PACKAGING

The overall graphic layout for Bofur’s box stays the same as we’ve seen with previous entries in the line. Per the format we’ve come to know, the front of the box gives you a great shot of Bofur, graphic work for the title of the movie, and of course the Weta logo. The sides of the box for Bofur also present a familiar format with different looks at the statue. While the other side of the box presents some of the various products you can get in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey line of collectibles. The back of the box contains a great story on Bofur as well as information regarding details of the character and statue. The Styrofoam on the inside is typical with what we’ve become used to getting with these statues.

SCULPTING

Lindsey Crummett is back at it again with Bofur. This will be the third Dwarve she’s sculpted in this series following Baling and Kili. As we mentioned in our Kili review she is also responsible for the amazing Azog the Defiler on Warg we saw during Comic-Con 2013. As been the case so far with every item she’s worked on Bofur is another exceptional addition to our collections.

The likeness of Bofur is pretty darn good. You get the solid likeness that James Nesbitt has while wearing the entire getup to play Bofur and you also have that ornery smile that he has in multiple parts of the movie. The work on the hair is also nicely done once again giving the real life appearance as well as the work done on his very unique looking beard. Bofur’s outfit is a little closer to Bombur but you also get some nice blend of leather with the cloth. So you get some great design work on the edging of his outfit in the sleeve area and on his vest. His boots have a great fur design on them, which comes through from the actual costume. I also love the little details of this piece with the little leather pouch having great stitch work, his awesome scarf, and that cool hat which blends the wool/leather look.

Bofur also comes ready for battle as he’s about to swing that giant mace. I’m really impressed with the detail in this wepon. The wooden detail in the staff of this weapon has a great worn wood look to it and near the top it appears to be wrapped some leather. Of course the end has been recreated to match the prop from the movie in spectacular fashion. It has all the beat up metal markings sculpted into it that make it appear to have actually been used.

PAINT

Bofur continues the streak of very well painted statues from Weta Workshop. The skin tones use the proper paint mixture to not only make the statue look like a shrunken Dwarf. I also love the work done on the eyes of Bofur in that they help sell the ornery look that he has. Once, again I think after making sure that you create a mini-Dwarf is making the outfit look real. The paint department did this in spades. The outfit has a real dirty look to it that helps show off the wear and tear this outfit has scene, but you do not lose the little details in the outfit. You also get the proper color of the outfit as we saw it on screen. Bofur’s weapon also has a fantastic paint job with it helping to create a old used weapon. The wood has the proper worn look as does the metal piece at the top both working with the sculpting job.

Overall

Bofur retails for $249, which is in line with most of the statues so far in the line. I’ve loved Bofur from the start with his unique look and personality in the film. He looks great and helps create a really great looking Hobbit display. I want to add that with every release in this line Weta is just continuing to show how great they with these statues.

SPECIFICATIONS

Bofur is limited to just 1000 pieces worldwide and in-stock ready to purchase. Get your order in now before he sells out.

Dimensions:

10.6″ x 9.1″ x 5.9″ (H x W x D)
27 cm x 23 cm x 15 cm

Weight:

2.2 lbs (1.0 kg)

PHOTOS

With Peter Jackson absent from Comic-Con International in San Diego to finish production on The Hobbit trilogy, the duty of bringing Middle-earth to Comic-Con fell to the staff of the TheOneRing.net. Consisting of TheOneRing personalities Alex and Kellie Rice, Josh Rubinstein and Rebecca Perry, with Cliff Broadway and Cathy Udovch driving most of the dialog, the panelists dug deep into the The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second film of The Hobbit trilogy.

Releasing December 13 with limited information currently available from which to draw theories and deduce conclusions, the panelists energetically showed off their expertise of Tolkien lore, analyzing known sequences adapted from the novel. The most fun came when the panelists cut loose theorizing on new scenes and relationships from Smaug, including a larger role for the wizard Radagast, the inclusion of new elf character Tauriel, talking giant spiders, a Jackson-created side story for Gandalf, elven goddess Galadriel seeing combat action and Bilbo’s impending encounter with Smaug the dragon, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.

