A Journey Through Middle-earth, an interactive experiment by Google Chrome.
Part of the celebration of “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” is a new Google Chrome initiative that uses technology to lead users to a digital experience of J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary creation. You visit by clicking RIGHT HERE (http://middle-earth.thehobbit.com/) and trolling around the map with zoom features. Three locations are immediately available: The Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur. Others, like Thranduil’s Hall, are locked.
Below is a YouTube commercial for it and below that, the full press release.
PRESS RELEASE
“A JOURNEY THROUGH MIDDLE-EARTH”
PREMIERES ACROSS COMPUTERS, TABLETS AND PHONES
Burbank, CA, November 20, 2013—Inspired by the epic fantasy adventure “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “A Journey Through Middle-earth,” is a new Chrome Experiment that brings the locations and characters from “The Hobbit” Trilogy to life with a mix of modern web technologies. The film, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, will be released worldwide December 13, 2013, from Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM.
The online experience, developed by North Kingdom in collaboration with the studios, takes fans through an adventure that unfolds across an interactive map of Middle-earth. Users can zoom in to explore Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur, with new locations set to be added in the weeks ahead. Each destination on the map gives the visitor access to its history and the characters who inhabit it, or presents unique survival challenges in which fans can test their wits.
With immersive 3D graphics built with CSS3 and WebGL, “Journey Through Middle-earth” is the first Chrome Experiment designed to bring this beautiful, 3D experience to mobile, with technology support for WebGL in Chrome for Android on devices with high-end graphics cards. Although WebGL isn’t supported on iOS, Chrome users can still experience most of “Journey Through Middle-earth” on their iPhones and iPads.
From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, director of “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” The screenplay for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.
New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a Wingnut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” The film is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.
Last week, TORn staffer greendragon caught up with Thorin himself, for a chat about topics including what he is planning post Middle-earth, the upcoming release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and whether to go dressed as Sally Bowles to the Berlin premiere of said movie. (Answer: it seems unlikely that either greendragon or Richard Armitage will be at the premiere in stockings and a bowler hat…)
Look for most of the interview in a post later this week. Meanwhile, we here at TheOneRing.net have been pondering the division in fandom which seems to be being created by the Hobbit movies; and this interview seemed like a great opportunity to get Armitage’s thoughts on the subject.
A lot of folks have — in the wake of the trailers for The Desolation of Smaug — been pondering the question about the number of legs our favourite big, bad beastie might possess in the estimation of Peter Jackson (and his conceptual artists Alan Lee and John Howe).
Four? Two? It seems to be a bit unclear.
Here, Ringer Arandir examines the evidence (he does say that it’s not movie spoilery, but I think it is a little bit, so here’s your warning) and posits that we may be seeing a mid-stream change in Smaug’s conceptual design. Continue reading “Dragons vs wyverns: the question of Smaug”
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
One of the great joys of these words is that they are available in so many different languages, as are the countless sentences that follow. They are accessible to so many different cultures and nationalities. Now, for the very first time, Professor Tolkien’s brilliant classic “The Hobbit” is available in the official Yiddish translation, approved by the Tolkien Estate – through Harvard Book Store. Continue reading “Journey There and Back Again with the Official Yiddish Translation of ‘The Hobbit’”
Middle-earth Envisioned by Brian J Robb and Paul Simpson. Over the decades, lots and lots of people have tried their hand at envisioning Middle-earth — in artwork, stage plays, musicals, television adaptations, comics, games, fan-art and, of course, animated and live action film.
Middle-earth Envisioned is a new, illustrated book From New York Times bestselling author Brian J. Robb and Paul Simpson, TV guide writer/reporter and the former editor of the Star Trek magazine, that comprehensively documents these portrayals of Middle-earth.
As excitement for the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug builds, there are all kinds of goodies coming out to go along with the movie, including some fabulous movie tie in books, as well as some new editions of The Hobbit itself. Our good friends at Harper Collins, publishers for all things Tolkien in Europe, have given us some amazing sets of NINE (well, actually 12, as one is a box set of four!) books to give away to four lucky readers! The winners will receive:
All of these books could be yours! And because we love our readers everywhere, this competition is open worldwide. All you have to do to win, wherever you are in the world, is answer one simple question and complete the form below. The competition runs until the opening of the movie, on December 13th; after which we’ll pick four winners at random, from all the correct entries. Continue reading “Harper Collins competition – win a complete set of new Hobbit publications”
