Attending the Prince Caspian World Premiere

Hi folks, Tirian here. On Monday morning, Disney offered me a couple of tickets to the Prince Caspian world premiere. I couldn’t very well turn down this exciting opportunity, so my wife (Mrs. T) and I found a babysitter for our energetic toddler (Little T) and hopped on an airplane. Suffice to say, we had an amazing time.

Now please remember that I can’t talk specifically about the movie itself until after it is released. I can tell you, though, that I thought it was very well done and definitely faithful to the spirit of the book. Going into the movie, I had a list of things that I was worried about and each one of my fears turned out to be unfounded. Trust the film-makers: this is a well-done film from all angles. After the film is released in the United States on May 16th, I’ll publish my full review.

We arrived at the red carpet at 4:30pm and staked out our spot next to the folks from NarniaFans and The Lions Call. We all collaborated throughout the red carpet event, asking questions and sharing audio and photos. Shortly before 6:00 pm, guards in Telmarine armor (bearing shields and spears) marched in and stood at attention. Soon, actors started drifting down the media line giving interviews to the press. The three fan sites were stationed between One News (from New Zealand) and Disney Channel Brazil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the stars that we talked to and a bit of what they said:

Vincent Grass: He was very gracious and spent a lot of time with the media. He lives in France, where he said the Chronicles are not as well-known. He saw the first film then quickly went out and read the next book when he understood that he might be cast in Prince Caspian.

Harry Gregson-Williams: He seemed genuinely disappointed not to be working on the next film. He joked that David Arnold will probably pull all of his themes to bits.

Alicia Borrachero: She was very friendly, giving us her complete attention. She said that she had never shot a crossbow before working on this film and that it was pretty exciting giving birth on screen.

Georgie Henley: She has grown up so much from the first film but still has a beautiful, child-like exuberance. She told us that she tried to bring back the potty-mouth jar but that it was too hard to enforce. People weren’t as careful around her anymore because she was older. They said, “oh, you’re almost a teenager. You’ll be hearing these things in school.” She also told us that Skandar tried to get the check-the-gate song going again but wasn’t very successful.

Skandar Keynes: Standing side-by-side with Perry Moore, he told us about some of the excitement he had while in New Zealand going skydiving. Perry Moore told us that Skandar showed exceptionally good taste by buying his shirt for the premiere at Paul Smith, though he promised Ben Barnes that he would wear a tie to the next premiere.

Ben Barnes: We overheard him discussing The History Boys. He grinned and said, “The less said about that the better.”

Isis Mussenden & Gomez Sandoval: Isis told us that she will be working on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (VDT), though at the moment she is working with Sam Raimi on his new film (apparently it’s a horror flick). Her son Gomez was all smiles and excited to be appearing in his first film as Lightning Bolt, the child centaur.

Ash Jones: He plays a short role in the train station at the beginning and end of the film titled “Geeky Boy”. A New Zealand actor, Ash had been a train-station extra in the first film and was excited to return in a slightly more substantial role. He’s also starring in Laundry Warrior coming out next year, so be sure to watch out for him!

After all the stars were in the theater we hurried in through a back door, bagged up our cameras, and found our seats in the fourth row. The movie started a few minutes later and the 2 hours and 27 minutes sped by. After the film we filed out past many of the stars. It was really special to hear everyone greeting each other and congratulating Andrew. Skandar came up to Tilda Swinton and gave her a huge hug, saying, “We had the best scene in the movie! Best scene in the movie!”

They shuttled us over to the New York Public Library, where there were jesters, minstrels, jugglers, and magicians performing throughout the library. For the kids, there were activities like making your own shield and creating Narnian jewelry. For the adults, there were green-screen photo booths set up throughout the library where you could have your photo superimposed over a digital Prince Caspian background.

Throughout the evening, we had the opportunity to congratulate and talk with Howard Berger, Tami Lane, Dean Wright, Douglas Gresham, Andrew Adamson, Micheal and Chip Flaherty, Cary Granat, Perry Moore, Skandar Keynes, Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, and Ben Barnes.

Micheal Flaherty told us that due to the Disney marketing efforts, Prince Caspian now has a 98% awareness level among movie-goers.

Howard Berger said that he is working on another Disney film right now but as soon as he is finished with that he will be jumping into The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with both feet. About his work, he said, “I’d be happy to live in Narnia.”

Mild Spoiler:
When we told Anna Popplewell that some people were nervous about the Caspian kiss, she exclaimed: “Me most of all!” She said she was glad that the flirting had been removed from the final cut of the film, so that the kiss was more of an impetuous thing rather than a running theme.

Well after midnight, the party was starting to wind down. It seems fitting that one of the last people we talked to was Andrew Adamson. We thanked him for working so hard to make a film that is true to the story and that the fans will love. We are very excited for you all to see the movie soon and hear your reactions. NarniaWeb will soon have the movie review function up so you too will be able to post your Prince Caspian movie review.

Click here to view our entire slideshow of photos from the premiere.