Lewis' Lion is not Mufasa

I haven't had time yet to write my own review of the film version of Prince Caspian, but my overall sentiments would reflect this commentary by Alex Wainer.

By beef is largely with director Andrew Adamson who, despite a fanstastic job with the visuals in both films so far, does not share Lewis' worldview an thus couldn't see Narnia from Lewis' perspective, like a child who hasn't yet grasped the moral of the story:

Adamson said, "I didn’t really think a lot about the religious aspect. I know C. S. Lewis never really intended it to be allegory, but he definitely wrote from a place of his own belief, and a lot of people get that from the book . . . People can interpret the movie the same way, they can apply their personal belief and interpret the movie the same way they interpret the book."

This soft-peddling doesn’t resonate well with the millions of readers who love the books precisely because they are intended to convey insights on the Christian life, like trusting in God contrasted with trusting in one’s own self. It should not surprise us that the films reflect this myopia. Adamson sees only a great series of children’s fantasy stories but misses the real magic.

Wainer brilliantly identifies the disparate treatment of "magic" in Disney's and Lewis' worlds:

Prince Caspian is a reminder that, despite Disney’s wholesome values, the Magic Kingdom hasn’t truly annexed Narnia as part of its vast empire. In fact, it’s not in Disney’s DNA to assimilate Lewis’ faith-based fairy tales into its collective consciousness.

... in the 1930s, Walt Disney, though raised by strict church-going parents, made the choice to use magic as a dramatic device for creating wonder and transformation rather than God and prayer. Thus, wishing upon a star became the central motif in Pinocchio and, thereafter, a sort of central mechanism of Disney narrative. In a practical sense, Walt Disney found that it made his feature films better able to cross cultural barriers in their translation into other languages. "Disney magic" came to describe the wonder and fun of Disney stories, characters and theme parks.

But in Lewis’s Narnia, magic becomes a clear symbol for spiritual forces of truth, and the way God works in this parallel world. In Disney’s world, magic is something characters call upon to obtain their dreams. In Narnia, magic is the way God governs the universe and in which inhabitants submit themselves. Naturally then, with two such incompatible concepts, to market the Narnia franchise across cultures, the lion had to be tamed and his magic diminished.

In other words, the standard Disney "Believe in Yourself" mantra was antithetical to Lewis.

Looking ahead to the next film, Wainer suggests a new director might put the series on track:

The next book in line, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, culminates in one of the clearest affirmations of Christian truth in the Chronicles, as Aslan exhorts the children to know him in their own world by another name.

Can spectacular CGI effects ... capture the eternal scope of this and the rest of Lewis’ Chronicles? Perhaps, but only if some with both talent and conviction are allowed to translate those stories.

I am so far hopeful, having read of the choice of director for the next film. In Amazing Grace, Michael Apted managed to portray a compelling story with clearly faith-driven characters.