Tartar Guard costume and polar bear maquette from The Golden Compass...

The Golden Compass is a 2007 movie adaptation of the first in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy of fantasy novels. The movie follows the adventures of Lyra Belacqua in a parallel world to ours.

Original Tartar Guard costume from

The Golden Compass on display

 The Tartars are a feared militaristic people of the North. These warrior soldiers are used by the dogmatic ruling Magisterium to guard children held captive at Bolvangar, whilst they are experimented upon to learn the secrets of Dust.

Ruth Myers was Costume Designer on the movie and this costume was photographed on display at the London Film Museum on January 25, 2011.

The Golden Compass movie poster

On her travels Lyra befriends a talking armoured bear, 'Iorek Byrnison', an expert metalsmith from the land of Svalbard. In the movie the male polar bear is voiced by Sir Ian McKellan.

Iorek Byrnison polar bear maquette from The Golden Compass

This original sculpted maquette was presented to the director for approval before being scanned in to create Iorek Byrnison in CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) in the movie.

The Golden Compass movie poster

UPDATED: Here's another look at the Tartar Guard costume from a return visit to the museum on May 15, 2012.