Howard Berger of KNB EFX, Richard Taylor from WETA and Dean Wright who was the Visual Effects Supervisor on LOTR and is the same on Narnia as well as a representative from Disney were all on hand to report on the progress of the film, and Prince Caspian!
Disney started with THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE because it’s the most well known of the series, even if it isn’t the beginning of the story. The big news is that Disney is about to hire a screenwriter to begin work on second film in the NARNIA series, to be PRINCE CASPIAN. That’s really super cool, but he did make sure to stress that production on that won’t be greenlighted until Disney sees how the first film does. But the fact that Disney’s taking the step to hire a screenwriter while the first film is only half-way through production means that they want to hit the ground running, so to speak.
A question was asked about how they were going to make a full length film out of THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE as it is one of the smaller stories in the NARNIA series. It seems that the beginning and the ending is going to be expanded. We are going to be seeing more of war-torn London at the beginning of the film, presumably before Lucy, Peter, Edmund and Susan are delivered unto Professor Digory Kirke. I’m actually a fan of that idea as a way to counter-balance the fantasy of Narnia.
The end battle for Narnia is also going to be expanded into quite a big battle, another expansion I’m a fan of. Richard Taylor made a comment about how he remembered reading THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE as a kid and how when he read the battle scene at the end… he felt like he finished a major tome, a hefty read… he felt like he accomplished something in getting through that epic battle. But then when he went back to read it as an adult it’s almost comical how he remembered the book as it’s only a few pages long.
Other tidbits: Aslan will be 99% CGI, with the only animatronic lion being used during the tied and bound Stone Table sequence. Apparently they’re also going to attempt to motion capture a real lion… hehe I don’t envy the poor bastard that has to apply those little mo-cap balls onto the lion! Mr. and Mrs. Beaver will be 100% computer generated whereas Mr. Tumnus will be half and half. Half prosthetics (supposedly very much keeping the actor’s human characteristics with only some pointy ears, different nose and goatee… oh, and his red skin) and half computer (for the goat legs, which start being CG about mid-thigh).
Apparently, the actor playing Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy) didn’t win over Howard Berger upon first glance. He thought the young actor was too young for the role, but when he was brought to KNB’s studios and saw the giant Aslan they had in the studio he immediately went wide-eyed and reverently approached it before dropping to his knees and saying, “My Lord!” So, yeah… he’s a geek for the material, which gives me some joy as Mr. Tumnus can really use someone with that excitement for the world and material.
Those were the big bits from the panel… Oh, Aslan’s voice has not been found yet… that, too! I should be getting a tour of Weta soon, so look for a write-up on that in the near future, and I’m also working with Disney to arrange a set visit while I’m in New Zealand. I’m happy with what I’ve heard from the effects whizes and I hope I get blown away by what I see in Auckland. While NARNIA is not as ageless as Tolkien’s LOTR series, this could make for a fantastic film series to be enjoyed by all ages for many, many decades.