What would you call the trip of a lifetime? For me … going to the southern hemisphere, meeting the effects supervisor who brought the Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia to life, flying in a helicopter for the first time and sitting on a remote beach in New Zealand would all apply.
That’s exactly what I did this fall when Disney invited me to the land of sheep and kiwis (yes that would be New Zealand) for a chance to tour the Weta Workshop, interview Oscar winner Richard Taylor and fly to out-of-the-way locations in celebration of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian on DVD.
Day #1
Welcome to Weta Workshop
Weta Workshop is to Lord of the Rings and Narnia fans what George Lucas’ Northern California compound is to Star Wars fanatics. It’s where all the magic happens and I couldn’t wait to get inside. That’s because, even though we were banished from the workshop itself (I’m still dying to know what they were working on in there) we had free range of the Weta Cave. This new addition is the company’s answer to curious fans who tried to visit over the years, but left empty handed. Now, the cave offers a mini-museum packed full of goodies like Meet the Feebles and Heavenly Creatures memorabilia and a gift shop of books and collectibles.
Hidden away in a residential neighborhood you could almost mistake the building for another house on the block. As we walk inside its sensory overload from the get go. Of course my favorite character, Gollum, is waiting to greet me at the door – fish in hand. I whisper “hello precious” and have a picture taken with him straight away. The cave is full of surprises with a rocky wall covering jutting out all around us, framed art on the ceiling, eyeballs bulging from above the cash register, a mannequin dressed in full battle garb and a life-size Lord Cockswain and Moon Mistress sculpture.
Click here for photos of Weta!
Designer Daniel Falconer
Soon after our brief tour of the cave it was time to head upstairs to meet with Daniel Falconer. He just happens to be an expert in the world of Narnia as a designer on the two films and the author of The Crafting of Narnia: The Art, Creatures and Weapons from Weta Workshop. I was tickled to see he brought a few choice objects with him from the film to give us a chance to see the work up close.
Most intriguing was Susan’s horn, the one Prince Caspian used to call the children back to Narnia. Falconer explained that the director Andrew Adamson visualized the piece in ivory and coming from the same tusk used for Susan’s quiver.
“That became a great jumping off point for our designers to use that as an idea and come up with look for the quiver and the horn,” he says. “So this is the very tip of the tusk, the horn, and it is carved in Aslan’s likeness…there is symbolism in the flower that is used on the end as well with the mother of pearl inlay.”
Symbolism abounds in Narnia. While Susan’s horn comes adorned with a Daffodil, the flower suggests the arrival of spring and the return of Aslan. Lucy’s vial, another treasure to behold, is designed with Yarrow leaves, a plant known for its healing properties. Looking closely at the prop, used as Lucy’s elixir in the film, I could just make out her little monogram on the front and Aslan’s fierce head acting as a stopper.
Also among the goods were the Turkish Delight Case from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter’s helmet and swords belonging to Prince Caspian, King Miraz and the minotaur General Otmin.
Click here for more with Daniel Falconer NEXT: Greg Broadmore and his Unnatural Selector