Breaking down the structure of Smaug and its parallel with the chronology of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, the panel took the crowd through the film’s outline, beginning with Bilbo Baggins and his dwarven allies meeting the giant bear-man Beorn. This encounter precedes The Company venturing into the dangers of Mirkwood, wherein lie the deadly spiders teased in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

[Read More]

Peter Jackson stands in front of a set as photographed by DGAQuarterly / Louise Hatton.

We call it a kitchen sink interview because it contains so much depth and covers a wide array of topics, touching on many of Jackson’s most important films while keeping in focus that his work on Middle-earth movies is so far, his greatest triumph and what he is most likely to be known for.

The Q&A with writer Jeffrey Ressner ranges over the Kiwi’s whole career with fascinating bits on his earliest days:

My first movie, Bad Taste, was really made up as we went along over four years, and it didn’t even have a script. Not having actors or a script tends to be somewhat limiting. [Laughs]

Jackson adds to the lore that surrounds the making of the “Lord of the Rings,” films with an amazing story about how his shooting studio in New Zealand came to be:

We thought, ‘Well, if The Lord of the Rings happens, this is exactly the sort of place we’d need. This is absolutely incredible.’ But it was very expensive. At the time it was just Fran and I, and if we committed to it and for some reason the film didn’t happen, we’d be in big, big trouble. I mean, we were mortgaging our house just to make the down payment on the place. One day the real estate agent was showing us around; the paint factory had been closed for six months, so it was mothballed and covered in dust. The cafeteria was dull and gray, and there were a lot of old Formica tables with chairs stuck up on top of them. Just before we left, I saw a paperback book sitting on one of the cafeteria tables—it was a copy of The Lord of the Rings. I called Fran over and pointed to it, and we looked at each other and then said to the guy, ‘OK, we’ll take it.’ And that became Stone Street Studios.

He also drops this gem that almost sent me back to my Blu-ray player:

I have to say, I saw a bit of my Kong about a year ago, and I actually think the last half-hour—those scenes in New York through the end of the Empire State Building sequence—is probably the piece of filmmaking of which I’m the proudest.

There is a lot more to this interview if you follow the link above. It may be one of the best Jackson interviews in print. We at TheOneRing have a good one in our pocket we hope to share before we see Smaug again in theaters, but this DGA piece is highly recommended.

If you missed the link, try this: http://www.dga.org/Craft/DGAQ/All-Articles/1303-Summer-2013/DGA-Interview-Peter-Jackson.aspx.

The image at right, part of Lee’s analysis, is certainly food for thought.

I know I’m late to this party, but I finally got around to seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey after hearing much belly-aching over how the story of a single book is split into three separate movies: it seems like a blatant cash grab by the studios, a cynical move that put franchise movie economics ahead of things like storytelling and pacing.

After seeing the movie, I can definitely sympathize with these complaints. It felt slow at times, particularly during the multiple expository scenes in the first half and the interminably long action sequence in the second half. Most importantly, I felt like the story didn’t advance far enough to justify taking up an entire movie on its own, especially compared to the Lord of the Rings movies.

So me being me, I decided to put this issue into quantitative terms. Specifically, I wanted to compare the length of the Hobbit movie to that of the source text, and run the same analysis for the three Lord of the Rings movies.

[Read More]

Weta Workshop has produced well over fifteen thousand museum quality weapons for projects within the creative industries of film, gaming and replica collectibles, including Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong,” Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander,” Edward Zwick’s “The Last Samurai,” Andrew Adamson’s “Chronicles of Narnia,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Hellboy,” Stephen Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the Microsoft Halo 3 short films and, more recently, James Cameron’s “Avatar” and Neill Blomkamp’s “District 9.”

