Not everyone knows this… but everyone in Christian circles do… The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe which hits theaters on December 9th was writen basically as one long Biblical allegory by it’s author and theologian C.S. Lewis (who also wrote Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters).
Disney faces a dilema. How do you market this thing? If you focus at all on the spiritual elements of Narnia then you risk allienating some people. If you don’t focus on any of the spirituality in the story then you risk alienating some people. Disney has a daunting task ahead of it… but they seem to be handling it well.
For instance right now there are plans for there to be 2 separate soundtracks for the movie to be sold in music stores. One CD is made up entirely of “Christian” artists… (which if I’m not mistaken is already available in stores) and another one to come out with mainstream artists. Is this a good idea? I’m not sure… but you’ve got to admit it’s creative.
The New York Times is running an interesting article on the issue that you should give a read. Here’s an excerpt:
But Disney’s tricky marketing strategy for “Narnia” – which includes aggressively courting Christian fans who can relate to the story’s biblical allegory while trying not to disaffect secular fans – is particularly tricky when it comes to music. The spiritual character of “Narnia” is being reinforced with the debut on the charts last week of a Christian pop album of music inspired by the film. But prospects for a previously announced secular soundtrack now seem cloudy, executives involved in the process say. Disney executives say that at the very least the CD will be delayed beyond its planned Oct. 25 release.
Mitchell Leib, president of music for Disney’s Buena Vista film unit, said he still expected to assemble and release a secular soundtrack before the film’s Dec. 9 opening. But he cited production snags. He said he was still awaiting a recording by the rock band Evanescence that is intended as the film’s closing song. He added that planning had also been complicated by last-minute decisions about how music will be used in the complex, special-effects-laden film.
Like I said… it’s tricky stuff. I ‘m very curious to see how Disney handles this… and what the results will be. Either way I think this film looks AMAZING and can’t wait to see it. Best trailer I’ve seen since Return Of The King.
“No one complained about LOTR and its Christian roots, so I don’t think this should be too tricky. Christianity is meant for anyone to explore, and I understand this marketing scheme is a bit more complicated than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is fiction based on nonfiction, so it’s not nearly as controversial as the Passion of the Christ, totally focused on historical events in the life of Christ Jesus” – Josh
As one who has read both books it’s defeating to equate the literary works in such a manner. LOTR, unlike Narnia, is a far more subtle work as far as any Christian subtext is concerned, and has a strong mix of European mythology. Tolkien actually criticized what he saw of Lewis’ Narnia story particularly because he thought Lewis was too heavy-handed with it. LOTR has Christian roots and influence, Narnia is a Christian story.
Also the assertion that it’s “fiction based on nonfiction” so it wouldn’t be “controversial” seems, I dunno, naive? Merely claiming that it’s “based on nonfiction” would be deemed controversial by some. The fact that this is just a fun, family-oriented film is what will save it, or so I assume. I’m sure Disney and the director tried to take the middle-road as much as possible. No one from the film is gonna come out and say it’s based on non-fiction, for example. :P (I can’t imagine them taking out the overt religious scenes all together as, well, that’s Narnia. Might as well not bother with the book if that’s the route one takes.)
I think that this “tricky marketing” on part of Disney is really just a nice way for them to maximize profitability out of the whole thing, because having (apparently) three different soundtracks, one of which only has Christian artists, is going overboard as Ryan pointed out.
Judging from the trailer, the creators understand the strong gothic, mainly Rider-inspired, theme of the books. While there’s a lot of the Bible in there, there’s just as much _She_.
That’s true about _The Lord of the Rings_, too. In that case the film makers really appear to have understood the connections. (Mainly by the interpretation of the Galadriel and Shelob characters.)
If the film will succeed or not with the actual fans of Lewis, I think will depend heavily on whether Disney will try to tone that down, in line with the tv series, or if they will allow it to play out.
There will be a score only soundtrack released for Narnia, as well.
This is not the first time that multiple soundtrack/”songs inspired by the film” albums have been released to fully exploit the Christian and non-Christian markets. Remember Dreamworks’ Prince of Egypt? There were fully three soundtracks released for that movie, the “regular” one, the “inspirational” one [featuring mainstream Christian artists] and the “Nashville” one [featuring country musicians]. I dont think this is so much a creative marketing scheme so much as it is a way for Disney to cash in on the popularity of the series with people both inside and outside the “Christian bubble.”
And Brian–considering how dark the Chronicles of Narnia can be, i would be interested to hear a NIN track “inspired by” the movie.
I don’t see this as a big deal. Most people are going to go see it because they remember the books as children. I vaguely remember having the books read to me in preschool. This is the first time I’ve heard about the Bible connection and I’m sure I’m not the only one that wasn’t aware of it. So I don’t think it will have much of an effect either way on the bottom line. It sounds like a family film that everyone will enjoy and I don’t think it’s roots in Christianity will turn any more people away than say the kooks that keep their kids away from Harry Potter for fear of their children being exposed to “black magic”. The soundtrack thing sounds kind of silly to me as well. Most of the time when I look at a soundtrack, I’ve never heard of half of the bands anyways. For all I know they are all Christian groups!
If they take away the Christian point of view, the movie will eat dirt. I’ve been a Christian all my life, and this book was-and still is-dear to me. I think it’s stupid for them to release two separate soundracks. If the movie sticks to the book, then it shouldn’t matter whether the songs are sung by Christian artists or not. I mean, it’s Disney. They’re not gonna get, like Nine Inch Nails to do their songs. Make the movie what it should be-not watered down. That is what Lewis would’ve wanted. If it deters audiences, then that’s because the world hates Christianity.
I agree that they should not alienate anyone. However, you can’t please everyone.
No one complained about LOTR and its Christian roots, so I don’t think this should be too tricky. Christianity is meant for anyone to explore, and I understand this marketing scheme is a bit more complicated than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is fiction based on nonfiction, so it’s not nearly as controversial as the Passion of the Christ, totally focused on historical events in the life of Christ Jesus. Movies are movies and forms of entertainment, so if this movie doesn’t win awards, I don’t think people should be upset. I think it will, though; like you said, the trailer looks superb.
The Chronicles of Narnia are often mistaken for an allegory. Lewis himself claimed the books were not allegorical but “suppositional,” more what we would call an “alternative history” today. Suppose such a world as Lewis described existed, and assume the need for certain religious situations: a divine Creation, a trinitarian element comparable to Christ Jesus coming to the world, and others. Lewis wants to then ask, “What would happen?”
Great post, man. I read this site all the time!