Franchise Killers: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

[@MeganKoumori]

Disney markets "Prince Caspian" as a boy's action adventure. Meanwhile, my teenage sister watched it over and over so she could drool over Ben Barnes. You missed your target demographic, Disney.

[@mariacargille1396]

That's really funny! As a teenage girl at the time, I was really irritated that they aged Caspian up and shoved a romantic b-plot into the film instead of working closer to the source material. To each their own, I guess! XD

[@luigiboyinblu]

And to think Andrew Garfield was turned down as Caspian for not being “attractive enough”

[@KPT437]

I agree. Saw this one multiple times for Ben Barnes. 😂

[@Eric_1991]

​@@luigiboyinblu whaaaaa?!

[@Sad-Lesbian]

​@mariacargille1396 "a romantic b plot" is being very generous tbh. They mostly spend the movie looking at each other, exchanging no words and we're supposed to believe they fell in love? Not to mention a 15 year old Lucy flirting with a Caspian twice her age, in the next movie.

[@alannapenner37]

I remember, as a huge fan of the books, how impressed I was by the first adaptation. I thought the kids were cast so well and the world of Narnia looked so real. But I hatedddd Prince Caspian when it came out 😭 One of the main themes of the book is the Pevensies grappling with a completely different Narnia and how they fit in it- they barely spent any time on that at all in the movie. There's no grieving over their friends from the first movie, no desperately seeking Aslan, hardly any introspection at all. Even their relationship with Trumpkin felt so hollow compared to how it was in the book. I did enjoy the Dawn Treader movie, although the kid's ages were so significantly different from the first book it felt strange. It was nice to go back to the whimsical feel that I associate with Narnia.

[@RetroBacon1]

It focused way too much on boring lore nobody cares about.

[@haalandfilms1695]

honestly I loved prince caspian. I felt it was a solid film, and loved how dark it became

[@unityedits3722]

Didn’t care much for Prince Caspian as a kid, we had the DVD. Rewatched it as an adult, the other day, it fucking HIIIIIIIT!

[@jayt9608]

I hated Prince Caspian with a passion. Dawn Treader was not a significant improvement, but it did enough so that I have watched it multiple times.

[@angelb.823]

Didn't the Pevensies grieved over Mr. Tumnus, the Beavers, and everyone they knew from their first adventure during their search on the ruined Cair Paravel upon their arrival in Narnia in the second movie? And Lucy seeking Aslan, eventually finding him in her dream?

[@thegreenthunder5416]

This hurts my inner child so much because I’m a huge fan of those movies. I fear that Narnia made by Netflix is going to be a huge flop and feel hollow. I’m hoping that they stick the landing but I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

[@MelissaDiemer-q8l]

C. S. Lewis's stepson is involved in it. But it depends on the contracts on how much say he'll have.

[@thegreenthunder5416]

@@MelissaDiemer-q8l and Netflix is famous for playing nice with others. After all, look at ATLA and how their creators dealt with Netflix. I’m certain everything will be OK lol

[@-.-.11]

@@MelissaDiemer-q8lDoesn’t mean anything. Tolkien’s grandson was involved with Rings of Garbage.

[@xdecatron2985]

If Netflix is making it, we’ll get a pretty decent Magician’s Nephew season, and maybe a half-decent LWW, then they’ll cancel it regardless of its popularity to make room for another kitchen competition series

[@aidanacebo9529]

@@xdecatron2985 I bet you $5 they're gonna replace multiple beloved characters with butch black lesbians.

[@CliveStaplesElvis]

Dawn Treader was good as long as they stuck with Lewis. But whenever they brought in their own stuff (“You didn’t believe in yourself”) it felt like Oprah had written the script.

[@kingofcards9]

The oppressed billionaire lol.

[@gelchert]

That’s the problem with Disney (and probably any other studio that tries to adapt Narnia): they don’t understand Lewis or his worldview at all, nor do they really want to understand.

[@jayreed9370]

I had the same feeling with the remake of A Wrinkle In Time. It's like they didn't have faith in the source material.

[@samm8190]

3:20 To clarify a point chronologically there’s only one book in between LWW and Prince Caspian and it’s not even set in between books, it actually takes place in between the last chapters of LWW and the Pevensie’s are side characters so from a franchise perspective it wouldn’t make sense to do that next.

[@island_girl_shan]

I thought the same. One took place in the years before they left Narnia and we see them leave at the end of the first movie. Now would actually be a better time for The Horse And His Boy especially since the original actors would be old enough to cameo as their older selfs. Before Prince Caspian, they would have had to use adult actors.

[@jaiward4869]

That's what he said

[@blinxman4956]

Franchise Killers: Eragon, Percy Jackson, and The Golden Compass

[@essneyallen6777]

I can see PJ, but the other 2 are definitively Failure to launch, they never established a franchise to kill...