Meet The Hobbit Artists

Meet several of the artists who worked on The Hobbit and learn more about what they’re up to, along with several other talented folks at Weta, including Greg Broadmore and the comedic antics of Daniel Falconer! [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Meet the Hobbit Artists]

Collectibles

Meet the lads! From Bridge Direct Toys to our very own Elessar and Weta’s Senior Model Maker David Tremont, learn a bit more about collecting and miniature-making… and have plenty of laughs along the way. These guys are a kick! Read David Tremont’s story of creating Barad-Dur here: http://www.wetanz.com/the-making-of-barad-dur-article-series-by-david-tremont/  [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Collectibles]

Badali Jewelry

Check out Badali’s latest Lord of the Rings/Hobbit jewelery and find out more about the stories behind each piece! [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Badali Jewelry]

The Hobbit Extended Edition

Hear a little bit about the upcoming DVD/Blu ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and glimpse what Comic-Con is like long after the crowds have departed! [Happy Hobbit Goes to SDCC: Extended Edition Teaser and Farewell]

Meeting Evangeline Lilly

And of course, the completion of “Hobbitception!” [Hobbitception: Meeting Evangeline Lilly]

You can join in the fun at the Happy Hobbit Facebook page!

German cinema magazine.

Friends at thorinoakenshield.net have a full online translation of the print publication and since we aren’t German speakers, we can’t say if anything is lost in translation, but it reads pretty clearly.

Here are some highlights but if you read beyond this point, expect full-on potential spoilers! (We can’t say if they are true or not, but the writer surely dishes the info matter-of-factly.)

****Seriously, last chance, major potential spoilers!****

“A greedy dragon, a rather testy skinchanger, a river ride full of action and the battle of the White Council against the Necromancer of Dol Guldur: Middle-earth fans should be prepared for something big; because with “The Hobbit – Desolation of Smaug” (starting December 12th) Peter Jackson will (once again) show all he’s got.”

“A lot of the appendices will also be used in part 2.”

“Hardcore fans will find the revelation of the Necromancer (Benedict Cumberbatch as CGI shadow) as witch master Sauron just in a couple of sentences in the book. And according to Tolkien the pale orc Azog doesn’t survive the Battle of Azanulbizar (in the beginning of “The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey”), while Jackson definitively turns him into Thorin Oakenshield’s arch enemy now. Orcs invading Esgaroth on the other hand was completely invented by Peter Jackson. Just like Tauriel – this young, only 300 years old elf which will add a bit of femininity to the male dominated story.”

“This story needs estrogens”, Evangeline Lilly jokes. And Peter Jackson adds: “Thanks to characters like Tauriel we will discover more about the life in Mirkwood, which is completely different from Rivendell.” But the Silvan pointy-eared beauty is not supposed to be a mere copy of Arwen from the old trilogy. After all the people of the wood elves is a lot more dangerous and suspicious than Elrond and his companions. “We are like ninjas from the undergrowth.” (Lilly)”

“Peter Jackson not only uses additions like this to narrate a coherent chronicle of Middle-earth, he also uses them to sprinkle a little treat for spare time hobbits here and there. For example fanboys will anticipate the first encounter of Legolas and Gloin, father of grumpy dwarf Gimli from the “Rings” films. Other than “An unexpected Journey” the sequel is going to be distinctly darker though, stresses Jackson.

“One climax of the new trilogy, which over 2000 actors and extras worked on, is the death of the dragon. Whether Smaug’s fall will end part 2 however is yet unknown. Certain is that the Battle of the Five Armies will play the center role in “The Hobbit – There and Back Again”.

Those are the highlights and you can read the full translation right here, from ThorinOakenshield.net along with scans of the magazine’s pages while the German publication can be found online here, but we didn’t find a link directly to the article.

This item is the stunning Arwen mini-statue from The Return of the King. Sculpted by the artists at Weta Workshop, this piece is going to be one you want to add to your collection and for only $75 it’s quite affordable.

