The Lion, the witch, and whatever

The lovely Ms. Hunicke and I caught a showing of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe last night. I found myself strangely moved by it, over and over. Was it because it was a part of my childhood? Mmmm, maybe. Was it because the movie encouraged Lucy’s childlike wonder and creative imagination? Hmm, very likely. Was it because I hadn’t had much sleep the night before? Mmm, yes that definitely had something to do with it. 🙂
There has been a lot of talk about Aslan representing Jesus and this just being a thinly-disguised Christian parable. I have to admit, if I were to write a story intended for a very wide audience, borrowing the main ideas from one of the most popular books of all time (the Bible) would seem like a very good idea! So I don’t have an issue with this at all. The scenes with Aslan that most reminded me of Christianity did not bash me over the head with references to Jesus, which I think was tasteful and the right decision.
All in all I really enjoyed the movie – not LOTR-level enjoyment, but it was still damn fine. I love how so much of it references the children’s imagination and believing in your dreams and fairy tales and whatnot. I’m really a fan of encouraging creativity in children, so this is definitely part of what touched me.
And oh yeah – the animation of Aslan was frickin’ unbelievable. Holy smokes!
Disney has an “Educator’s Guide” on the movie’s website. Interesting marketing tactic. Will this get more kids to see the movie, or…?