Discuss the White Witches in BBC and Walden [Archive] - The Dancing Lawn

Into the Wardrobe

01-15-2007, 01:26 PM

Samak

01-22-2007, 11:30 PM

I think Tilda Swinton did a much better job portraying Jadis.
Barbara Kellermen, i think, made it look and sound a bit more like Opera than a film.
Just my opinion though.

Into the Wardrobe

01-23-2007, 01:40 PM

I think Tilda Swinton did a much better job portraying Jadis.
Barbara Kellermen, i think, made it look and sound a bit more like Opera than a film.
Just my opinion though.

I agree. She was a bit over the top, but I did find her to be a lot more scary than Tilda. Even as a kid, I don't think that Tilda would have scared me at all till the battle scene. Then I would have just thought of her as mean rather than scary per se. Tilda was good, but I didn't have nearly the reaction to her that I did to the BBC series as a kid. It could be that I'm older, but I'm not sure.

Narborg

06-17-2007, 01:07 AM

I agree. I think the BBC versons of the boos were very Shasperenan overall.

musicalfantasy

06-17-2007, 04:27 AM

The witch in the BBC movie, sort of scared me. She was WAY overly done, and sometimes, it looked like she might have been doing that on purpose. I think she ruined it because I even found her performance humorous. Tilda is definitly better. Although, I had always imagined the witch with dark hair. Her performance was believable and she did a good job. Not as good on the scary part though. She didn't look or act as scary as the other witch.

Wunderkind

06-17-2007, 07:23 AM

I think Tilda Swinton did a much better job portraying Jadis.
Barbara Kellermen, i think, made it look and sound a bit more like Opera than a film.
Just my opinion though.

I agree on that.Tilda was more like I had imagined Jadis to be like.Cold,powerful,white and beautiful.

Copperfox

06-18-2007, 12:44 PM

I know some folks will get on my case over this...but if we speak ONLY of outward physical attractiveness, and if you look at Barbara Kellerman with the much more natural look she had when playing the Green Witch in "Silver Chair," I think that Barbara Kellerman is a far more attractive woman than Tilda Swinton.

Into the Wardrobe

06-19-2007, 06:41 PM

Not being a guy I couldn't say. That and we haven't seen Tilda dressed in anything Narnian other than the white witch...now, I hope they won't make her the green lady too and rather only allow her to do Jadis in MN, but personally I didn't think either lived up to the book's description of the most beautiful women ever. They looked ok for what they were trying to accomplish. So, it's tough to merely speak to appearances. I thought Tilda was prettier in LWW as the witch, but Barbara looked more like the book description rather than an aryian witch. Barrbara looked better in SC than she did in LWW, but I don't think she looks all that great. As I said though, I'm not a guy.

Copperfox

06-19-2007, 07:55 PM

I think I said in a long-ago post that, given adequate acting ability, I would salivate to see the role of the Green Witch played by Irish dancer Gillian Norris, who was the "bad girl" in Michael Flatley's "Lord of the Dance." She is SO drop-dead gorgeous that, with her in the role, I would yearn to have her character come to repentance and salvation rather than having to be killed.

Into the Wardrobe

06-19-2007, 07:59 PM

Um...ok. I don't know who they'll get for the future roles, but I believe that Tilda was in favor of coming back to do the role of Jadis in MN. That's about all I know.

ste

06-22-2007, 11:49 AM

Into the Wardrobe

06-22-2007, 03:10 PM

I would agree ste, great to have another person weigh in who's actually seen both versions.

Wunderkind

06-24-2007, 01:48 PM

I seem to be all alone with picturing Jadis as blonde in the first place LOL :p

The first thought that hit me when I saw the BBC movie was "Did Jadis gone mad or what?".A few people have been barking me out for having this opinion,but I find the BBC Jadis looking more like a lunatic than a powerful Witch who turned a whole land into eternal winter.She isn't enchanting,she isn't beautiful.She isn't the Witch I imagined her to be from reading the book.
I vote for Tilda.I hope I didn't offend anyone now but that's just what I think.

Dernhelm

02-22-2008, 09:43 PM

I like the principle of having a non-screeching White Witch; both the animated and the BBC witches were a little too loud. Unnaturally loud, I mean. If they did it more naturally, it probably wouldn't bother me. Anyway, a menacingly quite White Witch would be really great. But Tilda wasn't menacing, as far as I could tell; just quite. :( Along with her blond hair (did they have to do that? *sigh*), that about ruined the Walden White Witch for me. I wish the BBC witch had had a slightly more natural white make-up – I don't the obviously made-up look. But she has long black hair :D and she's better looking than Tilda, I think. If you try to ignore the heavy, ugly crown. ;)

I like the Animated White Witch! ;-)

waterhogboy

02-23-2008, 09:39 AM

Aye, when we were watching them all last Saturday, we were talking about this. We decided that although Tilda acts better, Barbara looks better. Tilda looks nicely beautiful, rather than coldly beautiful and her face isn't pale enough.