The Arwen mini-statue isn’t the only new item to go up for order, too. If you’d like a great looking bookmark for the next time you read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit then Weta has something for you. From The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Weta has a beautiful red leather bookmark with Thorin and Company on it while from The Lord of the Rings you have The Fellowship worked in stunning brown leather. These two bookmarks can be had for $10 a-piece and are in-stock and ready to ship.

As many of you know Weta comes every year to the United States during the month of July for Comic-Con in San Diego. Now the Workshop will attend its second U.S. show, this one in Salt Lake City, where TheOneRing.net will also be! Sept. 5 – 7 is the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con. TORn will present a panel about “The Desolation of Smaug,” and will also participate on other panels and host a booth during the event. If you happen to be planning on attending Salt Lake Comic-Con or can get there from the surrounding western states, this is a chance to go to a show that isn’t sold out and where you can get a hotel room. Salt Lake has a rail line as well so you can stay immediately by the convention or in one of the suburbs and still travel relatively easily to the event. Weta will be attending this show in September with its booth, which looks significant on the retailer map. (Although they are listed as Weta Digital, we think an error.) If you haven’t gotten your ticket to the show yet then now is the time. Salt Lake Comic-Con runs from Thursday, September 5th through to Saturday, September 7th.

You can read the full press release from Weta here.

Join Kili, Fili, and several surprise guests to learn how to camp like a Dwarf! [Happy Hobbit: Dwarven Camping Tips - Episode 21]

The literary legacy that members of the Tolkien Estate want to protect

By:  Brian Tither

Introduction

I think that the reason why some members of the Tolkien Estate have sued Saul Zaentz and its subsidiaries over JRR Tolkien’s literary legacy is because of their overriding concern for protecting that legacy above all else. In particular I think that this is the intention of Christopher and Priscilla Tolkien, the surviving children of Tolkien. And as a former student of Tolkien’s academic speciality in Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic in New Zealand I personally support this intention after being frustrated at The Hobbit production being only valued for the other Hollywood productions and tourist dollars that it may bring into New Zealand. I am also frustrated at the way a lot of the people involved in the production seem to only value it for its enhancement of their individual film projects.

The literary legacy of JRR Tolkien

Tolkien was the Professor of Anglo Saxon at Oxford University in the years that Christopher and Priscilla and their deceased brothers John and Michael were children and Tolkien would come home and tell them stories based on the literature that he was teaching at Oxford. This came from Old Icelandic texts like Voluspa, which describes the rise and fall of Midgard, the Old Icelandic Middle-earth, where Tolkien got his names for his Dwarves, and The Saga of the Volsungs, where Tolkien got his ideas for Bilbo’s encounters with Gollum and Smaug from the God Loki taking off Andvari the Dwarf a ring which causes problems for its bearers and Sigurd’s slaying of Fafnir the dragon, which are supplemented by similar things in the Old English poem Beowulf. This was also supplemented by Tolkien getting his ideas for Beorn, which translates as ‘warrior’ from Old English and as ‘bear’ from Old Icelandic, and Bilbo Baggins, which translates as ‘dweller in a dwelling in a bag’ from Middle English and ‘dweller with a sword from ones in a bag’ from Old English, from characters such as Bodvar Bjarki, which translates as ‘the bear warrior’, and Hott Hjalti, which translates as ‘the small sword hilt’, from The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, where Hott’s parents are described as living in what appears to be a house built in a hole in the ground.

Given that the name Hott and the Old English word holbytla for ‘hole-builder’ conflate together as hobbit, which means ‘small hole-builder’, and given the oral tradition that developed between Tolkien and his children, it is easy to see how Tolkien took it a step further with his children and got them to help him with creating a story from him one day writing down the words: ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’. And from there the story developed as an oral tradition between them until Tolkien decided to write it down in a manuscript and this was published as The Hobbit some years later after he happened to show it to someone who recommended that he got it published. Then he wrote The Lord of the Rings, in which he referred to the mythology, later published as The Silmarillion, that he had been creating since before his children were born, while incorporating a character that he and his children devised from a doll that they owned, which they named Tom Bombadil.

