What?? This is about Christianity?!?" That was my reaction when I learned that C.S. Lewis's Narnia series—the classic fantasy books I'd first come across (and adored) as a child—were packed with Christian allegories. Like so many young readers, I had been completely unaware of the religious elements on which Lewis, a devout believer, based his tales.

But as Disney's blockbuster film version of the first book of the series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, nears its December 9 premiere, that reality is becoming harder to ignore. The scuttlebutt among fans and the media is over whether the film will retain the religious elements of the author's vision—and the answer: very likely.

For one thing, there's the story itself, in which four siblings find themselves in a magical world ruled by the cruel White Witch and are eventually delivered to safety by the great lion Aslan. Along the way, Aslan makes a sacrifice to save one of the humans: He allows himself to be bound, crucifixion-style, to a stone tablet and killed by his enemies, only to be—wait for it—resurrected.

What's more, director Andrew Adamson (Shrek and Shrek 2) has said in interviews that he was intent on remaining faithful to the story as Lewis wrote it. That's good news indeed for conservative Christian groups, which, ever since the staggering success of The Passion of the Christ, have forged ever-closer ties with Hollywood. "If they came anywhere near portraying the book [accurately], there'd be no way they could eliminate the Christianity from the story," says Charmaine Yoest, a senior fellow with the Family Research Council, a Christian advocacy group . "It's so integral, the sacrifice that Aslan makes—you can't erase the Scriptural outline of that."

Lewis's stepson and film coproducer, Douglas Gresham, agrees: "[My stepfather] did not write The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as a 'Christian book.' But if you are a Christian, the pervasive moral and ethical lessons and values that it contains and champions will undoubtedly seem to you to be Christian messages."

Disney and its production partner Walden Media (which owns the movie rights to the book and has made family films including Holes) are certainly not ignoring those messages. Although representatives from both companies declined to be interviewed for this story, their efforts speak volumes. They have targeted part of their marketing campaign at religious audiences, hiring Motive Marketing (which also worked on The Passion) and Grace Hill Media, whose tagline is "Helping Hollywood reach people of faith."

To get the word out, sneak-peek trailers were shown to faith organizations as early as last spring, and full screenings took place in October. Educational materials based on the movie have been offered via Motive's and Walden's websites. And for the sonically spiritual, Disney partnered with EMI to release a soundtrack of Christian music inspired by the movie.

So will Chronicles ultimately be sold as a mini Mel Gibson movie? Probably not, thanks to the millions of nonreligious fans Disney is also courting. But it will definitely be a testament to the fact that Hollywood learned a few lessons from The Passion. And they weren't about the scriptures. Amen.?

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe opens December 9.