I haven't seen the animated so I wouldn't know about that.

Dernhelm

02-23-2008, 10:23 AM

Yes. 'Nicely' beautiful sounds about right. She looks like a tall, pale, pretty human.

Ginny_JillPole

02-24-2008, 01:12 PM

Tilda is a great actress, she did a great job. Andrew said he always had her on mind whenever he thought about making LWW cuz she had the manner, the height and I believe she really looked like an Ice Goddess, or something. She's very pale and she looked more like a White and Ice's witch than Barbara, who looked like most witches in films.
However, it's true that Barbara looked more like the book's Jadis, physicaly.

ShastaTheSecond

02-24-2008, 06:38 PM

I think the BBC's witch is much closer to how I pictured the witch when reading the book.

The only thing I liked about Tilda's performance is that she was more "icey" as Jadis. The BBC's Jadis was more over-the-top, BUT so was the whole production so in context, she actually wasn't.

Physically, I always pictured the witch to have dark/black hair. Blonde Jadis looked more like an angry princess than an evil witch. She wasn't scary either. And in the movie, I didn't get the impression any of the Narnia people were really scared of her. They were too busy hating her and preparing to rebel.

Of course, in the book and the BBC version they hated her too. But they were also scared to hate her, and scared to stand up to her. Didn't get that impression in the movie at all.

You just stole my words. That was exactly what I was going to say. The Walden White Witch, to me, couldn't scare ANYONE, and her acting was OK, but NOTHING like Jadis. And besides Tumnus, she couldn't scare a 2-year-old. I hated the BBC series, but I have to say, although their Witch was a bit of a stereotype and couldn't fool anyone, at least she was more of Jadis than Tilda. That's the one thing I DIDN'T like in Disney/Walden's LWW; she wasn't a witch, she was a pale, skinny, blonde angry princess who had wolves for servants.

Ginny_JillPole

02-24-2008, 10:51 PM

Well, if you look an image of Barbara as the white witch and a Tilda's as the white witch too, I'd say Tilda looks more like a witch. Barbara looks like an Evil Queen. But Tilda looks as a sorceress.

Ginny_JillPole

02-24-2008, 10:54 PM

Into the Wardrobe

02-25-2008, 12:00 PM

Of course you don't offend anyone by liking Tilda better. People are allowed to prefer who they want to prefer. I have mixed feelings there myself. If Barbara had acted a lot less large she could have been perfect. She was way over the top in her acting. But then Tilda didn't scare anybody really. Even my little nieces described her as a mean lady and not scary. Barbara was scary as the witch should have been. The emotions she tried to translate didn't come across too well. That, and I don't mean to offend anyone but I pictured the witch to be much prettier. I feel bad saying it, but if I'm candid I can't overlook that. Tilda also tried to interject a political background that wasn't there in Lewis' work. She described the witch as Arian...and that was a big mistake I think. Sure the kids were getting away from WWII, but the witch wasn't from a dream having to do with it or anything. They should have left that aspect out of everything. I prefer the BBC still, but that's just me. It's closer to the book. Over the top acting, but way closer to the book. Barbara could have done much better than she did I think, but oh well. Neither of them are great, and to me it would push it to say even good...but they suffice I guess. Somewhere in the middle is what should have been for both but we'll never see it. Tis a pitty.

Ginny_JillPole

02-25-2008, 08:48 PM

Quite agree. And Into the Wardrobe, we've seen the movies too... it's just that we have different opinnions. :l

Into the Wardrobe

02-26-2008, 06:16 PM

Quite agree. And Into the Wardrobe, we've seen the movies too... it's just that we have different opinnions. :l

I didn't think you hadn't seen the movies. I know yo have different opinions and that's cool. I was just describing my reasoning for why I think the way I do.

Rhyanidd

02-26-2008, 08:44 PM

She described the witch as Arian...
Ok, I looked Arian up in the dictionary(:o) and I wanted to make sure I understood what Tilda meant when she said that. So what Tilda meant is that--the son (Jesus, or in the case of Narnia, Aslan) was NOT one with the Father (Emperor Across the Sea), but was created by the Father as a helper?

Wow, just wow. If I've got my definitions right then I agree. She should totally not have said that. I have no problem with Actors reading anything they can get their hands on about their characters, from opinions of the fans to essays (if there are any) written by Lewis Scholars, I can totally understand how that would be helpful in making the character more real. But calling the witch Arian is just going too too far.

Ginny_JillPole

02-26-2008, 10:49 PM

Oh, ok. :P I, of course, know you didn't mean to offend anybody, lol.

