Short snippets of the Chronicles of Narnia have been shown to a handful of film critics in the UK, giving a taste of what to expect when the movie is released on 8 December.
Such is the complexity of the film-making involved in making The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first in a series of seven planned films, that the finishing touches to the special effects are still being added just weeks before it officially opens.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe opens with the Pevensie children being evacuated to the country during the war, arriving at a large house lived in by an eccentric professor.
Then the horror of real life blends with fantasy as the four children enter the magical world of Narnia.
The 10-minute teaser trailer was preceded by extracts of what will probably become the DVD extras, with the cast and crew involved in the making of the film giving an insight into the challenges they faced.
These included creating the vast snowy landscapes which was tackled by mixing scenes using fake snow, to allow the children to act without freezing, and real snow-covered vistas achieved when the entire set moved to the Czech Republic.
