Synopsis:
Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia along with their cousin Eustace Scrubb, in a high seas adventure that will bring them to the very edge of the world and Aslan's country itself. This fanedit conitnues the "Book Cut" Narnia series started by SoboFilms and brings The Voyage of the Dawn Treader closer to its book counter-part. This was achieved by removing bad plot elements, like the Green Mist and subplots like, the seven swords of Narnia, as well as other major changes/additions.
Intentions:
When I saw Prince Caspian in theaters I actually thought it was okay, even if it wasn't very true to the book, however when I saw this monstrosity of a film I was disgusted and felt that the film makers were abusing the magical world of Narnia that C.S. Lewis had created. Again, like with Caspian my goal wasn't to make a purist cut, but a cut of the film that would still be a film but could also retain most (or some) of the elements from the book. As well as make the film's plot a lot less goofy and cliche and more enjoyable as a whole, even if there was still some inaccuracies to the book.
Change List:
- Cut opening with Edmund trying to enlist, now the film begins with showing us some war imagery and then introduces us to Eustace first. - Added the scene where Eustace is sea-sick, as it was off handily mentioned in one the following scenes, as well as being in the book. - I've left in Caspian's line where he say's that he hasn't found a queen yet and the part where he mentions Susan, however when he's saying it he's just being polite; he's not in love with her. - Cut all of the scenes on the Lone Islands pertaining to the Green Mist and the sacrifices. - Cut all reference to the Seven Swords of Narnia, now there's only one sword and it was a gift from Caspian's father to Lord Bern for being loyal to him. - Completely removed the character of Gael from the film - Restructured some scenes in the film to match the order of the book - Restructured the Magician's Island scene to remove all reference to the Green Mist, now the crew of the Dawn Treader have to get rid of Dark Island because it has become a plague to the surrounding islands, but not to Narnia or anywhere else. - Added the deleted mutiny scene to fill the gap where some footage has been removed, as well as to give the crew a little more "depth" - Cut a lot of Lucy's temptation to remove green mist and re-purposed some footage into a flashback to create a semi-new scene. - Liliandil no talks about the seven swords or green mist - All green mist illusions removed from entry into Dark Island. - Battle restructured to remove Gael from the battle, removing the bit where Caspian screams about losing the sword. - Removed all of the scenes where Eustace is trying to lay the sword at the table and battles with the green mist - Removed the White Witch completely from the film. - Jill Pole is no longer mentioned at the end of the film - Carrie Underwood's song has also been removed from the credits, as it didn't complement the end of the film that well.
Additional Notes:
When preparing to cut this film I actually wrote down all the cuts and changes I wanted to make on paper, as well as be open to new ideas along the way. In fact this fanedit's cut list was actually finished before I even thought about doing a Caspian fanedit. Again just like with Caspian I looked around on the web, on forums, websites, etc. in order to get more ideas for this project. I also went back and looked at the book for reference, as well as inputting what I myself didn't like about the film. When I actually started editing, I used Adobe Premiere Pro CC and freesound.org for background sound effects that I would've unable to make on my own.
Other Sources:
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader DVD (Deleted Scenes) - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Soundtrack CD - BBC Chronicles of Narnia Soundtrack Aslan's Theme.
Special Thanks:
Dangermouse for all the great and helpful ideas he contributed, which have helped shape this edit overall and for previewing the edit. - lotrjjw for previewing the edit and giving input into the final cut. - TomH1138 for his help/suggestions and interest in the project. - And anyone else who showed interest in the project and contributed to the thread in any way.