If you grew up in the eighties or nineties, there is a specific kind of core memory associated with a certain grainy, slightly eerie version of Narnia. It isn't the big-budget Disney spectacle with the talking CGI beasts. It’s the 1979 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe animated film. Most people actually forget this exists until they see a screenshot of the White Witch’s strangely tall crown or Aslan’s oddly soulful, hand-drawn eyes. Then it all comes rushing back.
It’s weird. It’s clunky in spots. Honestly, it’s kinda terrifying for a kids' movie.
Produced by Bill Melendez—the same guy who gave us the iconic Peanuts specials—and Children's Television Workshop, this was the first ever feature-length animated film made for television. It premiered over two nights on CBS. Millions watched it. Yet, in the shadow of the Walden Media live-action trilogy, this version has become a bit of a cult relic. But here’s the thing: it captures the "vibe" of C.S. Lewis’s prose in a way that modern high-definition sheen sometimes misses.
What Actually Happened with the 1979 Narnia Production?
The backstory of how this movie got made is actually a bit of a logistical nightmare. You had an American director, a British voice cast (mostly), and a production pipeline that felt experimental for the time. Bill Melendez wasn't exactly known for high fantasy; he was the Snoopy guy. Bringing the high-stakes theology and European mythology of Narnia into a Saturday morning cartoon aesthetic was a massive gamble.
The animation was handled by a studio in the UK called TVC (Television Cartoons). Because of this, the film has a very distinct "British" feel despite the American money behind it. It’s got that flat, cel-shaded look that reminds you of The Snowman or Yellow Submarine, but with a sharper edge.
One of the most fascinating trivia bits that people get wrong is the voice acting. Depending on where you watched it, you heard different people. There’s an American dub and a British dub. In the UK version, the legendary Sheila Hancock voiced the White Witch. She was chilling. In the US version, it was Beth Porter. If you feel like the movie sounds "different" than you remember, you might just be listening to the wrong track on YouTube.
The White Witch was actually scary back then
Let’s be real. Tilda Swinton was icy and regal. But the animated White Witch? She was a fever dream. She had this jagged, almost skeletal design. When she offers Edmund that Turkish Delight, it doesn’t look like gourmet candy; it looks like a trap. The animators used a lot of sharp angles for her character, contrasting with the soft, rounder edges of the Pevensie children.
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It worked.
The scene where she humiliates Aslan at the Stone Table? It’s brutal. Even in 1979, the censors let a lot slide. The imagery of the creatures—the hags, the ogres, the Cruels—was pure nightmare fuel for a seven-year-old. They looked like something pulled straight from a medieval woodcut.
Why the 1979 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Animated Film Matters Now
Modern movies try too hard to make everything "realistic."
But Narnia isn't real. It's a dream world. Animation understands this intuitively. In the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe animated film, the transitions from the professor's house into the snowy woods of Narnia feel fluid. There’s a specific sequence where Lucy walks through the fur coats, and they slowly morph into fir trees. It’s simple. It’s low-tech. It’s perfect.
Technical limitations created the atmosphere
The budget wasn't infinite. You can see it in the "cycle" animations where characters run in place against a moving background. But those limitations forced the creators to focus on the color palette. Narnia under the 100-year winter is blue, grey, and suffocating. When spring arrives—when "Aslan is on the move"—the colors don't just brighten; they bleed into the frame. It’s a visual representation of hope that CGI sometimes struggles to replicate because it's too busy worrying about the physics of individual blades of grass.
Regan Lodge, a noted animation historian, once pointed out that the 1979 film succeeded because it didn't try to be an action movie. It was a mood piece. It took its time with Mr. Tumnus. It let the silence of the woods hang there.
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The Aslan Problem
Is the lion perfect? No.
Drawing a lion is hard. Animating one is harder. There are moments where Aslan looks a bit like a very large, very tired golden retriever. But his voice—provided by Stephen Thorne in the UK version—had this resonant, booming authority. It felt ancient.
One common misconception is that the movie skips the deeper themes of the book. Actually, it’s surprisingly faithful. It keeps the "Deep Magic" conversation intact. It doesn't shy away from the sacrifice. It’s arguably more faithful to the pacing of the book than the 2005 movie, which added a bunch of chase sequences and battles to make it feel more like Lord of the Rings.
Comparing the Versions: A Quick Reality Check
If you're looking for a definitive Narnia experience, you have to weigh your options.
- The 1979 Cartoon: Best for atmosphere, nostalgia, and a "fairytale" aesthetic. Short runtime makes it punchy.
- The 1988 BBC Miniseries: Uses live-action and puppets. The beaver costumes are... well, they’re basically carpet remnants. But the acting is top-tier.
- The 2005 Disney/Walden Film: Great for scale and Liam Neeson’s voice. But it feels very "Hollywood."
Most fans who return to the 1979 version do it for the soundtrack. Michael J. Lewis composed the score, and it is haunting. It’s heavy on the woodwinds and strings, creating a sense of melancholy that fits a land where it is "always winter but never Christmas."
What Most People Forget About the Ending
The "Battle of Beruna" in this film isn't a twenty-minute epic. It’s quick. It’s chaotic. And then, suddenly, it’s over.
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The film ends with the Pevensies as adults, hunting the White Stag. This is one of the best parts of the animation. Seeing the children grow into "Kings and Queens" within the span of a few frames is a powerful use of the medium. When they stumble back through the wardrobe and find that no time has passed, the transition back to the "real" world feels jarring and sad—exactly as Lewis intended.
Finding the Movie Today
Finding a high-quality version of the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe animated film is a bit of a scavenger hunt. It’s been released on DVD multiple times, often in those "budget" bins at grocery stores. It isn't currently sitting on a major streaming service like Disney+ because the rights are a tangled mess between the C.S. Lewis Company and the various production entities that have shifted hands over the last forty years.
But it’s out there.
Check your local library or secondary markets. It is worth the watch, even if just to see how 1970s animators interpreted the "Turkish Delight" scene. (Spoiler: it still looks like purple soap, but Edmund sells the heck out of it).
Actionable Steps for the Narnia Enthusiast
If you want to revisit this specific era of Narnia or introduce it to a new generation, here is how to do it right:
- Track down the Emmy-winning version: This film won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program in 1979. Look for the "remastered" DVD releases from the mid-2000s to avoid the worst of the film grain.
- Do a "Dubs" Comparison: If you can find both the US and UK audio tracks, listen to the White Witch in both. It completely changes the tone of the movie.
- Watch for the Backgrounds: Pay attention to the hand-painted matte backgrounds. They are arguably the most beautiful part of the production and hold up better than the character animation itself.
- Pair it with the Book: Since this version is only 95 minutes long, it’s a great visual aid for a classroom or a family read-aloud session. It follows the plot beats of the book almost exactly.
- Check out the "Peanuts" connection: Watch a few scenes of A Charlie Brown Christmas and then watch Narnia. You’ll start to see Melendez’s influence in the character movements and the way the children are framed in the shot.
The 1979 version isn't just a relic. It's a testament to a time when TV movies were allowed to be weird, slightly dark, and deeply earnest. It doesn't need a billion dollars in CGI to tell a story about a lion and a wardrobe. It just needs a few good drawings and a haunting score.