Apparently Lewis received a lot of letters from anxious young readers who were concerned that they loved Aslan more than Jesus. There is probably something weird theological going on in creating a Jesus-Lion? It's a bit like how different Jesuses in different countries are painted to look like the locals... except when you're localizing Jesus for children, he becomes not a child but a lion.

In a weird way I'm looking forward to The Last Battle! I don't expect to enjoy it more, exactly, but I do think I'll see different things in it this time around.