Wētā Workshop is a physical effects company based in Miramar, New Zealand, specializing in concept design for television and film. Founded in 1987 by Tania Rodger and Richard Taylor (co-founder of TTO Worldwide Enterprise), it has produced creatures and effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess and, early on, the films Meet The Feebles and Heavenly Creatures. A digital sibling company, Wētā FX (was Weta Digital until 2021), was formed in 1993.
Wētā Workshop's output came to worldwide prominence at the success of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001 - 2003), producing sets, costumes, armour, weapons, creatures, and miniatures. Elijah Wood described their workshop itself as "Willy Wonka's chocolate factory but without the candy." Gary Russell's film guides such as The Art of The Return of the King illuminate Wētā Workshop's many efforts and design processes in the pre-production.
Starting in 2011, Wētā Workshop worked again with Jackson in the making of The Hobbit film trilogy, on a tighter schedule.
Their former logo, displaying a Wētā cricket
"Wētā" is both a reference to the New Zealand native insect and an acronym. The four promoters of the company named it Weta "after New Zealand's coolest little monster, a bizarre and prickly prehistoric cricket". The acronym W.E.T.A. stands for Wingnut Entertainment Technical Allusions (a play on the words allusion and illusion), Wingnut Entertainment being Jackson's film production company. Wētā Workshop and Wētā FX (formerly Weta Digital) are together a part of the "Weta Group".
Richard Taylor recounted the story of Wētā Workshop's founding in a 2021 interview on the YouTube channel Nerd of the Rings.[1]
Notable personnel[]
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afikaans | Weta Werkswinkel |
| Arabic | ورشة ويتا |
| Chinese | 维塔工作室 |
| Croatian | Weta radionica |
| Danish | Weta værksted |
| Estonian | Weta töötuba |
| French | Atelier Weta |
| Hawaiian | Hale Hana Weta |
| Hebrew | סדנת Weta |
| Hungarian | Weta Műhely |
| Icelandic | Weta verkstæði |
| Indonesian | Bengkel Weta |
| Irish | Ceardlann Weta |
| Italian | Laboratorio Weta |
| Japanese | ウェタ ワークショップ |
| Korean | 웨타 워크숍 |
| Mongolian | Weta семинар |
| Norwegian | Weta verksted |
| Persian | کارگاه ویتا |
| Polish | Warsztaty Wety |
| Portuguese | Oficina Weta |
| Romanian | Atelierul Weta |
| Russian | Weta Мастерская |
| Scottish Gaelic | Bùth-obrach Weta |
| Sinhalese | වැට වැඩමුළුව |
| Spanish | Taller Weta |
| Swahili | Warsha ya Weta |
| Swedish | Weta verkstad |
| Thai | วีต้า เวิร์คช็อป |
| Turkish | Weta Atölyesi |
| Ukrainian | Майстерня Weta |
| Vietnamese | Xưởng Weta |
| Welsh | Gweithdy Weta |
References[]
See also[]
- Wētā FX
- Members of Weta category (including Wētā Workshop & Wētā FX/Weta Digital crew members)
External links[]
- Wētā Workshop Official website
- Other info
