Phil Anschutz has big enough and deep enough pockets to do quite well on his own, thanks very much.

His media empire spans a lot more than just Walden and Regal. And he's especially big into the transportation industry.

No tears for Phil from here.

I hope they can find another financier.  I have been waiting to see all seven stories make some version of the screen since I first read the books as a child, and they have never made it past book 4 (BBC, I believe, though it aired here in the US under the Wonderworks show title).  I think that Disney made a mistake as the long-term returns from producing the whole series I think could equal or rival many of their other classics.

I couldn't disagree more, Tensik. I think it was a solid decision on Disney's part. It's actually quite rare for sequels to make more than their predecessor. Movies like Terminator 2 and The Dark Knight are an exception. Part of it has to do with the fact that it costs more to make sequels. Just look at the production costs for Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian as an example. Now include the fact that each sequel is going to make less money than the last one and you'll see where this is going. As Jim said, it's a business. They could cut the budget for the next film, but low-budget fantasy films tend to look more Uwe Boll than Peter Jackson. Not a lot of studios want to take that risk.

Don't worry, though. Walden will continue the series as planned. You might not get all seven films, but I'm sure there will be closure.

Given that the BBC went as far as producing excellent versions of LION-WITCH-WARDROBE, PRINCE CASPIAN  & VOYAGE OF DAWN TREADER, and, SILVER CHAIR (all available on DVD), I am notreally worried about Disney or Walden or anyone actually completing the series.  

In the seven books that make up the canon of the work, two of them (MAGICIAN'S NEWPHEW and HORSE & HIS BOY) are stories that, although a part of the overall history of Narnia, do not deal directly with the involvement of the core family of children in the adventures.  And, as many "chapters" in great works are let go as they do not continue the core theme of the tale (Ex. - Tom Bombadil in LORD OF THE RINGS, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn in WIND IN THE WILLOWS) when taken to cinematic realization, the two books listed above are easily dropped from the filmed lineage of the Narnia Chronicles.  

Testy (but needed) is FINAL BATTLE, in which the strongest Christian overlay of elements is revealed in Lewis's work.  And, this is a story that is vital to the nature of the entire series of tales.  But, due to the secular needs of the film industry and wanting to make their profit margin in the day to day world, I can see the final book actually pared back to almost no Christian overlay as it is carried in the original works, or, avoided all together.

So - there is a probability of three books being not filmed (as with the BBC Production already mentioned), a possibility of two books not being filmed by whatever new partner Walden may get...personally, I would like to see them get through (at the very least) Caspian and Silver Chair.  (Especially Silver Chair.  I'm a big Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle fan.  Although it is going to be hard to beat Tom (Dr. Who) Baker's take on the role in the BBC version...)

If Walden and whatever production company takes on the role of completing the series (and let us hope it is not what Rankin-Bass did to complete the already bastardized take on LORD OF THE RINGS that Ralph Bakshi filmed...WIZARDS was better....I digress) they could, I imagine squeeze both tales (Magician's Nephew & Horse And His Boy) into shorter forms of an overall film body (let us say, a two parter built around Last Battle) in which the Professor is relating some of the early history of Narnia to some of the core family of children (to explain why he is knowledgeable of Narnia in that he was a central player in the original finding of the realm as revealed in Magician's Nephew) as they are on a train ride across England...which would set the story in motion for the ultimate ending to follow at the revelation point of Final Battle.  

So - whatever happens, happens.  I think the best answer to a child who is clamoring to find out what does become of the story after the movies stop, however, is to give them a copy of the books and tell them to read.  They will get more out of it and develop their skills in literate cognition as well. ;)

I think that all this amounts to extremely bad publicity for Disney. There are a lot of families who look to that company for wholesome family films. The idea that Disney dumped Narnia because of money (however practical that move may be) really tarnishes the Disney dust, especially when the actual monetary figures come to light. A lot of families are going to look at that 400 million wordwide take and think "That's not good? Huh?" What do they know about profit vs. investment? It just makes Disney look greedy.

Plus I think that once again Disney exercised extremely poor timing (as it did with its release schedule of "Bolt" and ironically "Prince Caspian") with this news. Announcing on Christmas Eve that it's dumping Narnia? Isn't going to make a lot of Christian Narnian fans happy.

