Made before production on The Golden Compass movie had begun, this video from New Line runs through the plot of the first His Dark Materials book to introduce the project to anyone unfamiliar with the novel. After a brief introduction to Philip Pullman and the successes the books have had, the twenty-seven minute video proceeds to detail the plot of the film through the use of actors, narration and storyboarding. You can view the video in three parts over at our YouTube channel; or simply watch the first of the three videos embedded below, with the remaining two below the fold. Enjoy.

Update: New Line have asked us to take down this footage as it was produced by Anand Tucker – the previous director for the film – and is “not an appropriate representation of the film being produced.” Naturally we’re disappointed: the video has been receiving positive comments, and viewers will not be so naive as to assume the film will be exactly like this footage. We’ll comply with the request however, and no longer link to the video. New Line have also been targeting the video on sites such as YouTube, so it may not be possible to find the footage elsewhere on the web at all.