The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (film)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 epic fantasy film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third published novel in The Chronicles of Narnia series. This movie marks the first Narnia film not to be distributed by Disney (both The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian were under the Disney banner). Instead, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was distributed by 20th Century Fox. On March 23, 2010, Fox announced that the film will be released in Digital 3D in select theaters.

The film was released in theaters in the United States and United Kingdom on December 10, 2010.

Plot
Some time has passed since the Pevensies' last adventure in Narnia. The two youngest Pevensie children, Lucy and Edmund, are staying with their odious cousin Eustace Scrubb during the final days of the second World War while their older brother and sister, Peter and Susan, are in America with their parents. Edmund and Lucy feel they are being left out; Edmund attempts to join the army, but is unsuccessful and Lucy is upset by the feeling that she does not match up to her sister in looks. But one day, they observe a painting in Lucy's room of a grand ship on the sea that looks very Narnian, only to be interrupted by Eustace who mocks them. Suddenly, the painting comes to life and the water spills out into the room, transporting the three children into an ocean in Narnia. They rose to the surface to find themselves in the way of the ship from the painting, but are rescued by the crew and are taken aboard.

Among the ship's crew are King Caspian X and Reepicheep and the ship is the Dawn Treader, the first ship Narnia had seen in centuries. Also among the crew are Lord Drinian, who serves as the ship's captain, and a small number of Narnians including the Minotaurs Tavros and Jemain. Caspian shows Edmund and Lucy the hidden chamber where he kept all of the Pevensies' prize possessions. He also explains that three years have passed in Narnia and he is on a voyage to find the seven lost lords of Telmar, good men and friends of his late father, Caspian IX, whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne many years back. Lucy and Edmund are delighted to be back in Narnia, but Eustace is less enthusiastic as he doesn't want to believe he is in Narnia and is at odds with Reepicheep. Lucy even asks if Caspian had found a wife in the three years they had been gone; he smiles bashfully and admits he had not, unaware that later events on the voyage would change that fact. Lucy also asks what is beyond the Lone Islands; in a later conversation with Reepicheep when she hears him sing a song a dryad sang to him when he was a mousling, he says that he believes Aslan's Country lies beyond the Seas of the Utter East - a place he hopes to sail to on the voyage.

Finally, they arrive at the Lone Islands and first make land in Narrowhaven; the Lone Islands are normally Narnian territory, but they discover that Narrowhaven has become a haven for slave trade by Calormen. Caspian, Lucy, Edmund and Eustace are captured by the slave traders as merchandise. While imprisoned, Caspian and Edmund meets one of the lost lords, Lord Bern, who is overwhelmed when Caspian reveals that he is the son of the late Caspian IX. Edmund then witnesses a group of slaves being sailed out to sea and disappearing when a mysterious green mist appears. Bern reveals those not sold are sacrificed to this mist that he and the other lords were investigating. The crew of the Dawn Treader arrive and rescue the four captive crew members, killing the slave trade leader and their men. Caspian reclaims Narrowhaven and names Bern its duke, who gives him one of the Seven Swords that the lords possessed, which were given to them by his father. One of the citizens, Rhince, whose wife Helaine was one of those sacrificed to the mist, begs Caspian to let him join them so he could find her and Caspian agrees. But later, it is discovered that Rhince's young daughter, Gael, had stowed away on board the ship, but is accepted by Drinian and welcomed by Lucy.

The second island they visit is the Coriakin's Island and Lucy is abducted by invisible Dufflepuds, who force her to enter their oppressor's manor to recite a spell of visibility. She enters the manor and find the Book of Incantations, from which she rips out a page containing a beauty incantation that would make her look like her sister before reciting the visibility spell, making both the Dufflepuds and the magician, Coriakin visible again. Lucy and the others learn that Coriakin actually cast the invisibility spell to protect the Dufflepuds from the evil green mist that came from Dark Island. To defeat the evil of Dark Island, the crew would have to locate the other Swords of the Seven Lords and lay them at Aslan's Table on Ramandu's Island, but Coriakin also warns them that they are all about to tested by temptation. In order to reach Ramandu's Island, they have to follow the Blue Star. During a storm at sea after leaving Magician's Island, Lucy nearly becomes the first victim to the mist's temptation because of her lack of self-value; she casts the beauty incantation and transforms into Susan. She then finds herself at a party with Peter and Edmund, who recognise her as Susan and do not know of Lucy or Narnia. Realising that she no longer exists as Lucy, she awakes from the vision of the party as her normal self. Aslan appears to her in a mirror and explains that she wished herself away and much more with it because she doubted her value. Her brothers and sister would not have known of Narnia if it was not because of her, as she was the one who discovered it. After Lucy throws the page containing the beauty incantation into the fire, the mist moves to torture Caspian and Edmund with their own personal demons; Caspian has nightmares of his father and the mist appears to Edmund as Jadis, the White Witch.

