Half a century we waited for C.S. Lewis' popular literary saga to come to the big screen. After an animated attempt and a BBC series which told the stories of the first four novels, Disney finally made the decision in 2005 to release the first installment of the saga as a film. The pure magic of Lewis' work finally made an appearance in cinemas and it brought great success for the film company.
Directed by Andrew Adamson, the film wasn't a cheap project as it had one of the highest budgets for a film that year being in the region of 180 million dollars, which surpassed 150 million dollar budget of 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' and 'Batman Begins'. Although it was always going to be Peter Jackson at the top after his 207 million dollar budget for King Kong'. It is safe to say the big investment made by Disney was worth it, because Adamson's spectacular production was the third highest grossing film of 2005, with 745 million dollars.
A promising start to the saga was to be followed by two disappointing films, however now we are concentrating on the 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and to bring back some memories we have rustled up 8 facts and anecdotes about the film.
1 Not without my stunt double!
Action scenes are not the only job stunt doubles seem to need be at hand for these days. For example, Anna Popplewell, who plays Susan Pevenise, requested her stunt double to help her out due to her phobia of mice. During the scene of the Stone Table, the actress stood firmly away from the mice and let her stunt double take over. "I'm absolutely terrified of rodents. The director called me over one day and had a mouse in his hand and I just burst into tears" she said in an interview.
2 Swear jar
When there are children on set, it is sensible to take a little more care with your language. However, this is something that didn't seem to bother James McAvoy too much. It got to a point that the small Georgie Henley made a swear jar for people to chuck some coins into every time they said a naughty word. It is safe to say McAvoy, who played Mr Tumnus, was the main contributor to the jar.
3 Wait for it...
The likelihood is if you're a child- or even an adult- you wouldn't have seen a wild faun roaming around the streets or in your local park. So, the director of the film decided that the first reaction of seeing Mr Tumnus should be a genuine reaction, so he decided to close Georgie Henley's eyes before she entered into Narnia to discover McAvoy completely transformed into the famous faun. This allowed the reactions to be authentic and as real as possible.
4 Your wish is my command
Sometimes our wishes can become reality. Well, if not, just ask Skandar Keynes, who played a young Edmund. During the film, Edmund asked the white witch if he could be taller, and as if by magic the wish came true. Throughout filming, that extended over a fair few months in 2004, the actor grew a total of 16 centimeters. His height transformation meant that his voice also changed in the process, meaning that his brother had to do some voiceovers after filming.
5Don't touch me!
Skandar Keynes was the last of the Pevensie siblings to get the role and Andrew Adamson was aware that he may not be as close with the other actors as they had spent more time together prior to his arrival. So the director encouraged the other actors to get close to Keynes and give him a hug to make him feel welcome. No wonder the thing that Keynes didn't like when he was younger was hugs!
6 Cut out or lose out
The official age recommendation for films is one of the more delicate steps in the distribution process. A high age rating risks losing a fair few potential viewers, and even more when we talk about the likes of 'The Chronicles of Narnia' that have the potential to tap into a younger market. Whilst the majority of countries get a rating for everyone, the likes of Germany and the Netherlands have a minimum age of 12. Therefore, to avoid losing potential viewers in these countries, an edited version was made altering the sound effects and scenes with violence.
7 Sweet joke
Keynes seemed to be the brunt of a few more jokes during filming and only involved his older brother in the film. William Moseley played a prank on him where he told him that sugar-glass was actually edible. The sweet taste never reached his tastes buds though, as he soon realised it was actually silicon.
8 Magnificent voices
The unbreakable voice of Liam Neeson was not the first option to be the voice of the majestic Aslan. In this first instance, Brian Cox was going to take up this honour, but he decided not to in the end. Another candidate was Gerard Butler however he didn't help himself during the audition when he said "This isn't going to be like the BBC puppet Aslan, right? Because, if so, I'm leaving right now".