Hold on to your hats, C.S. Lewis fans, for “there are a thousand stories in the land of Narnia; the first is about to be told.” The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe hits theaters Dec. 9.

“I’m so excited to see it,” said Jacque Muehlmann, a junior from American Fork, Utah. “Along with the Lord of the Rings series, my dad read me the Chronicles of Narnia when I was little.”

Based on the novel by Lewis, the film tracks the adventures of Susan (Anna Popplewell), Peter (William Moseley), Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Londoner children living at a professor’s house for protection during World War II.

The professor keeps the children under strict rules in his massive home, and their stay proves boring until Lucy finds a magical wardrobe that leads to the land of Narnia, ruled by a talking lion named Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson).

Narnia may be magical, but wonderful it is not, for the White Witch Jadis (Tilda Swinton) causes constant sorrow and makes sure it is always winter.

The children soon transform into sword-wielding warriors when they learn their destiny is to battle the White Witch. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first in a series of adventures for the four British children, directed by Andrew Adamson.

Walden Media has optioned all seven books in the series for film development, according to www.imdb.com.