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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Disney movie)

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Movie-based Information

The entire article or specific section below gives information that originates from (and is only supported by) the Chronicles of Narnia movies, as opposed to C. S. Lewis' seven books, and so it is not considered official canon.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 film made by Disney and Walden Media, based on the original C.S. Lewis novel. It opened in theaters on December 9, 2005. It was released on DVD, and had an Extended Edition version with flubs, etc, that was distributed until January 31, 2007. It added two new characters; Otmin the Minotaur general of the White Witch's army, and Oreius the loyal Centaur general of Aslan's army. Its sequel, Prince Caspian was released in theaters on May 16, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Set in 1940 during the Blitz, the Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy were evacuated from Finchley, London, to the country home of Digory Kirke, a professor. One day while they were playing Hide and Seek, Lucy discovered a wardrobe and, through it, entered a world called Narnia. She spent several hours in the home of the faun, Mr. Tumnus, who explained that the White Witch cursed Narnia, and it had been winter for a century. In accordance with her orders, if a human is ever encountered, a Narnian must bring them to her. However, Tumnus liked Lucy and regretted his plan, so he sent her out of the Wardrobe. When she returned, hardly any time had passed in the normal world during her stay. She made the other children check the Wardrobe, but the portal was gone.

Later, Edmund follows Lucy into Narnia, and met the White Witch, who offered him turkish delight, as well as the prospect of becoming king. She asked Edmund to bring his siblings to meet her. After she departed, Edmund and Lucy meet and they returned to tell the others. Edmund did not confirm Narnia's existence to Peter and Susan, saying he was merely playing with Lucy, causing distress in Lucy, who ran out and bumped into Professor Kirke. The Professor has a private talk with Peter and Susan; he did not understand why the others did not believe Lucy's story and presented to them the use of logic (which Susan is very fond of) in the situation: when they are given three choices for an explanation of Lucy's behavior--insanity, dishonesty, and sincerity--the others know she is neither mad nor dishonest, so "logically" she must be telling the truth.

[edit] The Siblings in Narnia

On another day, while hiding from the housekeeper Mrs. Macready in the wardrobe after they broke a window, the four siblings stepped into Narnia. Peter and Susan apologized for their earlier disbelief and Peter threatened Edmund until he apologized to Lucy. They discovered that Mr. Tumnus had been taken by the Witch. They met two talking beavers that told them about Aslan. According to them, Aslan was on the move to take the control of Narnia from the White Witch. The four siblings had to help Aslan and his followers; it had been prophesied that when two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sat in the four thrones, the Witch's reign would come to an end.

Edmund snuck off and visited the Witch alone. When he arrived at her castle, she was angry that he did not bring her his brother and sisters. Then the White Witch sent a pack of wolves to hunt down the other children and the beavers, who barely escaped with the aid of a fox. Meanwhile, Edmund was chained in the witch's dungeon were he met Mr. Tumnus in an adjacent cell. The Witch came down and demanded that Edmund tell her where his family was because her police couldn't find them; Edmund told her some information, but hesitated when Tumnus looked at him, warningly (he also tried to tell the witch that Edmund didn't know anything, but was injured by Ginarrbrik). The witch saw that Tumnus was hindering the information, so she had him 'released' and brought over to her. After she told Mr. Tumnus that it was Edmund's fault that she knew about his involvement, Mr. Tumnus was dragged upstairs and turned into stone, as Edmund saw with horror when he was brought up.

While Peter, Lucy, Susan, and the beavers were traveling to the Stone Table, they saw what they believed to be the White Witch in her sleigh chasing after them, so they ran and hide--fortunately, it was really Father Christmas. He gave Lucy a bottle of the juice of the fire-flowers and a dagger; Susan a bow and arrow and a magical horn; and Peter a sword and shield. Father Christmas informed them that winter would soon be over. Unfortunately, this meant that the rivers were thawing, and the arrival of Maugrim and several other wolves made the passage even more perilous. But with their weapons, the group managed to safely cross the river, leaving the Witch no real way to reach them by sleigh.

[edit] Aslan

Aslan

Arriving at Aslan's army encampment, they encountered Aslan, who was revealed as a huge and noble lion. Aslan promised to help Edmund in any way he could. They were reluctant to participate in a war after fleeing from London. However, they had to save Edmund and Mr. Tumnus. Peter joined Aslan's army. A little later, two wolves ambushed Lucy and Susan while they were frolicking by the river. When Peter intervened, Maugrim attacked him, and Peter killed him with his sword. Some of Aslan's troops followed the other wolf back to the witch's camp and rescued Edmund.

Aslan had a "private talk" with Edmund. When he was done, Aslan told the other children to forget Edmund's previous actions and they reconciled. The White Witch then arrived and claimed that Edmund was her property, based on the "deep magic" of Narnia; it said that traitors belonged to her as lawful prey and that she must kill them at the stone table. Aslan "negotiated" with the White Witch, who agreed to leave Edmund alone. In return, Aslan sacrificed himself and surrendered to the witch. As Susan and Lucy watched in hiding, Aslan was humiliated and stabbed to death. However, he was resurrected because "there is a magic deeper still the Witch does not know." Aslan took Susan and Lucy to the Witch's house where he freed the prisoners of the White Witch, forming an army for battle.

[edit] The Battle

The Battle of Beruna

Meanwhile, Edmund persuaded Peter to join battle with the Witch's host. At first quite sucessful, Peter's army soon began to lose the fight, and Edmund was badly injured, though he had managed to destroy the White Witch's staff, her most effective weapon. She was doing battle with Peter when Aslan arrived with reinforcements. She took advantage of this distraction and disarmed him. She was about to stab him when Aslan jumped on her, knocking her to the other side of the cliff and killing her. He then returned to Peter and told him that "it is finished". Susan used her bow to kill Ginarrbrik who attempted to finish Edmund off before there was a chance to save him. Lucy revived Edmund and many others with the fire-flower cordial given to her by Father Christmas, while Aslan freed more victims of the White Witch's stone-turning spell.

The Pevensies became Kings and Queens and stayed in Narnia for fifteen years. While chasing a white stag to receive wishes, they found the lampost and the wardrobe and returned to England. The Professor then tossed them the ball used to break the window and instructed them to tell him the story.

Later, at the end, Lucy attempted to go back to Narnia, but the Professor told her that she (and the others) will probably get back to Narnia when least expected.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Differences from Book

  • In the book, the bombings of London were mentioned only, while in the movie adaption there is a sequence which shows the Pevensies hiding from death in their shelter.
  • In the film, Lucy is waiting at Edmund's side to see him recover. In the book, she runs immediately to aid the others with her gift.
  • The frozen river sequence was not in the book.
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