Weta Workshop is a very busy place nowadays. Something it is not working on presently is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The FX houses have not been mentioned yet, so we could still see Weta Digital onboard. Do I miss the Weta Workshop not being there? Sure, but I wont lose sleep over it - then again, not much causes me sleep-loss ... perhaps that greasy burrito though for dinner ...

On a very positive note, we do know that KNB EFX Group is working on handling all the creatures as it has done before in PC and LWW.

As for the look of the Dawn Treader? Indeed, the jury is still out for many of the members. One thing is for certain: it IS the Dawn Treader. Good or bad, right or wrong, the designers really made it stand out.

Hint for future posts, AslanIsKing, you don't need to yell. All caps is a good as yelling. You are allowed to be stressed along with most of the members on NarniaWeb. But no yelling. Weeping and gnashing of your teeth is ok.

from what i know, Weta Workshop has been busy on at least two major movie projects: Jim Cameron's Avatar and Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson's Adventures of Tin-Tin (which is designed to be a trilogy). with Avatar nearing completion the rest of Weta Workshop's resources has been focused on a little known movie called The Hobbit.

from what i can recall its not like Weta turned down VDT, but this is a classic case of scheduling conflicts. had VDT not been delayed by nearly a year Weta Workshop could've done the practical designs, armor etc just as it always had for the past 2 Narnia films.

we're still not sure who will do the digital effects, Weta Digital carried most of that load in the last two Narnia films. Avatar is just about done, and Tin-Tin is still shooting (although its a ground breaking type of shoot, not sure if they're using a lot of Weta resources yet), so Weta Digital might be available to do VDT's VFX. with the exception of Tin-Tin, there isnt anything in its roster of projects that i can see that would make it unable to do VDT once it wraps filming at the end of this year (if they can finish it that soon).

OK ceppault, its funny you mention losing sleep over that, because thats exactly whats happening to me. I literally lose sleep knowing that something so very very near to my heart will not turn out as its supposed to. I have nothing but the HIGHEST expectations about VDT, and I AM very very GLAD TO HEAR that it was due to Wetas highly sought after services, and schueduling conflicts that they could not get on board for VDT, and NOT that they or fox didnt want them on board. and oddly enoguh when I saw Avatar trailer i knew Weta was behind them! Their works is so very apparent as it reaches unfathomable hieghts of imagination! I do know that the same costume designer is behind VDT and i am happy to hear that the make up team and of course the producers are all the same. Its just that FOX is not know for creating amazing worlds, and disney is. After the horrendous Eragon, which had some very very ugly art direction, no imagination in it at all, Im just praying FOX will do a beyond fantastic job, so far I am still seeing resemblences of the first two Narnias in VDT, i hope it will only contunie to create a FLAWLESS resemblence of C.S. Lewis's imagination!! of course the art direction for LWW and PC were soo incredibly amazing and full of imaginative spirit and magic!

... its funny you mention losing sleep over that, because thats exactly whats happening to me.

Loss of sleep, nausea, anger, and crying have actually all been expressed over VDT. You are not alone.

Agreed. Having looked at the Weta Workshop schedule, it is seriously busy.

we're still not sure who will do the digital effects, Weta Digital carried most of that load in the last two Narnia films.

No actually, that's not correct, on either point.

Both Moving Picture Company (who was primarily responsible for Reepicheep) and Framestore (who was primarily responsible for Aslan) are working on VDT. One was confirmed on IMDb, the other on their own website.

But Weta Digital was never a major player on either movie. They weren't even involved on LWW and the only thing I know of for sure that they animated on PC was the wild bear and the Miraz's castle shots.

I don't believe Weta is involved in this particular movie sadly. They WERE involved though, I believe I even recall hearing mention they helped design the Dawn Treader, so we've left them on our crew page for now.

my mistake , Rhythm and Hues, SPI and ILM were the primary effects house for LWW, with R&H getting a profile boost because of LWW (i keep forgetting about that, its a really good FX house), Weta Digital had to do King Kong because its Jackson's baby.

i remember hearing about MPC's work for PC, but like you i thought they mostly did Reep, i dug further into their site and it looks like they did some of the environmental effects as well. i remember distinctly that they also had to go to Rising Sun (who did the HP films) in the last minute to finish up effects, but the rest was carried by Weta Digital, with other smaller FX houses pitching in.

well heck who knows, VFX houses are like the royal families-- they swap around people and work so much you're never sure who started what with whom

Framestore are doing the Aslan effects again this time if anyone is interested (and if we are going for a general FX company discussion with the topic)

I'm currently in working at Framestore in London as Look Development Lead on Aslan, in the upcoming film 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader'

http://iancomley.com/vfx.php

This is actually one of my least worries in the making of Dawn Treader. And from what I have seen with the costumes and props, everything looks good. I wouldn't be worrying, or loosing sleep over this. It's just like having a new director.