Frantic films adds a bit of holiday magic to Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.(USER FOCUS: MODELING)

It's the holiday season, when parents search for that perfect toy for their good little boy or girl. At Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, the shelves are stocked from high to low with just about every toy imaginable: dolls, plush animals, planes, trains, and more. It is truly the strangest, most fantastic toy store in the world, and not just because of all the toys. Here, the toys come to life, as does the store itself.

But when the 243-year-old eccentric owner, Mr. Magorium, announces that he will be turning over the keys to the shop to his awkward and insecure manager, Molly Mahoney (Natalie Portman), a dark and ominous change begins to take over the once-remarkable Emporium. The lively, bright toys have lost their color and their life, sitting immobile on the shelves as Molly and her young friend try to find the source of the problem and revive the magic.

Most of the movie, from Walden Media and Mandate Pictures, is filled with practical objects and effects, though a number of scenes have been infused with CG magic under the direction of Kevin Tod Haug, visual effects supervisor. Among those contributing digital effects to the film were Intelligent Creatures, FX Cartel, Bar X Seven, and Frantic Films, which also created a VFX-packed finale.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium was never intended to be a VFX movie; rather, it features in-camera effects and toys that are animated via animatronics and puppetry. The original final sequence featured a tightly orchestrated scenario in which Natalie Portman's character makes the toys spring into action. However, after the filmmakers screened the original ending, they decided they wanted a more magical finale than the mechanically driven toys could achieve, so the Frantic Films team was brought onboard to create this scene digitally in post.

"We quickly realized the new ending would require us to create a sequence for which there were no conventional elements. So we rebuilt 75 to 80 percent of the entire finale scene in CG," says Chris Bond, president and creative director of ...