It is uncommon that fans would react kindly to an adaptation making changes to a beloved book, especially when those changes seem drastic. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is no different in this regard, with its fate being very similar to that of Prince Caspian. There was such a jumble of added content that the original story was not even recognizable within the film, and much of its original fanbase was lost because of this. Most lovers of the original story, including myself, felt insulted by these changes, feeling the story would have made a beautiful adaptation had the movie even tried to stick with it. It could have been that they felt the book was too short like they had with Prince Caspian, but I think it went beyond that this time. I believe it was because the book was purely an adventure novel with only a few instances of action throughout its entirety, which is not appealing to most. This adaptation did nothing to uphold the values and intent of C.S. Lewis, instead, they disregarded his message entirely in favor of a more entertaining film. The potential of this film was lost, the beauty of the book was underappreciated and it was of no surprise to me that it lost the love of longtime Lewis fans. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader marks the last of the films adapted from Narnia books, but it has proven to be the worst of all three, both in content and in the box office.
Lewis wrote the book as a way to expand and explore upon the Narnian world, to go outside of the known kingdom and see what else his universe has to offer. It was about adventure, exploration, and the growth of our beloved cast of characters, as well as an introduction to another of the important Narnian cast; Eustace. In the adaptation, we see again that they focus on making it an action movie, creating a looming antagonist to add tension to the story. The creativity and imagination poured into the visuals of this book were lost, seemingly cut to make room for the content the movie wanted to add. Luckily, characters like Caspian, Edmund, and Lucy did not change much but others like Eustace had their entire story uprooted. The movie follows the same plot overall; in which Caspian sails from Narnia to search the islands beyond for 7 lost lords. In the book, the journey takes them through several different islands where they meet different cultures, magical beings, and discover new allies. In the movie, the first island they come to introduces them to dark magic that is consuming people, so the crew of the Dawn Treader decides to find its source and kill it. This subplot projected itself into every other aspect of the book; each island they visited or person they met was somehow connected with this dark power, fueling the subplot forward. The journey that the characters had embarked on in the book was beautiful and allowed for the characters to make discoveries about themselves and their world, without the need for dramatic dark magic.
“In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas."
“Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.”
C.S. Lewis, PG 522
This shifts the tone from exploration to action, focusing more on the dark magic than the original plot.
This tone shift also changed the magic system in the book, introducing dark magic outside the powers of Jadis, the white witch, previously the only possessor of dark magic. In the book, the only instance of darkness was when one of the lords they locate is on an island of nightmares. This island is only briefly shown in the book, and because of the character’s faith in Aslan, they are able to escape its clutches. This island also makes an appearance in the movie, but as the home of the dark power, and later as the location where they defeat the darkness. It is also where the film showcases its sea serpent, portraying it as the embodiment of the evil that they must defeat. In contrast, the book’s encounter with the sea serpent happens while exploring the open waters, not while battling a dark force. It is also important to note the change to the other story's dragon, a beast that Eustace encounters while exploring a remote island. After the dragon dies, Eustace sleeps among its treasures which causes him to turn into a dragon.
“Sleeping on a dragon's hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.” C.S. Lewis, PG 466
He is quickly changed back by Aslan before leaving the island, which helps to instill change within Eustace and give him faith in the Narnians. In the movie, Eustace remains a dragon throughout the entire film, and although the visuals are amazing, it does not allow for the same character growth within Eustace as the book did. Because of all the immense changes, added subplots, and story overhauls, a majority of the story’s phenomenal ending, in which they travel to the end of the world, had to be cut short. The decision to rewrite the ending served as a final straw to fans, who were immensely angry as it was many people’s favorite part of the book. Not because it was filled with action, but because of little details like Lucy observing a culture of tiny underwater merpeople. With so many scenes like this being changed, it is no wonder so many people felt the core message had been altered so drastically it was not worth watching.
It is of no surprise to me that this movie did so bad across all platforms; after losing its fan base there was no way it could have made a comeback. This fact is especially sad when you think that the directors were most likely extremely excited for the release, thinking fans would love it while failing to realize they had cut everything the fans had loved. How badly the film performed at the box office solidified the decision to stop the making of Narnia adaptations. Things like dark magic would not have been bad things to introduce as complementary aspects to the already wonderful story, but the fact that these added things overshadowed or outright replaced original story aspects were what ruined them. On its own, this film is beautiful; the CGI is realistic and all the fantastic creatures look amazing on the screen. With such amazing effects at their disposal, the film could have been a masterpiece had it kept the adventure aspects of the story that fans loved so much. Hell, they could have even kept in changes like Eustace’s extended time as a dragon and incorporated that into their exploration across the sea. Had they kept with Lewis' values, like in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or learned from their mistakes in Prince Caspian, the movie could have been spectacular. This third, and final, Narnia adaptation is by far the worst of all three. And with how much uproar this caused among the fans of the book, I am not surprised it marked the end of the Narnia films to be made.
Hello all,
This concludes the “Narnia Adaptation” series on this blog. I hope you have enjoyed reading these as much as I have enjoyed writing them. There is always a bit of anxiety when you hear about a beloved book being adapted, and I am not surprised fans had such an adverse reaction to this trilogy of movies as a whole. All critical insight aside, I do continue coming back to and watching these movies from time to time. There is something about the visuals that draw me in, not to mention I think the casting choices across the board are fantastic. But I can not deny that even I was angry when I first saw The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it is truly the worst of all three adaptations, which is dissapionting as it is my second favorite book. I felt, given the trying times right now, I should keep this final review less critical then I could have, as I felt it best not to bring the mood down further during the holiday seasons. But, I still hope you have enjoyed it despite it being shorter than normal. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the new Narnia adaptations. Disney has stated it is making both movies and a TV show, though I do not know if they will be following the events of the books, or if they will be entirely new stories set in the Narnian world. Personally, I would love to see The Horse and his Boy adapted, as it is by far my favorite book in the Narnian universe. Whenever they do release, I think it may be fun to compare them to these adaptations, see if they improved as a retelling. They would not be book reviews per se, but if anyone might be interested in something like that, do let me know.
I hope you all have a Happy Holiday Season,
I'll see you all next year!
Sources;
Lewis, C. S., and Pauline Baynes. Chronicles of Narnia. the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. HarperCollins Childrens, 2007.
Cover art by Deys on Instagram
Editing by Jade Rabor
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