Fantastic Beasts 2: Art Department

Framestore's Art Department made a welcome return to J.K.Rowling’s enchanted world with our work on Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. As with the first film, the team produced hundreds of concepts to develop the look of dozens of mythical creatures, bringing them to life. This helped Director David Yates to visualise these beasts and to work out the unique character of each one. The team of artists also worked on countless transformations and other magical effects that were needed by the production team to bring the script to life for the screen.

Concept Design

Creature Design/Art Department

The Framestore Art Department did a fantastic job at helping us visually develop the Beasts. From the Kelpie to the Zouwu, their beautiful concepts and collaborative approach was a key part of the process in the creation of the creatures.

Christian Manz

Joint Overall VFX Supervisor

The Zouwu

'Returning to the Wizarding World to tackle the Zouwu was fantastic. It gave me the chance to really explore not just the look of the creature, but also its character.' Sam Rowan, Concept Artist.

early stage concept art of a zouwu creature looking to the right

three characters sitting on a zouwu creature as they are surrounded by dozens of matagot creatures

three characters sitting on the neck of a zouwu creature as it leaps forward

The Kelpie

'Working on the Kelpie was a dream come true. It was great to be able to push the design away from a traditional water horse that people have come to expect into something much more wild and other worldly.' Dan Baker, Concept Artist.

concept art of a character riding a kelpie creature underwater

concept art of a character swimming next to a colossal kelpie underwater as fish swim underneath them in murky waters

The Matagot

The Matagot acts as the the guardian of the Ministere des Affaires Magiques - a magical beast that resembles a large, spectral, spynx-like black cat in appearance.

matagot creature leaping with its eyes illuminated with a purple hue

concept art and sketch process of matagot creature

Baby Niffler

The Framestore Art Department drew on their experience designing the Niffler for the first film to concept younger versions of the much-loved creature.