MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — While a funeral took place in the sanctuary at Hope Presbyterian Church, downstairs in the basement approximately 100 evangelical, mainline Protestant, and Catholic church leaders enthusiastically applauded.

They were watching a special 10-minute preview screening of Walt Disney's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which opens in theaters Dec. 9.

Walt Disney and Walden Media partnered with Motive Entertainment to set up more than 145 such screenings across the country in an effort to market the film to faith leaders. Walt Disney Studios hopes to create the kind of grassroots “buzz” and support that accompanied last year's The Passion of the Christ.

Based upon the response of those gathered in Minneapolis, the film may be headed to blockbuster status.

“We have an aging church,” said participant Steve Vannatta, from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Owatonna, Minn. “I’d like to use the film to connect with younger members and their families.”

“We partnered with The Passion of the Christ,” said John Quam, national facilitator for global ministries with Mission America Coalition, an evangelical organization that's been hired to help promote the film to pastors. “God loved that because he did it through an industry that despises him,” Quam told the pastors gathered at the church.

“People knew what they were getting with the Passion, so they either went or didn't go. With the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, God is going to do something mighty,” he added.

The seven books that make up C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia have sold a combined 85 million copies in more than 40 languages since 1950.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first book in the series — second in newer, reordered sets. The film's producers have said that they hope to make movies of all the books depending upon how the first film is received.

In the allegorical story, four children stumble upon a wardrobe that transports them to the world of Narnia, a land that is trapped in an unending winter and is ruled by the White Witch. Aslan, the lion who created Narnia, sacrifices his life to save another, and is resurrected. Aslan and the children battle to defeat the witch and reclaim Narnia.

Lewis, a Christian convert, repeatedly drew parallels between the character of Aslan and the person of Jesus Christ. In a letter to a mother who was concerned that her son, Laurence, might love Aslan more than Christ, Lewis wrote:

“Laurence can't really love Aslan more than Jesus, even if he feels that's what he is doing,” said Lewis. “For the things he loves Aslan for doing or saying are simply things that Jesus really did and said. So that when Laurence thinks he is loving Aslan, he is really loving Jesus; and perhaps loving him more than he ever did before.”

Will it Be Faithful?

The question everyone wants answered is whether the movie retains the Christian elements found in the book.

“Is this faithful to the book in its story and imagery?” asked Quam. “Absolutely,” he responded. “The Christian story is in the movie. People will discover the truth from this film, but they will need help.”

In an effort to help audiences understand the imagery and metaphors, Vista, Calif.-based Outreach Inc., has created devotional guides and booklets, free sermons, promotional materials, a collection of C.S. Lewis experts, and a list of 18 ideas to help churches use the film for Christian outreach.

One of the promotional postcard designs shows the book's character Lucy Pevensie standing alongside the lit lamppost in Narnia's endless winter. Along the top, the postcard asks, “What if there were no Christmas?”

Catholics hope to use the film as a springboard as well.

Randy Mueller, faith formation director at Nativity parish in St. Paul, and youth minister Robert Fischer attended the screening.

“We hope to promote it in the parish, but we don't yet know how,” said Mueller. “I'm hoping to work with the archdiocesan evangelization initiative to reach those who have left the Church and those who have never been churched.”

Among Mueller's ideas are buying bulk tickets for screenings for families, and a showing for teens, followed by a Narnia party.

Hoping to reproduce the success of their Passion of the Christ book, which sold more than a million copies, Ascension Press is releasing A Guide to Narnia: 100 Questions About the Chronicles of Narnia” just in time for the release of the film.

“This has been a curious relationship between Disney and the Christian community,” said Quam. “Disney wants the church to promote their movie, but they don't want it coming out that they are producing a Christian movie.”

Key proponents of the film — Michael Flaherty, president of Walden Media, director Andrew Adamson, and even Lewis’ stepson — have sought to reassure potential moviegoers that the film is faithful to the story.

“People told us that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the No. 1 children's book,” said Flaherty. “But they also told us, ‘You must be faithful to this book.’”

“We made the commitment that Lewis’ values are intact in the film,” added Adamson, whose previous box office credits include Shrek and Shrek 2.

Not everyone's happy that the book has been made into a major motion picture.

In Florida, some are upset that a Christian book has been made a part of the state's “Just Read, Florida!” program at the same time that the film is coming out.

“What's the state of Florida doing in this cabal of Christian commerce?” asked Palm Beach columnist Frank Cerabino. “We're opening up the public schools to some backdoor catechism lessons in the guise of getting kids to read.”

“The highest virtue, we have on the authority of the New Testament itself, is love, and yet you find not a trace of that in the books,” long-time Lewis critic Phillip Pullman told The Observer. He described the Narnia books as, “a peevish blend of racist, misogynistic and reactionary prejudice.”

C.S. Lewis scholars disagree.

“In the Chronicles, love is expressed through obedience and self-sacrifice,” said Joseph Pearce, Lewis scholar and writer-in-residence at Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla. “Love and responsibility go together. If Pullman says there is no sense of love in the Narnia books, he has no idea what love is.”

Act One Executive Director Barbara Nicolosi saw a nearly-finished version of the film and described it as “deep magic.”

“The tone of [the film] is as close to the book as probably could have been achieved,” Nicolosi wrote on her web log “Church of the Masses.” “All the lines the Christians are worrying about are in there. All the scenes you want to see are here and lovingly rendered. Aslan is absolutely discernible as a figure of Jesus — for those who have eyes to see.”

That excites Catholics, such as Dave Shaneyfelt, an attorney in Ventura, Calif. He can't wait for the film to open.

“I will be there on opening day with probably six of my seven kids,” said Shaneyfelt. “We were initially worried when we saw that Disney was behind this, but then I read that Disney did not exercise creative control over the movie. That means there's a good chance the movie will be faithful to what C.S. Lewis wanted — a good Christian allegory.”

Tim Drake writes from St. Joseph, Minnesota.