THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE - LEWIS SLAMMED FILM NARNIA

Author CS LEWIS hated the idea of his CHRONICLES OF NARNIA being turned into a feature film.

THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE has been adapted by Disney and will hit the big screen next week (8DEC05).

But Lewis, who died in 1963, doubted the stories could be done justice by TV or film.

In a letter he wrote to radio and TV producer LANCE SIEVEKING in 1959, Lewis approved of the recently made radio version they had both collaborated on - but dubbed any attempt to put his tales on screen "buffoonery".

He wrote, "(I) am absolutely opposed to a TV version of any of the books. Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare. At least, with photography. A human, pantomime ASLAN would to me be blasphemy."

Lewis would have considered a cartoon version, but doubted Disney could do it justice: "If only Disney did not combine so much vulgarity with his genius."