Disney vs bbc adaptation of Narnia - Which would you guys consider best represents c.s. lewises world?

[Waff]

I remember that Narnia was really popular in the early 2000s, however there was one time when my parents rented what apparently was an older iteration of narnia from the BBC. It didn't have all the special effects that the disney adaptation had but the accuracy to the books, the costume design, and settings were all very well chosen. With that said I would say I much prefer the bbc version...but what are your thoughts?

 

[Glory To Arztotska]

Gonna go with BBC given that Lewis was also a Brit so it's an easy and obvious match.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Narnia was really popular in the early 2000s,

yeah, nah
maybe relative to other years of Narnia but not by any normal metric of "popular"
it was always the crappy LOTR that the kids with fundies for parents had to suffer through

but yeah the humble BBC production does a lot more justice to the idea behind the work

 

[Tsukasa Kadoya]

I really liked the Disney movies. I wish more had been made, but given that the trilogy was made JUST before woke shit infected everything I'm glad they pulled the plug.
I had the biggest crush on Susan's actress as a kid too. And James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus was perfect. Tilda Swinton was perfect too.

 

[Testacles Maximus]

The BBC versions were all that existed when I was a kid. I adored them. I'd probably still like them today.

 

[TokiBun]

I just want an adaptation of the first book in the series. The way the Queen is woken up has stayed with me for years.

 

[Hugbox Kommissar]

BBC for the opening theme alone.

I feel like Disney version was surprisingly decent though, at least until Dawn Treader went off the rails.

 

[why42]

yeah, nah
maybe relative to other years of Narnia but not by any normal metric of "popular"
it was always the crappy LOTR that the kids with fundies for parents had to suffer through

but yeah the humble BBC production does a lot more justice to the idea behind the work

Idk if I agree their. I remember as a kid the toys looked dope because you knights and monster fantasy races. It made me watched the movies.

 

[teriyakiburns]

BBC without a doubt. The didney movies were compromised by their length and by studio demands to turn them into lotr clones. They fucked up the story beats in caspian, in order to have a needless "epic" battle, and turned dawntreader into a find the plot tokens story for no purpose. Garbage.

 

[Dagoth AMOGUS]

They would have done all 7 books but the kids simply grew up too fast lol

 

[Fastest Hand In The East]

I don't trust anything made by a company which name stands for Big Black Cock. It's a joke name obviously.

 

[Tablet County]

I saw the BBC production when I was a very little kid and was confused when the Disney one came out. I was like "wait, they already did this".

 

[skykiii]

I just want an adaptation of the first book in the series. The way the Queen is woken up has stayed with me for years.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book in the series.

This is one of those irritating things. For some reason at some point the publishers decided to start saying Magician's Nephew was book 1, but actually it's book six.

 

[TokiBun]

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book in the series.

This is one of those irritating things. For some reason at some point the publishers decided to start saying Magician's Nephew was book 1, but actually it's book six.

My bad I didn't know that when I wrote that post! I had a collection of the books growing up that put Magician's Nephew as the first book so I'm used to thinking it's the first when it isn't.

 

[OrionBalls]

Animated 1979 version where they all look groovy, ftw.

But after that, BBC. There was no reason to draw out the battles the way they did in the Disney versions. The battles barely register half a page in the books.

ETA-

My bad I didn't know that when I wrote that post! I had a collection of the books growing up that put Magician's Nephew as the first book so I'm used to thinking it's the first when it isn't.

It is the first, chronologically. And after he had finished them, Lewis himself said they should be read chronologically. However, they make less sense read in that order, because there are certain characters that you learn about by reading the books in publication order that sort of seem out of place when you you read them starting with The Magician's Nephew. It's a big reveal that the little boy is actually the mad professor when you read it as the sixth book. I preferred it that way. But my copies are from the 70's.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Animated 1979 version where they all look groovy, ftw.

Aslan looks oddly like Snake Jailbird in that one

 

[Kit Marz]

My dad, brothers, and I would always make fun of the BBC Lucy actress by giving ourselves a huge overbite and screaming Aslan.

I recently rewatched the first Disney one and thought it holds up, I didn't care for the subsequent movies. The BBC show will always hold a special place in my heart just because I did see it so young and because of my family making fun of it or quoting it

 

[Mike Matei's Penis]

Didn't know there was a BBC series till this thread. Liked the first movie enough, at least there's some Christian themes that you know Disney would never do now

 

[skykiii]

And after he had finished them, Lewis himself said they should be read chronologically.

No he didn't. Not really.

IIRC he got a letter from a kid who said "my mom prefers to start with Magician's Nephew" and Lewis basically didn't want to diss some kid's mom, so he played a long and said "in some ways that makes more sense than published order," a sort of trying-to-be-friendly response.

Somehow over time this simple statement got twisted into "Lewis prefers Chronological Order" and here we are.

For some reason this happens all the time in the publishing world, an author will make a statement that people misunderstand and then blow out of proportion and end up coming to silly conclusions.

 

[Space Police]

And after he had finished them, Lewis himself said they should be read chronologically. However, they make less sense read in that order, because there are certain characters that you learn about by reading the books in publication order that sort of seem out of place when you you read them starting with The Magician's Nephew.

I started with Magician's Nephew and it was never confusing for me. Chronological order is the best.

it was always the crappy LOTR that the kids with fundies for parents had to suffer through

It has a better setting than LOTR (at least before reading the Silmarillion); everything in Dawn Treader is very cool.