The document provides an in-depth summary of C.S. Lewis's classic children's novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It discusses the book's publication history, characters, themes of Christianity and redemption, and influence. It also analyzes the 2005 film adaptation directed by Andrew Adamson, highlighting how it expanded scenes and battles while maintaining the core story and Christian allegories. Overall, the document presents a comprehensive overview of both the beloved book and its acclaimed movie version through detailed descriptions, quotes, and images.

1. THE LION,
THE WITCH
AND THE
WARDROBE
BY C. S. LEWIS
Lena Ryberg May 12,
2013
LIBR 268

2. The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe
“She did not
shut it
properly
because she
knew that it
is very silly
to shut
oneself into
a wardrobe,
even if it is
not a magic
one.”
Pg 27
 Published 1950 by Geoffrey Bles
 First book written in the Chronicles
of Narnia series, but is intended as
book #2 (The Magician’s Nephew
published 1955 as book #1)
 Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
 Note: I will be shortening the title of
the book to The Lion in this
presentation

3. C. S. Lewis
• 1898: Clive Staples Lewis (“Jack”) is born November
29 in Belfast, Northern Ireland
• 1917: April to September, Lewis studies at University
of Oxford, until outbreak of WWI; enlists in British
army as an officer
• 1925: May 20, Lewis is elected a Fellow of Magdalen
College at Oxford in English Language and Literature
studies
• 1931: September, Lewis becomes a Christian
• 1950: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is
published
• 1963: On November 22, Lewis dies

4. C. S. Lewis cont.
 Lewis wrote The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe for his god-daughter,
Lucy Barfield
 Had no children of his own (but helped
raise his wife‟s children from a
previous marriage)
 Formed an informal literary group
associated with Oxford called the
Inklings – members included good
friend J.R.R Tolkien and Owen Barfield

5. Editions
For this presentation, all
references to page
numbers are from the
copy I have, published
by Harper Trophy, an
imprint of HarperCollins.
See references for full
citation.
ISBN 978-0-06-440499-0

6. The Book
“Well, sir, if
things are
real, they‟re
there all the
time.“
"Are they?“
Pg 49
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy
Pevensie are evacuated from
London during the bombings of
1940 to the Professor‟s country
house. They find a magical
wardrobe that brings them to the
fictional Narnia, where they are
needed to aid Aslan (a talking lion)
in defeating the evil White Witch,
whose unjust reign creates a
hundred years of winter.

7. Characters
Peter Pevensie
The eldest of the
children, who
becomes High King
after the defeat of
the White Witch.
Loyal. Takes
responsibility for all
the children.
Susan Pevensie
Second eldest,
becomes a Queen
of Narnia.
Practical, takes on
the mother role in
story. Often doesn‟t
believe in magic, but
must see it to
believe.

8. Characters Cont.
Edmund Pevensie
Second youngest,
becomes a King of
Narnia.
Betrays family to
White Witch for
sweets and power.
Repents and is
forgiven by Aslan
and his siblings.
Lucy Pevensie
Youngest, becomes
a Queen of Narnia.
First to discover
Narnia, and siblings
don‟t believe her at
first.
Has closest bond
with Aslan. Very
trusting.

9. Themes
“Here is your
brother,” he
said, “and –
there is no need
to talk to him
about what has
passed”
--Aslan returning
Edmund after
his betrayal
-Pg 139
 Told in a children‟s adventure story,
this book is ultimately about Christ
and the Crucifixion
 The perils of gluttony, the power of
evil/Satan and human redemption
are common themes
 Family, forgiveness, loyalty
 Repentance and redemption

10. Reactions to the Book
„Narnia was such a vivid and
real world to me as a child, as
it is to millions of other fans. I
share Walden‟s excitement in
giving those fans an epic
theatrical experience worthy of
their imaginations, and driving
a new generation towards the
works of C.S. Lewis‟ (producer
of 2005 film)
- Adamson
(Brown, 2003)
„Lewis‟s books are very, very
English and very Christian,
in a particular way. The
latter I didn‟t realize until I
was a good deal older, and
this discovery filled me with
anger and bitterness. I had
been tricked into giving my
heart to the very noxious,
twisted religion I had tried so
hard to elude‟.
- Miller (Brown, 2003)
Positive Negative

11. Accolades for Book
Has
become a
book for a
“mass,
cross-
cultural and
cross-
media
audience”
-(Walker,
1985)
 Time Magazine: included in the All-
TIME 100 Novels
 BBC‟s The Big Read: #9 Best
Loved Book
 NEA‟s Teachers Top 100 Books for
Children: #27 (but kids named the
series #11!)

12. The Film
Released in 2005.
143 minutes, PG.
Directed by Andrew Adamson
(directed Shrek and Shrek 2,
Chronicles of Narnia: The
Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe as well as Prince
Caspian)

13. Major Cast of the Film
 Peter Pevensie (played by William Moseley)
 Susan Pevensie (played by Anna Popplewell)
 Edmund Pevensie (played by Skandar Keynes)
 Lucy Pevensie (played by Georgie Henley)
 Aslan the lion (voiced by Liam Neeson)
 White Witch (played by Tilda Swinton)
In general, cast is much better developed as
characters than in the book, if only due to
providing a more detailed background for why the
children had to leave London in the first place.