The legacy of the Tolkien Estate

But the story of his children’s involvement did not stop there because Tolkien consulted Christopher on virtually every turn of The Lord of the Rings as he wrote it, while Christopher went on to become a university lecturer in Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic as well. Then when Tolkien passed away he had Christopher appointed as his literary executor and charged him to complete The Silmarillion, which Christopher did. And he also appointed him with John, Michael and Priscilla to take care of other estate matters as well.

This included taking care of matters regarding his selling off the film rights to the books to Saul Zaentz, which Tolkien did to cover the high inheritance taxes that the books accrued upon his death, all which grew out of his experiences with being swamped by the royalty taxes that he had to pay due to the sale of the books from the popularity that he did not anticipate for them. And this included the estate ensuring that Saul Zaentz and its subsidiaries did not step out of parameters that were set by Tolkien to protect the literary legacy of his works, which by implication stretched into his academic speciality to the original texts where he got his ideas from that have no copyright on them. And this experience grew out of seeing what Walt Disney did to the works of the Grimm’s Brothers the latter who Tolkien had a particular affinity for because the Grimm’s brothers also created philological principles, which Tolkien applied in his academia and works. Hence Tolkien did not want to see tangible things like this in his works being turned into intangible things like theme parks, which by implication extends into things like video games and gambling outlets such as slot machines.

And there is a need to protect this literary legacy if this literature is not to become something only valued by the money that people might make out of it at the expense of accessing that literature to many. And one of the things that I have been perturbed about as a student of Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic is experiencing both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit productions consulting linguistic and Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic experts for the purpose of developing the movies without considering how such expertise comes from the collective intellectual property of teachers and students in these specialities, even though such intellectual property was strangely fused with Hollywood action movie conventions in the films. And possibly this is why The Hobbit movies have so far not had such experts promoting them like The Lord of the Rings movies had, which probably made it expedient for the first trilogy of movies to be nominated for Oscars in categories like Best Director and Best Film, which they won on the third movie, while the second trilogy so far has not received any such nominations.

The valuation of the legacy in New Zealand

Meanwhile, as I said above, The Hobbit movies have been only valued as a means to bring more Hollywood productions and tourist dollars into New Zealand and it has been seen by people involved in the production as only a means to develop their individual film projects. The latter was made clear to me in October 2010 when allegedly there was industrial action going on which was allegedly having Warner Brothers considering moving the production elsewhere. The impression I got then from such individuals was that if the production went offshore it would severely jeopardise their projects, which was enhanced to me by someone who spoke at The Hobbit rally, which occurred a few days before Warner Brothers decided to keep the production in New Zealand. This person referred to how The Lord of the Rings production created a community of filmmakers, which has left me the impression that this community has been dependent on both that and The Hobbit production for its existence.

Consequently I have decided that I will only support the film projects of individuals involved in these productions if they demonstrate to me sufficient appreciation for the intellectual property that was drawn on for these productions. And for me the benchmark that has been set for that is that shown to me by a prominent New Zealand Maori writer, some of whose works have been turned into films, who supported the teaching of Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic at the New Zealand university that he used to work for. He also left me with the impression that the term ‘Middle-earth’ should not be used as a means for cultural groups to promote their culture to gain tourist dollars without acknowledging the culture that Middle-earth comes from as Tolkien acknowledged and intended it, who said Middle-earth was a use of the Middle English middel-erde, which derived from the Old English Middangeard and is thus related to the Old Icelandic Midgard.

