The Unexpected Party. This essay presents an argument for the likely structure and content of the Hobbit film trilogy, with particular concern for where there is evidence of the film-makers re-structuring the source material and interpreting the appendices.
It attempts to triangulate a sense of the films’ structure and content from two things: the available information that has been released about the films; an appreciation for how stories are constructed. With regard to the latter, two points are worth emphasising: in an adaptation as in any story, characters are key, and they must progress through an arc. Naturally, there will be spoilers. Continue reading “The Hobbit trilogy: connecting the dots and filling the blanks”
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.
You may remember reading about these awesome ‘Dwarvish’-looking 3D glasses, when we posted this story back in August. Now you can buy your very own pair! The folks behind the glasses, Look3D, tell us this:
‘Look3D, along with Warner Bros. and RealD, have created these ‘Middle-earth’ inspired 3D Glasses specifically for the new Hobbit film! Look3D has only created 5,000 units of the limited edition packaging, and these will be available for a limited time on Amazon.com in the US, and through www.look3d.com. The limited edition pack comes with the 3D glasses and branded soft cloth bag.’
There are a few ways you can get your hands on these fabulous glasses. They are available at ‘Made in Middle-earth: Wellington’s Hobbit Artisan Market’ – so those of you lucky enough to be in New Zealand for the Premiere can head over there and snap up a pair. We’re also excited to let you know that the good folks at Look3D have given us pairs to give away at some of our Line Parties – so if you come along to one of TORn’s Line Party events, you may win a pair of these glasses. Click here to look for a Line Party near you.
If you’re NOT in Wellington and you don’t want to chance your luck on winning a pair, don’t despair – you can order online at Amazon.com! The glasses are only $10 – order your own pair now, and watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in style! Click here to order.
We received a message from Weta Workshop saying that Richard Taylor would like to set the record straight about who built the installation at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington. Everyone has been ooh-ing and aah-ing over the amazing Hobbit themed installations popping up all over the ‘Middle of Middle-earth’ – and Weta were concerned that 3Foot7 were not getting the kudos due to them. Here’s what they had to say:
To all our friends and readers at TORn – Please note that although our local newspaper has kindly credited Weta Workshop as having built the Gandalf on the front of the Embassy, this is not in fact the case. It is very important to us as a company to not receive credit for others’ work and we therefore wish to confirm that the Gandalf is the work of friends and colleagues of ours from 3foot7’s art department. We congratulate them on the opportunity to do this prize commission.
O the many licensees to make collectibles for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey only one, The Bridge Direct, gets to make some of the coolest action figures you will find. For this review, I called upon my fellow collector and friend from our message board, Dwalin, for his insights. With the holidays fast approaching these items will make great choices for you to get your favorite fan of Middle-earth!
Royd Tolkien in Return of the King J.R.R. Tolkien’s great-grandson Royd Tolkien has developed a long-standing relationship with the team behind Middle Earth’s big-screen adaptations, and even appeared as a Gondorian ranger in the third film The Return of the King.
Digital Spy sat down with Royd to get the Tolkien family perspective on Jackson’s adaptations, and discuss the time he spent in New Zealand bonding with the Lord of the Rings cast and crew.
When did you first get wind of Lord of the Rings being adapted as a live-action film? It was a very long development process…
“It was years before they filmed. I’d known Peter Jackson because I’d been a fan of his from Bad Taste and Braindead, from when I was younger. But I really had no involvement in the films at that stage – my first connection with them was at the first premiere in London, for The Fellowship [of the Ring]. That’s where I met Peter and other people from New Line.”
A decade ago, Matamata was a sleepy country town in the middle of the North Island, well-placed for travellers in need of a comfort stop and a takeaway snack. Today, it is better known as Hobbiton and is one of the country’s star tourist destinations, attracting 1.9 million visitors over the last 10 years. It is poised for a fresh invasion starting this Christmas which seems certain to top that number over the next decade.
It all began in 1998 when movie director Peter Jackson took to the sky in a small plane in search sites to film his planned trilogy of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
His target was a piece of countryside untouched by concrete buildings, power poles and roads that he could transform into Hobbiton, the primitive village home of Tolkien’s small, hairy, Hobbit people.
A family farm outside Matamata, set about halfway between the provincial capital, Hamilton, and the tourist city of Rotorua, and complete with Tolkien’s so-called “party tree” and a lake, proved perfect. Continue reading “How a sleepy country town became Hobbiton”