The crew then make a stop at a volcanic island, where Caspian, Edmund and Lucy find a pool of water that turns anything it touches to gold, along with Lord Restimar, who fell into the pool and was turned to gold himself. After successfully claiming his sword, Edmund is tempted by the pool's powers and challenges Caspian over who is more worthy of being king. They fight, but Lucy stops them and warns them that they are being tempted, just like Coriakin warned them. Elsewhere, Eustace leaves the group to avoid participating in the work and finds treasure that arouses his greed, filling his pockets with gold and jewels and puts on a large golden bracelet from a skeleton. When Caspian, Edmund and Lucy return to the boats and realise that Eustace is missing, Caspian and Edmund go looking for him. They come across the treasure themselves and find Eustace's clothes burnt, but no sign of Eustace. Caspian then spots the skeleton and identifies it as Lord Octesian, while Edmund finds his sword. Suddenly, a dragon attacks the Dawn Treader and abducts Edmund, flying him over the island and showing him giant words it made with fire that say "I AM EUSTACE". They all realise that Eustace must've been tempted by the treasure and transformed into a dragon as a result. The Pevensies, Caspian, Reepicheep, Rhince and Gael stay ashore that night, keeping Eustace company. Reepicheep comforts Eustace, stating that maybe being turned into a dragon was a sign that he had a great destiny ahead of him; Eustace then helps the crew get to their destination the next day when Gael spots the Blue Star in the sky.

The crew finally arrive at Ramandu's Island and discover Aslan's Table, served with food and three lost lords under a spell. Caspian warns the crew that the food was responsible and when Edmund spots the Stone Knife, they lay the swords on the table, realising that one is still missing. Suddenly, the Blue Star descends from the sky and turns into a beautiful young woman; she is Lilliandil, the daughter of Ramandu and Caspian immediately falls in love with her. Lilliandil warmly welcomes them and invites them to eat, stating that the food is safe and for them. She then explains that the three lords are under a sleeping spell because they were threatening violence upon each other by the time they reached the island, for violence is forbidden at Aslan's Table and they would only awake when the seventh sword is put with the others. She guides them to the location of the final sword; Dark Island itself and warns them that they will need great courage. Before Lilliandil returns to the sky, Caspian tells her that he hopes they would meet again and she reciprocates his wish with a smile. Upon arriving at Dark Island, the crew discover the seventh lord, Lord Rhoop and bring him abroad. Rhoop warns them not to think of their fears, but Edmund fails and his fear manifests as a sea serpent that attacks the ship. Mad with fear, Rhoop throws his sword at Eustace, stabbing him and Eustace flies away, landing on a sandy island nearby. There, he is approached by Aslan, who turns him back into a boy and sents him back to Ramandu's Island to place Rhoop's sword with the others. The mist tries to distract Edmund by appearing as Jadis again, but Eustace succeeds in getting the seven swords together and Edmund manages to overcome his own demons as he slays the sea serpent. The spell is lifted, the three lords awake from their sleep, the sacrificed people, including Gael's mother, reappears and Eustace rejoins the crew.

Soon afterwards, Caspian, Reepicheep, Lucy, Edmund and Eustace head to the World's End, sailing in a small boat through a sea of lillies until they reach a shore with a massive wave. Aslan appears and tells them that His Country lies beyond the wave, but they would never return if they chose to go on. Caspian is offered the chance to go on when asking if his father is in Aslan's Country, but choses to stay out of realising that he already had what he needed in Narnia and that his father would not have wanted him to give up what he died for. However, Reepicheep comes forward and gains Aslan's blessing to see His Country; he bids farewell to his friends, including Eustace who is devastated at his departure, and paddles in a coracle up the wave and onto Aslan's Country, never again to be seen in Narnia. Aslan then opens a portal in the wave to send the children home, telling them that Edmund and Lucy would not return to Narnia because they have grown up, like Peter and Susan, but encourages them to know him by another name in their own world. However, Eustace, now a much kinder person from his time in Narnia as a dragon, could return someday. Edmund and Lucy bid a final farewell to Aslan and Caspian, before entering the portal along with Eustace.

