Jadis, or the White Witch, has loomed large over The Chronicles of Narnia since its inception, arguably standing out more as a fully formed character to older audiences when most of the main cast are children. The villainess and evil queen of Narnia was played to perfection by Tilda Swinton in the Narnia movies of the 2000s — who was so good they kept finding ways to bring her back into the story in the sequels, in which she is not the main threat. However, Greta Gerwig’s Narnia reboot has now found its White Witch in Barbie star Emma Mackey.
Gerwig and Netflix’s Narnia movies will certainly change some things from the book and the previous movies as the visionary director puts her spin on the story’s framework. Jadis herself has evolved over the years from the original Snow Queen-inspired figure of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to a more human evil brought to life by Swinton, her impact also affected by modern analysis. Gerwig and Mackey will breathe fresh life into this beloved fantasy villain, making now the time to look back on past iterations of her.
The Chronicles Of Narnia’s White Witch Book Description Explained
Lewis’ Original White Witch Is A Fairy Tale Evil Queen Rather Than An Epic Fantasy Villain
C. S. Lewis’ original description of the White Witch is far more rooted in fairy tales, rendering a humanoid character who is utterly inhuman, something readers of today’s new adult fantasy can understand when it comes to the descriptions of many popular fae characters. The illustrations and text of The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe say Jadis is seven feet tall, very beautiful, with black hair, red lips, and stark white skin. Her complexion is the result of taking one of the apples from the Tree of Youth by force, reminding Edmund later of “snow or paper or icing-sugar.”
Jadis is also credited with the attributes of “fierceness and pride” and looking “proud and cold and stern.” The Disney movies didn’t have the time to go into all of her powers, which include immortality, shapeshifting, and knowledge of the Deplorable Word, which could destroy all living things in a world. She is characterized as completely unfeeling, caring only about herself and her own power and seeing everyone and everything else as there to serve her. This persona translated over to the movie, but given the different medium, manifested and made itself clear to the audience in different ways.
How Tilda Swinton’s Jadis In The Disney Movies Compares To The Narnia Books
Swinton Used The Movie Medium To Show More Subtleties Of Jadis
Tilda Swinton is going to be hard to beat when she decidedly gave one of the best fantasy movie villain performances of all time years ago. She portrays Jadis with the same coldness and cruelty that comes across in the books, but because this is a visual medium, she can show her moments of faltering and panic with subtle mannerisms choices. The scope and description of her powers are limited by the movie’s runtime. Additionally, because she was originally given that entirely unrealistic Snow White-like description, the filmmakers re-designed her slightly.
The cosmetics and costuming departments of 2005’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe seemed to favor light colors all around to allude to the iciness of Jadis, deciding on a blonde wig, using light blues and whites, accenting it with white furs and an icicle crown. However, they also gave Jadis more variety with her golden and chain-mail get-up for the final battle, which shows her as a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly warrior and invokes her pride in having cut down Aslan. They ultimately made her a bit more human as she had to be played by a real actress, but found other ways to convey her terrifying fantasy nature.
How The Narnia Remake’s Take On The White Witch Compares To The Books & Prior Movies
Emma Mackey Will Probably Draw On Her Experience To Make Jadis More Layered
Emma Mackey’s experience spans a variety of dramas that make it possible to perceive what Gerwig sees in her now, though we might not have witnessed her most dramatically villainous moments yet. Mackey has starred as the famous Brontë in Emily and played her part in a murder mystery in Death on the Nile, along with some period piece and comedy work. Knowing Gerwig, she will probably bring to life a more complex version of the White Witch that delves into why she wants this power and hints at more vulnerability.
Mackey also has naturally dark hair, and it would be great to see her keep this on-screen, getting past the idea that, because she’s essentially the Snow Queen, it has to be all light colors — which would also bring Jadis a little bit closer back to her original description. Jadis isn’t necessarily ᴀssociated with winter yet in The Magician’s Nephew, which seems to be the novel that Gerwig is adapting first. The plot of this book will also allow Gerwig to better show the range of the witch’s power, which will hopefully lend itself to a more textured vision of The Chronicles of Narnia overall.
The Chronicles of Narnia
- Created by
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C.S. Lewis
- First Film
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Latest Film
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- First TV Show
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The Chronicles of Narnia
- First Episode Air Date
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November 13, 1988
Summary
The Chronicles of Narnia is a fantasy franchise based on the seven-book series written by C.S. Lewis between 1950 and 1956. The series is set in the magical world of Narnia, where children from our world are transported to fulfill prophecies, battle evil forces, and restore peace under the guidance of Aslan, a mystical lion. The franchise has seen multiple adaptations, including a BBC television series in the late 1980s, three major Hollywood films between 2005 and 2010, and an upcoming reboot by Netflix, which has generated significant anticipation. The franchise is beloved for its rich allegorical storytelling, blending Christian themes with epic fantasy elements.
