As the residents of Narnia like to whisper, "Aslan is on the move." And so he is. But for the moment, Walt Disney Pictures has him on a very short leash.
...
the pros at Disney are wrestling with a special challenge: how to sell a screen hero who was conceived as a forthright symbol of Jesus Christ, a redeemer who is tortured and killed in place of a young human sinner and who returns in a glorious resurrection that transforms the snowy landscape of Narnia into a verdant paradise.
That spirituality sets Aslan apart from most of the Disney pantheon and presents the company with a significant dilemma: whether to acknowledge the Christian symbolism and risk alienating a large part of the potential audience, or to play it down and possibly offend the many Christians who count among the books' fan base.
A fascinating NYT piece on how Disney is wrestling with the Lion who is good, but not safe.
As seen on Thunderstuck.
- Peace
4 comments:
I think 99% of non-Christians who read the books or see the movies wouldn't even think of connecting Aslan with Christ. Granted, I'm sure that could be different in the States, especially with the media coverage it's bound to get.
I have to admit, I found this quite amazing: "Motive Marketing, a California public relations firm that specializes in cultivating Christian audiences"
I know what you mean, I was at a U of A debate club party and was speaking with a young lady who was a self described Narnia fan and she thought I was crazy for reading spiritual stuff in to it.
On the other hand I saw a TNB youth production of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe where they removed all the spiritual elements including Aslans death and resurection, and it was lame.
So just cause many people miss it, doesn't mean they won't try and take stuff out.
- Peace
Richard, I think you're confusing Lewis and Tolkien. Lewis was very up front about his imagery in Narnia, though he did deny it was aligory. But remember Lewis was a Literary Prof so he had a very exact meaning in mind.
Tolkien was much more resiestent to the idea that LOTR had christian symbolism. But as I understand it he embraced the idea that it showed a catholic ethos. Again Tolkien had a very spefic understanding of symbolism where an event,person,thing im the story maps to a single idea.
- Peace
Richard read the Is Narnia an allegory? entry in the CS Lewis FAQ.
- Peace
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