How good is Gollum’s animation? REALLY good, according to Ringer spy Lisa, who wrote in:
“Now that my husband and I have seen the movie more than once, it occurred to me to pass on to other fans a somewhat different observation of Gollum.
As nearly everyone who has seen TTT can attest, the CGI work of Gollum is extraordinary. However, there is another aspect of that work, too. My husband has a 65% hearing loss in both ears, wears hearing aids, and does not use sign language. Instead, he reads lips. Cartoon characters and all CGI characters have always frustrated him because he has never been able to read their lips.
Until Gollum. After we saw the movie the first time, my husband said, “I have never been able to read a CGI character’s lips before. Gollum’s were exactly as if he were a human being.” I cannot think of higher praise for all the people involved in creating Gollum than to tell them that a hearing impaired person was able to follow Gollum’s speech exactly, just by lip-reading. Kudos to the dedication of the Weta staff! “
