I can't wait to see the Chronicles of Narnia action figures in stores just in time for Christmas (Am I joking? I honestly don't know!) Note: Apparently not. Check out the Amazon link!
I do know that the heirs and Estate of C.S. Lewis put many restrictions on the marketing of the movie and related capitalist product spin-offs. But from what I am seeing in catalogues it appears that there are plenty of Narnia products for consumers to choose from.
My prayer is that the movie will lead even more people to read these wonderful books than have done so previously. No matter how good the movie is, it will never replace the books.
In the recent Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the movie was remarkably faithful but still had to omit many of the most lyric, mythological and transcendent passages for the sake of keeping the action moving. While these movies were an excellent production worthy of the praise they received, they in no way can ever replace the written words of J.R.R. Tolkien as they appear in the books themselves.
My nightmare is that the commercialization of Narnia will relegate it to the status of Winnie the Pooh, which, in the hands of Disney, has become almost a parody of itself and the Milne books that originally brought him to life.
Narnia deserves better. By God's grace we will never see a Saturday morning "Narnia" cartoon program on TV.
I'll see you at the movie.
Article comments
1 - Greg Schoppe
Political Apathy:
C. S. Lewis was a christian theologian. The Narnia books are a metaphor to teach christian theology to children.
although I enjoy (some) fantasy books, and am christian, Narnia is nothing like (for example) Harry Potter. There are deep and serious religious arguments made in Narnia.
I am not against Harry Potter, but I doubt those that are would be against Narnia.
2 - Ken Edwards
Not to mention the video game "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" released for: GBA, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PC, PS2, and Xbox. They had a PSP version but it got canned.
It looks like an average game, getting anywhere from a 6/10 to a 8.3/10. Not that I am going to go pick it up, but it probably isn't a bad game.
But I agree, WAY too much Narnia.
3 - Political Apathy
Greg:
C.S. Lewis was a Christian, as was J.R.R. Tolkien. However, I am just pleasantly surprised that there is a fantasy film/novel/etc. that is well accepted by other Christians. Even though the themes in Narnia are very pronounced for adult Christians, the children reading Narnia or Harry Potter are most likely too young to distinguish between the two. Hence, I don't understand how the parents can say that one is any more evil than the other but they should raise their children as they see fit.