A lion's voice...

[eldritchhobbit]

The latest news from NarniaWeb is quite interesting:

The big news of the Biola Media Conference is that Brian Cox is no longer doing the voice of Aslan! Apparently he has lost some weight and his voice has changed.

Reportedly, Jason Isaacs, Timothy Dalton, Sean Bean, Gerard Butler, Ian McKellen, and Ralph Fiennes have all auditioned for the part. No choice has yet been made. Stay tuned as we’re covering this breaking story!

Having to make that choice would be... a pretty remarkable challenge, I would imagine.


And now, a quote for the day:

"I like them to talk nonsense. That's man's one privilege over all creation. Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err! You never reach any truth without making fourteen mistakes and very likely a hundred and fourteen."

from Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky

Comments

[penfold-x.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I'm for any of those choices. Particularly not Jason Issacs, who has a lovely voice, but would be constantly reminding me of Lucius Malfoy.

Timothy Dalton? That one really is random.

I think Aslan needs a deep, authoritative voice. James Earl Jones would be good, except that I'd be stuck thinking of Darth Vader (again, too much with the Evil) or the father lion in the Lion King (that one really is too close).

I think Brian Blessed ought to be given an audition, as well as John Rys-Davies. I think Blessed resonates better than any of those on the list, very warm and full, friendly while authoritative. And he hasn't had that much exposure as of late, so I won't likely be thinking of wizards or dwarves or whatnot.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I can see (or should I say hear?) Dalton. His voice has "aged" and deepened quite nicely, and I like the irony of taking him from his stage work with His Dark Materials (seeing that Pullman styles himself as the "anti-C.S. Lewis") to do the voice of Aslan. Brian Blessed would definitely be a worthy choice and, as you so rightly put it, he hasn't been highly visible in the same way some of the others have lately. An interesting issue, particularly since things are speeding along with the film in every other way -- this must be an eleventh hour dilemma for them! It will be fascinating to learn who ultimately is cast.