Meanwhile, universities have had to cut their Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic courses even when they have had a reasonable number of students doing them due to a reallocation of university funding from a government who has used The Hobbit production so far for political gain. And I think that this is abysmal given the free promotion that The Lord of the Rings movies got from the New Zealand experts in these specialities through public lectures that they delivered like other experts in the specialities in other places in the world on the release of each movie, which if it had of been picked up on by The Hobbit production might have meant that the media surrounding the movies would have been less focussed on the apparent lack of material in the first Hobbit movie and the technology used, which not all the movie viewers were happy with.

The actual legacy in New Zealand

Also, for the New Zealand world premiere of the first Hobbit movie such experts could have highlighted how it was part of New Zealand’s culture and heritage that our education system produced Kenneth Sisam, a graduate of both Auckland and Oxford Universities, who was Tolkien’s New Zealand born tutor when Tolkien first started learning these specialities. Sisam introduced texts to Tolkien that Tolkien said that he had previously never heard of before, which included the Old English poem Crist, which had words in it translated as: ‘Hail Earendil, brightest of angels/ above the middle-earth sent unto men’. This led to the first draft of the poem of Earendil the mariner that Bilbo sings in Rivendell the night before the Council of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings, which, in turn, Tolkien wrote after his first year of having Sisam as his first tutor, which was the beginning point of his legendarium.

In addition, these New Zealand specialists could have also highlighted how Tolkien alluded in his valedictory address, when retiring from being Professor of English language and literature, to the contribution that New Zealanders (and Australians) made to the Oxford School of English and the close contest which he had with Sisam for Professor of Anglo Saxon. The latter was also referred to in an interview just before the first Lord of the Rings movie’s release with an English born former lecturer in the speciality at a New Zealand university who was at Oxford when Tolkien was Professor there at the time the book was published who said that most undergraduates thought that Sisam should have been Professor.

Conclusion

This lecturer also told my classmates and me that the undergraduates at Oxford formed the basis for the Hobbits in Tolkien’s legendarium, them being derived from the undergraduates living in study groups with a tutor and a servant called a scout who looked after their personal needs assigned to each group. That is, Frodo Baggins and his cousins were based on the undergraduates, Bilbo Baggins on the tutor and Samwise Gamgee on the scout. And hence, whereas The Hobbit was something derived by Tolkien from his telling of stories to his children based on his academia, The Lord of the Rings was derived from his actual teaching of that academia. And I experienced an evolved version of that at university from a former PhD graduate of Oxford who got some of her Bilbos to teach Sams like me our letters like Bilbo does for Sam in the book. And according to one of those Bilbos my classmates and I are the envy of many who learn these letters around the world for having had this lecturer as a teacher, which is a sure foot in the door for any of her Frodos into universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. And it is such legacies that Christopher and Priscilla Tolkien are concerned with protecting knowing full well that without it their father’s legendarium would not even exist.

Brian lives in Wellington New Zealand on the main drag to both Victoria University where he was he was taught Old and Middle English and Old Icelandic at undergraduate level by an Oxford University PhD graduate and the Embassy Theatre where the red carpet rolled out for all New Zealand premieres for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. He goes under the pen name of Brian Boru, which refers to his family descent from a famous Gaelic warrior-king of a millenium ago called Brian Boroimhe who is part of a Gaelic literary canon that he also wants to study.

Let’s dive right in and look at the goodies that are going to be on the discs.

The Filmmakers’ Commentary. Director/writer/producer Peter Jackson and writer/co-producer Philippa Boyens provide their perspective and stories on creating the first film.

New Zealand: Home of Middle-Earth. From Matamata to Queenstown, travel with Peter Jackson and his team across the stunning locations of New Zealand, transformed by the filmmakers into Middle-Earth.

The Appendices Part 7: A Long-Expected Journey. A 14-part chronological history of the filming of An Unexpected Journey, covering pre-production in the various departments of the film in the months leading up to the start of principal photography, the boot camp training for the main cast, and the work done on set chronologically through the three shooting blocks and in the world of its digital effects.

