I know it's already on dvd, and I've been wanting to buy it off ebay, but I just wanted to know if there are any plans to release a special edition or anything because I hate to buy this edition and have them release a newer updated version. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks!
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i couldnt wait for a special edition, so i just got mine on ebay
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Hi there
I have loved this film since I was a child growing up and have just bought the dvd off ebay - recommended by the way ! I was disapointed though that the voices on it were not the ones that I was used to. The version I saw was on British TV about 1980 and the voices were distinctly different. Was it redubbed for the uk does anyone know ?
rgds
I too had the same experience. When I got the DVD, it was the American version. Apparently, Aslan has the same voice in both, but you want the version with Arthur Lowe, Sheila Hancock, Leslie Phillips, etc. I got my Brit version off Ebay, but had to order it from America. The British distributor doesn't even seem to have any knowledge of the Brit version. Weird! The DVD case looks identical except there is a red bar across the bottom which has the words "Original British Version", or something similar. It is really worth tracking down even though the picture quality is still just a VHS dump.
shareDarn it I downloaded this movie and I watched it but now I dont know if I have the British or the American voices version!
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Glad I am not the only one to wonder what happened to the British version, for me that was a big part of why I loved this film and I was really disappointed that last couple of times it has been on TV to find it was the American version, what I have now re-christened 'The Lion, The Witch And The Closet'. No offence to the Americans reading this...
shareThe one I grew up watching was taped from TV and definitely had English accents. It would be pretty silly if it didn't, as the books are set in England and Narnia, and have that whole quaint English feel. I'd like to buy it on DVD or VHS but with the original voices... I'll let you all know if I find it.
shareThe reg 2 dvd is now out. lots of extras and the voices are in the English Accents.
cheers
shaun
I've just checked on the PLay.com website for the region 2 release and it states that the voices are Simon Adams, Don Parker, Beth Porter etc. . .This would make it the american version. Can you actually confirm that the british DVD release contains the british soundtrack with Arthur Lowe & Leslie Phillips.
Perhaps Play have got it wrong.
I bought the reg2 version from Play.
It is the British version but there is some confusion as the end credits still retain the re-dubbed actors names.
From Amazon.co.uk :-
DVD Description
Made in 1979, this Emmy Award winning The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe perfectly captures the spirit and charm of C.S. Lewis' famed book with a unique, visual style all its own. This magical film is presented here digitally restored with the original UK voice cast for a new generation to discover.
Can't believe it's been released again - I bought it in the summer for silly money (the British voice edition) off ebay and now I could buy it, with extras and postage for £11!!
What are the extras?
I had originally found the animated version on P2P, downloaded all 700MB of it or however much it was, watched it for about 30 seconds and then was horrified to discover Lucy, an English girl during WWII speaking with an AMERICAN accent!! Why did they ever think they needed to change it?!! When I found the British edition on ebay I thought great. I'm glad the new DVD has the original accents.
The extras are:-
A short interview with producer Steve Melendez.
Audio commentary from the Director, Sequence Director and Producer.
Early sketches and character designs and some storyboard comparisons.
Deleted sequence. No new animation, just some sketches with the original voiceover.
Just watched the DVD. Film was okay, but the supposedly "audio commentary" was a great let down. The speakers start off well (well at least one of them does), then rapidly peter out in for long stretches to the extent that you forget you're supposed to be watching the commentary, until one quips some inanity like "I liked this scene", with a mumble of approval from someone else in the background. No delicious behind-the-scene titbits. Maybe the poor sods forgot everything there was to say about the feature.
Well, coming back to report on a feature they did 25 years back, perhaps I shouldn't blame them...
"I bought the reg2 version from Play.
It is the British version but there is some confusion as the end credits still retain the re-dubbed actors names."
Confirmed. I got it on wednesday, and was expecting the English cast to be listed first, before the title - but that didn't happen, so alarm bells started ringing in my head - but when Lucy jumped out of the wardrobe and started talking in her original English voice, I was reassured. So I thought maybe the voices would now be credited at the end like they were in the US redub. They were . . . but it was still the US voices that were credited! This is VERY misleading!
Still, despite many imperfections (the incidental music wobbles a few times - the age of the tape, and I suspect this remaster wasn't given a lot of attention, also as someone else stated the commentary isn't that brilliant), it's the original English voices on the film, and that's what I wanted. It means I never have to watch it on ITV with those annoying redubs ever again!
I'm from Australia and when it was shown here all those years ago, the children and the Beavers had American voices. So did the Fox and other animals.
I've just seen the Region 4 version and it's all in English voices. Aslan's voice, the dwarf and the White WItch sound the same.
In the interview in the Extras section, Steve Melendez mentions that originally, the children's voices were those of members of an American family but they had to re-dub to English voices.
So I presume the cast list is of the English cast?
I wonder why the American voices were broadcast in Australia?
I've just read other replies on other threads on this board (probably should have done that first) - now I know the White Witch isn't the same in both versions.
share"So I presume the cast list is of the English cast?"
Well, on the R2 disc, it incorrectly lists the American voices - I mentioned elsewhere who the English ones were.
I don't think the Dwarf is the same - I think in the English version one person did the Dwarf AND the Fox, and I know the Fox is different. But it's been a long time since I actually saw that cast list. I've got a friend who's got the old VHS of it, I'm trying to find out!
But apart from the background voices ("where's the Witch got to?", and her cronies taunting Aslan), Aslan is the only voice that was unchanged.
Of course, the decision to keep just one voice is as bizarre as the one to change the rest. Everything else was redubbed . . . then again, with the possible execption of Bernard Erhard, nobody could have come anywhere near Stephen Thorne's delivery.
I have the cheaper Region 1 version, and it was jarring to hear some voices with American accents, and some with British. Is there anywhere to get a Region 1 version with the original British cast? The British version was the one I first heard broadcast on PBS in the 80's, so the flat American voices were somewhat jarring coming from the children... sounded like they were trying to fake a British accent, then gave up. And, yes, I remember the White Witch being more menacing and it seemed like Mr Tumnus sounded odd.. what else was different from the broadast version?
shareThis is fascinating to learn. I saw the original broadcast in 1979 and was dismayed at the American accents. I had no idea there was any other version and would love to hear the British. It is on YouTube now but with the American cast.
On second viewing, I believe the story was updated. The clothing was more in keeping with 1979 than 1940 and there was no mention of having been evacuated due to bombing.