Tagline: Evil has reigned for 100 years…
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, The Wardrobe. And then she saw that there was a light ahead of her; not a few inches away from where the back of the wardrobe ought to have been, but a long way off… she found that she was standing in the middle of a wood at night-time with snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air… — C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
One of the most beloved fantasy adventures of the 20th Century and a timeless tale of sheer imagination at last comes to life with this stunningly realistic, painstakingly authentic adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece. Years in the making, this is the first-ever big-screen adaptation of the powerful classic that has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.
Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, in which four young adventurers playing hide-and-seek in the country home of an old professor stumble upon an enchanted wardrobe that will take them places they never dreamed.
Stepping through the wardrobe door, they are whisked out of World War II London into the spectacular parallel universe known as Narnia – a fairy-tale realm of magical proportions where woodland animals talk and mythological creatures roam the hills. But Narnia has fallen under the icy spell of a mad sorceress, cursed to suffer through a winter that never ends by the White Witch Jadis.
Now, aided by Narnia’s rightful leader, the wise and mystical lion Aslan, the four Pevensie children will discover their own strength and lead Narnia into a spectacular battle to be free of the Witch’s glacial enslavement forever. Touching on eternal themes of good and evil, and of the power of family, courage and hope in the darkest moments, The book is a classic fable for our times.
Years in the making and meticulously created by director Andrew Adamson to match C.S. Lewis’ own vision of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe marks the live-action debut of New Zealander Adamson, who came to fore bringing worldwide audiences the loveable green ogre at the heart of the Oscar-winning “Shrek” and “Shrek 2.” Adamson carries to the film a passion for Lewis’s story that began in his own childhood – one that now meets up with extraordinary advances in motion picture technology. The vast scope of the director’s vision of Narnia is brought to life through a mixture of moving human performances and cutting-edge, photo-realistic techniques in CGI, animation and prosthetic makeup that turn the wildly creative worlds and characters Lewis forged into something heart-stoppingly close to reality.
Says Adamson: “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has taken millions of young minds into realms of fantasy – so the enormous challenge as a filmmaker was to try to re-create those worlds in a way that might live up to and even exceed people’s imaginations, that could truly transport you to another time and place. ou couldn’t have made this film 5 years ago. You couldn’t have made a photo-realistic lion like Aslan five years ago, or joined animal legs unto a human body realistically as we did with centaurs and minotaurs five years ago. Now is the right time to be making this story.”
Adamson co-wrote the screenplay with Emmy Award-winner Ann Peacock (“A Lesson Before Dying”) and Emmy winners Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (“The Life and Death of Peter Sellers”). The film was produced by Academy Award-winner Mark Johnson (“Rain Man,” “Bugsy,” “The Notebook”) and Philip Steuer (“The Alamo,” “The Rookie”). Adamson and Perry Moore are the film’s executive producers, with C.S. Lewis’ stepson, Douglas Gresham, serving as co-producer.
The film’s stellar cast features Tilda Swinton as Jadis, the powerful White Witch who plunges Narnia into a frozen winter of war and discord. A quartet of rising young talents take on the roles of the Pevensie siblings who journey through the wardrobe: newcomer Georgie Henley is Lucy, the youngest and first to enter enchanted Narnia; Skandar Keynes is Edmund, who falls under the seductive spell of the White Witch; teenaged Anna Popplewell is Susan, the practical sister who remains skeptical about Narnia; and William Moseley plays Peter, the eldest sibling, who becomes a true leader as their adventures mount.
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Directed by: Andrew Adamson
Starring: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell, William Moseley, Jim Broadbent, Tilda Swinton, Rupert Everett, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Judy McIntosh, Shane Rangi
Screenplay by: Ann Peacock
Production Design by: Roger Ford
Cinematography by: Donald McAlpine
Film Editing by: Sim Evan-Jones, Jim May
Costume Design by: Isis Mussenden
Set Decoration by: Kerrie Brown, Amy Wright
Art Direction by: Jules Cook, Ian Gracie, Karen Murphy, Jeffrey Thorp
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
MPAA Rating: PG for battle sequences, frightening moments.
Oistributed by: Buena Vista Picturs
Release: December 9, 2005
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