[@NIGHTGUYRYAN]

ooh the golden compass promised us a lot and then it just died. very disapointing because i remember being genuinely disturbed by Nicole Kidmans character and would have loved to see where the story went

[@anubusx]

I agree i wish we got a series of films. Althought the series is pretty decent.

[@eleonorepb4565]

​@@NIGHTGUYRYANthe books are here if you want to see what happen next, and if you are not interested by litterature you can watch the show made in 2019 , it adapt the three books

[@Diablange95]

For the Golden compass the series is really good and have an end.

[@misseli1]

Like others have said, I think Narnia is better suited for an animated tv series.

[@normalgirlcvco]

The first one is just so good. One of my favorite movies ever. I did like the other two but there is something especial with the first one.

[@BrickfilmPictures]

the problem with the narnia films is that the books are not THAT action heavy outside of lion, witch, and wardrobe. but they made the movies so action heavy, doesn't help that the prince caspian film was way too dark compared to the book and not to mention it was a huge letdown. dawn treader wasn't horrible but it just crammed way too much into the story and plus, the dawn treader book was a random event every few chapters, it doesn't work well for a movie.

[@NIGHTGUYRYAN]

yeah, they were trying to bring some more of what people expect from a fantasy movie and i honestly dont blame them. the stories are kinda...dry.

[@eleonorepb4565]

The third one also has some action scenes but it would have been hard to adapt given that the Peeseve children are secondary characters and present as adult rulers.

[@ItsAVolcano]

I wouldn't be so sure. If they kept going based on the ages of the actors the next film would have likely been the Horse and his Boy, which has plenty of action and adventure. Mostly without the original cast, but it includes an easy to expand side story that Peter is busy warring with the giants for most of the plot.

[@jayt9608]

Narnia is not an action franchise so much as adventure or questing. Both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings are better suited for action, as was The Hobbit. The children are growing up and moving beyond the adventure quests of fantasy for the adventures of adulthood and the mysteries of life, which is why they are not allowed to return.

[@ajzeg01]

A couple of points. There actually WAS a live-action version of the Narnia series before the movies that the BBC did, and the movie was made to compete with Lord of the Rings as well as Harry Potter.

[@BeansKneez]

yup! i watched the bbc version in school

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

Was the show good?

[@virgoliciou5]

I remember the BBC show, it was much better suited to Narnia than film is. I loved it as a kid, having read the books around the same time. It was like watching old episodes of Dr. Who, but Narnia.

[@doubleflores8350]

@@DavidMartinez-ce3lpit was eh at best. For some reason they stopped after Silver chair, now I’m out here thinking this series can’t be adapted to completion!

[@DavidMartinez-ce3lp]

@@doubleflores8350 was it better than the movies?

[@clarkkent7973]

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader would have been a much better series instead of a single movie due to the structure of the book.

[@GeneralKenobi6000]

Make a Disney's G-Force video

[@bankaispirits]

Oh shit I forgot about that 😭

[@EdgedShadow]

You can’t turn Lewis’s works into Tolkien’s, no matter how hard you try.

[@jayt9608]

The difference between Action/Adventure and Questing.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Yes, I preferred the slower pace of the BBC production, it's just a shame that they only did 3 of the books.

[@DukeSkylocker]

The problem with Chronicles of Narnia is that unlike with Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games or even Twilight, the first book is a complete story and also far more popular than any of the following books. Because of that as good as the movie adaptation was it ends on such a complete note that it didn't really leave much excitement for the follow-up. Yes there are plenty of franchises where the first film is a complete story, but usually the second film succeeds by promising to offer something more (in superhero films this is usually the promise of a bigger more threatening villain, see The Dark Knight for a prime example). With Prince Caspian, everything felt like a downgrade. No iconic villain, no memorable winter setting, and it takes place centuries later where most of the magical creatures have been driven to extinction, leaving a bland medieval setting. The movie was simply put adapting a weak unpopular book and it was just a question of how much it was going to drop off from the original, though obviously the summer release date and 2.5 year wait didn't help. Dawn Treader was based on a more popular book, but not one that made for an easy film adaptation and making the mist a bad guy was just dumb. Also, at this point, the main characters start changing, which hurts things even more. Even though it was succesful and Silver Chair was probably one of only 3 books that made for a good movie adaptation (the others being the first and The Magician's Nephew) I think they realized that it would be a big ask for people to come see a film where the main characters are a boy who was mainly an annoying git in the third film and a girl who was only mentioned in passing.

[@otter.mayhem]

I agree 10000%

[@bookshelfhoney]

Yeah I really liked reading the Narnia books as a kid but they're all really different from each other in the tone and stuff. I loved the magician's nephew but I can't imagine it would be a super popular movie. And a horse and his boy too. I can't remember most of the other plots super well cause it's been a long time

[@dylantennant6594]

One hundred percent. LWW has everything a good fantasy needs. An interesting world, action, fantastical creatures, and (at least in this book) the allegory was subtle, it wasn’t as in your face as the other books. It felt like Lewis didn’t know he was going to make a series and just decided to tell a decent story instead.

