11 June 2004

‘Yes’ to Narnia’s wolf pack

Waitakere City Council has no problems allowing a pack of 10 North American wolves onto its turf to be filmed as “witches minions” for the C.S. Lewis classic The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

The Council’s Environmental Compliance Team Manager Alan Ahmu says this is one of the more unusual requests handled by his office.

He told the film makers Lamp-Post Productions that theCouncil has no objections to wolves being used within its district, so long as any conditions and controls stipulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in relation to the importation, welfare, custody and use of the wolves, are complied with.

And, naturally, the Council wants to be informed immediately if any of the wolves escape.

The film’s North Island Location Manager Peta Sinclair says that the wolves will be “under tight regulations set by MAF, as their welfare will be of the utmost importance.” Conditions have been set as to how the animals are penned, transported and handled while on set. As soon as their scenes are over they will be shipped home.

Mr Sinclair says the wolves have been trained to work in a controlled environment. They will feature as minions of the white witch in the film version of mystical land of Narnia, a land where there are no humans, only mythical and real animals.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is a multi-million dollar production which is being filmed largely in and around Waitakere City.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>