Witches who rule the northern skies and creatures that manifest themselves as people’s souls have been brought to life by the latest special effects in The Golden Compass, the year’s most eagerly awaited film. These are shown here for the first time after Philip Pullman declared that the screen version of his classic story lived up to what he was trying to achieve when he put pen to paper.

The bestselling writer told The Times that the epic screen adaptation of the first instalment of his fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials – a spellbinding story of shape-shifting creatures and otherworldly characters in parallel universes – was stunning.

Recalling Steven Spielberg’s ground-breaking dinosaur epic, he said: “Special effects have come a very long way even since Jurassic Park, which was the first big use of CGI [computer-generated imagery] in film-making. What impressed me most in The Golden Compass was the way the human figures and the computer images have been integrated on the screen. They really do look as if they occupy the same space.”

The Golden Compass, known in Britain as Northern Lights, is part of the trilogy that includes The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.Together, the books have sold 14 million copies worldwide. The film, which cost £76 million to make, is due for release on December 5. It features talking bears alongside actors Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Tom Courtenay, Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, who plays Lyra Belacqua, the heroine.

The production comes from the same studio, New Line Films, as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which won 17 Oscars and took nearly $3 billion worldwide, and is the biggest animation feature created outside America.

Most of the effects were devised in Britain, where it was also shot. The project involved hundreds of specialists who recreated scenes from the books, including Mrs Coulter’s London, the bustle of the northern port of Trollesund, the ice palace of the King of the Bears and the battle sequence at Bolvangar. The Golden Compass is the latest animation film sent to Britain for production by the big studios in Hollywood. Unprecedented numbers of productions are coming to the UK because of the high technical skills of British animators.

Figures produced by Oxford Economic Forecasting for the UK Film Council and Pinewood Shepperton

show that the British film postproduction industry is contributing more than £300 million a year to the economy.

Cinesite, which has one of the world’s biggest postproduction operations, was responsible for 476 of the 1,100 effects shots in The Golden Compass and brought to life animals from the books such as a raven, a chameleon, a panther and a praying mantis.

Sue Rowe, whose film credits include X-Men: The Last Stand and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, was Cinesite’s joint visual effects supervisor, with Matt Johnson.

She told The Times: “Britain has established itself as a leading light in visual effects and CGI animation. Our recreation of fur and feathers is second to none.”

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• Trailers

• DVD

• London Film Festival

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010