[@enchantingkatie2]

All problems aside, I’m glad they released the movies in order by publication because that’s the order the books were intended to be read in. I don’t think it was until after C.S Lewis’ death that they re released the books in chronological order, and to me I feel like that’s underestimating people’s intelligence to be able to recognize a prequel when they’re reading it. There’s a lot less impact when reading The Magician’s Nephew if you read it first instead of last. It’d be like telling people to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order instead of by order of release. Like sure, you CAN, but it’s gonna spoil most of the big reveal moments and kill any sort of suspense that the series introduced

[@shadowaccount]

Watching SW chronologically is the best way to watch the saga, starting with Episode I. Watching in "order of release" would be to watch Episode IV first. As it was released first. You may want to reword your statements. Telling a new viewer to start with Episode IV is stupid.

[@improvwithlions4173]

You're right, and that's why it took me so long to "get" Magician's Nephew when I was younger. It's like watching Pulp Fiction with the scenes arranged in chronological order.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@improvwithlions4173 Yep, it was written 2nd to last, if I understood correctly, but it's a prequel to the entire series.

[@Adam-xd9tr]

I remember being big into the Narnia books came out, and I was looking forward to this movie as Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite book of the series. I didn't hate this film, but I did walk away disappointed with most of the changes made. I wouldn't be opposed to rewatching it if someone was seeing the films for the first time, but it's not a movie I view on my own time. In hindsight, I'm not surprised the Chronicles of Narnia didn't take off as a franchise. The books are great, but they don't lend themselves well to the big movie format, with the constantly changing cast and not having a linear overarching plot. C.S. Lewis's other fictional works are also good (Till We Have Faces is seriously underrated and deserves more attention) but they don't lend themselves well to the blockbuster format.

[@improvwithlions4173]

I second Til We Have Faces. Space series has its moments, but I feel it often lays on the preachiness too thick. Til We Have Faces also has that religious message, but Orual's character and story comes across so vividly that it really works. He hints at the kind of struggles Orual has at various points with different characters in Narnia, but in TWHF he really gets into his character's head and heart. I re-read it along with Narnia around once a year.

[@gamerzilla6113]

You should make video on 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword' movie was supposed spawn movie franchise based on Arthurian Legends.

[@nerdjournal]

WE had some banger King Arthur movies in the past. But that one was a stinker.

[@ender7278]

Oh yeah, that's the one that's all grey.

[@hammadahmed8690]

They teased Knights of the Roundtable at the end.

[@gamerzilla6113]

@@nerdjournalFight scenes and music was actually pretty good

[@anubusx]

To this day Excalibur is the best King Arthur film.

[@Alastherra]

Funnily enough, I'm going go watch LWW in the theater tonight. I have always loved these movies, and a lot of the changes made in them hurt my very soul since I grew up on the books. But I grew on these movies as well, and they hold a special place in my heart. Thing is, LWW is just the one pure showstopper Narnia has to offer to movie adaptation, beside the Last Battle where everyone (and everything) just straight up dies. Silver chair is interesting mystery, Boy and his horse is.. there. Magician's nephew is great, but if you know beforehand who the White Witch is, why the lamppost is in the woods, LWW loses its mystery and gets hurt in the process. The decision to go in this order makes a lot more sense, not only because of the actors aging out of their roles. You follow Pevensies, and gradually they get phased out. Because in the end, it is primarily a story about NARNIA, not the characters that interact with it.

[@hammadahmed8690]

I remember watching Lion, Witch and Wardrobe as a kid. And then reading the books in chronological order since I liked the series. Let's hope Netflix and Greta Gerwig revitalise this franchise

[@dohdoh2430]

No way Greta Gerwig and Netflix will be a positive. Completely woke.

[@69nadyacole69]

Ewww

[@FF-tp7qs]

There was also the tv movie version that adapted 4 of the books including The Silver Chair. The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle never got any films at all

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I assume you're talking about the BBC version. And yeah, that's where I get frustrated. IIRC, The Magicians Nephew is arguably the first book chronologically in the series, but whenever they start doing a new depiction of the series, they start with LWW.

[@FF-tp7qs]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade there is actually a manga adaptation of the Magician's nephew. Also it's not arguable when it's literally the origin story for the creation of Narnia and the White Witch, along with how the Professor ended up with a wardrobe connected to Narnia.

[@maxsync183]

​​@@FF-tp7qsit's so sad, the magicians nephew was one of the most interesting ones. a modern adaptation of that with decent cgi and some huge lady to be Jadis would probably be amazing. but I don't trust Hollywood to make that lol.

[@curtisharvey5579]

I honestly didn't know they made a 3rd one. Remember the 2nd being disappointing, and never saw anything for the final one

[@JayJay-17]

Same. I didn’t know there was one until they brought it up in the video. Went “wait there’s a third one?”

