The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1979 film) video. The CBS program had 37 million viewers. It would win an Emmy Award. The only actor to appear in both versions was Stephen Thorne (who portrayed Aslan). The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1979 film) The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an animated television film that was broadcast on CBS in 1979, based on the novel of the same name by C. S. Lewis. When four children Lucy, Susan, Edmund and Peter stumble into an old Wardrobe they find themselves in a magical land called Narnia with talking animals, fauns, hags, the Wicked White Witch and
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe finishing the first novel. He completed the sequel by end of 1949, less than a year after finishing the initial book. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" had few readers during 1949 and was not published until late in 1950, so his initial enthusiasm did not stem from favourable reception by the public. While Lewis is known today on the strength of the Narnia stories as a highly successful children’s writer, the initial critical response was muted. At the time it was fashionable for children's stories to be realistic; fantasy and fairy tales were seen as indulgent, appropriate only