The Yak Shack Forum

Look who's involved (and yes Sala is going to be in it... as someone throwing themselves into several life threatening situations I am sure).

JOHN HOWE

WHERE I TELL THE TRUTH*...
... The Whole Truth** and Nothing But The Truth***

And, last but not least, for those of you who have been wondering how I manage to spend so much time getting so little done, I have a confession to make. Since last February, I haven't been very honest...
Nearly a year ago, in the lobby of a hotel, a fellow walked up and said (what else?) "Excuse me, Mr. Alan Lee?" "No! I'm the other guy!" I shrieked, collaring him and banging his head repeatedly on the reception desk. I didn't actually do that, I probably mumbled something unitelligible as is my wont when faced with a chance to be witty, and when asked what I was doing in New Zealand, I foolishly replied I was working on a film project, but of course declined to say which one. End of conversation.
The next day, a local newspaper ran an article "John Howe seen in the company of film-maker Andrew Adamson". Happily, local newspapers are by definition local, but so much for discretion...
There you have it. From February through May I didn't do much else except work my fingers to the bone drawing lions, witches and wardrobes pretty much full time.
And last but far from least, apologies to all those who asked if I had indeed stepped through the wardrobe, and to whom I either lied or artfully dodged the question. Sorry about that, I hope you'll forgive me. It won't happen again (until next time).
Now that the production has moved to New Zealand I've wandered out of the wardrobe and shut the door carefully behind me. I can at last mention the project, but of course five months of hard sketching will have to wait for an eventual "Art of" book...

OK so it's just me who's interested.

Well watch this:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/the_chronicles_of_narnia.html

and tell me if you still feel the same way!

I loved the lion the witch and the wardrobe i was 10 when i read it.
while rading it i thought that my wardrobe was magical and was very disappointed that it wasn't. but it introduced me to the wonderful world of reading

Yeah - the video implies that they are starting with the Lion the Witch and the wardrobe, so they might do more. Sounds good to me, at least we know with John Howe and WETA on board it's going to LOOK stunning, let's hope they make the same effort with the story line and acting :)

My Mum's wardrobe at her home has a cupboard out into the eves (like a loft) so we always call those eves "Narnia" :D

Well we bought the DVD of the BBC TV series only last year, so its a given we will be interested in the films  ;D ;D

Oh nice one Olly, I had been interested in tracking that down, that was sheer brilliance every Sunday afternoon at tea time I sat with sandwiches and a cup of tea watching it :) hoe very British of me  ;D

I guess the special effects look a tad naff now :( but it was really well done (I thought at the time). How does it seem on DVD?

wow i didn't even know that there was a series we in australia miss out on so much

Gosh it was a BBC production so I would have expected that they would have sent it out all over  the world :(

I enjoyed it anyway - they did others - at least the Voyage of the Dawntreader. I can't remember the books so well these days but I remember my favourite one was the one with the rings, was that the first one? I found the last one confusing but I was glad that  the children from the lion the witch and the wardrobe were back in it.

I should REALLY read them again!

Oh the costumes etc are very naff looking.
But it reminds me of my childhood and carefree times so it isn't really noticable  ;D

It was very cool to sit down and watch again.

Ah... you are speaking to a true childhood addict of Narnia here! :) I got my box set of the books when I was 8 and they are terribly tattered from my reading them so many times as my mother can attest to ;) This was my 'Harry Potter' childhood equivalent ;D

The one with the rings (yellow and green) is the Magician's Nephew and is the first of the series. My favourites would be the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Horse and his Boy and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I found the last book a bit disappointing as well :( Have any of you checked out the official site yet? http://www.narnia.com/ It has a very Lord of the Rings.net site feel to it :) PJ's influence?