The three return to Eustace's bedroom where the water returns to the painting and Eustace's mother calls out to him that Jill Pole has come for a visit. The three watch sadly as the Dawn Treader sails away in the painting and disappears behind the waves.

Main Protagonists

 * Ben Barnes - Caspian X
 * Georgie Henley - Lucy Pevensie
 * Skandar Keynes - Edmund Pevensie
 * Will Poulter - Eustace Scrubb
 * Liam Neeson - Aslan (voice)

Dawn Treader crew

 * Simon Pegg - Reepicheep (voice)
 * Gary Sweet - Lord Drinian
 * Shane Rangi - Tavros the Minotaur
 * Tamati Rangi - Jemain the Minotaur
 * Ryan Ettridge - Caprius the Satyr
 * Steven Rooke - Nausus the Faun
 * Morgan Evens - A Faun
 * Chris Cruickshanks -Cruickshanks the Dwarf
 * Mirko Grillini - The Belligerent Telmarine

Narnians

 * Laura Brent - Ramandu's Daughter, Liliandil
 * Terry Norris - Lord Bern
 * Bruce Spence - Lord Rhoop
 * Tony Nixon - Rynelf
 * Arthur Angel - Rhince
 * Arabella Morton - Gael
 * Nathaniel Parker - Caspian IX
 * Roy Billings - Chief Duffer
 * David Vallon - Governor Gumpas
 * Colin Moody - Pug
 * Catarina Hebbard - Gael's Aunt
 * Ozzie Devrich - Slaver
 * Greg Poppleton - Dufflepud 1
 * Neil Young - Dufflepud 2
 * Mary Bradney-George - Dufflepud 5
 * Scott "Ryctor" Brewer - Dufflepud 7

Cameos

 * Anna Popplewell - Susan Pevensie
 * William Moseley - Peter Pevensie
 * Tilda Swinton - The White Witch