Now having said that, I don't think Adamson was a very good choice for the films' producer. He seems to have limited vision, imagination and understanding when it comes to the Narnia books. He seems to look at them as a kiddie version of LOTR, when Narnia emphatically is not. If Fox does pick up the franchise, I hope to God (or Goddess, whatever) that a producer is hired who has some grasp of what made Narnia so popular and what has kept the books in print for half a century. And that Fox, unlike Disney, has the guts to put a decent amount of resources into the franchise.

Or maybe Disney could change its mind and re-up with Walden. Crap, does Disney even have any good projects coming up? I mean, speaking of "Up", that Pixar film doesn't look promising (how the hell, for instance, do you merchandise THAT?), the so-called Muppet movie is a bomb waiting to happen (and is a stupid idea anyway) and "Princess and the Frog" is extremely risky (not that I'm not rooting for a return to Disney 2D). Narnia could have been spectacular for Disney, had Disney not been so gutless about it. I have to say, as a stockholder and Disney booster for years, I'm extremely disappointed with this company. I had big hopes for Iger. Guess those hopes have been dashed...

If anyone at Disney could be pursuaded to reverse this decision, I wish they would. Here's why: Dawn Treader has the most potential to be the best of the series of the books. It manages to emphasize character as well as tell a very magical, fanciful story. It could very well rejuvenate the series.

I agree that Adamson had a questionable vision with "Caspian." Many feel it is the thinnest and weakest of the Narnia books and the film seems to pile on battle scenes to compensate at the expense of characters. The casting -- or perhaps more fairly, the direction -- of Ben Barnes as the character who has to carry the entire film lacked charisma, at least in the film performance (he is entirely different on the DVD audio commentary). Adamson sacrificed lots of early detail in Caspian's story to get the the action and that left us without much of a bond with the Prince.

That said, it was not a terrible film by any stretch, but it did not live up to its potential in many ways. However, with a director who can stay under budget (how about a cost-cutting yet special effects-savvy director like Robert "Spy Kids" Rodriguez?) and a script that uses the strengths of the book rather than de-empahsizing them, "Dawn Treader" can be a huge hit.

I have seen almost every Walden Media film and have never seen a truly awful one. Can any of us say the same for those with the Disney brand? This is not a good time to sever ties with a good partner.

Again, I implore those who made the decision to halt "Dawn Treader" at Disney -- please say, "Oops! Never mind," read the book and you'll see what a treasure you may still have to profit with.

Giggleback wrote: "...does Disney even have any good projects coming up? I mean, speaking of "Up", that Pixar film doesn't look promising (how the hell, for instance, do you merchandise THAT?), the so-called Muppet movie is a bomb waiting to happen (and is a stupid idea anyway) and "Princess and the Frog" is extremely risky (not that I'm not rooting for a return to Disney 2D)."

I think 'UP' is going to really surprise folks.  PIXAR films have always had a mature edge to them that will draw an adult crowd to see a family picture...look at 'RATATOUILLE' - a very mature piece of animated story-telling...and it did quite well.  And, the promo reels I've seen for 'UP' show the kid joining the old man on his voyage of discovery...so, there promises to be a great bonding of generations type story as well as experiences through the eyes of a kid...that relates to any age group across the board.

The new "Muppet Movie", if it is anything akin to the work done on the recent Muppet Christmas Special, truly is exciting me.  The "Letters To Santa Claus" (whatever the title was) they aired a week ago was a return to a tried and true Muppet format that is the foundation of what makes the Muppets work.  It was the first good thing I've seen come out of Muppet/Disney since the release of MUPPTE TREASURE ISLAND.  

"PRINCESS & FROG" is tremendously exciting as a project, not just a return to enhanced 2-D animation, but, look at the central core story...an African American  starring role.  Come on, that is tremendous!  No more lily white "WASP" Princess to covet the Disney screen!  This is a major statement that only Pochontas and Mulan and gained before.  

Also, the real excitement around P & F is that it is going to (theoretically) have an excerpt from SONG OF THE SOUTH in the extra files...to show how Disney has progressed in story telling of "Deep South" tales...which, God Willing and the creek doesn't rise, will herald the over due and long-awaited release of SONG OF THE SOUTH to the American Audience market.  A risk? Yes. A good one? Absolutely.

Now if DESTINO would just hurry up and get a DVD release....

