pictures give the story an almost surreal dream like quality that is missing from other tie ins and make it feel like a children‘s book and not a strict movie tie-in. Younger children may not appreciate it much, but older readers will appreciate the fact that everything doesn’t look “exactly” like the movie.
The story is short as it is meant for little kids and the dialogue is extremely limited. The story’s briskness aside, it is a fun and engaging read with very nice illustrations. Little ones will enjoy it and it is certain to make a good story to share with them for bed-time. I know I’d be glad to share it with a little one.
Four out of Five shields.
Liam Neeson, the voice of Aslan, appeared on ABC’s Live with Regis and Kelly promoting Prince Caspian. Neeson talked about the red carpet premier, the character of Aslan, and how He was brought to life. There is also a neat clip of Aslan with Lucy. Note: Regis says Alsan speaks to a younger “man.” Umm, Regis… Lucy’s a girl.
View the interview at:
YouTube.com
In all a great interview. Mr. Neeson is a genuine class act in the interview and you can see he is the best choice for Aslan.
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