ON THE BBC’S PRINCE CASPIAN AND DAWN TREADER 7 September 2008
Posted by Renette in 4 Prince Caspian, 5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, British Broadcasting Corporation.add a comment
Like I mentioned in my previous entry, I’ve had the complete VCD collection of the BBC adaptation of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA for 3 years now but I have only attempted to watch it once. I gave up after a few minutes because I was creeped out by the talking beasts – which were actually people wearing animal costumes, until friends from The Lion’s Callforum mentioned how they liked it, especially The Silver Chair. So I dug out my old VCD’s and watched SC, and liked it a lot.
Tonight, having nothing better to do (and not having cable connection at the moment for some reason), I thought I’d watch PRINCE CASPIAN and THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, which was meshed to one movie. My major problem is that I can’t find the last disc, so I couldn’t finish watching it. But still, here are my comments:
COMMENTS ON THE CAST
There’s something about Richard Dempsey’s portrayal as PETER PEVENSIE that I really liked. He was younger than I thought Peter would be from the book, but he has a certain kingliness and nobility about him that I could really imagine him as the High King.
Sophie Cook as SUSAN PEVENSIE had only a very short role in the film, and I don’t remember much about it.
Jonathan Scott as EDMUND PEVENSIE was okay, though he looked nearly Peter’s age.
I didn’t like Sophie Wilcox as LUCY PEVENSIE that much, because she didn’t quite capture the innocence and pureness of heart that Georgie Henley was able to portray in the Walt Disney-Walden Media version.
I loved both the young PRINCE CASPIAN, played by Jean Marc Perret, and the older KING CASPIAN, played by Samuel West. First, because they got the age right. When Caspian became a king, he was only a boy, not a 27 year old man. Second, because they got his hair right. Caspian had golden curls, not raven black wavy hair. Oh well. Plus, I love how the older Caspian resembled the younger Caspian.
As I mentioned before, David Twaithes as EUSTACE SCRUBB captured the whining, irritating quality of the character.
For the minor characters, I’ve got to say I also loved MIRAZ (Robert Lang), CORIAKIN (Preston Lockwood) and best of all, the HAG (which I just found out was played by Barbara Kellerman, who also played the White Witch and the Lady of the Green Kirtle).
COMMENTS ON THE SCRIPT
Again, I must say I’m really impressed with how many direct quotes they incorporated in the dialogue. I guess the main difference is that they combined PC and VDT into pretty much one single story. As I said before, I can’t find the last CD so I don’t know how the story ends, but they thought of a pretty good way to do it. When the Pevensies get back to Narnia after the end of PC, instead of everyone going to school, Peter is going to Professor Kirke’s, Susan to the USA (uh, in a train?) and Ed and Lucy to the house of their cousin Eustace Scrubb. Of course, this leads straight to the story of VDT.
I think though that if you watch this film without reading the book, you’d be hard-pressed to understand the back-story of the Telmarines and the battle.
OTHER COMMENTS
Uh, I thought it was weird for Aslan, Susan and Lucy to watch the second Battle of Beruna rather nonchalantly from the comforts of a tall hill. And I thought the dryads (spirits of the trees) were way too creepy and ghost-like.
I sort of wished I’ve seen the BBC adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia when I was younger. I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more, but as it is, I still love it.
ON THE BBC’s THE SILVER CHAIR 5 July 2008
Posted by Renette in 5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 6 The Silver Chair, British Broadcasting Corporation.2 comments
I’ve had the complete VCD collection of the BBC adaptation of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA for 3 years now (someone gave it to me for Christmas during our department’s exchange gift) but I have only attempted to watch it once. I started with THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, but I had to give up after only a few minutes. I was instantly creeped out by the talking beasts – which were actually people wearing animal costumes, quite unlike the realistic computer-generated animations of the Disney-Walden Media version. Of course, this is quite understandable, since the technology twenty years ago cannot be compared to the technology available today. From what I hear, the BBC adaptation was actually the best in its time. Anyway, I’ve always planned on getting down to the series and watching the entire thing just for the sake of saying that I’ve seen it, but I never got around to it until tonight.