[@teleportsaroundyou4629]

I’d want to see it remade as an animated series.

[@misseli1]

Agreed, I think that's the best course of action. It's easier to adapt fantastical scenes in animation, and it would work really well if they dedicated a short season to each book.

[@charless1145]

There's plenty of animated Christian allegory out there already.

[@ThunderForce2000]

The Chronicles of Narnia is a very unusual franchise because while all of the novels are popular in the U.K, I think The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is the only novel in the series that is popular worldwide. Prince Caspian I think is one of the weakest novels of the series but I thought the movie was a lot better. Voyage of the Dawn Treader was always going to be a challenge to adapt to the screen because there is no antagonist in the novel. Disappointed we didn’t get the adaptation of The Silver Chair because it’s my favourite novel of the series.

[@John-fk2ky]

I don’t think that’s very accurate. In the past several years I’ve seen plenty of copies of The Chronicles of Narnia for sale, but it has been a long time since I’ve seen them sold separately. If what you said were true, there would be plenty of incentive to sell the books separately, yet except for the fancy set I got as a kid the only Narnia books I’ve seen are single-volume collections.

[@jayt9608]

They all sell well in the States, but it is also true that LWW sells better than the others. Personally, I have also always been partial to Silver Chair, particularly the confrontation with a witch with a strange penchant for postmodern philosophy.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I'm not sure about that, the books were sold as a box set in the US, and PBS picked up the BBC production fairly soon after they were originally aired in the UK. I think the issue more than anything else is that the movies messed with the material a lot and there wasn't really the same sort of charm that the books and the BBC production had, even though they had plenty of technology to make the movie reasonably accurate in terms of the effects that were described.

[@TheBeird]

I actually liked Prince Caspian the most of these three. Lion Witch and Wardrobe probably the more successful in terms of overall tone etc but, I dunno. Guess I have a bloodlust for centaurs messing up minotaurs. Interested to see what Greta Gerwig does with it.

[@snarkycynic6035]

I absolutely loved the second movie. Third one was fine but forgettable.

[@seanjohnson6394]

The Narnia books were my first fantasy books and still my favourite. I very much enjoyed the movies, but a quite scared for the Netflix version as I don’t need to see it made for “modern audiences.” As long as they stick to the source material it would be good, but given how such much now contains “the message” it likely wont.

[@basilkat21]

The Chronicles of Narnia has been my favourite book series ever since I was a child. I have read and re-read my collection so many times! The first movie was stellar and did a great job capturing the magic of TLWW but the other two fell short. I think Greta Gerwig is capable of doing a great job on the Netflix series, and I think TV is a better medium for the books since there's more time to tell the stories.

[@XZentag]

This video is how I learned they made voyage into a movie

[@lavenderflowersfall280]

I don't care, ALL three movies are brilliant. The growth of Edmund and Eustace is great and I always love the backgrounds and CGI and magic.

[@fusionspace175]

There was only one thing that could have saved this franchise, but they were never going to give Reapacheep, the mouse swordsman, a solo movie. But look at Puss in Boots and the Shrek films, huh?

[@John-fk2ky]

That would have been a heck of a gamble, and what kind of story are you going to tell with it? In Prince Caspian, he’s leader of the mice. In Voyage of the Dawn Treader he’s going on his last adventure. What big story are you going to tell where the time before his introduction has no major conflicts and the time between the books is only three years canonically for the Narnians.

[@frofrozzty]

Been going down a rabbit hole of your Franchise Killers series, got a subscriber outta me! Can't wait for more and to check out your other series', seriously dope content.

[@Gloggins44]

My childhood screeched in pain over the BBC Narnia movies when you said they had never made a movie before Disney.

[@DarkAgeNetwork]

It was a tv show

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

@@DarkAgeNetwork Also, it was actually good.

[@blackbearish]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade the aslan in the 1988 tv series from the bbc was a huge semi animatronic puppet controlled by three people, two inside the lion costume, and one off camera working aslan's eyes and nose, the mouth was controlled by the person inside the puppet. look for the blue peter episode discussing Aslan, and you'll see how it's done, very good for the time.

[@bradwolf07]

I honestly forgot this movie existed. I remember and LOVED the first movie. I remember the second movie and thinking it was alright. So I must not have liked this one if I don't have any memories of it. I read the books, thanks to a childhood friend. So I was excited when they were being made into movies. Oh well, at least the first movie was great.

[@theanonymouscritic1710]

I don’t care what anyone says. I love all three Narnia movies. “Is Dawn Treader to blame for killing the series?” No! It isn’t. I always saw Prince Caspian as the darker, more mature second instalment though releasing it between Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a mistake though in fairness, no one expected Iron Man to be as good as it was and I’d honestly watch Prince Caspian over Kingdom of the Crystal Skull any day. That added action scene at Miraz’s castle was spectacular.

