At NarniaWeb, you can read an exclusive interview with Douglas Gresham, co-producer of the film.
Here are several excerpts:
NW: Knowing C. S. Lewis personally, do you think that he would insist that the books were adapted exactly as he wrote them or that he would be open to the filmmakers’ ideas as long as they did not obscure the meaning of the stories or change anything essential to them?
DG: That’s a tough question. I know that Jack would want to protect the integrity of each of the books, and preserve very carefully the messages that each is intended to convey. I also know that Jack was not enamored of film as a medium of communication because he felt that too little care was taken about what was being said in the movies that he had seen. Also, one of the hardest things to do is to preserve the literary integrity of a book when adapting it to either stage or film, and it is probably far more difficult with film. I think though that Jack would be amazed and fascinated with the wonderful technology that has been developed recently but perhaps less than delighted with the uses to which it has been put. I hope we address that failing to some extent with LWW.
NW: If you think that he would have allowed a little room for other ideas and made allowances for translating the written word to the moving picture, then how does it feel to be in the position he would occupy as the judge of these questions and how do you decide whether he would approve of one idea and disapprove of another?
DG: It’s rather daunting to say the least. As to how I decide; I put together all my memory and love of Jack himself and also of Warnie and my mother (great fans of Narnia not surprisingly), everything that they taught me, my understanding of and love for the book, my understanding of the necessities of the film medium and the needs of modern human society worldwide, and I pray a lot. Once all those and other factors have come together and been thoroughly examined in the light of whatever decision is to be made, I then decide what to say.
NW: Are there any major differences from the book that we can expect?
DG: That depends on what you mean by "major differences". Obviously a lot of what Jack could do with narrative, we have had to translate into action. Jack could tell about it, we have to make it happen. Also, for reasons of character development, balance and pacing, there will be things in the movie that do not appear in the book. I think and hope that we have added more value to it than we have taken from it. However, as a Narnian purist I ’feel’ that any and every change from the original book is bad and thus have to contend with my emotional attachment to the book warring with my intellectual faculties and understanding of filmmaking. I have probably been a pain in the neck at times to my colleagues in the production. (grins)
NW: There have been some rumors put forward by the studio that not all seven movies will be made or that some movies may be combined. What’s your reaction to this?
DG: I didn’t know that. But how many movies are to be made by Walden and distributed by Disney would almost certainly depend on how many folks go to see each movie as it comes out, so really it’s up to you guys. What they call "Franchises" in Hollywood do seem to have varying life spans, the James Bond series is up to about 20 movies now I think. Hollywood dudes do seem to tie themselves into patterns very easily and find them much harder to break out of than to slide into. However, I would like to live long enough to see all seven made into good films. I would certainly not want to see any of them combined, or skipped for that matter.
NW: If there are future movies, do you plan on being as closely involved with them as you have been with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?
DG: Yes indeed, if not even more so as I would hope to become more useful the more I learn about making movies.
NW: What has it been like working with Son of Adam (Andrew Adamson) and the rest of the film crew?
DG: For the most part it has been a very enjoyable time. The crew was all extremely nice people as also were the cast. I never encountered any nastiness on set or at any of our locations from anyone, and that is pretty rare in film making. Come to think of it, it’s pretty rare in any endeavor. One of my particular friends on set was annoyed by something on one occasion so she went off and sat by herself for a few minutes till she had overcome her annoyance. She did not blaze up at anyone, or inflict her feelings on anyone else. I found that interesting, for while she is a pretty impressive person in her own right, it seemed to me to be what I would expect from members of that crew. An atmosphere of friendship and good-heartedness pervaded the work; in fact it was a bit like being in Narnia during the Golden Age. Andrew is a very nice bloke, and has a way of applying quiet charm to get things done his way.
NW: Which character do you think most matches their description in the books?
DG: Hmm, now that is a tough one because I think they all do - that was part of what we set out to achieve. Will just is Peter, Anna is absolutely Susan, Skandar plays Edmund to perfection (we teased him that when he got to the part where Edmund suddenly turns into a good guy, we would have to teach him how to act, as he had just been himself up until then) and Georgie is perfect as Lucy. Tilda plays the White Witch superbly and James is a brilliantly true to character Tumnus.
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You can read the complete article
here.
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