Should the news that Disney has bailed out of the third big-screen Narnia adaptation dismay or delight fans of the original novels?
Those who feel that a Hollywood treatment of a beloved book – especially with the Disney corporation calling the shots – inevitably dilutes the source material's charm and power will either not care or be secretly pleased that the company will now not be financing The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
But Disney is merely the holder of the purse-strings. The real brains behind the adaptations is Walden Media, a company set up by Christian conservative Philip Anschutz predominantly to adapt classic children's books for the big screen. These movies, he says, need "to be entertaining, but also to be life-affirming and to carry a moral message".
The Christian message of the Narnia books makes them perfect for Walden, which has also adapted Charlotte's Web, Bridge to Terabitha and Nim's Island. It's the Christian aspect that detractors of CS Lewis's work typically home in on. Indeed, Polly Toynbee wrote in the Guardian when the first movie was released in 2005 that "most children will never notice. But adults who wince at the worst elements of Christian belief may need a sick-bag handy for the most religiose scenes."
In a neoconservative Christian America, the Narnia movies were given a sound and positive reception. Perhaps in Barack Obama's America, the message hidden in the Narnia books won't be as commercially attractive. Could it be that the Disney executives have sensed the way the wind is blowing?
More likely it comes down to a question of profits, or "budgetary considerations", the official reason Disney cited for the pull-out. Last year's Prince Caspian grossed $419m, far less than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe's impressive $745m.
As someone who has (on a neighbouring blog) bemoaned Hollywood hijacks of my favourite books I should feel glad that the project is in flux. However, I'm not. I enjoyed the movies of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and to a lesser extent Prince Caspian (it's darker and takes longer to get going … half an hour before we meet a talking mammal is just too long). More to the point, my children love the movies. They are too young to read the books but thanks to the films are aware of Lewis's work and have keenly voiced their intention to read it as soon as they can.
As Toynbee predicted, I did wince at the Christian imagery. Then again, the books weren't written and the films weren't made for either her or me. They were created for children, and are thumping good adventure stories. If my children raise awkward questions about the subtext of the books later on, then I'll do my best to tackle them. If a book, and its cinema adaptation, entertains and provokes discussion, then to me it's doing its job.
Besides, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader isn't cancelled. Walden Media has clout, and one strongly tipped suitor to fill the funding vacuum left by Disney is Fox Media, which already has a strong working relationship with Walden.
What are the implications for the Narnia franchise if that happens? Certainly Fox's neocon credentials seem to dovetail quite nicely with Walden's professed Christian ethos. For those who criticised the "Disneyfication" of Narnia, it may even be enough to make them ponder the old adage about the devil you know.
