The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe hits pop culture

I've been on a Narnia kick recently with all the press the upcoming movie release has gotten. Well, I've been on a Narnia kick for my whole life minus three years, but I'm reading the books again now. It seems like something to do the books that were such a part of me as a child has been appearing on every magazine cover and newspaper and even on tv. The Lord of the Rings movies were quite exciting for me, but I read those books at an older age, though I had seen the trippy 70's cartoon version of The Hobbit when I was a youngling.

The Chronicles of Narnia were the first "chapter books" I read in my clubhouse (a sewing cupboard put to better use). I've probably read the books five times and I've seen the old BBC movies more than that. Sadly, those particular movies made someone I know think Mr. Tumnus was a pedophile. How sad. I love the animal characters, the sense of wonder and the multiple layers of depth of the story in these books. Like any good children's book, there is a fascinating story for a child, but a depth that is only understood when it is read again at a slightly older age or by an adult reading to a child. It's great how a fictional story can help you understand truth that would otherwise be incomprehensible. Or maybe it just drives that truth home both in your brain and your heart. Anyway, I am excited to go to the movies this Friday and to finish the rest of the series of books again before then.

I just hope the director is as fanatical about this story as Peter Jackson was about Lord of the Rings. A movie can never live up to a good book, but the closer it gets, the happier I'll be about it. If there are good actors for the parts of Lucy and Aslan, the movie will have passed my first critique. A less creepy faun might be nice for my friend, too.

Maybe Disney will stick with what it's good at...taking a good story and producing it well for the screen instead of writing their own abominable ones.