Other Titles • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) • The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe • The Chronicles of Narnia
Says Jules Cook, one of Ford’s key art directors who supervised the lodge set: “Much of the inspiration for the beavers’ environment, both in the interior, shot on a soundstage at the Henderson Studios, and the exterior, filmed as part of a vast snowscape at Kelly Park, was taken from watching beavers in their natural habitat in the 1988 IMAX® film ‘Beavers.’ In a climactic scene in that film, a bear tears apart a beaver dam, and close examination of the destruction provided a strong basis for the scene in our film where a pack of the White Witch’s wolves tears through the lodge looking for the Pevensies.”
“Beaver dams generally let part of their river’s water through the structure,” Cook further explains, “and particular attention had to be paid to how a flow of water would freeze around the habitat.” Chainsaws and Arbortec drill attachments were used to create a unique “chewing” effect on the logs, and as beavers tend to strip the bark off branches, this was done as well. Set builder Pete MacKinnon estimates that he used over 4,500 sticks, all “between finger thickness and leg thickness,” to create the set. The lodge’s furniture is appropriately makeshift, with the Beavers’ living area cluttered with miniature tools, fishing rods and collectibles, while Mrs. Beaver’s “homey” touch is responsible for the spun textiles and homemade preserves. In a subtle flourish, Anglophiles may note Mr. Beaver’s collection of Toby jugs, a series of beer mugs dating back to the 18th century, usually depicting various human characters. Of course, the careful eye may note an important difference—Mr. Beaver’s Toby jugs are beavers as well!
Also forged at Henderson Studios were some of the film’s most imaginative and striking sets—those that make up the White Witch’s world, including Great Ice Hall, the Witch’s dungeon, and the Witch’s courtyard, each constructed to reflect a hauntingly glassy realm of snow and ice. The production used more than 7,000 gallons of resin and half a kilometer of fiberglass in the creation of this frozen-over world.
In the White Witch’s courtyard stand dozens of Narnian creatures—including griffins, bears, centaurs, panthers, giants and fauns—each frozen into stone statues by the Witch. To create this eerie, accursed sculpture garden, Ford and Gracie had their teams hand-sculpt some 70 full-scale, life-size statues from styro-foam molds designed by a team of ten global artists (from places including Beijing, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand) over a five-month period under the supervision of veteran Aussie movie craftsman John Searle (“Moulin Rouge,” “Babe”).
“We started by using a technique we hadn’t tried before, using a computer to carve out all the profiles of these huge carvings,” Searle explains. “We then had each statue’s profile cut out of foam, generally 25 or 50 millimeter sheets of polystyrene glued together. From there, a sculptor carved them down to form, using sharp knives, sandpaper and abrasives. We then had to cut the statue open and fill it with steel armature, so it could be screwed into the ground. But that was just the first phase! Then we had to coat each one to give it a finish that made it look real. For instance, the bear has a different texture from a lion. With the mythological creatures, a lot of them have armor, which was made by WETA, so we applied all those pieces as well. Finally, we gave it a seal coat of a urethane, then at last, it was on to the painters. It was quite a process.”
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