14. The Pevensie children arrive in Narnia together for the first time, in the
midst of a hundred-year winter caused by the White Witch.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe, 2005 film.

15. Setting of Film
In the
original
book, the
Lion takes
place mainly
in the
English
countryside
and in the
fictional land
of Narnia
during WWII
Partial list of filming locations:
- Czech Republic (mult. locations)
- England (mult. locations)
- New Zealand (mult. locations)
- Poland (mult. locations)
- United States

16. Themes of the Book
The major part of The Lion
is the travels the children
take to meet Aslan and the
subsequent saving of
Narnia. The “big moment”
of the novel is the White
Witch killing Aslan and his
rebirth to save the
Narnians (a very close tie
to the story of Christ and
His crucifixion). Battle
scenes are minimal, with
the main battle scene
taking up a mere 4 or 5
pages.

17. Themes of the Film
Adamson: “It's about a family, disenfranchised in
World War two, that's taken to a world where
they're not only empowered but they are the
solution to the problems”
Focus on family, emotion, drama; much darker
and scarier than book
See film preview on next slide

18. Film Preview

19. •Adamson turned The Lion into an action-
packed blockbuster that focuses on the
creatures of Narnia and battle scenes
•Compared to the three TV adaptations (in
1967, 1979, 1988), the film is highly
dramatized, has numerous special effects
and is really a Hollywood-style big box film
Hollywood Effect

20. Case Study Comparison:
Sexism
On giving
weapons to
all four
children,
Father
Christmas
says “battles
are ugly
when
women fight”
Pg 109
 Director Adamson felt he could not
include such a sexist line (see box
at left), and conferred with Douglas
Gresham, stepson of Lewis, on how
to proceed.
 Gresham agreed and line was
changed to “battles are ugly affairs
in film”
 Acknowledged that times were
different and Lewis added powerful
female characters after getting
married!

21. Christian Themes: Crucifixion and
Resurrection
Powerful imagery of Aslan‟s death from the book takes a
new turn with a footage of his resurrection from the film.
Lewis even included females being the ones to find and
bear witness to the resurrection, as Luke describes in the
New Testament.

22. “And I wanted to catch the
more epic story that I
remembered”
•So some aspect of personal
choice and choosing to keep
epic nature of story for
children/adults
•The Lewis estate wouldn‟t
allow much deviation
Adamson on keeping the
story

23. Adamson notes that the rise of English literature in film, such as Lord of
the Rings and Harry Potter, has allowed him to adapt The Lion true to the
story, without needing to alter the story, location, setting and suggests that
this may be why it‟s taken so long for this film to come to fruition.
Popularity of English literature in film

24. “One thing I am sure of. All my seven Narnian books, and my three
science fiction books, began with seeing pictures in my head. At first they
were not a story, just pictures. The Lion all began with a picture of a Faun
carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood.”
C. S. Lewis on pictures:

25. Overall, this 2005 film adaptation is a success. The
director collaborated with the author‟s stepson to
maintain the integrity of the work, without altering
the story, location, setting or characters in any
major way. Small things (removing sexist parts, for
example) were changed without altering the
meaning behind the sentiment. The story is told
completetly, so reading the book is not vital to
understanding the film (it is in fact a stand-alone
blockbuster)
Adaptation

26. Images
All images from the 2005 film adaptation come from the
IMDb site for the movie.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363771/mediaindex?ref_=tt
_pv_md_sm
All images from the book come from Into the Wardrobe – a
C. S. Lewis web site.
http://cslewis.drzeus.net/multimedia/
All film clips come from YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com

27. Resources
 Adamson, A. (2005, Nov 21). Interview by P Fischer []. Interview: Andrew
Adamson for "the chronicles of Narnia: The lion, the witch and the
wardrobe”, Retrieved from
http://www.darkhorizons.com/features/796/andrew-adamson-for-the-
chronicles-of-narnia-the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe
 Adamson, A. (Director) (2005). The chronicles of Narnia: The lion, the witch
and the wardrobe [DVD].
 BBC - the big read. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml
 Brennan, M. (n.d.). The lion, the witch and the allegory: An analysis of
selected Narnia chronicles. Retrieved from
http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/lionwitchallegory.html
 Brown, D. (2003). The ongoing appeal of the chronicles of Narnia: A partial
explanation. New review of children's literature and librarianship, 9(1),
99- 112. doi: 10.1080/1361454032000232121

28. Resources Cont.
 Into the wardrobe - A C. S. Lewis website. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://cslewis.drzeus.net/
 Lewis, C. S. (1950). The chronicles of Narnia: The lion, the witch and the
wardrobe. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
 Lewis, C. S. (1966). It all began with a picture. In W. Hooper (Ed.), Of other
worlds: Essays and stories Retrieved from
http://campus.huntington.edu/dma/leeper/DM101/Readings/@PDF
/02B_It All Began With a Picture.pdf
 Teachers top 100 books for children. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.nea.org/grants/teachers-top-100-books-for-children.html
 The life of C. S. Lewis timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.cslewis.org/resource/chronocsl/

29. PS…
Because we can all use a little break from
finals to laugh!