Differences between the book and film

 * ﻿In the film, Edmund attempts to enlist in the army, only to be thwarted by Lucy, similar to how she embarassed Susan in the previous film.
 * In the film, Eustace makes up a couplet, not a limerick.
 * In the film, Eustace addresses his parents as "mother" and "father" whilst in the book, he addresses them by their names, "Alberta" and "Harold".
 * In the book, Reepicheep challenges Eustace to a duel before arriving at the Lone Islands; this challenge is replaced with a duel between Caspian and Edmund in the film and Reepicheep and Eustace later have their own duel after visiting Narrowhaven.
 * At the Lone Islands, Caspian instructed his men to keep silent about their identities, and only revealed who he was to Lord Bern after he bought his freedom, having been reminded of Caspian's father. In the movie, Caspian shouts "I am your king!" the second they are ambushed by Slave Traders, and meets Lord Bern in the cell where the Slave Traders throw him and Edmund.
 * In the book, Caspian learns from Lord Bern that the Slave Traders have been allowed to operate without interference from the Governor, Gumpas, who sees the practice as unavoidable and necessary for the economy. In the film, Caspian learns from Bern that the Slave Traders have been making sacrifices to a green mist.
 * In the film, Lord Bern had not left Narrowhaven because he had been captured and imprisoned by the Slave Traders. In the book, he had not left because he had married and settled down there.
 * In the film, Rhince is a Narrowhaven citizen who joins the voyage to find his wife, who is sacrificed to the mist. In the book, Rhince is a high member of the Dawn Treader crew.
 * The Dark Island takes the form of a green mist, becoming a sort of sentient threat seeking to "corrupt all goodness" and "steal the light" from the world, rather than the embodiment of fear in Narnia.
 * Caspian is much older and wiser in his personality and manner in the film than in the book, most likely because of the differences in his age. In the book, he is coming of age, close to Edmund and Lucy's ages, whilst in the film, he is in his early twenties.
 * In the book, Eustace tries to steal water whereas in the film, he tries to steal an orange.
 * The geography has been drastically changed for the film, resulting in some of the islands being visited in a different order than they were in the book. In the book, Dark Island came before Ramandu's Island; Dragon Island and Goldwater Island were two separate islands, neither were volcanic and both were visited before Coriakin's Island.
 * In the film, Reepicheep never accompanies Caspian, Edmund and Lucy as they explore each of the islands.
 * In the book, the ship is caught up in a violent storm for two weeks after departing Narrowhaven and arrives at Dragon's Island badly damaged. In the film, the storm comes after departing Magician's Island and before arriving at Goldwater Island and no serious damage is caused.
 * In the book, though it's assumed that Lord Octesian died at Dragon's Island, it's implied variously that he was either killed by or transformed into the dragon that Eustace encounters. In the film, Lord Octesian's remains are found among the dragon treasure and identified by Caspian, though like in the book, it is uncertain what actually killed him.
 * In the film, Edmund is tempted by the powers of the gold water pool on Goldwater Island. In the book, it was Caspian who was tempted.
 * In the film, Coriakin turned the Dufflepuds invisible to protect them from the Green Mist, and they seek Lucy's help because they can't read. In the book, the Dufflepuds turned themselves invisible after Coriakin turned them "ugly" and they sought Lucy's help because only a girl could reverse the spell, but they were too afraid to send their own daughters.
 * Eustace remains a dragon much longer in the film than in the book. In the book, he was unable to follow the Dawn Treader at sea, whilst In the film, he is able to pull the ship when there's no wind.
 * In the film, a page from the Book of Incantations tempts Lucy by showing her as the exact image of Susan; she also casts a spell to make it snow indoors. In the book, she imagined her beauty surpassing Susan's and harmfully used a spell to spy on her friends.
 * Peter was never seen in the book, but he was mentioned.
 * In the film, Ramandu's daughter is a star, not half-star and is named Lilliandil. Her father never appears in the film.
 * In the book, Lilliandil's dress is blue whilst in the film, her dress is white, though the colour of her starly glow is blue as she is a blue star.
 * Lilliandil says that the three Lords were put into a sleep because they were half-mad and threatening violence upon each other when they arrived on the island and "violence is not permitted at Aslan's Table", whereas in the book, they slept because one of them took the Stone Knife and they were not meant to touch it.
 * In the book, Caspian flirts with Lilliandil by referencing Sleeping Beauty. In the film, he states in a formal manner that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.
 * In the book, the Sea Serpent was a dumb brute encountered before arriving at Goldwater Island. In the film, the battle with the Sea Serpent at Dark Island is the climax and the monster is a manifest of the green mist after Edmund accidentally conjures it when thinking of his fears.
 * In the book, Caspian was forbidden by Aslan to sail to the World's End.
 * In the film, Aslan nevers shows up at the World's End in the form of a lamb.
 * In the film, Eustace and Jill Pole are already friends as Jill is mentioned to be visiting Eustace at the end of the film; they were not friends in the book and only knew each other by surname.

Production
Michael Apted was announced as director on April 17, 2007; Andrew Adamson, director of the series' first two films, and Mark Johnson are slated as co-producers. Apted grew up reading the Narnia novels. Bob Beltz of Walden Media said the production company deliberately set up a fast-paced, staggered shooting schedule for the Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair films "in a way that it won't have to be two and a half years between them. We'll be able to bring them out sequentially a year apart". Michael Apted described taking over direction of the series as easy, "What’s fascinating about this particular franchise is how different all the stories are... there’s no element of Narnia in it at all. This is a journey that Caspian the Tenth is making into the islands, outside to the east of Narnia. So it’s interesting, it’s a whole different tone to the other things".

Production designer Roger Ford was replaced by Jan Roelfs. The owners of an AUD 2.1 million 40 metre by 30 metre by 5 metre water tank at Warner Roadshow Studios in Queensland are negotiating with the production company, in the hope that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be filmed there. Filming began in May 2009.

Due to Prince Caspian grossing less than expected, Disney wanted a $100 million budget. However, Walden Media wanted a $140 million budget. On December 24, 2008, Disney chose not to go through with the much anticipated movie. On January 28, 2009, Fox 2000 decided to pick up the franchise, joining Walden Media for the production.

Marketing
In late November 2009, three stills from the film were released on the social networking site, Facebook. In February 2010, Narnia.com, the official domain, returned after a nine-month period of being down, bringing with it exclusive reports from the set. The first official teaser poster was released in May 2010. The first official public trailer for the film was released online on June 17, 2010, before being attached to Toy Story 3 on June 18, 2010. A second trailer was released to the Internet August 05, 2010, after being attached on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid DVD.