Does anyone know (btw) that Tilda won an Oscar??? She deserves it.

Into the Wardrobe

02-27-2008, 12:31 PM

Ok, I looked Arian up in the dictionary(:o) and I wanted to make sure I understood what Tilda meant when she said that. So what Tilda meant is that--the son (Jesus, or in the case of Narnia, Aslan) was NOT one with the Father (Emperor Across the Sea), but was created by the Father as a helper?

Wow, just wow. If I've got my definitions right then I agree. She should totally not have said that. I have no problem with Actors reading anything they can get their hands on about their characters, from opinions of the fans to essays (if there are any) written by Lewis Scholars, I can totally understand how that would be helpful in making the character more real. But calling the witch Arian is just going too too far.

Well, it's also what Hitler referred to in WWII. It was the blonde haired, blue eyed look that Hitler deemed the superior race. I think I got the spelling wrong before and it should be aryan. He didn't fit the bill for that race, but he was bent on killing people who weren't a part of it, excluding himself of course. He had genetic experiments done by others to learn how to promote that look. Tilda compared the look of the White Witch to that. She called the White Witch "the ultimate white supremicist....she missed the point. It wasn't till she had the apple in MN that she became that white.

Here's the article I saw that bothered me a bit with it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_oeeYDbTNc

The Narnia books describe the White Witch with black hair if I remember correctly. They had her that way in the BBC series. I didn't think it was a good thing for Tilda to want that to be changed because she 1) misunderstood the character because I don't think she read MN. 2) Had a political agenda and bias against anything "American" or "Hollywood" looking.

Oh, ok. :P I, of course, know you didn't mean to offend anybody, lol.

Does anyone know (btw) that Tilda won an Oscar??? She deserves it.

That belongs in the cast and crew thread for Tilda Swinton my friend. It's great that she got it, but let's continue to compare the white witches.

liljentuva

03-03-2008, 05:56 PM

Barbara is the only White Witch in my book. Tilda was too much of a snob. She didn't make the Witch frightening, just arrogant.

Of course this is only how I personally feel so I don't want to offend any Tilda fan on this forum:confused:

Dernhelm

03-08-2008, 08:15 PM

Now I'm going to have to watch the new version again, with all this in mind! I think the library has it....

Sven-El

06-19-2008, 05:23 PM

I liked Tilda's a lot more . Honestly when I saw the BBC versions as a kid itw as around the same time that the first version of the Power Rangers TV show was on in the USA. Barbara Kellerman's Jadis reminded me of Rita Repulsa in the Power Rangers because she yelled every single line, and I ended up not liking her as much as she was to goofy and over the top like Rita. I kept wondering why the heck Edmund believed her when she was always yelling at him. It was too much of a melodrama for me.

Tilda however had a certain subtly to her. She also had an alienesque look which was perfect for Jadis coming from a foriegn world. In some ways she reminded me of the actress who played Satan in the Passion of the Christ in terms of her looks. I loved how she acted nice and freindly to Edmund when they met and when she yelled at him in the sled its eemed more like a mother scolding him. The way she taunted Aslan at the Table was perfect and showed her full evil colors.

For me that worked a lot more on the symbolic levels of the witch .Satan isn't going to be yelling at you to try and coax you into his web. He is going to be nice and inticing and not "seem" evil. I did Screwtape Letters for a speech torunament and my early interprtations of the character were more like the Green Goblin in Spider-Man or the Emperor in Star Wars and didn't work with the character. Then I did him more as a Bond villian, with a Russian accent and kept him subtle. I was told that he didn't seem evil. That's the thing to Screwtape, Jadis, and Satan they don't think they're evil. And oftentimes we aren't going to know untill it's too late.

Catherine

06-20-2008, 07:27 PM

i liked tilda better overall, i think she did a wonderful job portraying her, she's a great actress, though i did like the BBC witch (don't know the actress name)

~Lava~

06-22-2008, 09:55 PM

Tilda was menacing in a way that is like playing with a dangerous animal. She is beautiful in her way. I found looking at her rather like looking a Water Mocassin in the face (yes I have done it before). I grew up watching the BBC version, and I found it too much that Barbara appeared in all three of the movies. I stopped watching Silver Chair (and really was scared to read the Silver Chair) when Barbara made her appearance. I figured that she really was the White Witch called back by some gnome from the Underworld and it scared the dickens out of me to think that someone would actually do that. I stopped reading the books after reading Dawn Treader when I read them in the Fifth Grade. Needless to say, I agree that Barbara was scarier.

tolkienlewisfan

06-22-2008, 10:12 PM

I think Tilda Swinton did a good job, but I like how the White Witch in the BBC version appeared better.

