Narnia sequel prompts a wave of toys from Weta

CS. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia has been a classic in the realm of fantasy since The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first hit bookshelves in 1949. The storyline follows the adventures of four London children who are sent to a professor’s country home to put them out of harm’s way during World War II. There they discover a magic wardrobe that leads to a mystical land – Narnia – whose ruler is a malevolent witch.

In late 2005, the movie version of Lewis’ fantasy tale joined the ranks of highest-earning films of all time with a worldwide box office take of almost $745 million. Along with the amazing film, titled The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, came more Narnia merchandise than even the literary genius C.S. Lewis ever could have imagined. Toy stores were filled with action figures and role-play toys, and the shelves of collectors were adorned with some of the finest statues and replica weapons ever made.

A couple of years may have passed, but with last month’s release of the new Narnia film, Prince Caspian, the hunger for collectibles based on Lewis’ characters is as strong as ever. Whether you are looking for toys for the kids, or a high-end collectible that you’d never let your kids near, there’s something for everyone coming to market in the next couple months.

Starting on the mass-market side of the license, Play Along Toys has just released a wide selection of 25 action figures, playsets and realistic role-play items. At the head of the line is the assortment of 3¾-inch action figures sporting fine details and authentic battle action features from the film. The retailer’s descriptions are vivid: “The Fauns have spring-loaded kicking action, the Centaur swings his broadsword diagonally across his body, and King Peter swings his sword and jabs his shield just like he does in battle.” To add to the fun, the Narnia Deluxe Castle Playset makes the perfect location to stage your imaginary battles. The castle stands over 2 feet tall and has more than 15 different action features, including lighting and sound.

For kids who prefer to be the life-size action figure, Play Along offers the Prince Caspian Narnia Battle Armor, which includes gauntlet, helmet, dagger and a crossbow that fires foam arrows. If you want to add some friends into the fray, you can grab the Swords of Narnia with three styles to choose from – King Peter, Prince Caspian or the evil King Miraz.

The real gems of the license are on the higher end. That’s where Weta Workshop comes in. If the name sounds familiar, Weta is the film studio owned by Peter Jackson, director of the Fellowship of the Ring Trilogy and King Kong. They also did the special effects for Prince Caspian. Tired of seeing other people make statues of their creations, Weta several years ago opened their own in-house manufactory, Weta Workshop. Their work is second to none, and the statues they’ve created for Prince Caspian are some of the finest on the market. But to truly appreciate them, it is important to talk to the people behind them, namely, Weta Workshop designers Dan Falconer and Stephen Crowe, and Weta Ltd. manager Tim Launder.

TCM: Weta also handled the collectibles for the first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. How was Caspian different when it came to collectibles?

WW: The process of creating the collectibles for Prince Caspian was not significantly different than it was for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, although we did make some miniature helmets this time, something we didn’t do for the first film’s release. That meant that our model makers were more involved in this range than they were last time. These were some of the very same people who had helped make the armor, weaponry and miniatures for the film, so it was great for them to be able to see the process right through from preproduction to postmovie collectibles.

TCM: How has the creation process evolved for collectibles since The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? What did you learn from the first film to make the statues for the second film?

WW: Just as it is when we work on a film, when creating collectible statues, busts or mini helmets, the process has always been deeply collaborative and often involves combining the disciplines and skills of many different artists. Model makers and sculptors work together on the same pieces and combine digitally generated, computer milled assets with traditional sculpting and model-making techniques. Weta’s artists are always looking for opportunities to infuse our work with that extra level of detail or sense of drama that will help bring it to life.

We employed some dramatic poses in a number of our statues for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, most notably the General Otmin and Orieus pieces, which we received a lot of positive feedback for, so we have looked at ways to do more of that in our new range as well. Even though it is a bust and doesn’t have legs or a bottom half, our new Minotaur is full of action, while our new Warrior Satyr statue quite literally leaps off the shelf. We’ve looked for ways to make these pieces as dynamic and exciting as possible. Prince Caspian himself is no exception, depicted in full gallop atop his horse.

TCM: What pieces will be included in this line?

WW: Thus far we have announced a range of 1/6th-scale statues that includes a Warrior Satyr and Prince Caspian and Steed, plus a delightful statue of the irrepressible mouse Reepicheep, though understandably this is not in scale with the others or he’d be tiny.

We’re also debuting a bust this time, a charging Minotaur. The Minotaurs are so large that even at about 1/5th scale he is about the same size as many of our statues.

We didn’t provide creature designs for the film this time, so instead of releasing replicas of our design maquettes as we did for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, we instead chose to create a range of miniature helmets based on the full-size ones we made for both movies. These will be 1/4th-scale, just like our popular The Lord of the Rings miniature helmet range. These offer our artists a great opportunity to showcase the incredible work they did on the armor for The Chronicles of Narnia.

TCM: Can you talk about the process of how pieces get chosen to be taken into production from the drawing board?

WW: Essentially Weta has always been a collective of artists who have come together to satisfy our creative urges by making cool stuff. It doesn’t so much matter whether what we are making it for a film, a game, a book or a high-end collectible, as long as the process of creating it excites us and yields a beautiful product in the end.

Our process for creating collectibles is therefore very similar to that which we go through for anything we make, beginning with a roundtable discussion where everyone is invited to throw in ideas and then a burst of drawing and sculpting to realize our favorites. We then present these to the license holder, in this case Disney, and through a process of discussion and feedback from them, come up with a plan for our line and each piece. Like many of us, Weta creative director Richard Taylor is a collector of garage kits and high-end statuary, so he is deeply involved at every stage and often has very clear ideas about what he wants to see from each piece.

We begin sculpting as early as possible in the process, often with quick mock-ups to experiment with the pose and composition of a piece, then get into more considered detail and specifics, going back to the client for their input at every stage, so the process is a very collaborative one.

By having the same artists working on our collectibles as have worked on the films themselves, we are often able to gain the benefit of their familiarity with the subject and affection for their work. Our final paint jobs are designed by our paint shop artists, again, the same people who put the finishing touches on our movie product as well. Once everything has met with the right approvals and any changes made that need to be, it’s off to production.

TCM: What will you be doing for distribution of the statues, both in the U.S. and internationally?

WW: All of our products (statues, bust, mini helmets, book) will be available from our website located at www.wetaNZ.com. You’ll also be able to get them through high-quality retail stores via our good friends at Dark Horse Comics. They care about quality like we do, and have respect for the collector and the marketplace. It's a good fit. Retailers can contact them at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Special thanks to Magnus Hjert for making it possible for TCM to speak with the artists at Weta.