The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. The series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts, and talking animals. The novels revolve around the fantastical country of Narnia, which was guarded over by Aslan, the Great Lion, and was filled with humans, talking animals, and other mythical creatures. Narnia was a land of rolling hills rising into low mountains to the south, and was predominantly forested, except for marshlands in the north).

Lewis borrowed most of Narnia from other works, legends, and his own religious background. The Pevensie children were based on actual children who came to live with Lewis during the Blitz in World War II; Puddleglum the Marsh-Wiggle was based on Lewis’ gardener, Fred Paxford; and Lewis himself can be seen as the basis for Professor Digory Kirke. Although Lewis pleaded ignorance about the source of his inspiration for Aslan, Jared Lobdell, digging into Lewiss history to explore the making of the series, suggests Charles Williamss 1931 novel The Place of the Lion as a likely influence.

If you know nothing else about the Narnia books, you know that Lewis wrote them as Christian allegory. While there are definitely Christian references and themes in there, Lewis simply asked himself: suppose there was a world like Narnia—how would God save it as he saved this one? . All four movies contain an underlying Christian message, but it is the first movie that is more heavily imbued with biblical symbolism. The lion’s behavior throughout the movies, especially the first one, can be described as very similar to the biblical God. He is a leader, and yet he lets Peter, one of the four children played by William Moseley, fight his own battles both as a test and to encourage him to earn his place as high king of Narnia at the end of the movie.