[@Makoto03]

I saw the first two Narnia movies but had no idea there was another after Prince Caspian.

[@wheatart4274]

You know, the shame is, I ADORE the Narnia series and will still rewatch all three of them with great fondness! The release order to make sure they could keep the kids I still think was a very smart choice, but you definitely see how all the other influences did so much damage. I have hopes for Gerwig's version, if only to see the other books get a beautiful adaption like these three did. I really want to see the Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew and the Last Battle on the big screen someday. My big concern is if they keep re-adapting the books that already had adaptations.

[@GillianRosheuvel]

Watching this made me think this story would work better as a TV series.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

It did, the BBC production, IMHO, worked far better than the movies. I had no idea they had even made a 3rd movie. I'll likely rewatch the BBC version at some point, but I definitely won't be watching the movies.

[@High_Rate136]

The problem with a lot of these movies are their use of CGI. You don’t need CGI or special effects for A LOT of scenes in Harry Pitter because it’s about the dynamics between characters mostly. Narnia in here to needs CGI and effects

[@mariacargille1396]

Yeah, I was always kind of frustrated about the high-action direction these took-- it's just not a series that lends itself well to being Harry Potter or LoTR competition. It's comprised of such scattered, thoughtful stories. Prince Caspian in particular frustrated me a lot since it utterly failed as an adaptation, despite being a quite entertaining film on its own merits. I didn't find out that there was a third film made until shookingly recently, and though I haven't seen it, I'm not surprised to hear about the mixed reception. The Dawn Treader would make a fantastic mini-series in the right hands, but does not fit gracefully into the adventure blockbuster mold. I'm- apprehensive about the new Netflix adaptation. Their track record with adaptations is very mixed, and I don't really trust them to get something so dear to my childhood any kind of right. But we'll see! As usual with adaptations, I'll try to proceed with high hopes and low expectations.

[@MotownBatman]

That Stinks, I was really hoping they would make the Magicians Nephew, I didn't know that it was on the Docket, that would have been Awesome

[@Happymali10]

Is "Franchise Killers" going to be a new series? :) (Totally not eyeing that sad whispered end of Divergent)

[@maxsync183]

the Ted Bundy of franchise killers lmao god divergent was fantastically terrible

[@stephenwillet4075]

Wasn't there a live action series from BBC back in the 80s or something.

[@gamerzilla6113]

Yeah there was

[@Veylon]

There was. They got as far as the Silver Chair before they petered out. I remember watching them on PBS back in the day.

[@mariacargille1396]

Yes! They were wild-- I saw them as a kid a few times, and I've been meaning to rewatch them. Excited for the nostalgia, and the hilarity of very aged special effects XD

[@JustBenUnofficial]

Came here to comment the same thing

[@ForiamStudios]

They’re all on KZbin for free

[@Zazon_Man]

I enjoyed the old live action mini series. For the time, it was pretty good. Also it used all practical effects.

[@Kamikaziiiii]

The first two movies were so gooodd!! Don’t remember really watching the third and final film.

[@musicalhistory4392]

I think the problem with not being able to do back to back movies was the fact that they would need to changeout the cast, and thus the art direction in each movie. Also it was already a sign the movie was going to bomb when the studio sold the rights to make the film. I was also dissapointed at the time as I read Voyage of the Dawn Treader and the Silver Chair and was looking forward to the Silver Chair adaptation next, but when I watched Voyage of the Dawn Treader I was confused by the quest and the villian in the movie, remembering it being one continuous journey from island to island in the book.

[@mustarddoctor]

I loved the first two films but Dawn Treader just felt wierd.

[@anyaaa2801]

On one hand, having Netflix as its financial partner means that the reboot could have a big budget and maybe great visual effects. On the other hand, Netflix is known for having meh movies and canceling great shows so it’s 50-50.

[@virgoliciou5]

Narnia doesn't lend itself to film like it does to television. The Dawn Treader film really showed that. All of Lewis' Narnian books need to be in episodes, told properly, and made for streaming.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I think Voyage of the Dawn Treader in particular is better off as shorter 30-40minute TV episodes with a bit of a cliff hanger towards the end the way that the BBC version did.

[@TheMidnightShowProductions]

God your truly my favorite channel go tune in to!

[@AmishParadise27]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was nominated at the Oscars for Sound Mixing, Makeup and Visual Effects but not for its score or song.

[@davveds145]

i remember watching this movie 3 times as a kid and falling asleep 30 minutes in each time. Its just a weirdly paced one tbh.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

IMHO, the serialized version that the BBC made just fits the source material a lot better. The books were chapter books and in this case, treating the story more like a series to bedtime stories worked a lot better.

[@gduag64]

I really liked the movies, but I am excited about the Netflix adaption if for only one reason, I want to see them done all the way through. If they can pull off an adaption of the Last Battle, it will be a cinamatic masterpiece, an amazing achievment and great story to tell. We'll see though.