Catherine

06-24-2008, 12:16 PM

i think Tilda not only looked the part better, but it thought she did a better job acting as well. The BBC white witch, she just seemed.....weird. kind of unnatural, i guess.

ste

06-25-2008, 12:24 PM

I like both witches, but as most people in this thread seem to agree, the BBC Witch wins for me.

I liked a lot of the subtleties that Tilda introduced to the role, and she was quietly menacing too.

The BBC witch over-acted a little bit and there were things that could have been better.

But the thing that clinches it for me is that the BBC witch WAS scary (at least to kids) whereas Tilda's witch just wasn't scary. At all.

To me, the White Witch should always be scary and it's for that reason that I'll never prefer Tilda's portrayal, although I do admire her acting and a lot of the things she brought to the role.

Having said that (and this is soley based on how I've interpreted things fans have said), I think Tilda was quite arrogant in playing the character the way SHE interpreted her and not really taking into account how the White Witch is generally regarded by the fan base.

Catherine

06-25-2008, 01:15 PM

Wunderkind

06-26-2008, 11:46 AM

i think Tilda not only looked the part better, but it thought she did a better job acting as well. The BBC white witch, she just seemed.....weird. kind of unnatural, i guess.

I so agree on that! I'm still convinced the BBC witch is a psycho who will come after me and hide underneath my bed at night rather than a witch who turns a whole land into winter and rules there for a hundred years...:eek:

Into the Wardrobe

06-27-2008, 12:42 PM

Barbara was over the top in the way she played her role. She was far too large. However, she got more of a reaction from me and she did from my nieces. With Tilda my tiny little nieces called her the mean pretty lady. But they didn't really react to her much. With Barbara they were scared and hid behind my legs when I was standing up. She was unnatural. But the dialogue was good. I also liked that with her wand she could flick it or point it and it would turn people to stone from a distance. That's what I'd always pictured when I read the books. With Tilda's she seemed to need to stab people with it. I never pictured anything like that really. It seemed to make her power a lot less than I'd imagined it when reading the books.

ste

06-28-2008, 12:55 PM

a lot of people seem to think that Tilda just wasn't scary, but i think if u had actually been in Edmund's place, u would've found her scary enough, because u would know all the things she is capable of (like making a statue out of u, for instance) and u would know all the other things she has done, and i think that if u were in Narnia, facing her, that'd be quite enough to scare u. as it is, just watching the movies, yes, the BBC witch might've been scarier, but i think either witch would scare u if u actually met them in person.

But I didn't meet them in person, and I wasn't in Edmund's shoes, therefore that is irrelevent to the question of the topic :)

The question of which witch is better will always ultimately (in my opinion) fall on which one is scarier to the viewer, regardless of their other pros and cons. Barbara may have overacted (as she might have been directed to do), and Tilda may have brought many other qualities to the role, but none as important as the scare factor that all evil witches should bring to viewers in stories like this.

crazycigirl

06-28-2008, 09:53 PM

Personally I like Tilda better. To me she seemed scary in the fact that she had more of a ruthless, uncaring attitude to everything she killed or turned into stone. Like she was going to get what she wanted and didn't really care who had to pay and how much. As for the BBC witch, she drove me nuts and annoyed me very much. But then I didn't see the BBC version until I was 15.

My sister saw it when she was 9. As she put it, "I guess they ran out of rooms in the insane asylum." She never got scared of the BBC witch, actually she got bored and never finished watching the movie. When my sister saw Tilda at 10, she was more in awe of her than really frightened, but she still was very concerned for Edmunds well being and was scared that the witch would turn him to stone.

kingcaspian

06-28-2008, 10:17 PM

I liked Tilda's performance of Jadis better, because she was more menacing, more powerful with her voice, and yet at times she could appear like she was just a sweet, beautiful lady. BBC's witch was way too pale, and the makeup crew made her look like a fairy-tale witch, with the heavy eye makeup and the red lips, unlike Tilda was just sort of pale, and had no eye makeup or red lipstick Barbara did a good job acting though.
And I am all for Tilda coming back in Magician's Nephew.:cool:

King Of The Hallows

07-21-2008, 02:27 PM

Um...ok. I don't know who they'll get for the future roles, but I believe that Tilda was in favor of coming back to do the role of Jadis in MN. That's about all I know.

They are doing the MN into a movie ? :eek:

King Of The Hallows

07-21-2008, 02:34 PM

Tilda did a fantastic job playing Jadis. I thought that Barbara did not have the icy cold look. The witch is supposed to be icy, that is why she is the White Witch. Barbara seemed more like a dark witch then an icy one. And even the witches house in BBC was not icy at all, where as in Walden Media the witches house looks like one big iceberg. Plus as everyone has said before BBC Jadis was over the top. The way she got mad at the Narnians even the way she handled the wand and summuned her troops. I think Jadis was beleivable and if you went to Narnia the witch would be like her. Overall its Jadis who was better. No affence Barbara if you see this.

office

07-21-2008, 04:14 PM

I felt like the White Witch in the BBC version was over dramatic and yelled all the time. She did have some good qualities but I think Tilda did a better job than the BBC person.

