Connie's Warwick Davis Fanpage and Leprechaun Center

The Chronicles of Narnia BBC Series

From 1950 to 1956, C.S. Lewis wrote a series of seven excellent fantasy adventure books for older children, known collectively as the Chronicles of Narnia. Listed in series chronological time (which is not the same as the order in which they were written), the books are The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; and The Last Battle. The books deal with the adventures of English schoolchildren who are drawn through a magic portal into an alternate universe populated by talking animals, witches and other beings not found in the ordinary world.

Several of these books were turned into a BBC television series, which was subsequently released as three different movies. Warwick Davis did not appear in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, so that movie is not discussed here.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Released 1989/Broadcast on the BBC, later released on video
Directed by Alex Kirby
Starring Jonathan R. Scott, Richard Dempsey, Sophie Cook, Sophie Wilcox

Reepicheep

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader covers two books in one movie: Prince Caspian first, then The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The first portion details how the heroes help the child Prince Caspian regain his throne from a usurper. The heroes return home through the portal, and when the magical world is re-entered at the beginning of the second portion, a number of years have passed in Narnia. The adult Prince Caspian and some companions have many adventures when they undertake a voyage into unknown territory to search for some missing noblemen.

This movie and the others are remarkably faithful to the books, and that's actually sort of a problem. What's exciting to read about is not necessarily exciting to watch, and the movies have a slow pace that many will find unbearable. And these are LONG movies! Warwick Davis appears near the end of the Prince Caspian section as Reepicheep the swashbuckling mouse. Reepicheep has a much bigger part in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader section, where he is part of the ship's crew and is the only non-human character. The ship lands at several different islands so that some adventures can be had on land, and the heroes spend a good bit of time tramping around in the hot sun. All but one member of the party are dressed in fairly ordinary clothing, and after a while you start to feel really sorry for the poor guy schlepping around in the heavy-gauge mouse costume. That had to be HOT! This is not Warwick's most entertaining role; Reepicheep is deeply obsessed with the concept of honor and can't seem to talk about anything else, but there's still a fun moment every now and then.

The Silver Chair

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair
Released 1990/Broadcast on the BBC, later released on video
Directed by Alex Kirby
Starring David Thwaites, Camilla Power, Tom Baker

Glimfeather

Time is not the same in Narnia as it is in the ordinary world. Although a relatively brief time has passed since the heroes returned home, many years have passed in Narnia. Now the heroes must rescue Prince Caspian's adult son from the witch who holds him captive.

Like The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, this movie is long and very slow-paced. Warwick Davis makes brief appearances near the beginning and end of the movie as Glimfeather the Owl. He wears the best bird costume I have ever seen, although for some reason the costume designer's creativity seems to have deserted him or her when it was time to do the eyes - they're just big holes, allowing you to see Warwick's eyes and a good bit of the skin around them. They should have redubbed the dialogue, too. His voice is kind of muffled by the costume, so that instead of thinking "talking owl", you think "man in an owl suit."

The only special features on the US version of the DVD are a few still photos and a dull trivia game. But drkenchts provided some information on the UK edition, which is more generous. The UK special features include Blue Peter clips where they visit the sets and interview cast members. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader feature shows the presenter (Yvette Fielding) being whisked off to the Dawn Treader where she's found by Reepicheep. He thinks she's a stowaway and wants her to walk the plank so he takes her to Caspian. Caspian makes her give him her Blue Peter badge, which he then puts on Reepicheep's hat. Warwick is interviewed in The Silver Chair feature in full Glimfeather costume (which he says was made from real feathers and that they made separate feet for the flying scenes; these looked more like owl feet than his walking feet, which are shown). There's also a trivia quiz that rewards you with different outtake clips when you pass. One of these clips is of Reepicheep on deck dressed in bermuda shorts and doing different poses with sunscreen, being told to try and sell it, followed by a little ballet.