Weta Workshop

WETA is the brainchild of Lord of The Rings director Peter Jackson. Founded in 1993 for the movie Heavenly Creatures, the company specializes in realistic CG for Giant apes & Alien worlds with blue people, as well as physical effects.

Projects WETA has worked on:

 * The Lord of the Rings
 * The Frighteners
 * Heavenly Creatures
 * Avatar
 * King Kong (2005 movie)
 * District 9 (Mothership only, the aliens were handled by Vancouver company Image Engine)
 * The Host (Creature design, CG provided by defunct ILM offshoot The Orphanage)
 * Eragon
 * The Lovely Bones
 * Rise of the Planet of The Apes
 * X Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class
 * The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 Remake)
 * Bridge to Terabithia
 * The Disney Vanity Plate since 2006.
 * Jane and The Dragon
 * The Avengers

Tropes Associated with WETA:

 * Development Hell: The Neon Genesis Evangelion movie WETA were to co-produce with Studio Gainax and ADV Films falls right into this.
 * Live Action Adaptation: Lord of The Rings and Bridge to Terabithia. Evangelion and Halo were also meant to as well.
 * Meaningful Name: They're named after a bug native to New Zealand (which is where they're located).
 * Serkis Folk: King Kong, Gollum and Ceasar were all played by Andy Serkis himself, though the Na'vi also count.
 * Starring Special Effects: All of their movies.
 * What Could Have Been: The Halo movie. What was left of the budget was put into District 9.