Elentari

07-21-2008, 05:31 PM

Tilda was good at being intimidating, but when I first saw it I thought her delivery of lines wasn't the most convincing. (The WW does yell in the LWW book, quite often actually, though I am beginning to understand the change regarding that.) The BBC witch (Barbara) looked horrific, but she was much closer to the book in action and how she said things.)

I actually LIKED the way Tilda used her wand vs. the BBC version. While the book does have the WW using her wand from a distance (the small Christmas party that was taken out of the movie in favor of using the Beaver's friends and the fox), having her have that much power during the battle would have been difficult to rationalize. For example, in the book she has that power, yet she doesn't (or isn't capable of for some reason) turning Peter or Edmund to stone during the Battle. While it would have messed up the storyline, you have to look at it from a rational mindset--if she COULD have, why didn't she? With Tilda, they remove the need for that thinking by making the wand work ONLY WHEN IT TOUCHES, making it impossible for her to turn the entire army into stone.

I'm not sure Lewis fully thought out her power with the wand, or just didn't care to flesh it out, because this rationale is not considered in the book.

Tilda was much friendlier looking to Edmund than the BBC WW and spoke/acted "friendlier" (soft-spoken, non-threatening in tone even when she was threatening, though only to Edmund)--even when she was clearly evil--and Walden went with the idea that the witch was capable of incredible deceit while not LOOKING entirely dangerous at first. The BBC stuck close to Lewis' description of the witch and her actions/words, but not so much into how she would appear to a child in the woods, no matter how irritable and self-serving the child may be.

Xenithar

07-22-2008, 10:43 AM

The witch in the BBC version was loud angry and sinister, and the one in the new LWW was quiet angry and sinsister. The latter is how I've imagined the white witch as being, as she uses cunning and treachery to get what she wants in the stories. I thought Tilda did an excellent job playing the part (even if the white witch is supposed to have black hair, and not blond lol)

waterhogboy

07-23-2008, 07:53 AM

office

07-23-2008, 06:56 PM

Elentari

07-23-2008, 11:27 PM

You're both right I suppose. The two actresses used two different ways to portray Jadis' evilness. I, however, like Elentari, prefer the BBC version way. I know it's a bit ham fisted and over dramatic, but Tilda's a little too bland for my liking. Particularly on her first meeting with Edmund, when she gets angry and shouts 'NO', it's not very believable in the Walden but used to frigthen me as a kid when our Barbs did it!

Exactly! When Barbara said No! you could tell she was showing who she REALLY was, because she had to catch herself and turn all sugary..."no no no..." With Tilda, though she was amazing, her attempt at a yell was just not convincing. Her EYES freaked me out the last time I watched it though. I don't think I ever noticed they were almost yellow...:eek:

waterhogboy

07-24-2008, 08:25 AM

Well, I didn`t think Edmund would want to hang out with someone who seemed scary lol. What I liked about Tilda is that she could pretend to act friendly and stuff to lure Edmund in to her plan. I respect all of your opinions though.

I don't know. I think it makes the effect stronger. Edmund is lured in in the BBC versions purely by his greed for Turkish Delight and his desire to be a Prince. It makes the betrayal all the more disgusting. In the Walden you could almost say, "Well, he didn't really know what he was getting himself into!" In the book, it never suggests the White Witch is nice, just attractive and appealing to Edmund in that sense.

Friend of Aslan

07-30-2008, 10:38 PM

I personally really liked the BBC versions I suppose it's because I grew up watching them I guess I need to watch them again to really give an opinion

*Mrs.Beaver Fan*

08-21-2008, 02:27 AM

There are threads to compare and contrast the kids, but I thought I'd start one for the White Witch.

I thought that the BBC witch was done in way too large of a manner, but still the story came across well. My little nieces responded more to that white witch than Tilda's. She also looked closer to what the book describes her as. However, I still thought that Tilda did a good job as well. She played the witch in more of a controlled manner. She was incredible in the battle scenes.

What do you all think?

