TORN Guest Blogger Ethan Gilsdorf writes: The extent to which the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was inspired by Tolkien has been debated, but it’s clear that D&D’s co-founders Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson had read the trilogy. And it’s more than clear that the ongoing success and appeal of Lord of the Rings fueled interest in D&D, as well as vice versa.
This past week (July 27) would have been Gygax’s 73rd birthday. Folks have been working to immortalize his legacy and the impact of D&D by building a memorial statue in Gygax’s hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The next step is to raise money. This coming week at Gen Con in Indianapolis (the now massive gaming convention that Gygax founded), using the birthday as the impetus, the Gygax Memorial Fund will be at booth #1541 (the Old School Renaissance Group) to accept donations to get this statue built. Continue reading “Gygax Memorial Fund at GenCon”
(The following is an opinion piece from long-time staffer Quickbeam aka Clifford Broadway)
This year at San Diego Comic-Con 2011 we brought tons of Hobbity goodness to all the fans who joined us to celebrate our shared love of Tolkien. It was a huge success by all accounts. Our Hobbit panel launched the weekend with wonderful buzz. We got a nice interview with Bard (Luke Evans) before he even stepped foot in New Zealand for his first day of filming! I got a brief, single question in to the legendary Francis Ford Coppola. I was delighted to feature WETA’s own Daniel Falconer and Greg Broadmore in our live feed. Here’s the big kick in the pants: overall viewership of our innovative live streaming video beat G4’s audience; proving that Ringer fans know how to bring it better than anyone! Way to go TORn!
But I look back with a bittersweet reflection on how SDCC has evolved over time. Because “much that once was… is now lost.”
At first blush any newcomer attending the mega-event titled San Diego Comic-Con International (mind you, I’m talking about the truly virginal), would expect to walk into the main hall and they would ostensibly find: comic books. Continue reading “A Look Back: Has Comic-Con Really Jumped The Shark?”
With the break in filming (that including filming in the U.K. with Christopher Lee) players in the two-part Hobbit movie are heading back to New Zealand. Word is that Peter Jackson is there now after his surprise stop at Comic-Con and we learned today from his own Twitter (@stephenfry) that Stephen Fry as the Master of Laketown is headed there at well. He tweeted:
Flying from Cape Town to Jo’burg to Sydney to NZ tomorrow. Will be Tuesday by the time I land in Wellington. Hobbitry beckons.
Luke Evans (Bard the Bowman) told us at the Con that he hasn’t stepped a foot on set yet but is scheduled for training and costume fitting soon. We do know the production is busy with decorating sets and getting costumes and extras ready for the ramp up of another 200 days of filming.
1,000 lined up, 480 got in, 57,000 watched online at TheOneRing.net/live!
TheOneRing.net kicked off San Diego Comic Con 2011 with the very first panel of the convention, Thursday 10 a.m. in room 7AB. Over 1,500 people lined up to secure one of only 480 seats in the room! Hosted by Larry D. Curtis (MrCere) and Cliff Broadway (Quickbeam), with special guest Daniel Falconer of Weta and our friends at Warner Brothers, TheOneRing.net previewed all the Hobbit actors in character and demoed a voiceover clip from Benedict Cumberpatch, the voice of Smaug doing a reading. TORn also announced its fan event surrounding two Sideshow/Weta Gandalf statues that fans in the U.S. and Europe can participate in. (Fandalf@TheOneRing.net) Each fan at the panel was then invited to an exclusively War In The North event and prizes were awarded from Badali Jewelry.
TheOneRing.net’s summer of conventions continues with TORN TV’s own J.W. Braun appearing at Gen Con, the world’s premier gaming convention, August 4-7 in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Braun will appear all four days and be located next to the main aisle at the center of the Exhibit Hall, giving attendees the latest info on the Hobbit films and signing copies of his book about the Lord of the Rings movies, The Lord of the Films. (Mention TheOneRing.net, and you can get Braun’s book for only $9.99. Or for $14.99 – while supplies last – you can get a Collector’s Set that includes the book, a DVD, original photos, chapters deleted by the publisher, a Lord of the Films bookmark, and a couple other surprises.) Braun will also have all the details on the latest Lord of the Rings Blu-ray release. So say hello to J.W. and enjoy the games!
TORN Guest Blogger Ethan Gilsdorf writes: The extent to which the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons was inspired by Tolkien has been debated, but it’s clear that D&D’s co-founders Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson had read the trilogy. And it’s more than clear that the ongoing success and appeal of Lord of the Rings fueled interest in D&D, as well as vice versa.
(The following is an opinion piece from long-time staffer Quickbeam aka Clifford Broadway)