The visual effects artists on the newest film version of Peter Pan help bring to life a breath-taking imaginary world. Credit: Industrial Light & Magic. All images © 2003 Universal Studios, All rights reserved.

In 1904, two years after penning a short story about a character named Peter Pan for the book The Little White Bird, James Matthew Barrie decided to write an entire play about the diminutive hero. Initially deemed too difficult to stage and too complex for audiences, it nevertheless took flight, going on to become one of the most celebrated family plays ever and a hugely popular children’s book. A hundred years on and Pan has proven ageless and endlessly appealing. While the House Of Lords commemorates its centenary by proclaiming 2004 to be the year of Peter Pan, Universal, Columbia and Revolution Studios have pooled some $100,000,000 to bring the tale to the big screen.

This isn’t by any means the first filmed version of Pan, the show was first filmed as a silent in 1924, given the Disney treatment for a 1953 animated musical, has been produced three times for television and even sequelized by Steven Spielberg in Hook. But this new edition, directed by Australian PJ Hogan, is the first to remain true to the source material (albeit breaking with theater tradition by casting a boy in the title role), utilizing a wealth of visual effects to bring the magic and majesty of Neverland to life.

Visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar of Industrial Light & Magic, veteran of movies such as Men In Black, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report, began talks with the director some two years ago. “PJ said he wanted an exotic look that was neither real nor fantasy,” he recalls. “We hit upon the description of painterly, like something from a storybook, with gorgeous saturated colors.”

For his part, Farrar relished the opportunity to work on such a show. “Visual effects have always been there to produce the wow element, and we are here to entertain. But with projects like A.I., Minority Report and now Pan, we’re no longer doing rather bombastic effects. I feel we’re getting the opportunity to help create worlds that have never been seen.”

Peter Pan proves what amazing visuals can be achieved when production designers and visual effects artists work in tandem. Credit: Digital Domain.

Keeping Pan Theatrical
Though a seasoned director, Hogan crucially lacked any experience with visual effects. “That was quite a worry for him,” says Farrar. “My reaction was to discuss the look of the movie, and tell him not to worry about exactly how it would be done. Then once we got started we got into the habit of providing a large canvas for him to select from, presenting up to five different looks for any given element.”

The director also wanted to retain some of the theatricality of the original play. Shooting the entire movie on a soundstage helped in this respect, while also providing Farrar and his team, along with production designer Roger Ford, and cinematographer Don McAlpine, as much control of foreground elements as possible. “Then by plugging the areas with bluescreen, we were able to use CG and matte work that stretches the scenes for miles beyond, so you never feel set-bound,” adds Farrar.