[@crockettsadventures4475]

Actually there were movies before this by the BBC if i remember correctly, they did the LWAW, The Silver Chair and Prince Caspian :) i remember watching em as a kid and they were pretty good :)

[@detectivewiggles]

I genuinely did not even realize they had made a film for Dawn Treader (my fave book in the series)

[@loathbringer]

Yeah the third one always felt mysterious to me because I nearly forgot it was even apart of the same franchise by the time it came out. That three year gap definitely killed it. Also the only thing I remember from the marketing was “sarcastic sword rat”.

[@griffinyb3717]

Alternately here's how it would have happened: August 2001: Castle Rock owns the rights April 2002: Spike Jonze announced as director October 2003 - December 2004 Filming began on all 3 movies with occasional reshoots in Early 2005, June 2006 and March 2007. Dec. 16, 2005: TLTWATW released Dec. 2006: PC movie released Dec. 2007: VDT movie released ------------Hiatus--------------- 2013: Miramax and Estate start working on Sequel Trilogy March 22, 2015 - July 6, 2016: Filming began on sequel trilogy Dec. 2016: SC released Dec. 2017: THAHB released Dec. 2018: MN released (Note: all of these films would be 90 to 95% faithful to how it was in the books)

[@Vor567tez]

Narnia has potential to be next big thing but for some reason it hasn't taken off. Anyways,I think live action is not fitting for this type of story. That keep going back and forth in time. Ageing, deageing it's cast amd even adding new protagonists. It's best if Disney make it an animated series. But all these bts fiasco makes me really wonder how Harry Potter was able complete it's run. It's almost a miracle. Movie production deserve more praise for being able to the impossible.

[@joshuawells835]

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was the film that was the least faithful to the books, which was sad because Dawn Treader is my father's favorite Narnia book. He likes the baptism of Eustace and the opening line, "There once was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it."

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I think it's because they tried to make it into a movie. As I recall, there was a longer story, but it was comprised of smaller adventures along the way. The BBC serial format seemed to respect that more and was better for it.

[@LonelyBotStudio]

Honestly, a Greta Gerwig Narnia series will probably be pretty banger. Im excited to see what she does, even better if she's got noah baumbach writing with her again.

[@abbynall7740]

The first movie understood the source material. It also had the advantage of adapting the most beloved book of the series. The sequels did not understand the source material. The protagonist with a character arc in Prince Caspian is supposed to be Caspian. The Pevensies go through some stuff, but the manufactured conflict between Peter and Caspian was totally out of place (and explicitly precluded in the book: Lewis wrote that Peter and Caspian got along very well.) The character with an arc in Dawn Treader is Eustace. Edmund and Lucy are there to learn that their lives are in their world, and they don't need to keep going back to Narnia in order to fulfill their purpose. In all of the books, Lewis talked about the magic of Narnian air on a previous visitor: all their skill and experience came back to them upon returning to Narnia. The movies didn't trust that premise amd so returned the characters to immaturity at the beginning of each film. I understand the changes that are made between page and film for plenty of adaptations, but these books are good enough and enduring enough that if you just make the story that's there, trim it to feature film length, and do it with excellence (looking at you, Spirit Halloween minotaur from Dawn Treader) that you'll have a good movie. That's why the first one was a success and the sequels underperformed.

[@AllYellowJoshua]

The first Narnia movie will always be the best and magical to me 🥹💛

[@sebastiankierkegaard7690]

Bro, Harry Gregson-Williams Got No Oscar nominations. Fact check

[@electrojones]

I have a good feeling about Disney's recent acquisition of Jack Brannigan's Turd Hustler series. That will be the next, next big thing.

[@rey624]

Chronological Order: Book One - The Magician's Nephew Book Two - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Book Three - The Horse and his Boy Book Four - Prince Caspian Book Five - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Book Six - The Silver Chair Book Seven - The Last Battle

[@lucasgehres]

Can't wait for the Percy Jackson one

[@danielleblanc4660]

Greta Gerwig being attached to the Netflix movie is insane

[@Morgil27]

I heard the next movie was gonna be The Magician's Nephew, which got me excited cuz that was the only Narnia book that I read. Still waiting for that movie.

[@jrconway3]

That was an initial rumor I heard, then I heard they were going to do Silver Chair with a new cast. Then everything fizzled out and now apparently a Netflix series is what's planned next?

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Great analysis

[@qalidurut7249]

netflix adaptation o they gonna make adam and caspian a couple probably

[@Brandon-yy5cc]

The Narnia movies should have taken off!😢

[@Mazalinda]

There was a lot of criticism of the film because of its Christianity. When Reepicheep passes over into Aslan’s Country and Caspian wants to follow him Aslan tells him he still has a lot more to achieve before he can do this. The usual suspects started bleating about other religions and as Christianity is an easy target to attack as there are few people who are prepared to defend it i.e. not physically attack people or blow them up. The books are C.S. Lewis’s way of explaining Christianity to children. They are Christian books. Goodness only knows what DEI will do to any new versions.

