One of my fondest memories from childhood that I got a chance to revisit recently was having the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe read in 2nd grade and going to my grandparent’s apartment and thinking that their closet was enchanted and that I could perhaps enter into Narnia through my grandpa’s closet. This book, in particular, sparked an imagination in me as a youth and it was a fond memory of childhood.

You can imagine my nervousness when I found out that this beloved book was going to be made into a movie by Disney, no less, and was coming out on the heels of a critically acclaimed adaptation of Tolkein’s book The Lord of the Rings. It smelled of explotation. No less nervousness was brought on by the trailers and seeing a CGI Aslan roaring at me. I was pleasantly surprised when the movie portrayed an Aslan that was as likeable and realistic as Gollum in LoTR. Equally suprising was the faithfulness to the original book that Disney provided; it was almost out of character for them as a company and it was hopefully a sign of things to come.

There were some slight plot changes to make the movie work within the time limits and within the medium, but all in all it was very much faithful to the pace and action of the book. I went with some friends who had just recently read through the book and there is one scene in the middle of the movie where the children confront the wolves for the first time which was entirely made up.

To compare this movie’s story to LoTR would be hard. Lewis’ Narnia is much smaller in scope that Middle Earth and the characters aren’t as complex. But the movie’s story holds a great sway because it is still just really well written. This translates fairly well into the movie and the character’s, including Mr. Tumnus, are deep and aren’t as two dimensional as most Disney movies.

The glimpses of the Professor in this movie offer a satisfying glimpse for those who have read the whole series and know the history of how the mysterious wardrobe came into being (make sure to stay for the first minute or two of the credits…).

The allogory remains strong in this film as well. Aslan’s character really shows his model when he reunites Edmund with the rest of the children and encourages them to extend Edmund grace. This becomes one of the real highlights of the film and is well acted by all the characters involved.

All in all, it’ s just stellar…go see it; you won’t regret it.