Author opposed Narnia on screen

Published: 10:34PM Tuesday November 29, 2005 Source: Reuters

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C.S. Lewis, author of the classic children's Narnia books which are about to make their big screen debut, was "absolutely opposed" to a live action version of his stories, a newly published letter shows.
   
Walt Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is expected to be a big box office hit this Christmas season, thanks to its blend of magical fantasy themes and a strong Christian slant.
   
But a letter from Lewis, posted on the literary Web site Nthposition.com, revealed that he had strong feelings about how his  book should be used.
   
"I am absolutely opposed - adamant isn't in it! - to a TV version," he wrote to BBC producer Lance Sieveking, who had created a radio version of his book which had met Lewis' approval.
   
The story tells of four children who travel through a magic wardrobe into the land of Narnia, home to talking animals, a wicked witch and the god-like lion, Aslan.
   
Disney hopes that the movie, which has its world premiere in London on December 7, will be as big a hit with children as the "Harry Potter" series, thanks in part to the support of Christian church leaders.
   
Although Lewis, who died in 1963, said he would have considered a cartoon version, his letter suggests he is unlikely to have approved of Disney's interpretation, particularly its computer-generated Aslan.
   
"Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare - at least with photography," he wrote.
   
"Cartoons (if only Disney did not combine so much vulgarity with his genius!) would be another matter. A human, pantomime, Aslan would be, to me, blasphemy."

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