Narnia Books Similiar To Disney

[jasmine_tarkheena]

In some aspects, the Narnia books have some similarities to Disney movies.

The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe- Frozen. Both stories involved an eternal winter and both were inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen. (The Snow Queen rides in a sleigh and encounters a boy, similar to how the White Witch encounters Edmund).

Prince Caspian- The Lion King. Both have a murderous uncle and the nephew is the hero of the story. Both are often viewed as retelling of Shakespeare's well known play, Hamlet. The difference, both Prince Caspian and The Lion King each have a happier ending than Hamlet.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- Beauty and the Beast. Eustace is turned into a dragon to see what a "beast" he has been. Both stories have "love tame the savage beast" feel (it was Aslan's love that help the undragonning of Eustace).

The Silver Chair- The Rescuers. Both are a rescue story. Much like two mice, Bernard and Bianca, are on a mission to rescue a child, Eustace and Jill are on a mission to rescue a prince.

The Horse And His Boy- Aladdin. The Horse and His Boy is "Arabian Nights in Narnia". Aladdin is one of the stories from Arabian Nights or 1001 Nights. Both even have the theme of how appearances is very deceiving.

The Magician's Nephew- Atlantis: The Lost Empire. A science fiction movie about a city that was swallowed up over thousands of years ago. Uncle Andrew even makes a reference to Atlantis.

The Last Battle- Pocahontas. Both stories has a "man vs nature" story line in some aspect. Narnians vs Calormenes much like Native Americans vs English Settlers. Plus both have a greedy leader who want to conquer the world, except I don't think Rishda was as much as set on becoming the Tisroc like Governor Radcliffe was set on becoming King of England.

Are there any other Disney movies that might be similar to the Narnia books?

[Lily of Archenland]

....I think it is less about similarity to Disney specifically, and more that both Lewis and Disney liked to draw on older fairytale and mythical sources for inspiration. And in some cases they were only using the same trope, or plot element, rather than both drawing on the same older story at all.

As for The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, while it has Snow Queen elements it also draws on other sources of inspiration? I've heard the wardrobe-portal idea may have been inspired by Edith Nesbit, and I know that Lewis was also referencing his hero George McDonald's book Lilith - he was conscious enough of it to have the Beavers name Lilith as a probable ancestor of the Witch, the Witch looks remarkably similar to GM's take on Lilith (eerily beautiful with very pale skin and, per the Pauline Baynes illustrations, dark hair), and they both share the motif of the villain-queen trying to stop a prophecy of a child ending her reign.

[jasmine_tarkheena]

In the animated version of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, the design of the White Witch almost resembles the Wicked Queen in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.

[Lily of Archenland]

Huh. I haven't seen the animated version yet, in spite of being a Narnia girl since I was tiny...

[jasmine_tarkheena]

I guess when you have evil queens (the White Witch and The Lady of the Green Kirtle and the Wicked Queen or Maleficent) or murderous uncles (Miraz and Scar) or handsome villains wanting to marry beautiful ladies (Prince Rabadash and Gaston) or greedy leaders to conquer the land (Rishda and Governor Ratcliffe), maybe that what it comes down to.