Mcgonagall, as far as I know, I saw some of the episodes (can't remember if it was the BBC production, but I assume so) on Pay TV a few years back, so it was released in Oz, but not to free to air TV to my knowledge :)

aaaahhhhh that explains it I have only had pay tv for a few years now so i must have missed it . But i  think every school should get the kids to read the lion the witch abnd the wardrobe

I was excited about this movie, but after watching Richard Taylor talk about it, I am absolutly thrilled about the release of this movie!!!  I remember reading this set "when I was a young warthog" and absolutely loved them!!!

ztaylork

OK OK I have to stop reading this forum - I spent all of yesterday singing "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair" Thanks to savage 727 - and today it's going to be the score from the lion king :P

Anyway - look at these awesome behind the scenes snippits:

http://bvbp-qt.vitalstream.com/LionWitchWardrobe/LionWitchWardrobe_BehindMagic_1500.mov

and

http://bvbp-qt.vitalstream.com/LionWitchWardrobe/Narnia_Chapter2_TheDirector_1500.mov

 ;D

And now some awesome set pictures

http://www.usteckytydenik.cz/galerie.php?idg=13

how about a trailer?

http://movies.ninemsn.com.au/default.aspx

there is a link at the bottom of the page...or try this direct link:

http://movies.ninemsn.com.au/mediapopup.aspx?mediaid=11389#&src=closer

Ah-ha!  I did'nt know this thread had been started.  I am SOOO at the edge of my seat for this movie. :o  The trailer looks awesome.  I have to admit I haven't read the books, but after I saw the preview I went out and bought the set.  Has anyone else seen that Dawn French is in the movie?  What part will she play?  (Roz, you can remove my post from the Other trading cards section, I did'nt know this thread was here).

I have The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe but I wish they would have started with The Magicans Nephew

Ooh I think the Magician's Nephew is the best! I love that book. Well I did, I probably haven't read it in 10 years

My favourite is "The Horse and his Boy". "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" is good as well :D

;D ALL I HAVE HEARD FROM MY BOYS IS THE  HARRY POTTER MOVIE AND THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA MOVIE. ;D MY OLDEST IS SO EXCITED THAT HE HAD HIS GRANDDAD GO OUT AND BY THE ENTIRE SET OF BOOKS!!  ;D (THANK GOODNESS I DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. LOL) I AM PERSONALLY WAITING FOR THE CARD SET FOR THIS TO COME OUT.  HERE IS A GOOD QUESTION, WHO WILL DO THE SET? WHAT KIND OF AUTOS WILL THEY HAVE? IF THERE TRUELY IS GOING TO BE A SERIES THIS COULD BE LOTR ALL OVER AGAIN!  LET ME KNOW WHAT YALL THINK! :o=

I'm a HUGE Narnia fan, I have been since I was a child, and I think C.S. Lewis is awesome, and indeed he was a fellow of my College so I won't have a word said against him. He and Tolkien used to sit in pubs in Oxford when Lewis was there (he later moved to Cambridge of course), and so you see each other's influence in each of their worlds, however, I must bow down and admit that Tolkien's world is so much richer and more complex that I don't imagine that the movie will be as big as LOTR.

However I still think it will be a big success, and a stunning film, especially with the rich interpretation of WETA. I suppose the big hurdle for Narnia is that the main characters are children... I don't know why but I think that makes it much harder on-screen. However, LOTR may have paved the way for Narnia to some extent, drawing in entirely new people to Fantasy - people who wouldn't have imagined themselves to like such things.

Just my tuppence worth :)

What does everyone else think?

I think that every time I see the trailer I get goosebumps!  I bought the Narnia series because of the scenes I saw from the movie.  I never read it when I was a kid.  If they end up having cards for it I'll be one of the first to pre-order!  8)

 :D Those two are of the elite Roz. Amazing that they used to sit together and talk!  Imagine what we would have heard!!  Great minds do think alike. :) Wonder what they would have said if they could have seen their masterworks put on the big screen!! :o

Very true. And although we've missed out on any opportunity to be a spy on the wall in any of those meetings, there is an opportunity to be at a very special Narnia event :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/narnia

;D It sounds fantastic... yes 2 of the guests aren't particularly interesting, but they'll be in the Royal Box so it should be pretty easy to avoid them.