I think Disney along with everybody else in the business world is running scared right now. That plus the fact that Caspian didn't do as well as they had hoped. Personally I didn't like Caspian as much as Lion Witch & the Wardrobe, but that's my personal preference. I think Walden will eventually find a co-producer for Dawn Treader.

Gigglesock, are you actually claiming LWW and Prince Caspian to be "wholesome family films"?

Did the economy have the huge impact of the poor ticket and DVD sales of this movie(compared to the original), or was it the movie itself? I haven't seen either, but I was just wondering if... had this movie been released when our economy was better, would there have been a difference in it's sales?

This is just an amazing act of cowardness of Disney's part.  First they blow the release dates of the movie's theatrical run and DVD run and now they won't make the second most popular book in the series because times are tough.  Caspian didn't sell itself as a movie with a lot of battles and then pay off the MPAA to get a PG rating.  Caspian didn't ask to be stuck between Iron Man and Indiana Jones.  Caspian didn't do a terrible job marketing his movie.  And Caspian didn't ask to be released on DVD a week before Christmas during a HUGE recession with almost no promotion.  Maybe Narnia is better off in other hands...

If "Prince Caspian" ultimately made more money than it cost to produce, then it's a success. And in regards to the DVD release, if it took 10 days to sell as many units as the first film had sold in just one day, so what? Are the brass at Disney that impatient and greedy that they can't wait an additional 9 days?

Admittedly, I saw "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" when it first came out at the theatre and didn't much care for it, therefore I didn't bother to go see "Prince Caspian" as it didn't appeal to me personally. I've not read the books, by the way, so I am indifferent to this series to begin with.  However I do feel that Disney should follow through and film the third installment of this trilogy, not only to make the fans of this series happy, but also because it makes better business to in the long term.

If Disney does not produce the third film, then it is not a given that they'll be able to secure the DVD distribution rights in the future, therefore not being able to count on releasing boxed sets of the trilogy later on. This is an important consideration in light of the success of series like "Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter" and Disney's own "Pirates of the Caribbean" films being released not only individually sometime after their theatrical debuts, but also being gathered together as boxed sets later on and making untold millions more in profit - all gravy. It's also frankly embarrassing when a studio has let a series entry slip through their grasp, ending up in somebody else's hands. This happened to MGM with "The Pink Panther" series, as they'd allowed the distribution rights of "The Return of the Pink Panther" to end up with Focus Features many years ago. So when MGM wanted to put out their special edition boxed set of DVDs to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original film, they had to do so with that one glaring omission! Fans were none too happy about that, myself included.

I really feel that Disney is being very shortsighted in their decision with "Narnia", as it's the type of film series that could become a cult favourite with new generations of fans for many years to come, thereby ensuring future DVD sales for the company. This decision reflects very badly on Disney in my opinion.

**Gigglesock, are you actually claiming LWW and Prince Caspian to be "wholesome family films"?**

Okay, I'll take the bait:

Yes.

Like Ponsonby Britt, I saw "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" first-run in the theatre and wasn't completely bowled over by it.  So, when it came to "Prince Caspian", I waited for DVD.  Rented, didn't buy.  I actually ended up liking "Caspian" *better* than LWW and have since purchased the disc (further than 9 days out from its release date!).  This is why I think Disney's reading of the box-office tea-leaves is erroneous.  Caspian's box office may have been less than LWW, because LWW wasn't good enough to hold the entire audience that went to see it in the first-run theatres.  As I saw Caspian as an improvement, it's too bad to now hear that they won't be continuing the series.

bonk!  

Disney should have just cut costs on the the 3rd film, so they could at least have a trilogy to market.  I wish Disney would have just been smarter about this series and made them all.  They should have spent less on Prince Caspian and released it at Christmas.  It is Disney's fault it didn't do well.  Prince Caspian was a good film.  I hope Fox makes all the rest as I will see them.

While the franchise has its difficulties--the largest of which is its strong Christian overtones, which no doubt scare Hollywood types--the Narnia books have been immensely popular. I find it hard to believe there's not a way to make sufficiently profitable film versions. Peter Jackson and New Line figured out a way to do it with Lord of the Rings.

Also, it's a mistake to look at each successive Narnia book/movie as a "sequel." We're not looking at a situation like producing "Home Alone 2" followed by "Home Alone 3", etc. ad nauseum. Rather, the books are each part of a series.