The BBC white which was over the top. I remember the scene when she arrives at aslans camp, she like screams her parts, like the bits when she says "And NARNIA WILL BE OVERTURNED IN FIRE AND WATWE!!!!!!!!"
or whatever lol. But tilda was totally awsome as the white which

dayhawk68

09-18-2008, 11:16 PM

lol I watched LWW today. lol why did they have to make Lucy fat???:mad:

Powl'

09-19-2008, 09:43 AM

lol I watched LWW today. lol why did they have to make Lucy fat???:mad:

Ok fist, Lucy's not fat at all !!! she's just a cute little girl in LWW.

to come back tot the thread about the White Witch, I thought Tilda was very scary, the one in the BBC version was just different, but Tilda was sooo WOW:eek:

dayhawk68

09-19-2008, 12:04 PM

well I meant it in the bbc version, but yeah Georgie was adorable!

and I think Tilda was amazing too. But idk I think Lucy Lawless would be an awesome Jadis.

Powl'

09-19-2008, 01:38 PM

well, we can't talk about the white witch anymore, because I'm sure Tilda will take the part of the white witch in MN,

ooh sorry you meant in the BBC version:p because I love Georgie in LWW, but I was a little dispointed of her in PC, she wasn't the sweet innocent little girl, and I didn't like it.

And I don't think Lucy Lawless would have been a good white witch, at least not as good as tilda:p

dayhawk68

09-19-2008, 05:18 PM

lol its all good, but I don't know about Lucy staying innocent. I mean I've always imagined she kept the tender heart but as she grew older became wiser but at the same time not jaded. I think that was what she was in PC.

And if you've ever seen some Xena episodes where she's like crazy evil looking, well it makes sense. Plus I've always imagined Jadis with black hair and freakishly high cheekbones (what is it w/ me and cheek bones 2 day??:confused:). So thats why I mentioned Lucy Lawless.

dayhawk68

09-20-2008, 09:21 PM

see check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYJAGBDaOzQ

Into the Wardrobe

09-22-2008, 12:41 PM

Let's stay on topic for discussing the white witch as opposed to Xena. We saw enough of her kind of character in Susan in PC. The witch in the BBC version did have the black hair and high cheek bones. She just acted in too large a manner, but she was a lot more frightening than Tilda was.

I'm sure Tilda will play in MN if they make that one. Time will tell.

Powl'

09-22-2008, 02:09 PM

dayhawk meant to show us the white witch he/she imagined,
I hope tilda will be the white witch in MN, but she'll probably be too old if it's in 10 years !!:eek:

dayhawk68

09-22-2008, 09:18 PM

dayhawk meant to show us the white witch he/she imagined,
I hope tilda will be the white witch in MN, but she'll probably be too old if it's in 10 years !!:eek:

lol she and thanks.

Powl'

09-23-2008, 09:39 AM

:confused:what did you mean "lol she" ???:confused:

dayhawk68

09-24-2008, 03:10 PM

:confused:what did you mean "lol she" ???:confused:

Im a girl:D

Powl'

09-24-2008, 03:26 PM

why did you say lol ?? :confused:

dayhawk68

09-24-2008, 10:30 PM

b/c you didn't know what my gender was.

Josh

09-24-2008, 10:37 PM

I liked Tilda better. While I think the BBC witch looked more like the one in the book, I found Tilda much scarier. The only thing wrong with Tilda's performance was that "No!"

Did anyone like the animated White Witch? I thought she was more funny than anything else. Like when she is forcing Edmund and Ginnabrik to walk "FASTER! FAASSSTEER YOU FOOOLS! Hurry up or you will all be KILLED! KKKIIIILLLLEED!" It was way over the top, but I found it funny.

Powl'

09-25-2008, 04:06 AM

well Tilda didn't really look like the witch in the book, but she looks exaclty like a white witch

Into the Wardrobe

09-25-2008, 12:31 PM

I didn't think Tilda was scary at all. Neither did my tiny nieces. They've seen both versions. With Tilda they call her the mean pretty lady but they're not scared of her. They just think she's really mean. With the witch in the BBC, they're scared enough to run and grab my legs and tell me how scared they are. She just wasn't scary to me. When she was the scariest was in the battle, but mostly because she was armed. I think Tilda is a good actress, but I just wasn't scared of her at all as the witch. Not in the least.

Powl'

09-25-2008, 02:16 PM

but did you think she was a good white witch ??? :confused:

Josh

09-25-2008, 08:47 PM

I thought the one in the BBC was laughable. But does anyone like the cartoon witch?

Powl'

09-26-2008, 08:04 AM

I didn't watch the cartoon,

dayhawk, aparently you love Keira Knightley don't you ?? :p:p

whitelion_bella

09-26-2008, 11:28 AM

Tilda is wayyy much better cause when i saw her i was like "WOW!" and "OHH" and "WHOA!"

as for Barbara, i was like "well..." or "so-so" and sometimes "whaaaaat???"

Powl'

09-26-2008, 02:36 PM

yeah, Barbara looks like the Pauline Baynes's White Witch but I think Tilda looks more like THE white witch, WHITE, wicked, and sometimes, very scary !!!!

ndfan1993

09-26-2008, 10:24 PM

Agreed, Powl'! Barbara does seem to look more like Pauline Bayne's white witch....However... She was a bit out there....Alot...

