The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

At New Zealand’s decommissioned Hobsonville Airbase, the designers transformed old airplane and helicopter hangars into sound stages that harbored such spectacular sets as the Stone Table, where Aslan appears to have been defeated; the White Witch’s magnificent courtyard of creatures turned to stone; the bustling London train station, patterned after famous Paddington station, where the four Pevensie children are evacuated during the London blitzkrieg; and Cair Paravel, the great Narnian castle.

The design team also utilized Kelly Park, an old equestrian center north of Auckland, where Lucy and the entire film company took their first footsteps into the snowy Narnian landscape on a set the size of a rugby field. This massive set, which would eventually be transformed into nine different areas of Narnia, challenged Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Don McAlpine to come up with an innovative grid of some 250 space lights, hanging from the building’s rafters, to illuminate the magical, imaginary land.

Grove, a woodsy campground near Manukau Harbor, was chosen by the filmmakers for the White Witch’s camp, where K.N.B.’s Berger and his troops transformed Kiwi extras into minotaurs, minoboars, cyclops and other creatures. Henderson Studios, home of the 1TV series “Hercules” and “Xena,” housed such spectacular builds as the interior of Mr. Tumnus’ house; the beaver lodge; the White Witch’s dungeon; an exterior set called “the frozen lake,” where Ford’s crew created a gimbal system of mini-icebergs which swayed and flowed under the weight of Lucy, Peter and Susan while fleeing the clutches of Maugrim’s wolf pack; the White Witch’s Great Hall; and the wardrobe room, a dusty attic which houses the essential set piece of the book’s title. Ford elaborates on some of his favorite designs:

The lamppost that lies just on the other side of the wardrobe becomes the children’s introduction to Narnia. It was also one of Ford’s most beloved sets for its fairytale nature. “It was just magical,” the designer comments. “You come out of this wardrobe, it’s snowing, it’s cold, and you don’t know where you are. Then, in the middle of the forest, there’s this lamppost growing with great roots around the bottom of it. Not woody roots, but cast iron roots. It’s a very evocative introduction to Narnia.”

“We actually brought the lamppost in from the U.K.,” Ford continues. “It’s a casting of an original London lamppost. We cast several versions of it. We wanted it to be very authentic so we also got the proper gas fitting which appears in the film. To me, it’s one of the most iconic images in the book. You have the faun with an umbrella in the snow, which was C.S. Lewis’ first inspirational image for writing the book. And then you have the lamppost, which occurs very early in the story. As the children pass the lamppost, it’s kind of an eternal light that leads them into Narnia.

What we created was exactly how I imagined the lamppost in Narnia to be.”

No ordinary piece of furniture, the carved wooden wardrobe the Pevensie children stumble upon in the professor’s house is actually an ancient doorway into a parallel universe. Another of the story’s most iconic images, the creation of the wardrobe was vital to the film’s design. “The wardrobe was a major project,” Ford says. “It’s probably the most important prop in the film. I mean, how many expectations of children are resting on what the wardrobe will look like? We knew it was a great responsibility.”

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