The individual chapters (and notice that a lot of them take titles from individual chapter of The Hobbit) include:

* The Journey Back to Middle-Earth
* Riddles in the Dark: Gollum’s Cave
* An Unexpected Party: Bag End
* Roast Mutton: Trollshaws Forest
* Bastion of the Greenwood: Rhosgobel
* A Short Rest: Rivendell and London
* Over Hill: The Misty Mountains
* Under Hill: Goblin Town
* Out of the Frying Pan: The Forest Ledge
* Return to Hobbiton: The Shire
* The Epic of Scene 88: Strath Taieri
* The Battle of Moria: Azanulbizar
* Edge of the Wilderland: Pick-ups and the Carrock
* Home Is Behind, the World Is Ahead

The Appendices Part 8: Return to Middle-Earth. Another selection of documentaries and featurettes await, further detailing the development, design and production of An Unexpected Journey:

The Company of Thorin. Explores the characters and backgrounds of the five families of dwarves and the company of actors chosen to play Thorin’s company on the Quest of the Lonely Mountain. Chapters include:

* Assembling the Dwarves
* Thorin, Fili and Kili
* Balin and Dwalin
* Oin and Gloin
* Dori, Nori and Ori
* Bifur, Bofur and Bombur

Mr. Baggins: The 14th Member. A revealing look at the film’s charismatic and talented lead actor, Martin Freeman.

Durin’s Folk: Creating the Dwarves Reveals the journey and process of designing, conceptualizing and physically realizing the dwarves in The Hobbit.

The Peoples and Denizens of Middle-Earth. Focuses on the realization of new characters and creatures encountered in the first film, from casting to characterization to physical and digital design. Chapters include:

* The Stone Trolls
* Radagast the Brown
* Goblins
* Azog the Defiler

Realms of the Third Age: From Bag End to Goblin Town. Follows the creation of the Middle-Earth locations from conceptual design to set and prop building to fully digital realities. Realms explored include:

* Hobbiton
* Rhosgobel
* The Misty Mountains
* Goblin Town

The Songs of The Hobbit. A look at the realization of Tolkien’s songs in An Unexpected Journey.

Pre-order your copy of the AUJ: EE at Amazon

The AUJ EE is already available for pre-order over on Amazon.com in a few different flavours — the collector’s edition gift set with bonus WETA statue, a Blu-ray 3D version and normal, non-3D Blu-ray edition.

Bootnote: We believe that the numbering of the EE appendices begins from seven because it carries on from the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions, which had six appendices on the extra DVD discs.

Alternative theory is that Tolkien also had six appendices for the LOTR books (labelled from A to F), but that seems much less likely.

Order your gift set via this link: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition with Amazon Exclusive Bilbo/Gollum Statue (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + UltraViolet)

5-Disc Specs: 5 Disc BD: BD 1: 3D Ext Edition Feature + NZ Trailer BD 2: 3D Ext Edition Feature BD 3: 2D Ext Edition Feature + Filmmaker’s Commentary BD 4: • “The Appendices Part 7 – A Long Expected Journey: The Chronicles of The Hobbit – Part 1” • “The Appendices Part 8 – Return to Middle-Earth: Creating the World of The Hobbit” UV Copy of Ext Edition

Statue Specs: “Riddles in the Dark” was sculpted by Gary Hunt from Weta Workshop. Gary is part of the wider Weta team who worked on the film. The figurine is approximately 2.07 lbs. Size: 8” wide, 5.25” deep and 7” tall. The outer giftset box is illustrated by the film’s concept artists Alan Lee and John Howe. -

UPDATE: You can also get the gift set with regular Blu-ray (non-3D) via this link right here. The product details are nearly the same with a slightly smaller price for those who don’t have and will not have 3D televisions in the future. (The 3D version comes with a regular Blu-ray version also.)

[Gift Set] [Blu-Ray 3D + Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet] [Blu-Ray + Ultraviolet]