Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ Employed Puppeteers, Creature Performers, and Real Animals

As new cast and crew details for The Magician’s Nephew continue to roll in following the film’s official wrap on principal photography at the end of January, more evidence is building that Greta Gerwig’s visualization of Narnia might lean heavily on in-camera practical effects, rather than just on computer-generated imagery.

NarniaWeb first reported back in October that Academy Award-winning creature effects artist Neal Scanlan had been appointed to oversee the film’s creature effects. We’ve since learned that Scanlan was joined by more than a dozen additional crew members on the Creature FX team, many of whom brought prior screen credits as puppeteers and creature performers.

Many of the artists have previously helped bring monsters, aliens, dinosaurs, and other creatures to the screen in major franchises such as the Jurassic World trilogy and the recent Star Wars sequels and reboots. These artists include:

• Derek Arnold
• Antony Antunes
• Ashley Cheadle
• Thomas Gilbey
• Rosi Hardiman
• Bertie Harris
• Nick Kellington
• Arina Ii
• Mohsen Nouri
• Mike Taibi
• Edmund Wood

In addition to practical creature effects, we’re told that animal handlers were present on set, and real-life animals were indeed used during production.

Furthermore, numerous performers attached to the production have prior experience in dance, expressive movement, and performance capture roles, suggesting that a wide variety of techniques are being employed to bring the world of Narnia and its animal inhabitants to life.

It is perhaps not surprising that Narnia’s production would seek to capture as much as possible in-camera, given that the film is being shot on film using the 35mm VistaVision format, and select scenes are also being shot using the larger 70mm IMAX format.

At the same time, computer effects will undoubtedly still play a big part in the overall final look of Greta Gerwig’s finished Narnia film, with VFX studios such as Framestore and Weta FX contributing visual effects work. The full balance between practical and digital techniques will only become clear once the finished film reaches audiences.

The Magician’s Nephew will be released on November 26th, exclusively in IMAX cinemas, with the film dropping onto Netflix on Christmas Day 2026.