Narnia - a property to be exploited?

[fizzog]

I am the first to say that at least the first two Narnia films haven't shown great promise. They were, well, ok. However, they are popular, and I wouldn't mind seeing the franchise represented at DLRP, but how? What's too much, what's too little? How they you want Narnia to be represented, or perhaps do you want Narnia presented?

[nathan detroit]

The minor presence that Narnia has had so far (Snow Queen M&G, costumes on the tour) is enough thank you. The third installment is on the way and it is beginning to make Disney look a little desperate to compete with Harry Potter and Frodo (still better than The Golden Compass anyway)

[MrPhogg]

I agree, I never really liked the Narnia franchise to begin with, I'd much rather they leave it as it is now, mostly unused.

[pussnboots]

I haven't seen either of these films, but I was once dragged to "The Golden Compass" and was very offended. (Mostly at Nicole Kidman's forehead. Can't you just picture the director saying "okay, Nicole, now it is very important that you keep your face absolutely still so the digital artists can easily paint in a koala bear later...")

The point is that these films are fleeting, because unlike the hand-drawn Disney classics or Pixar's many timeless tearjerkers, these films will look ridiculous ten years from now -- much like Armageddon seems cheesy now, incidentally. And we all know it. So no, I don't think they need any more exposure, certainly not in the form of a ride or similar.

[DeadlyAvenger]

Have those rumours of a Narnia show replacing Armageddon been dispelled then?

Originally Posted by pussnboots

I haven't seen either of these films, but I was once dragged to "The Golden Compass" and was very offended. (Mostly at Nicole Kidman's forehead. Can't you just picture the director saying "okay, Nicole, now it is very important that you keep your face absolutely still so the digital artists can easily paint in a koala bear later...")

God, don't get me started on the butchery those darned Americans made of one of the best pieces of children's literature ever written...
...excellent score though.

[nathan detroit]

Originally Posted by DeadlyAvenger

Have those rumours of a Narnia show replacing Armageddon been dispelled then?

If the rumours of an Armaggedon refurb are true, then I suppose yes. However, since Armaggedon does not obviously need a refurb, could these rumours not be in fact a mixed message about a replacement?
Personally I would welcome anything replacing Armageddon. It's old hat and a big build up to a pretty small (although admittedly quite impressive) finale. Saying that, it's not a massive building and so whatever goes in there will need to be compact.

[MrPhogg]

I too would welcome an Armageddon replacement. I went on it for the first time in July and was quite disappointed. Queued for about 20 mins, then the pre-show was in French, and inside it was really busy so I couldn't really see anything. Also, we missed the fast pass time for another ride because we didn't think we'd be in there that long. All in all, not a very good ride for me

[fizzog]

Originally Posted by DeadlyAvenger

God, don't get me started on the butchery those darned Americans made of one of the best pieces of children's literature ever written...
...excellent score though.

Best pieces of childrens' literature ever written? Huh? What?! ARE YOU MAD?!?!

Anyhoo, Armageddon is good, it's the pre-show that's the problem, fix that and you've fixed the attraction. I always liked the idea of having an exhibition sound stage at WDS, where seasonal exhibitions came in, for example, a Narnia one, or a James Bond one or whatever, though, much as I'd LOVE it to be Studio 1, the change-over from exhibit to exhibit would mean the building's closure, and you can't really close such a key part of the park that regularly. But they could put it somewhere else, such as between R'n'RC and Backlot Express. Of course the worry would be that Disney would get slack and not update it.

[DeadlyAvenger]

Originally Posted by fizzog

Best pieces of childrens' literature ever written? Huh? What?! ARE YOU MAD?!?!

May I assume you've never read Pullman's trilogy and have only seen the trite Hollywood adaptation?

[fizzog]

Nope, wrong assumption, sorry

[toonaspie]

Originally Posted by fizzog

I am the first to say that at least the first two Narnia films haven't shown great promise. They were, well, ok. However, they are popular, and I wouldn't mind seeing the franchise represented at DLRP, but how? What's too much, what's too little? How they you want Narnia to be represented, or perhaps do you want Narnia presented?

Well at WDW the Narnia attraction (which is basically a brief walk through advertisement) seems pointless but harmless and not too much of an overkill. And we have one or two characters from the film walking the park time to time but that's really all the exposure Narnia gets in the states.

The representation of Narnia in DLRP will probably be based on how popular the films were over there in Europe. If they were as popular as they were in the states then I would expect the exposure of Narnia to be pretty much the same as it is here. If not then the exposure will be much less.

[tasman]

I would say the Narnia franchise is pretty much dead. The first film was successful at the box office, but there have been a glut of somewhat similar fantasy films, and it isn't so good that it stands out from the crowd. The second film has not earned enough to justify its budget. It cost 200 million to make plus whatever promotion costs that went along with it. That means its box office gross needed to be in the region of 500 million to make a profit (unless it turns out to be a big success on DVD or in merchandise, which I doubt)...current gross is about 378 mil about half of which goes to Disney. I doubt there is enough audience interest for Disney to spend as much again on a third film.

[Baloo]

well a third film is already in the works so disney must see some legs in the franchise. They also have several ideas to spread the franchise in theme park attractions and there is actually concept art of a castle icon which could someday become an icon for another gate. Disney still has not given up on the franchise especially since they are not paying the full bill for the movies.

Bob Iger did say that they felt the second film was opened at a bad date and would had prefered that it had opened during the Holiday like they first wanted. They had to push it to the summer opening because Walden media (the partner in the Narnia franchise) had requested a holiday opening for their other fantasy film, the water horse.



I think it should do well in DVD sells though


oh and don't forget the still very much alive proposal that could replace muppets with a Narnia attraction

[fizzog]

That WDW attraction sounds good, a nice space-filler in the many cracks between attractions in Backlot (or Action Studios...soon...mwahaha...soon)

[tasman]

Originally Posted by fizzog

That WDW attraction sounds good, a nice space-filler in the many cracks between attractions in Backlot (or Action Studios...soon...mwahaha...soon)

I am happy that Disney took the trouble to update the Narnia exhibit at DHS for the second pic. It may be a minor space filler...but Disney could just as easily have left that building vacant, or left it without an update, as they have unfortunately done in many places over the last 13 years or so. That they have chosen to do otherwise, I think is positive sign for the future.