Te Papa's LOTR Exhibit Preview!
Xoanon @ 12:09 am EST

Xoanon here, this morning my wife and I were lucky enough to get an advanced look at the new Lord of the Rings exhibit at the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand.

The Te Papa Museum is the pride and joy of Wellington, boasting some half dozen events, it sits on Wellington Harbour like a jewel in a crown.

Housed on the fifth floor of the sprawling building this exhibit features something for everyone, costumes, weapons, bigatures and more. Each character from the story is given his or her own small section of the museum with costume displays, photos, props and other items seen in the film. TV screens at every stop play small clips from the DVD documentries that tie into the display. There was an entire room dedicated to armour from every race, hidden speakers gave us battle sounds from the film, and the mood lighting really got you into the spirit of the moment.

There was another section devoted totally to the One Ring. The ring insignia floated around the room as the One Ring floated in mid air. Another section housed the Minas Tirith bigature and the model of Bag End as seen by Frodo in Galadriel's mirror.

The Elven boat that carried Boromir's body was on display, with a dummy that looked uncannily like Sean Bean himself. Weapons were on display, both behind glass and others out in the open available for you to touch and feel.

One of the really neat touches was the forced perspective demonstration with two versions of Gandalf's wagon, visitors are able to get a photo taken with a guest, one looking decidely Hobbit-sized.

My favorite model on display had to be the Corsair ship proudly displayed at the main entrance to the Te Papa Museum. It's sails held high, this 'miniature' model looks seaworthy as is!

If you can get down to Wellington from now until August I highly encourage you to stop by and take a look!