“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Just that happened to my sister and me exactly a year ago, however we never even stepped out our door! One June 11th, 2013, the first The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug trailer hit the internet in the U.S. and since we didn’t have time to write up our responses for TheOneRing.net, we decided to film our reaction to the trailer (watch here).
We never expected more than our 15 “hardcore” fans to watch our reaction video at the time, much less ever thought that PJ and the cast and crew would not only see it, but film their own response (watch Happy Elves)! For two young women who didn’t even know that posting trailer reactions was a “thing,” getting launched into the international news was even more unexpected, but it has been such an amazing unexpected journey. To be rewarded for being our unrestrained, embarrassing selves (see just how so in our reaction to the cast’s reaction here) is a boon to not only our little show, but to our souls.
We are forever grateful to Jackson and his team. As a result, we celebrate the support our Facebook page has received (3k likes!) and that of our YouTube channel (5.5k!) by sharing this video that is a compilation of the “deleted scenes” from our reaction videos that we had cut out at the time. Enjoy!
A year after that fateful night, we are now packing and preparing to leave for Denver Comic Con, not as attendees, but as panel participants. We will have our own Happy Hobbit panel and fan table and are so excited to meet as many of our viewers as possible. This path has led to San Diego Comic Con 2013 where we got to meet Evangeline Lilly and Manu Bennett and to the DOS World Premiere in Hollywood in December where we had a blast chatting with the cast and crew.
People always ask us what it feels like to live a Middle-earth fan’s dream, and the answer is simple: It hasn’t sunk in yet. One year later, it all still feels so blissfully surreal.
We wouldn’t have had this adventure of a lifetime without TheOneRing.net, our viewers, and of course, Peter Jackson, Weta and their team. As Gandalf says in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, “I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” What was a small act of kindness from Peter Jackson’s team and the cast sent ripples of joy through our lives and by extension, through the lives of the thousands experiencing the adventure alongside us through our videos.
Hannon le.
Happy Hobbit is still going strong and we have many episodes planned for this summer, including our first ever Happy Hobbit movie! While fandom has given us uncountable joys, one of the greatest is building a community with our fellow Tolkien fans and knowing that, even if only for a moment, we have made you smile. I’ve lost track of how many messages we’ve received from people saying that the best cure for a bad mood is to watch Happy Hobbit! Perhaps our fan Ian McDermott summarizes it best:
‘Happy Hobbit’ has become a haven for me, a gentle and caring respite for the jaded, world-weary traveller; a place where good cheer and whimsy rule for no better reason than to bring happiness to others. Hannon le, ladies.
Please note we will also be participating in TORn’s panels at Denver Comic Con throughout the weekend, including the big party Friday night at the Dino hotel (the Best Western Southwest), so keep your eyes peeled for our coverage on Facebook and Twitter! I will also be participating in several writing panels, including one about the making of my book Darkling.
BONN — HobbitCon 2, in Bonn, Germany is just hours away from starting with a hotel packed full of special guests, lecturers, and fans from around the world.
The Maritim Hotel in Bonn hosts the entire event, which takes over the whole property for the weekend. A full slate of lectures and presentations are scheduled starting just a few hours from now. All of the 13 dwarves from The Hobbit movies are present save Richard Armitage, who is at WonderCon, James Nesbitt who was scheduled but had to cancel and Aiden Turner. That means Adam Brown, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Ken Stott, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, Dean O’Gorman, Graham McTavish and William Kircher are all involved. (That means three trolls are here as well!) The gentlemen were present and were rumored to have been observed hanging around the hotel last night talking together and to each other. Reportedly, 26 countries are represented at the event.
The first HobbitConRichard Taylor and Royd Tolkien were also in the house as was Mark Atkin — Thorin Oakenshiled in scale size. TheOneRing.net has three panels scheduled for the weekend, including one tomorrow evening, speculating on the third film in Peter Jackson’s adaptation. With the entire event scheduled in one place, it gives the whole affair a remarkable, intimate feeling that is a little challenging to explain. Its one of those things where you have to be there.
In fact, European fans can still make that happen, buying tickets by walking up to the hotel. Details can be found RIGHT HERE. TORn would love to see you in person around the hotel and at the first panel at 5 p.m.!
The Desolation of Smaug has won its first award, winning the VES Award for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture for the most awesome of all dragons, Smaug! As previously noted, Smaug was the likely winner in this category for the Visual Effects Society’s 12th annual awards.
Congratulations to Eric Reynolds, David Clayton, Myriam Catrin and Guillaume Francois! View all the winners here.
Don’t forget to join us at the Cat and Fiddle for our ‘One Dragon, One Party’ moot for the Oscars where the mighty Smaug is going up against ‘Gravity’ in the Visual Effects category!
