In the production of Wicked, the flying monkeys are brought to life through intricate visual effects led by ILM's VFX supervisor Pablo Helman. The process involved a delicate balance in depicting their transformations, particularly emphasizing the pain experienced by Chistery, the monkey leader. Rather than overwhelming the audience with violence, the team aimed for a narrative-driven approach. Furthermore, they enhanced the authenticity of the scene by using an animal unit for on-set interactions. Efforts were made to distinguish Chistery from the other monkeys, focusing on unique features such as his beard and eye color.
It goes back to the way that we think about the The Wizard of Oz (1939). It's also horrific because Elphaba doesn't intend for this to happen.
It's a fine line, because you're depicting pain. Initially, we toned it up and then we toned it down so that it tells the story without the audience going 'What was that?!'.
We had an animal unit of about fifteen people that were on-set behaving like animals, delivering lines of dialogue and singing so that Jon had something to direct.
He's always in front and he has a specific beard and the colour in the eyes are different.
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