[@Svepo38]

After i heard who will direct it, not thrilled for the Netflix adaption to be frank.

[@antant9523]

in interviews, the mist is created to link dawn treader to the green lady in silver chair. dawn treader is really not easy to adapt to films. like you said, it is more episodic like a tv series. films have a specific structure. they did what they had to do at that time, but the execution is just not good. the seven swords just raise more question honestly

[@bbro43]

I will throw this in. A lot of fantasy stories have so many unconnected stories and feel very episodic, Dawn Treader and Alice in Wonderland are great examples of those. I personally would be interested to see a feature-length film that is almost just shown in segments with the different stories. Give me essentially a 2 hour long, 5 22 minute episode tv show in the theater, but instead of rolling credits just do a simple/basic transition. Wikipedia literally has the plot description broken out in this style. Intro and Learning of Capeans Quest, stops 1, 2, 3 and then the finale. I think in todays focus on long form story telling, you can male this work. I also think you need to plan better. I would have three different teams working and really aimed for a movie a year release date. Team 1 does the Magicians Nephew, Horse & his boy Team 2 does Wardrobe, Caspian, Dawn Treader Team 3 doe Silver Chair, Last Battle The actors playing Adult Children, Aslan and extras can easily move between films on the same lot. The only child that would need to bounce between film teams would be the actor playing Eustace. Who would appear in the last 3 films.

[@rickamsler3088]

I think the biggest misteps in these movies was two or three fold. 1. They weren't consistent within themselves and thus broke the suspension of disbelief. (character progression/regression occurred every film, major locations were drastically different from a previous film) My best example of this is the location of the stone table from LWW to PC, how did this absolutely Giant sone structure move from the top of a hill, to under a mountain?hill/temple? 2. As a consequence of the above much of the source material was altered. and while I can understand some of the added action beats of PC, VotDT should have been treated as an adventure/mystery movie rather than an action film. 3. As you have mentioned, the release schedule of these films greatly harmed the "franchise" nature of a set of films rather than a film series. I really enjoyed the first film in highschool, but by the time the second one came out I was already getting ready to graduate, and then I didn't even know dawn treader was getting a film until I randomly saw an ad for it about a month before its release. sadly, I think most of the actors were rather poorly treated by the franchise because what could have been a start in a major career. For most ended with them not having a lot of opportunities to act after these films.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I think the character arcs was part of why C.S. Lewis avoided having the same children in the story from start to finish. Most of them were in only one or two books. The characters that were in more, were mostly also in the England portions of the book, not actually in Narnia.

[@thedruidzmademe666]

I actually really liked Prince Caspian it felt like an excellent follow up to the first and had some great scenes

[@jaustill237]

The first 4 books were previously adapted in live action by the BBC.

[@jaustill237]

What's more, they were more true to the books. Perhaps that's how they got farther into the series.

[@jrconway3]

​@@jaustill237They only got one book further and both Dawn Treader and Silver Chair were shortened compared to TLWW and Prince Caspian.

[@TheBlueCollarDiaries]

Would love for you to Make more long form content

[@NathanS__]

Prince Caspian is by the best movie of the Narnia series in my opinion. It's much more rewatchable with a more entertaining plot.

[@EChacon]

Agree to Disagree but I honestly think _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ was better

[@johntravolta7421]

The only faithful Narnia adaptation was Focus on the Family Radio Theater. Change my mind.

[@waltsapartment-105]

Many of us grew up on the 1988-1990 BBC production of the Narnia series, which was later packaged into a movie format. It had very similar problems trying to get past the Silver Chair. As a child I loved reading the Narnia series. But as an adult, its quite apparent that the series just isn't that good. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was the obvious masterpiece. But it all sort of goes downhill from there. It's sort of odd to leave out the general consensus of the literary community that this series diminishes in quality after the first book. It simply doesn't translate to screen any better. It's even admitted in this video that they tried additions because of basic storytelling missing from the source. Oh, and good luck trying to not be overtly racist in the retelling of The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle.

[@blahblah0328]

Their absolutely was a live action film adaptation of LWW before Disney.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Disney doesn't want anybody to remember because it was better. The effects weren't, but it was a TV production a decade earlier.

[@blahblah0328]

@SmallSpoonBrigade The TV movie was so much better. I saw it young, and it felt like a classic then.

[@tyson7417]

Honestly I think the stories lose their mass appeal after the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. That story is basically a fantastic standalone fairy tale. But once you start moving around a timeline or age up the core cast, it becomes more of a commitment and I don't think average audiences are willing to sign up for that- Sadly. I think your right that releasing the films closer together might have helped with that. OR releasing the film in chronological order (even you released the prequel stories later after the "Main cast" concluded their arcs). But there isn't enough of a hook to keep people waiting 3-5 years between movies especially when the lore expands as much as it does.

