Celebriel reports on LOTR Dragon Con 2006 programs: Wow, how to summarize four wonderful days of LOTR and other fantasy/sci-fi franchise madness. It’s impossible to attend everything of interest, but where else can you hear fans, writers, and scholars passionately debate The Dork of the Rings, whether Dumbledore is really dead, how Star Wars Episodes 1 to 3 could have been made better, and how the portrayal of dragons, from Tolkien’s Smaug to Paolini’s Saphira, has evolved. Not to mention listening to Emerald Rose, watching sword fighting displays, learning how to apply costume prosthetics, and meeting the amazing Kiran Shah.

Saturday starts with the Dragon Con parade, which this year attracted about a thousand costumed participants. The Lord of the Rings was well represented as usual, under the banner of Arms of Middle Earth. New this year were two Corsairs (“The Pirates of Middle Earth”), and Young Sauron.

Saturday afternoon Tim Richardson, director of The Dork of the Rings, together with cast and crew members, discussed the making of their outrageously funny parody, which held its world premiere at Gen Con in Indianapolis in August. Co-director Jack Peterson, who bears an amazing resemblance to Peter Jackson as he appeared a few years ago, also attended and took questions from the audience. They also showed their making-of documentary, The Making of Muddle Earth, and discussed the challenges of making an epic film on a budget of about $30,000, especially given the amount of food consumed by co-director Jack Peterson. Randolf the Wizard, played by David Kiefer, roamed the halls talking about the film and posting for photos. At last count, he’d spoken to or been photographed with over a thousand fans.