caspian critique

Last night, I went with my mother and sister to the theater to watch Disney's rendition of the second tale C.S. Lewis wrote in his classic series which takes place in his imaginary world of Narnia. I left the theater filled with disappointment. Disney has ruined the magic of an original tale yet again.

Disney's tag line for the movie, "A New Age Has Begun" holds the same meaning as tag lines for the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean - "Prepare to be Blown Out of the Water" and "At the End of the World, the Adventure Begins."

The effects of Disney's obvious presence in the production of this epic film are far-reaching. Meaning, Disney has a propensity to take a good story and turn it into cliché. Writers of the script clearly felt the need to dramatize an already dramatic tale. Doing so unfortunately almost obliterated the original tale as well as its message. Classy.

I can understand time constraints, as the novels C.S. Lewis wrote are quite extensive and particular to detail. But tinkering with the storyline itself? Not acceptable.

One obvious example is that of Prince Caspian's relationship with High Queen Susan. At no time in C.S. Lewis' novel was there mention of anything more than attraction between the two.