Tilda seems to capture the White Witch's personality and added a bit of real-ness(is that even a word?) and fear and everything that Barbara's character really didn't have.

Though I do admit to only getting to the beaversdam on the BBC version *blush*.

Powl'

09-27-2008, 09:22 AM

but I totally respect people who prefered Barbara !!! :p

Into the Wardrobe

09-30-2008, 12:34 PM

Tilda is wayyy much better cause when i saw her i was like "WOW!" and "OHH" and "WHOA!"

as for Barbara, i was like "well..." or "so-so" and sometimes "whaaaaat???"

I was the exact opposite. Barbara did play it up WAY too large, but she captured the spirit of the character overall so it worked well anyway. I liked the way she was in the battle too where she didn't need to necessarily be standing next to something to turn it to stone. That was always how I'd pictured it in my mind. I never saw the wand as a sort of magical spear. Never. It worked ok with the Disney/Walden film, but it was nothing like I'd imagined it.

Powl'

09-30-2008, 01:20 PM

well, did you watch the BBC production before reading the book, or after ?? :confused:

Into the Wardrobe

10-01-2008, 01:46 PM

I watched the BBC after reading the book. I'd been familiar with the book for years before the BBC came out. I was raised on the Narnia books from infancy.

I liked how the witch looked like the book description. I didn't like how Tilda was talking about her being an Aryan white supremecist (sp?). She wasn't. That wasn't on her radar screen. In Magician's Nephew it was after she ate the forbidden apple that she turned really white. It wasn't that she just liked everything to be white. I always figured that a snowy land would be easier to control because it's harder and much less comfortable for people to move around in freely. But that's just my perception.

Powl'

10-01-2008, 04:34 PM

you're right, she becomes white after eating the apple, and in the battle of LWW, Tilda's not white at all !!! :eek:

Izumi-Chanx

06-12-2009, 12:24 PM

I like both Tilda and Barbara in their own rite. I first saw BBC's LWW when I was about 5 or 6, and Barbara terrified me as Jadis then. Looking back at it now, I do find her performance a bit OTT.

Tilda I thought was good, but she didn't really strike me in the same way as Barbara did. She was brilliant in the battle scene, but I didn't find her as striking as I had found Barbara otherwise.

Benisse

06-12-2009, 03:08 PM

Tilda truly captured the horror of charismatic beauty coupled with self-centered coldness, harshness and deceptively charming evil. Barbara's performance was a bit too shrill for me, notwithstanding her white skin and dark hair.

CaspianGirl

06-12-2009, 06:27 PM

I actually got scared of the Walden White Witch. xD *shot* But I haven't even seen the BBC version or the animated version, so I don't really have any opinions. :p

waterhogboy

06-19-2009, 06:38 PM

I think the truth of the matter is that Barbara is very scary for young children. Her acting style was very much 'frightening pantomime witch' that could make a little kid cry.

However, in the Hollywood film Tilda goes for a more subtle scary, attempting to be more chilling.

I think I like Barbara's more because I always read the Witch in the books as a bit of a charicature, and Barb's portrayal is much more like that. I mean the children are... children and I think a child would find Barbara scarier than Tilda... though perhaps not an adult.

Catherine

06-19-2009, 06:43 PM

Barbara just seemed to go way too over the top and that just sort of canceled out canceled out any other advantages she had over Tilda...it really bugs me when actors go overboard like that and are too dramatic, so Barbara just drove me up the wall.

Wunderkind

07-05-2009, 06:50 PM

The BBC Witch still creeps me out so bad...and I first watched the BBC version aged what...15? :o I even had nightmares about her for a while!

waterhogboy

07-06-2009, 08:24 PM

The BBC Witch still creeps me out so bad...and I first watched the BBC version aged what...15? :o I even had nightmares about her for a while!

Exactly!! Same here! That's why I think she's better than Tilda. She never scared me...

Wunderkind

07-07-2009, 05:58 AM

Tilda only really scared me during the Stone Table scene..that bit where she kills Aslan..she just looks..wild! :eek:

I don't know if I'll ever be able to pick a favourite..but I guess I don't really have to. Barbara was the one giving me nightmares but she was also way over the top which annoys me. Tilda would never ever go over the top like that,her performance was flawless but she didn't scare me. If you mixed the two together it could end up really great!

Valiant Mouse

07-11-2009, 11:49 PM

i saw the bbc one when i was very little, it was very taken with it.

