QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND — The Hobbit Fan Contest winners and attending media are here in Queenstown and things have been a little busy. It’s a balance of gathering vs. sitting on a computer and typing (although in the incredible Hotel St. Moritz that is pretty sweet) and I am erring on the side of gathering today. So, no great big post but trust me when I say the photos collected from here can make a grown man cry, even if that grown man is me. Something about here touches me emotionally.
In a quick recap we visited Beorn’s realm yesterday, had a scavenger hunt, traveled to get here, had a jeep excursion to the freezing cold, breathtaking top of the world and then flung ourselves off bridges towards freezing water.
But, for now, I wanted to share a video that Tourism New Zealand put together of the fans in Hobbiton and Rotorua from Day 2 of this event. It really captures some of the genuine emotions people felt at the Hobbiton Movie Set. So, enjoy! Oh and you can watch fans watch the new trailer than you can see too in a couple of days.
ROTORUA — The first full day is in the books in a historic gathering of Middle-earth fans from around the world. And while there were some tired eyes there were lots more genuine smiles and the excitement of anticipation of a fan’s trip of a lifetime. Along with 150 Hobbit fans, about 30 or so journalists met on the tarmac at Auckland airport to get a photo with the pride of Air New Zealand’s fleet, its Thorin-and-company-emblazoned carrier.
The logistics of making just that happen means many buses, many credentials, many places to store luggage and quite a lot of hustle and bustle.
Tourism New Zealand is out in force to get everybody where they need to be as is Warners Bros. and just some of the many faces behind the many travel details that had to come together to bring this world-wide collection together.
The winners are divided into groups that help everybody keep everybody else organized. Credential lanyards are color coded to signify who is who and where they are from. If you arrived from the Americas, including winner Rori Griffith and her father Derek from Barbados, you are signified a Hobbit and get a green lanyard. Australasia are yellow wizards, Asia are blue elves and Europeans are red dwarves. Anybody else instantly transported to the video game Gauntlet? Oh and the media are signified as white orcs. Oh yes, we media are villains! We find our bus with signs and banners with CGI Azog himself and yes, that is me down in the photo gallery taking a self-portrait to demonstrate our similar haircuts. Staff are purple with the ever-present black “staff” shirts. The very helpful and cheerful staff will be present and recognizable in many, many photos I have no doubt. Continue reading “New Zealand gives Hobbit winners a grand cultural welcome”
AUCKLAND — It was a great idea to have world-wide winners converge in New Zealand to watch “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” with Peter Jackson. Great concept right? Everybody is pleased and excited that fans get such a great experience.
There are also some unintended and great side effects. This unique gathering is also one of the greatest gatherings of Middle-earth fans anywhere, ever. Imagine 150 people from around the globe converging on Middle-earth and all of them deeply emotionally attached to cinematic Middle-earth, many of them also lovers of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. Imagine the flights and the logistics to get people from Mexico and Finland and Ohio and London and Salt Lake City and lots of other even harder-to-get-here places, all together this morning in Auckland. Arriving on the 8 a.m. flight was a pretty amazing mental exercise.
I feel like the American contingent was among the last to arrive, fitting since we sleep on the flight and more or less show up ready to go. Others traveled for 30 or 40 hours with multiple flights and layovers to make it here. It all feels pretty amazing.
TheOneRing is here with, just a guess, but perhaps 30 journalists world wide. That definitely includes the Hollywood Reporter since I met and chatted with their rep this morning. A breakfast started 45 minutes ago, but I wanted to post right away and tell the world, in the immortal words of Penny Lane, IT’S ALL HAPPENING!
TORn is no stranger to Auckland since its where our own Quickbeam, Cliff Broadway, and I (MrCere) spent a week with Air New Zealand filming the very first Middle-earth safety video. In fact, the place just isn’t the same without him! (You can see the video and the behind-the-scenes video about the video in our old post here. While the newest one, in use on our aircraft, is right here.)
Speaking of Air New Zealand, they sure know how to make a flight great. I will sound like a corporate puppet, but they offer better in-flight entertainment, treat customers better and simply provide a better experience than anybody in the business.
It’s worth noting that my very reliable phone bit the dust at the Los Angeles Airport and a some quick cab rides provided me a new phone – that happens to not have a functioning camera out of the box. What are the odds? This makes Twitter much less effective, but we shall see. When I was here for the world premiere of the first Hobbit movie the motherboard on my laptop went out, so I believe its a plot from Mordor to stop me sharing the fan experience with fans. We shall prevail!
Anyway, I feel pretty confident TheOneRing.net just filed the first story from the event and we will continue to share as much as possible. The good news, there will be LOTS of photos of amazing New Zealand. Stay tuned!
Sir Ian McKellen starts this video introduction to announce the World Premiere date for the final chapter of Peter Jackson’s cinematic Middle-earth films. We now know for sure that the cast and crew from all six films will be walking through Leicester Square on December 1, 2014 in London. Sir Ian was joined by Richard Armitage, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom and Bilbo Baggins himself, Martin Freeman. Check out the video below for more details and start making your plans accordingly. There is mention of a contest, so good luck to anyone who chooses to enter.
As one contest ends, and on the heels of all the news for the third Hobbit movie, we have another contest for all of you. This time we’re teaming up with our friends at HarperCollins Publishers to give away The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Chronicles: Art & Design by Weta Workshop. We’re not just giving away one of these books but 15 of them to fans located all around the world. The contest starts today Sunday September, 21st and will run through the Halloween October 31st, 2014 at midnight PST. These books will be shipped to all the winners on December 17th of this year when the book hits the streets. Make sure when you enter you include ALL of the required information. We will need your full name, email address, phone number, and of course your shipping address.
Enter for a chance to win The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Chronicles: Art & Design.
The results are in and we’re pleased to announce the lucky Ringer who was selected as the winner of the Gandalf the Grey Premium Format from our friends at Sideshow Collectibles. The fan who will be having this amazing piece arrive at their door from Sideshow is Janice I from the US. Thanks again to all of you who entered and a huge thank you to Sideshow Collectibles for teaming up with us to give away this amazing collectible.
