Reasons for Neglect, and making up for it!!

Hello All!
It's almost the end of August, so I thought I'd post something. :) When I started this blog, it was mostly to let my excitement about Narnia out! Especially right around the release of Dawn Treader! :) I also wanted to post things like Character profiles and devotionals and quotes and things. I would love to get to these soon, so stay tuned!

Reasons for my neglect:

1. There hasn't been much Narnia news at all! Here's one of my Aslan's Country friends' interpretation of the situation:



We are stuck at where we were months ago... Waiting for Fox and Walden (or someone else) to decide to do another film! The last thing we heard was they wanted to do Magician's Nephew next. At this point, I don't care so much which one they do next, I just want another one! Actually I want four more!!!! :D

NarniaWeb and YouTube's Glumpuddle posted an analysis on the situation and possible routes the franchise could take. I thought it was really interesting, so I'm posting it here:



2. I'm producing a movie! Yep, you heard me. We've made two smaller-scale films before with friends: "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" in 2006 and "The Silver Chair" in 2008. (I can't believe I haven't posted on this blog about them yet!) Both were so much fun! Over the years, we've learned more techniques through short film projects and a film club our church hosted. Now, with the help of many adults and teens from our area, I am producing, "First Impressions," which is based on Pride and Prejudice. This is the other blog on my profile. (Check it out here.)

3. It's summer!!! And this means I'm busy. :) I have managed to dig up a few interesting articles and sites for you though.

First, Did you know you can download the Narnia font?!?! I just found out! It's the one they use for the official movie logo. Click here to check it out! I made the image below with the Narnia font. :)


Second, a Narnia Cookbook is coming out!! The writer of the "Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook" is now writing a Narnia version. Here is the article where she mentions her next book, but I saw it first on Facebook. Can't wait to see what's in it! :)


Third, I'm having fun hosting a contest on YouTube! You make a rules video, then people post their videos as video responses to your contest video, then you get to watch them all and decide who passes to the next round! It's pretty fun. I'm posting my most recent video below. (I've also been neglecting editing because of the film.... :/) You can always find my "Narnia Music Vids" on the sidebar of this blog. :)



Fourth, my sister found this cool site called "Wordle" which you can use to make pictures with words. Just click "Create" up at the top, then put in your blog url! You can customize the words, layout, and colors. :) Below is one I made by pasting in my blog's url. Try it! It's amazing! :)


Last, and certainly most exciting, I GOT TO GO TO THE NARNIA EXHIBITION IN PORTLAND!!!!!!! Yes. I know. It deserves its own post! :) I'll make a post for it when I upload our Narnia Nerds of the Northwest video that Hannah and I took while we were there. For now, let me recap the most exciting parts for me:

1. Getting to go there with the Dokupils was AWESOMENESS. It was so fun to be with my fellow Narnia freak, so we could oooh and aaah together! :)
   
2. Being allowed (after many phonecalls and talking to staff) to take pictures and video inside the exhibit!! Matthew (Aslan's Country boss) called Walden to get permission because we were going to write a report on our site. The OMSI people finally let us, and we got press passes. :)
3. Getting to see the ACTUAL props from the films!!! When we first walked in, we saw Edmund's flashlight from "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." Skandar has touched it. I know that sounds weird. We're not weird Skandarfans, it's just awesome to think that that's the one they used in the films! After more costume displays, we spotted The Book of Incantations. Yup. The actual one!! We plopped down in front of that for about five minutes. :) Other original items: The White Witch's dress and crown, Susan's coronation crown, and the door and door frame from Tumnus' house!
4. Overall, it was just so amazing to get to go there. I would have been very sad if I couldn't have gone. If you have a chance to visit, I definitely recommend it. :)
   

You can read our report on Aslan's Country here. Hannah did an awesome job writing it, and Matthew made an amazing slideshow! :) Enjoy! And more coming soon!

I know! It's not Narnia...

... but it makes me happy. :)


I never really got into "The Lord of the Rings," written by J.R.R. Tolkien, a good friend of C.S. Lewis. I read the first book and watched the first movie. Then I started reading the second book and got distracted and never finished it. :p

What I did really enjoy, though, was "The Hobbit," the prequel to LOTR. He uses a different writing style, and a more fun fantasy-like adventure.

This is why I'm pretty excited about the new movie coming out from the makers of LOTR: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Part two will be called, "The Hobbit: There and Back Again."


Here is a link to the official blog, where they post news about the production.

I wanted to share with you a couple things that made me happy.

First is the picture at the top of Bilbo. Nice picture! It came from Entertainment Weekly.com. Martin Freeman is playing young Bilbo who gets surprised by the arrival of Gandalf and thirteen dwarves at his small home in the Shire. You can see more Hobbit pictures here.

Second, is a Production Video filmed by the Director, Peter Jackson. What I like about him is he really cares about the series. Andrew Adamson cared about Narnia (at least LWW) a lot, but I don't think Michael Apted did. I heard Peter Jackson was a major LOTR fan and that's why he was chosen to be the director and that's why the films are so true to the book. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) I also like that he cares about his fans. He took time out of his busy schedule to film a video for us, so we can be updated on the status of the film. The first video you can watch below.



The second Production Video came out recently, and it's also very good.



I won't always be posting about Hobbit stuff. It just has been on my mind, and I thought I'd share these pictures and videos with you. :)

Happy Birthday, Georgie!

Today is Georgie Henley's Sweet Sixteen birthday! She has so much experience and talent and beauty that it's hard to believe she's only 16! From interviews and premiere footage, Georgie seems sweet and kind and fun! Here's a couple interview videos to watch if you'd like:

BAFTA Children's Awards 2010 - before the VDT premiere
"Four Things You Didn't Know About Georgie Henley"
Aslan's Country's exclusive interview with Georgie and Will

She certainly loves and is loved by everyone she works with, especially her Pevensie siblings!

Happy Birthday to the girl who first brought us into Narnia, the girl we know and love as Queen Lucy the Valiant. :)

Below is my little birthday project for her.



Click the links below to see more Georgie sites and birthday projects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgie_Henley
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1670137/

http://georgie-henley.us/
Georgie's Sweet 16 Birthday Card - 2011

http://georgie-henley.com/
http://georgieh.com/
http://totally-georgie.com/
http://georgiehenley.us/

Yeah... she's popular. :)