There is just over two weeks remaining before the 2014 Academy Awards telecast and our own Feast of Starlight celebration at the ‘One Dragon, One Party’ event on March 2. Make sure you don’t wait to get your tickets, this is a much smaller venue than in past years and tickets are going fast. You can find all the party info at our previous Party Post.
Let’s take you on a little tour of our venue, the historic Cat & Fiddle Restaurant and Pub in Hollywood, just to put you in the proper party mood for this little moot.
Long before there was a restaurant at 6530 Sunset Blvd., there was a Spanish Shopping Court built by Fred Thompson, housing numerous shops including Travis Banton’s dress shop. Banton, the chief costume designer at the time for Paramount Pictures, was one of the most important Hollywood designers in the 1930’s. Fred Thompson was both a famed Western acting star with Paramount Pictures, as you can see in the photo above on the left, and was a leading business man in Hollywood, with the Thompson Building being one of his lasting legacies.
As you can see, the front entrance to the building has barely changed in the 85 years since it was built. Like so many buildings in the Southern California area, this is built in the classic Spanish style noted for it’s solid white stone walls, arched entrance, wrought iron fences and railings and the red tiled roof.
Once inside the arched entrance there is a brick lined courtyard filled with trees and other plants. Back when it was built, there was a functioning well at the center of the courtyard, but today the centerpiece is a delightful fountain. The Mediterranean climate of Southern California makes dining outside on the courtyard patio a real treat nearly year round. Weather permitting, we plan to have a large screen outdoors on the patio so that you may watch the Oscar telecast while sitting under the stars.
While very Spanish looking on the outside, the inside of the Cat & Fiddle Restaurant and Pub is every bit the English Pub you would expect, complete with warm, cozy hearth, a dart board and comfortable tables and booths. The room on the right is called the Casablanca Room and sits at the far end of the restaurant with a window overlooking the courtyard. And while you may think it only natural that a restaurant in Hollywood would name one of their rooms after a famous movie, in this case, it earned that name because part of Casablanca was actually filmed on location here.
In the 1980’s, a British rock musician and a New Orleans fashionista relocated to Hollywood and opened up the first British pub in the Hollywood area. The Thompson Building’s back area went from Mary Helen’s Tea Room to the Cat & Fiddle Restaurant and Pub, and is still run by the same family that opened it 30 years ago. It is this authentic British style pub and lovely courtyard setting has brought the Tolkien fan community back to this venue time and again for Golden Globes viewing parties, Tolkien Toasts and TORn moots and it is why it was the obvious choice for a smaller, more intimate party this year. The fact that the Cat & Fiddle is less than a mile from the Dolby theater, home of the Academy Awards ceremony doesn’t hurt either.
So don’t delay, get your Tickets now before they sell out. The beautiful LA weather on Oscar Sunday at a wonderful venue like this, you just never know who may show up.
The Merry Inn Song
by J.R.R. Tolkien, first two stanzas as sung by Frodo in the Prancing Pony
“There is an inn, a merry old inn beneath an old grey hill. And there they brew a beer so brown that the Man in the Moon himself came down on night to drink his fill.
The ostler has a tipsy cat that plays a five-stringed fiddle; and up and down he runs his bow, now squeaking high, now purring low, now sawing in the middle.”
Come join us for our Feast of Starlight celebration at the historic Cat & Fiddle Restaurant and Pub in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 2 for “One Dragon, One Party”. We will be taking over the place and watching the telecast of the 86th annual Academy Awards® Middle-earth style. There will be big screens available in both the main dining room and out on the patio, as well as the mounted televisions located throughout the restaurant. With the nice weather Southern California has been enjoying all winter long, it is a safe bet that viewing on the patio will be a delightful experience, but mind the spiders… Continue reading “You are formally invited to TORn’s 2014 Oscar viewing party”
Full details aren’t ready for full disclosure just yet, but should be available very soon. Just crossing the Ts and dotting the Is on booking a venue. We wanted to make sure you knew this was happening today, just as the Oscar Nominations are announced so you can ‘Save the Date’. Here is what we can tell you.
The Oscar party will be held on Sunday, March 2, but then, that date was chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
This will be a viewing party, with dinner, games, auction and raffles, and some geeky fun. That also means it will start in the mid to late afternoon as the Red Carpet telecast gets underway.
Rather than a big fancy party as in years past, we’ve decided to go more casual this year. This is more of an Oscar Moot, a gathering of friends and fans for food, Fellowship and fun. No need for fancy dress, although costumes are always welcome.
The cost will be much more within reach, basically just covering the meal, tax and gratuities.
We are endeavoring to make this family friendly, all ages welcome, so feel free to bring the younglings.
Look for more details in the coming weeks when we issue the formal invite.
The Desolation of Smaug has won its first award, winning the VES Award for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture for the most awesome of all dragons, Smaug! As 
