[box cover]  The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe: Collector's Edition  When Shrek director Andrew
Adamson was approached to helm The Chronicles of Narnia: The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), he cracked open C.S.
Lewis's classic source book for the first time since childhood.
What he found there — or rather, what he didn't find there —
surprised him. Where was the vast, sweeping climactic battle he
remembered? Where were the clanging swords and fierce fighting?
In his imagination, as it turns out. Adamson wasn't the only
grown-up to revisit Lewis's series around the time of the film's
release and end up somewhat disappointed by the author's spare,
efficient prose, which sometimes skimps on descriptive detail in
favor of advancing the plot. But that may really be the books'
greatest strength. Children who read The Chronicles of Narnia
are free to fill in any gaps with their own imagination — and
directors and screenwriters are free to use theirs to create a
vivid, exciting ci