The Disney panel began with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Richard Taylor of Weta came out first and introduced some of the other crew members. These included the costume designer, creature designer, and others. Via satellite from Prague was director Andrew Adamson.
They kicked things off by showing a pre-viz animatic from the new movie. It showed one of the children from the first movie being picked up and flown to a Telmarine castle on an island by a griffin. After disabling a guard, the other Pevensie children arrive with other griffins and storm the castle. They are aided by mice who sneak in (despite interference by a cat).
The second clip was a sizzle reel where they showed some new footage, behind the scenes clips, and other goodies. They emphasized how much more action-packed this second film is, and that was very apparent from the clips. We saw a lot of battles and action. Also shown were the new dwarf character, Trumpkin played by Peter Dinklage, and the sword fighting mouse, Reepacheep.
The panel was also joined by a new cast member. Andrew introduced Prince Caspian himself, Ben Barnes, over the satellite feed.
In the Q&A they revealed they begin working on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in February. While “Caspian” is Adamson’s last film, they hope to maintain the look throughout the films. They also showed a mask from a satyr named Tyrus. The effects guy operated the goat-like mask making it smile, blink, and open it’s mouth. It was quite impressive. A live model also came out wearing a Telmarine armor on the stage.
Overall it was a fun presentation and the film looks like it will live up to its predecessor.
