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You mentioned merchandise, and I've heard that will include McDonald's Happy Meals. People can get jaded by the mass merchandising of something that's practically sacred to them. I assume you'd be the first person who would want to keep all of that under control?

Gresham: Yeah, we've tried it tone it down to a fairly minimalist program. We've cut down a lot of categories. We've also tried to make the merchandise the highest possible quality at each price point. And when I have found proposed products that did not meet my quality standards within that price point, I have stopped them.

What would C. S. Lewis say if he knew Mr. Tumnus was going to show up in a Happy Meal? Would he roll his eyes?

Gresham: I don't think Mr. Tumnus exactly shows up in a Happy Meal. The premiums will consist of some very nice little Narnian gifts to play with.

Well, you get my point, right?

Gresham: I don't think Jack would be the least perturbed by that. The very thought that his Narnian characters would be given away to kids enjoying themselves in a fast-food restaurant—I don't think that would bother him at all.

What would Jack say about having a movie made of his books?

Gresham: Jack's problem with cinema was that he could see this wonderful technology emerging and developing, and he was worried about the uses to which it was being put. Until recently, cinema has been used almost exclusively to corrupt man rather than to develop man. Some of the great movies have been terrific, but by and large most movies are just to titillate, to excite—stuff to entertain. Basically, I think the Enemy has been running the cinema. It's time we took it back from him.

Do you think that's happening?

Gresham: It's beginning to happen. I've put this project in the Lord's hands in prayer for many years. The main reason I went with Walden Media [to make the film]—as opposed to the many other studios pursuing this project—is because of their mandate to produce good, entertaining movies that also educate, not merely in factual matters but in matters of ethics and values and morality. There could be no better fit than a company that wants to do that with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The clincher for me was meeting Phil Anschutz [the money man behind Walden Media], and growing to respect him enormously and spending time in prayer with him. His commitment to bankroll Walden into making this movie—at very large expense—shows his determination to revise what cinema is being used for. Walden Media has exactly the right idea what we should be using cinema for. And I think the Narnian Chronicles are a terrific vehicle for what they want to do.

When books are adapted into film, and the writer is still alive, the writer often wants to be in on the screenwriting process. If Jack were still alive, would he say, "I want in"?

Gresham: No, I don't think he'd say that, because Jack was very well aware of his own limitations. But what he would want, probably, would be a power of veto and approval rights on the script. Because he would be aware, as I was aware, how easy it is for a scriptwriter who isn't familiar with the back-story—how a book like this became written—to make silly mistakes. So you have to have someone on board who knows how to handle these things. But as it happens, there was very little of that sort of mistake in the screenplay. It was extremely well done.

Did you have that power of veto?

Gresham: I think that's too strong a way to describe it. The relationship is such that if I had said, "Absolutely wrong, you really shouldn't do it," they would probably say, "Okay, if that's how you feel, we won't do that. What would you suggest instead?" We haven't ever actually got into a state where Andrew, myself and the writers have gone head-to-head. It just didn't happen because they were good at what they did. And they all have an appreciation for the material.

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The Man Behind the Wardrobe	Printer view
C. S. Lewis, author of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe—a feature film coming to theaters soon—was "the best Christian I've ever known," says Douglas Gresham, stepson to the famous writer. (Part 1)