Why A Chronicles Of Narnia Sequel Left Liam Neeson Frustrated

When people think of The Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan is one of the first characters that comes to mind — and with it, the deep rumbling voice of the great Liam Neeson. Neeson voiced the fantasy iteration of Jesus Christ (it’s not an allegory — he’s literally Jesus in another form in another world) for all three of the Narnia films released from 2005 to 2010. The first two movies, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe” and “Prince Caspian,” feature Aslan in a significant role. As with C.S Lewis’ source material, however, the third film, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” gives Aslan far less to do in terms of the story. It seems that it was also a significantly less enjoyable experience for Neeson himself as he voiced the Great Lion.

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In a 2010 interview with the fansite NarniaWeb, the Irish-born actor was asked if it was difficult to portray Aslan in “Dawn Treader” given his reduced screen time. In response, Neeson explained that it wasn’t just the brevity of the role that made it trickier for him to bring the character to life:

“Well, I’d be honest with you. It was a little frustrating because I wasn’t part of the film process. I wasn’t on location, I wasn’t with the kids, I wasn’t with the film crew. They brought me in at the end to put in an anonymous sound booth, either in Toronto or Vancouver or here in London. That was a little frustrating.”

Despite the frustrations of working off-set, Neeson received some help from Andrew Adamson, who had directed and co-written the previous two Narnia films. While Adamson didn’t serve in either of those positions on “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” he was still involved with the project as a producer. Neeson explained that despite the frustrations of being closeted in a sound booth, he worked with Adamson to come up with something worthy of an Aslan-level performance:

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“We worked very, very closely. He showed me the computer imaging of what Aslan would ultimately look like. We experimented with various vocal tones that we would find a sound that was right for this creation, this Lion. And it was very interesting. It was a different focus. It was a different mindset as this thing from being on set, acting with other actors.”

Neeson added that the gravity of the role was not lost on him, too:

“And I was aware, of course, of what Aslan stands for in these films, and I was ultimately very comfortable with that.”

With Netflix and filmmaker Greta Gerwig preparing their own Narnia adaptation (which is starting with the prequel “The Magician’s Nephew” and has Meryl Streep lined up to lend her voice to a gender-swapped Aslan), that means they’ll have to pass the high bar previously set by Neeson, Adamson, and company. We’ll see if they’re able to please the large, multi-generational, multi-faceted fanbase of Lewis’ seminal work of Christian fantasy fiction soon enough.

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