How did Peter Jackson turn one small book into another massive film trilogy? Simple: all it took was some imagination and a bit of help from the author of The Hobbit himself.
The director has taken heat for turning what was intended to be a two-part prequel to his Lord of the Rings series into a three-part saga, especially given that the first Hobbit film clocks in at nearly three hours. Unlike the LOTR books, The Hobbit is a thin volume written for children, leading some to accuse him of stretching out narrative and milking the franchise. Instead, Jackson contends that the brevity of the book actually helped make it possible.
“The book is written in a very brisk pace, so pretty major events in the story are covered in only two or three pages,” Jackson told reporters on Wednesday. “So once you start to develop the scenes and plus you wanted to do a little bit more character development, plus the fact that we could also adapt the appendices of Return of the King, which is 100-odd pages of material that sort of takes place around the time of The Hobbit, so we wanted to expand the story of The Hobbit a little bit more, as did Tolkien himself. So all those factors combined gave us the material to do it.”
The appendices, which were tacked onto the final book of the Lord of the Rings series, fill in many blanks that were left in The Hobbit, which co-screenwriter Philippa Boyens pointed out.
“If we hadn’t done The Lord of the Rings, we wouldn’t have had done this. But we did,” she said. “We know where Gandalf was. So as soon as we knew we were going to that part of the tale, what happens in those years, because we knows what happens because Tolkien kept writing, you start to draw in and make a mythology.”
Series newcomer Richard Armitage, who plays the lead dwarf Thorin, chalked it up to the entire saga’s deep subtext.
Longtime partners and friends of TheOneRing.net, Badali Jewelry, have created a limited number of special pins to commemorate the fourth edition of world-wide Line Parties (LP4) to help fans Celebrate the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The pin, in design of Bilbo’s door at Bag End™, reads “I Was There, TORn Line Party 12/14/2012.”
Today, Dec. 31 is the final day these pins will be for sale.
It is cast in solid bronze. It retails for $30 and is only available until December 31 in very limited quantities. Ordering today will likely get the pin in your hands before Line Party events on 12/14/2012. After that, the pin will stand a permanent reminder of participation in a world-wide celebration of Tolkien fandom.
You can order the pins directly from the source at http://www.badalijewelry.com/lineparty.htm and we at TORn want to thank them for years of association, support and friendship. Check the ordering page to see the schedule for delivery by Christmas. Remember, numbers are extremely limited and to wear them for December 14, act today.
Badali also crafted the “good luck” pins from TheOneRing.net to Peter Jackson and his team wore to the Academy Awards and are visible in footage and in photos from that night. Badali holds the license to make jewelry from Tolkien Enterprises, as it has for many years. NOTE: This previously listed the item as gold plated which was an error for which TheOneRing.net apologizes.
An amazing new publication from HarperCollins Publishers is coming your way on December 14th – yup, the same day ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ releases in theaters. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art & Design is a sumptuous celebration of the creative vision of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The book is packed with more than 1,000 images of concept artwork, photographs and development paintings by the artists working behind the scenes to bring Middle-earth to life, who each provide detailed and entertaining commentary that reveals the story behind the vision. Today we are privileged to share with you three exclusive images of this new book. (View them in the gallery below) But wait…there’s more! HarperCollins Publishers has generously given us (40) Forty copies of Thorin’s map to give to fans. (Due to shipping constraints, we can only offer this giveaway to US and Canadian Fans). Simply fill out the form below by December 19th and we’ll randomly choose (40) Forty winners. Enter the contest, check out the exclusive imagery and don’t forget to order your copy of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles: Art & Designtoday! [Click here]
Just a few days ago, we posted an opportunity for our friends in Canada to win tickets to see ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey!‘ We are happy to announce the winners!
Darryl S – Winnipeg Jamie O – Vancouver Connor M – Toronto Marcel L – Ottawa Stéphane P – Montreal (French) Daniel G – Montreal (English) Peter M – Halifax Ivanna S – Edmonton Kathleen D – Calgary
Winners will contacted via email and receive their tickets in the mail. All screenings will start at 6pm on Dec 12th except for the Montreal (French) screening which will begin at 7pm. We’d like to thank our friends at Warner Bros. Pictures Canada for sponsoring this giveaway! And of course, if you weren’t one of the lucky winners, don’t miss ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ in theaters December 14th! Visit the official website, The Hobbit facebook page, and Twitter: follow @wbpictures!
Back in October, New Zealand Post announced that they would mint special-issue gold coins as a tie-in with Jackson’s The Hobbit. The press release stated:
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.
Do you live in Canada and simply can’t wait until December 14th to see ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey?’ TheOneRing.net is privileged to team up with Warner Bros. Pictures Canada to giveaway 9 pair of tickets to screenings across Canadian taking place on Dec 12th! The screenings will take place in the following cities, and we have two tickets for each: Toronto, Montreal (English), Montreal (French), Vancouver, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax. All screenings will start at 6pm on Dec 12th except for the Montreal (French) screening which will begin at 7pm. How do you enter? Just fill out the form below and make sure to choose which screening you want to see. We will be choosing our winners on Dec 6th – yes, that is tomorrow!! Tickets will be mailed to you before the event. Good luck to all you Canadian Ringers out there! And of course, if you aren’t one of the lucky winners, don’t miss ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ in theaters December 14th! Visit the official website, The Hobbit facebook page, and Twitter: follow @wbpictures!
How did Peter Jackson turn one small book into another massive film trilogy? Simple: all it took was some imagination and a bit of help from the author of The Hobbit himself.
An amazing new publication from HarperCollins Publishers is coming your way on December 14th – yup, the same day ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ releases in theaters. 