AsbelMctalisker

07-26-2009, 09:43 AM

I thought Tilda Swinton`s performance was very subtle and in a way downright terrifying.
Barbara Kellerman`s performance is good, but a bit stage orientated and conventional `Wicked Witch` and its actually quite difficult to see Edmund to be anything other than be a bit suspicious of her from the beginning.
Tilda, on the other hand plays her as quite charming and unthreatening on the surface and it easy to see how he gets drawn in by her at fist.
Its only later that her true nature is shown, the `sold you out for sweeties` line shows that, even when she has the upper hand she would much rather be nasty in a rather petty way than commit any small act of kindness.
The way Tilda does it gives the character a depth that you dont get with Barbara`s version.

waterhogboy

07-27-2009, 03:51 PM

That's a good summation Asbel. I think you're quite right. Tilda's portrayal is much more devious and really comes across more evil than Barbara's.

Wunderkind

07-27-2009, 05:41 PM

I second that! I wouldn't go anywhere near Barbara's version,nevermind sit down with her and accept sweets from her :eek: More likely run the opposite way as fast as I could :p

waterhogboy

07-30-2009, 07:35 PM

I dunno. My mum's about as scary as Barbara playing the WW, and if she told me to sit and have tea with her, I'd come running, making the tea as I came!!

Silver Moon

08-01-2009, 08:52 AM

My wife bought me a copy of the BBC series for our wedding anniverssay this weekend (I missed it when it was originally broadcast). I think the White Witch is played very well, she portrayed her mood swings quite convincingly. I have not watched all of the programes yet, at present watching the Dawn Treader series. A set of DVD's well worth getting.

waterhogboy

08-01-2009, 08:54 PM

I agree. I think Silver Chair is the best done of the lot, and Tom Baker as Puddleglum is brilliant!

Hope you enjoy them

AsbelMctalisker

08-03-2009, 02:51 PM

I think Silver Chair is the best done of the lot, and Tom Baker as Puddleglum is brilliant!

I second that, and will go on to say that their version of Prince Caspian was the worst part (Disney take note).

waterhogboy

08-04-2009, 11:18 AM

Yes!! How on earth do you cram the longest book into 1 hour!?

Silver Moon

08-05-2009, 09:18 AM

Yes!! How on earth do you cram the longest book into 1 hour!?

The problem of putting books into film is that the script writers tend to cut the story to the bone and quite often ruin it. I watched the full series the other day and wondered sometimes if they had read the same books as we have. I have noticed that this happens with feature films quite a lot. Just look at Potter 6 as a prime example.

But on the plus side, the series does at least give a very good outline of the books, I enjoy the series immensley.:)

waterhogboy

08-05-2009, 09:25 AM

I think the BBC versions are much more faithful to the storylines than the Disney films are. That's at least one advantage they have.

Arvan

08-07-2009, 12:40 AM

Anyway, back on subject. When I saw the BBC Witch as a kid, I just laughed. Tilda could have been paler, but I like the light blond (almost white) hair. And her acting was way better. I found the scene in the castle to be creepy, and the Stone Table scene was especially chilling (her eyes were so dialated that they looked black without the white, and telling Aslan her plans so he would despair was also chilling). Tilda also seemed more haughty than Barbara, which is why some people seem to think she's more like an evil queen (which, by the way, she is :D). Her scariest moment was the scene in Prince Caspian, in my opinion.

Beloved

09-02-2009, 11:20 PM

I loved the BBC's witch(es). She kicked butt. The new Disney one sucks. With her icicle crown and polar bear sled.

Copperfox

09-04-2009, 08:02 PM

But in fairness to Tilda Swinton, she was reported to be a great trouper on the production location, constantly looking out for fellow performers and keeping up their spirits with her good humor.

Beloved

09-04-2009, 10:42 PM

But in fairness to Tilda Swinton, she was reported to be a great trouper on the production location, constantly looking out for fellow performers and keeping up their spirits with her good humor.

The BBC's witch was fantastic. Frightening and beautiful. The Disney witch was too ... gaunt. Not scary, just ... like something was wrong with her. She also was NOT beautiful, and Jadis/the White Witch/etc. was/were gorgeous as well as terrifying.

(I'm not sure which witch is Tilda, but that's my two cents' worth.)

waterhogboy

09-05-2009, 01:40 PM

The BBC's witch was fantastic. Frightening and beautiful. The Disney witch was too ... gaunt. Not scary, just ... like something was wrong with her. She also was NOT beautiful, and Jadis/the White Witch/etc. was/were gorgeous as well as terrifying.

(I'm not sure which witch is Tilda, but that's my two cents' worth.)

I agree with you for the most part. Though I don't think Tilda wasn't beautiful - just beautiful in the wrong way - too nicely beautiful.

And Copperfox - I imagine Tilda was lovely during filming. I wonder if that affected the way the kids acted with her though. It would have been funny if they'd been frightened by her off stage too :D