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”
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Courtesy of Siobhan Bulfin, we have this great photo that reveals the Embassy Theatre premiere facade in all its glory! Head under the cut to get the full-res image! Continue reading “Embassy Theatre premiere facade revealed!”
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You’ve already seen the Gollum art installation at Wellington Airport. Now another fabulous art installation has gone up, redecorating one of the baggage carousels so that it resembles a bas relief of Bag End. Very, very cool! Check it out. Photos by Dean Zillwood. Thanks to Ringer Ataahua for the heads-up! Continue reading “Bag End baggage carousel transforms Wellington Airport”
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Via Fairfax NZ News: Golden Bay tourism operator Reg Turner is refusing to stop using The Hobbit to promote his Song of the Tui lodge in the Aorere Valley, despite warnings by Tourism New Zealand. Turner’s website says his lodge overlooks “stunning mountain scenery, as seen in the films The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit”.
He said he wanted to include something similar in a tourist map produced by the Golden Bay Promotion Association, but the non-profit organisation said he could not reference The Hobbit without approval.
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Via stuff.co.nz: Tourism NZ is relying on hobbits to boost a flagging industry, promising that the coming Peter Jackson films will be bigger than the Rugby World Cup. But some experts warn it’s a risky strategy and not a true reflection of who we are. Continue reading “Some Kiwis asking whether it’s time to kick The Hobbit”
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Weta’s Ben Hawker is a brilliant guy and he worked with the creative and fun folks at Air New Zealand to create the ideas that became perhaps the most popular airline safety video in the world, collecting 8 million hits since it was launched a week ago. TheOneRing was honored to play a part with Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway and I (Larry “MrCere” Curtis) appearing to help represent fans from across the globe. Well, they also asked us to chime in on the behind-the-scenes video which features J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandsons Royd and Mike, the genuinely excellent and beautiful airline employees Kara, Mark and Will (plus others not in the video), the film’s director Josh, the soon-to-be superstar Dean O’Gorman, Peter Jackson and that Hawker guy. TORn may have its own version of a story and photos from that set before long but Air New Zealand has a great video to follow up last week’s starting off with a familiar face. Also fun, many of the crew making this video also worked on The Hobbit. Check out the short clip on the next page! Continue reading “A secret look inside Air NZ’s Middle-earth safety video”
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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. 
