Family Pick - the Voyage of the Dawn Treader DVD!

I'm very happy to announce our new Family Pick . . . the Voyage of the Dawn Treader DVD! This long-awaited movie releases on April 8, 2011 and will be available on DVD and Blu-ray. It is rated PG for "some frightening images and sequences of fantasy action". I found most of it was not "frightening", but the scenes where the "green mist" "consumes" a boat of people and the end scenes where the sea serpent is fighting Edmund, are intense and could be too frightening for a child.


While the directors certainly took some "liberties" with this story and added things you won't find in the original book, overall they stayed with the story and I enjoyed this addition to the Chronicles of Narnia! I especially appreciate the many opportunities it provides for parents to talk with their children about the important messages throughout the move . . . 

• Edmund, in particular, is having a difficult time with his "real" life not matching up with his life in Narnia. Parents could talk with their children about how there very well may be times in our lives when things aren't going as we want them to, but even in those times the choices we make as to the attitudes we have and the actions we take really do matter.
• Lucy struggles with wanting to be "beautiful" like her sister, Susan. Parents have a great opportunity to talk with their children about not comparing themselves to anyone else and follow up with Aslan when he told Lucy her siblings would not have found Narnia without her. In the same way, each child has an important role to fill in their own lives. There are people who they will be able to show Jesus to!
• Eustace obviously is obnoxious in the beginning of the movie, but by the end of the story he is the one whose life undergoes the most change when he comes face-to-face with Aslan. Our lives also will change when we come face-to-face with Jesus!
• Throughout the story there are instances where the characters are faced with various temptations and have to overcome those temptations - we can talk with our children and let them know Jesus truly wants to help us overcome our temptations!
• And finally, there are those in the story who make good choices and this provides the opportunity for parents to talk with their children about the choices they are facing in their every-day lives, too!

I would have liked it if they didn't add the parts with the White Witch, green mist and the father and daughter who join the voyage as they really were not necessary for the movie to tell us an excellent story, but I am a fan of the Narnia movies and enjoyed this latest addition to the series. I would really love to see them make, "The Silver Chair" . . . my personal favorite of all the Narnia books and sincerely hope they do!

I'm delighted to say Fox/Walden Media is sending me an additional copy of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader DVD to give away in a drawing on April 1st!  If you have "liked" this blog using the tab in the "follow us on facebook" box on the right side of this page, then you are entered in the drawing for this movie! If you haven't "liked" us yet, take a moment to do so and you will be entered in the drawing! It is this simple! In addition, you may have a second entry in the drawing by "following" us with the tab to the right which says, "follow with Google friend connect". While you are doing these things, please also take a moment to vote for About the Children's Department in the kidmin blog madness competition - East Regional #4! 

Thank you Fox/Walden Media for sending me the Voyage of the Dawn Treader for review purposes and an additional dvd for my give-away!


"Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the products of services mentioned above for free in the hopes I would mention them on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: 'Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.'"