The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe – 2005
As much as I love this movie, I have to admit that while the visual effects were very good, they were not perfect. The production design was top-notch, which gave the visual effects artist a lot to work with. The CGI was mostly great, but every so often, the movement of the digital creatures gave them away.
If you know the original Narnia books, then you know that all manner of classical fantasy creatures exist like centaurs, fauns, satyrs, minotaurs, griffins, dwarves, nymphs, unicorns, cyclopses, and many others are commonplace, not to mention all the sentient, talking animals. Featured prominently are two beavers, a fox, and a large wolf. And finally, there is the great lion, Aslan, who was mostly CGI, but who was also created with practical effects in many shots.
Personally, I have always been fascinated with centaurs, half horse, half man, and here, I think they got it right. The only other example in recent memory of such a creature in a major film was the first Harry Potter movie in 2001. There, the centaur was fully CGI, and honestly, looked pretty bad, especially the human half. Here, they created the creature using an actor in costume and makeup from the waist on up, and wearing green-screen pants below. From there, they were able to blend the actor’s torso into that of a CGI horse and match the actor’s movements. They did the same thing with the fauns.
The documentary included with the DVD also showed creatures like the minotaurs, the cyclopses, and the goblins in full body makeup and prosthetics from head to hoof. They were pretty cool, though the range of emotions that could be seen in their faces was very limited. That’s OK, though. We didn’t need much emoting from them. I actually think that most of the completely CGI animals like the polar bears and the beavers were pretty good.
The most important one, of course, was Aslan. He needed to be more expressive than any of them, and he really was. The mouth moved in a naturalistic way when he spoke, and he really looked like a live lion when he roared. The hairs of his mane were beautifully rendered, and his eyes looked both human and cat-like at the same time. For the most part, it was hard to tell where the animatronic lion changed to CGI. But the effects fell a little short in a few of the wide shots where he moved or jumped. He looked a little stiff and jerky, giving his CGI nature away.
There were some other cool effects that I enjoyed, like when the Witch would change a creature into stone, or when Aslan would change one back. The scene in front of the frozen waterfall, when the river broke through the ice, was brief, but it was done well. I also liked the great and vast digital landscapes and locations like the inside of the Witch’s palace, and Aslan’s camp. Perfect fantasy creations!