During the early 2000s, a wave of highly acclaimed fictional movies — the first few entries of the Harry Potter series and the Lord of the Rings trilogy — made their way onto the silver screen, leaving people wistfully wishing to attend Hogwarts or to live in Middle Earth (minus the impending doom and possible death, of course).
Enter “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the first movie installment based on C.S. Lewis’ seven-part book series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” fitting nicely in the fantasy world genre.
Taking place during World War II, the movie opens with bombs falling through the clouds and onto Britain, toward the home of our protagonists: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie. Luckily, the four siblings escape the bombing, but, at their mother’s request, are sent away to the countryside to live with an old professor, who, of course, owns a mysterious and magical wardrobe.
Without anything to do, the siblings try to kill time by playing hide and seek inside the old professor’s house.
Through some happenstance, Lucy finds an empty room with the large wardrobe and walks inside. Passing several fur coats, she falls into a bed of snow and enters the realm of Narnia, a kingdom currently oppressed by the White Witch, who keeps it in a perpetual winter.
Though Lucy tells her siblings about the world of grandeur inside the wardrobe, nobody believes her, especially since it at first seems like a completely normal object in the siblings’ first attempt to all enter. However, while playing baseball, the siblings get in trouble for breaking a window. They decide to hide inside the wardrobe and suddenly get transported into Narnia.
After Edmund decides to join with the White Witch, the rest of the Pevensie siblings decide they need to save their brother because she plans to kill him. With the aid of some talking animals and mystical creatures, the children go on a journey to save Narnia and their brother from the White Witch.
Though “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” and, in fact, “The Chronicles of Narnia” as a whole might not be the most popular, it still manages to be an entertaining experience, capturing my attention for the complete two hours and 30 minutes. So as the freshman Homecoming theme, it is by no means terrible, a quality usually attributed to underclassmen themes.
The plot, though pretty standard, can be easily adapted. Perhaps freshmen can stumble upon the land of Saratoga High, which is currently controlled by the “evil” seniors. And, just maybe, with the power of their less-stressed minds, they can overcome the currently worried-about-college-apps seniors. But, that’s just an example.
Even the decorations have possibilities. While it may not have as unique a design as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Wizard of Oz” or “Alice in Wonderland,” there are certain elements that can implemented.
For example, freshmen can divide their hall into two with one displaying the miles of snow from the White Witch’s perpetual winter and the other with grassy fields and deep red tents, as the snow begins to melt.
“The Chronicles of Narnia” — including “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” — is simple — but not overly ambitious. All in all, it’s a great introduction to the frenzy of Homecoming.
