Heart of the Beast
Film and television • Manufacture • Robotics and animatronics • Creatures • Prosthetics and makeup effects • Life replicas and dummies
It’s not who you live for… it’s who you’d die for
In Heart of the Beast, directed by David Ayer, former Army Special Forces soldier James and his retired combat dog, Odin, attempt to return to civilisation after their plane crashes, leaving them stranded and fighting for their lives deep in the Alaskan wilderness.
Wētā Workshop had the pleasure of working with Ayer and Producer Scott Lumpkin over eight weeks, delivering animatronics, puppets and dummies for the American survival thriller filmed primarily in New Zealand’s South Island. Our Animatronics, 3D Printing, Prosthetics, Hair, Props and Paint departments worked in close collaboration to bring replicas of Odin, an alpha wolf and a hyperrealistic dummy of actor Brad Pitt to life, before our team ventured on set, from blue-screen locations in Auckland to the rugged wilds of Queenstown, Glenorchy, Mt Aspiring National Park and beyond.
Director
David Ayer
Release
2026
Genre
Survival thriller
Alpha Wolf
Animatronics, puppets and dummies
In Heart of the Beast, there are the elements, and then there are the beasts. When James and Odin are confronted by a pack of wolves, the production required a snarling, grisly alpha. We created three versions (an animatronic, an attack puppet and a dummy) of this apex predator called Alpha, who was puppeteered by up to six people at once.
On set, two of our crew members used remote controls to puppeteer Alpha’s facial expressions, including the movement of his neck, ears, eyes, jaw and tongue, while a third manually raised and lowered Alpha to his upright and crouched positions. For a jumping sequence, two additional crew members puppeteered his legs and moved him on a dolly, a system of high-precision servos, careful mechanics and many motors seamlessly working together as Alpha set upon his target. Wearing motion-caption suits, the film's stunt team choreographed the scene.
“My favourite shots were the reveal on the rock as the alpha wolf surveys the ambush,” says Wētā Workshop Senior Technician in Animatronics, Joe Harlow, “and the final lunge, where the animatronic rears up. These moments required us to really tune into each other’s movements and coordinate as an intuitive team to deliver a realistic, emotive wolf performance. We also had a lot of fun with insert shots, using the hand-controlled attack puppets and the beautiful articulated dummies.”
Odin
Animatronics, puppets and dummies
While German Shepherd Odin is primarily played by a highly trained mountain rescue dog named Uber, some scenes were unsafe for animals. A motion-control plane crash rig simulating a crash, or sequences involving gunfire, where the sound could affect the dog’s sensitive hearing, called for a different approach.
As with Alpha, we built three versions of James’ loyal companion (also an animatronic, an attack puppet and a dummy), puppeteering Odin while concealed inside the cockpit, hidden under luggage, and for over-the-shoulder shots against the sweeping backdrop of the Southern Alps.
Working in remote locations across New Zealand demanded the same adaptability from our crew as it did from the characters on screen. In the Paradise area near Glenorchy, a landscape that will be familiar to fans of The Lord of the Rings, our team engineered a custom carry frame with an off-road wheelbase and toolkit to protect and transport the Odin builds through river crossings and up muddy banks to hard-to-get-to locations.
Heart of the Beast
Film and television • Manufacture • Robotics and animatronics • Creatures • Prosthetics and makeup effects • Life replicas and dummies
It’s not who you live for… it’s who you’d die for
In Heart of the Beast, directed by David Ayer, former Army Special Forces soldier James and his retired combat dog, Odin, attempt to return to civilisation after their plane crashes, leaving them stranded and fighting for their lives deep in the Alaskan wilderness.
Wētā Workshop had the pleasure of working with Ayer and Producer Scott Lumpkin over eight weeks, delivering animatronics, puppets and dummies for the American survival thriller filmed primarily in New Zealand’s South Island. Our Animatronics, 3D Printing, Prosthetics, Hair, Props and Paint departments worked in close collaboration to bring replicas of Odin, an alpha wolf and a hyperrealistic dummy of actor Brad Pitt to life, before our team ventured on set, from blue-screen locations in Auckland to the rugged wilds of Queenstown, Glenorchy, Mt Aspiring National Park and beyond.
Director
David Ayer
Release
2026
Genre
Survival thriller
Alpha Wolf
Animatronics, puppets and dummies
In Heart of the Beast, there are the elements, and then there are the beasts. When James and Odin are confronted by a pack of wolves, the production required a snarling, grisly alpha. We created three versions (an animatronic, an attack puppet and a dummy) of this apex predator called Alpha, who was puppeteered by up to six people at once.
On set, two of our crew members used remote controls to puppeteer Alpha’s facial expressions, including the movement of his neck, ears, eyes, jaw and tongue, while a third manually raised and lowered Alpha to his upright and crouched positions. For a jumping sequence, two additional crew members puppeteered his legs and moved him on a dolly, a system of high-precision servos, careful mechanics and many motors seamlessly working together as Alpha set upon his target. Wearing motion-caption suits, the film's stunt team choreographed the scene.
“My favourite shots were the reveal on the rock as the alpha wolf surveys the ambush,” says Wētā Workshop Senior Technician in Animatronics, Joe Harlow, “and the final lunge, where the animatronic rears up. These moments required us to really tune into each other’s movements and coordinate as an intuitive team to deliver a realistic, emotive wolf performance. We also had a lot of fun with insert shots, using the hand-controlled attack puppets and the beautiful articulated dummies.”
Odin
Animatronics, puppets and dummies
While German Shepherd Odin is primarily played by a highly trained mountain rescue dog named Uber, some scenes were unsafe for animals. A motion-control plane crash rig simulating a crash, or sequences involving gunfire, where the sound could affect the dog’s sensitive hearing, called for a different approach. As with Alpha, we built three versions of James’ loyal companion (also an animatronic, an attack puppet and a dummy), puppeteering Odin while concealed inside the cockpit, hidden under luggage, and for over-the-shoulder shots against the sweeping backdrop of the Southern Alps.
Working in remote locations across New Zealand demanded the same adaptability from our crew as it did from the characters on screen. In the Paradise area near Glenorchy, a landscape that will be familiar to fans of The Lord of the Rings, our team engineered a custom carry frame with an off-road wheelbase and toolkit to protect and transport the Odin builds through river crossings and up muddy banks to hard-to-get-to locations.
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