[@liquididentity101]

Meanwhile, I enjoyed the contrast Prince Caspian was to the first film. I actually own both, but I am reminded that I had no interest in Dawn Treader and to this day have not seen it. I should get on that.

[@AndrewJamesWilliams]

The biggest problem with Voyage of the Dawn Treader was they deviated too much from the source material.

[@Makalon102]

Ironically it’s my favourite film in the series

[@Pink_Jjeokeomi]

Might be just me but I really loved Prince Caspian

[@Rihcterwilker]

I miss when we had fantasy movies based on books made constantly instead of hero movies. They're so much more magical and whinsical than what we have now, cinema just feels uninspired.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I'd settle for when every superhero movie didn't need to be part of a franchise or some sort of stupid cinematic universe with the movies being created to stand on their own. At least that way, I could enjoy what I was watching without worrying about the implications it might have on the other movies they were expecting me to watch.

[@Rihcterwilker]

@@SmallSpoonBrigade agree. Superhero movies nowadays never feel like a complete experience.

[@cheech7900]

I wish some producer, would adapt all 7 books, into an epic, 7 season, series told in sequence. From book 1: The Magicians Nephew - Book 7: The Final Battle.

[@cheech7900]

The books. Book 1: The Magicians Nephew Book 2: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe Book3: The Horse and his Boy Book 4: Prince Caspian Book 5: Voyage of the Dawn Treader Book 6: The Silver Chair Book 7: The Final Battle. Every Director, just misses the point, the children aren’t the main Character, its the story of Aslan and how he created the world of Narnia.

[@MrPokemon248]

My sister's and wife cries at the end of these movies, yet refuse to watch better fantasy films like lord of the rings.

[@andresanguianozuniga6798]

LotR is too much for their brains.

[@stevenhayes7910]

I was a high school senior in a little Christian school when Voyage released. We read the book in my Brit lit class leading up to the movie’s release and then all went to see it together… Especially so soon after reading the book, I thought it was terrible. Loved The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and liked Prince Caspian, but voyage didn’t land at all with me. It doesn’t help that it’s my least favorite book of the series, and least favorite of the BBC adaptations. But the green mist villain was so hilariously dumb to me that I’ve never watched it again.

[@spongemaster]

I recently rewatched the trilogy and I think the issue with Dawn Treader is that while the first two feel like Narnia movies, Dawn Treader feels more like a generic kids movie with Narnia branding. The tone is completely different and everything aside from the ship itself feels artificial and cheap. With the first two you actually felt like you were in an entirely different world, thanks to the beautiful locations they were shot in and the incredible level of detail that went into the set and costume design. Combine this with a lack of care for the world building of the previous two, such as the Telmarines now having English accents for some reason, and major departures from the book, and you have a recipe for failure. I understand Dawn Treader is already a difficult book to adapt but it feels as though either Fox or Apted just didn't care enough to produce something on the level of the two Disney produced Narnia movies.

[@jbpeltier]

Netflix got it? RIP Edit: HEY I LIKED THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE

[@robertthornton7900]

Pretty simple. The kids aged out and moved on. Without the whole family the movie felt shallow. The dynamic was magical when it was all of them together.

[@paulrasmussen8953]

You HAVE to do the first 4 books quickly or you have age out issues

[@pyroshayniac1090]

I saw a lot of myself in Georgie Henley as Lucy when I saw it in kindergarten. She was brilliant.

[@kedrprao]

I might a minority here but I love Voyage of Treader

[@richardkerchevall98]

I have such bad taste on movies i guess because man i loved all three, prince Caspian was my favorite. Though i never read the books

[@lisard01]

this film felt so weird to me. i was a huge fan of the franchise and books since the first movie. and i heard about the 3d film coming out months after release (i mean i was a 9yo with little access to the internet but still. no advertisement on tv or street posters in Moscow ). and when i finally watched it, i felt ... just nothing if not disappointment. i think i can say dawn treader was a start of a "book is always better" attitude for me. years later i still hope to see a great adaptation of all books but i don't believe netflix can do a good job knowing how they ruined avatar and the witcher.

[@remixstore390]

I was really loved the narnia 3 movie

[@chaddepew5831]

I'm sure the wholesome nature of Narnia didn't sit well with everyone at Disney and that probably didn't help

[@Old-Mannondorf]

The problem with the CoN is that they start out super modern-marketing friendly (well, the Christian allegory will always be alienating to some people but relatively speaking), and then get less and less so. Can you imagine trying to make “the horse and his boy” and trying to deal with approaching the Calormenes in a politically correct way? Or the last battle, and trying to make the last battle where *spoilers* ALL THE CHARACTERS DIE and Susan goes to hell (by implication)? Good luck finding that kind of courage in the age of crummy remakes, and studios that make up for creative bankruptcy by attaching [spins wheel] Lin Manuel Miranda, Awkwafina, Chris Pratt, or Dwayne Johnson.