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
Finally, the filmmakers turned to the creation of the queen’s castle, another major challenge to their creativity. “The queen’s castle in the book is not described as being made of ice,” Ford notes. “We made a very rash decision early on that we would make our castle out of ice. That all seemed very exciting at the time but then, of course, came the problem for me of how to build a castle out of ice.”
“We built these mammoth sets out of half-inch-thick fiberglass,” Ford describes. “Every piece had to be carved out of polystyrene. Then the polystyrene had to be covered in a layer of impermeable plastic, almost like Glad Wrap, so that the fiberglass didn’t stick to it. Each piece was then fiberglassed with a gun, using fiberglass with color mixed in it, so we get this very slight blue look to it. Finally, we did a lot of research with Don McAlpine on the lighting. He did a fantastic job making this stuff look exactly like ice.”
Though much of THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE was spun out of whole cloth on soundstages, a number of authentic locations were also utilized. The production spanned the globe, shooting in Poland, the Czech Republic, England and, of course, New Zealand—as well as the one place that has come to truly represent fairy-tale worlds: Andrew Adamson’s native New Zealand. After scouring the world for forests as lush and hills as green, Adamson ultimately chose New Zealand’s South Island to shoot the climactic battle for Narnia as Aslan’s army, now led by Peter, takes on the Witch’s forces. He chose a location known as Flock Hill, because, he says, “It’s the most amazing place I’ve ever seen.” The company also used Elephant Rocks, a steep valley containing hundreds of unique rock formations popular with climbers, to film crucial scenes in Aslan’s camp and filmed the exteriors of Prof. Kirke’s mansion at Auckland’s Monte Cecilia Park, a Catholic refuge founded in 1913.
For the cast, New Zealand offered an ineffable sense of magic that further inspired them. “New Zealand was like entering Narnia,” says Tilda Swinton. “It was like walking into a storybook that was published in the ’30s. There’s something very spiritual about that land, with its huge sky, extraordinary mountains, and this sense of peace. We were really fortunate to just spend time there.”
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