This one is even superior to the 1988 BBC TV presentation, which was dull in story, shoddy in effects, less-than-mediocre casting, and horrible action. But I do wish the animation was better. However, the animators did do good on the expressions of the characters. Just as with the 2005 version, everything was as I had imagined, it's just that this was an animated feature, and that was a live action feature. That is the only difference. Some people might wonder why the only thing I dislike about it is the animation, and say that I should have given it a higher rating, since that was the only thing wrong with it. WRONG! With animated films, it is always very complicated to try to understand how to write a review on them. The animation in movies that are animated all the way through should at least mean something when you review them. With movies that are animated at only some parts, this opinion should not be used as much, because, more than likely, there is more live-action in the movie than there is animation.

While certainly the animation is a little dated, this is a wonderful version of the C.S. Lewis classic. My sister and I watched this over and over as kids on our Betamax, and I recently purchased it on DVD and watched it again with my four-year old. She was mesmerized by the trip to Narnia through the wardrobe and all of the adventures with "dear Mr. Tumnus", the White Witch and Aslan. And I must say that I, too, loved seeing it again for the first time in probably 20 years. The actress and actor who lent their voices to the White Witch and Aslan did a phenomenal job. And the action/battle scenes are intense enough to keep even the most squirmy child (or adult) on the edge of their seat but not so scary as to be unsuitable for young children. This movie has been playing almost non-stop in my house since Christmas Day, and I must say that I have enjoyed every showing. An absolute treasure.

This animated version of the first of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia is unsuccessful in that its script does not follow the original book, its animation is crude and more reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons than of the artistic masterpiece it could (and should) have been, and its voice characterizations, which were done by American actors, sound very odd whenever they declaim British-flavored lines scripted directly from the book. These faults removed much of the magic that was the original selling point of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Also, the book's underlying religious theme was completely ignored, although I imagine this was more to protect the broadcaster from criticism than due to any actual neglect on the part of the producers.On the positive side, this show was useful in introducing the land of Narnia to viewers unfamiliar to the story. It is to be hoped that those viewers, enjoying the premise, sought out the written chronicles, and later watched the 1988 live-action version, which is far superior to this.

I remember cutting short a picnic with some friends so I could get home in time to see this film at Easter 1980 (or was it '81, my how time flies). It gave me the same feeling I had when I first read the book. The English voices were excellently cast and whenever I read the book it is their voices I here in my head. Strange why they left out Farther Christmas and changed the name of Maugrim the wolf to Fenris Ulf (do all films have to deviate from their books for no apparent reason?)The animation may be simplistic (especially by todays computer aided standards) but the story is so well told that it doesn't need the fancy graphics ladled on it.A must see by anyone who has just read the books and wants to see it on screen (actually I have an hour to spare, I think I'll go watch it now).