Synopsis: C.S. Lewis's enchanting tale comes to life in this classic BBC adaptation from 1988. When young Second World War evacuee Lucy Pevensie hides in an old wardrobe during a game of hide and seek, she finds herself transported to the magical land of Narnia, locked in eternal winter by the evil White Witch. Her siblings do not believe her when she tells them of this strange new world, but they are soon in Narnia themselves, fighting alongside the noble lion Aslan to defeat the witch and her mighty army. This set includes the following complete stories from the book series: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair.

Review: The Chronicles of Narnia are several volumes of classic children's tales developed by C.S. Lewis.  These can be seen as a more biblical take on fantasy, while Lewis's good friend J.R.R. Tolkien had a slightly more ambitious view of the realm, Lewis's work is great for little ones.  The classic themes of good versus evil are perhaps somewhat naive, but they make for fun tales.

In the 1980s I read the Narnia series and I watched the BBC adapted version of the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.  It was great at the time, although looking back its a little slow moving and grass roots feeling, as the special effects are limited.  This is a great boxed set of 3 BBC adapted Narnia tales that are perfect for young children or hardcore fans of the series that may want these for their collections.

The special features on this DVD set include Past Watchful Dragons - Oxford Historian Humphrey Carpenter describes how C.S. Lewis came to write The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first Narnia book, Interviews from the 2003 cast reunion, Historic interviews from the series premiere, Special Effects footage, Outtakes and Photo Galleries.

Links: www.bbcamericashop.com

Interest Range: BBC, C.S. Lewis, Fantasy