Following the suggestion of my friends at the TLC forum (TLC stands for THE LION’S CALL, one of my favorite websites), I now started with THE SILVER CHAIR, which they said was the best (being released last in the series – that is, in 1990). Now, The Silver Chair is my favorite book in the Chronicles, and PUDDLEGLUM is my favorite character in the entire world, so I was really curious to see it. Besides, the actor playing Puddleglum (Tom Baker) was getting rave reviews in all the Narnia forums I’ve been.
So now that I’ve seen it, what can I say? Minus the distracting special effects, the dreary costumes (especially of the Underlanders) and the scary-looking puppet Aslan, I must say I really liked it!
COMMENTS ON THE CAST
David Thwaites as EUSTACE SCRUBB looked too young and was too short, and he was not irritating enough. Even during his post-dragon period, Eustace still had his moments. But I could live with that, the actor was good enough.
Camilla Power as JILL POLE was amazing. She was pretty and smart and even sassy at times. She was everything I hoped Jill would be.
Tom Baker as PUDDLEGLUM was fantastic! I’ve always imagined Puddleglum to be very, very thin and tall, but what was important is that he captured the Puddleglumy spirit. He was rather funny without trying, his facial expressions were properly gloomy, and he delivered my favorite lines with all the ghastly cheerfulness of a marshwiggle.
Barbara Kellerman as THE LADY OF THE GREEN KIRTLE was a bit too theatrical and overly dramatic for my taste, which is why she couldn’t quite pull of the eerily calm demeanor of the Emerald Witch. But she did trill her R’s nicely.
Richard Henders as PRINCE RILIAN didn’t quite capture the silly spirit from the book during his enchantment, and he was quite theatrical as well especially in the silver chair scene. I also found him weird-looking with a beard. He reminds me of a cartoon character but I can’t remember who.
Ronald Pickup as the voice of ASLAN was a bit too sleepy and slow and unimpressive, but that may be because I’m comparing him to Liam Neeson’s version.
Warwick Davis (who played NIKABRIK in Disney-Walden’s version of PRINCE CASPIAN) as GLIMFEATHER got all the tu-who’s right in my opinion.
Big Mick as the hard-of-hearing TRUMPKIN was hilarious, although he had only a short role.
COMMENTS ON THE SCRIPT
I must say that I’m very impressed at how faithful this adaptation was to the book, and how closely the plot and script followed the text. I also particularly like the numerous direct quotes, which the actors were thankfully able to say without sounding weird or unnatural. I’d say the following were relatively the biggest changes, which were all quite minor and understandable:
1) Rilian was wearing a mask when they met him in the Underworld. He had to have a mask so that the viewers won’t connect the dots too soon since they already showed what the prince looks like when Aslan was giving the signs to Jill.
2) The Lady of the Green Kirtle did not use a mandolin-like instrument which she thrummed to complete her enchantment. Instead, there was this weird greenish spray from her fingers.
3) The side-story of the Land of Bism wasn’t dealt with, which was okay because it could deflect from the plot.
4) The children called each other a couple of times by their first names (Eustace and Jill). In the book, they always used their last names (Scrubb and Pole) except for the part where they said goodbye, thinking that they were going to their deaths.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
The following quote was not said by Puddleglum in its entirety in the movie, but since this is my favorite quote in the book, I’m putting it here:
“One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.”
After a speech like that, I’ll have to agree with Prince Rilian: “The blessing of Aslan upon this honest marshwiggle!”
In the book, the following quote was actually given by Aslan to Edmund and Lucy towards the end of THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, when Lucy told him that it was him they miss when they return to our world. However, since Aslan said it towards the end of BBC’s version of THE SILVER CHAIR, I’m putting it here as well:
“There I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
If you don’t know what Aslan’s other name is, here’s a link to an insightful essay from The Lion’s Call (by Petraverd) which discusses this point.
OTHER COMMENTS
I don’t even want to begin talking about the costumes of the Underworld gnomes, which reminds me of the Michelin character that looks like an obese mummy. I’m sure that with their limited budget, that was all they could come up with.
After seeing The Silver Chair, I’ve now decided to watch all the others in the series. It’s funny to be watching the BBC version twenty years after they were made, but I now think that this is a must-see for all hardcore Narnia fans. So thanks BBC for bringing Narnia to life!
