(The outdoor Lake-Town wet set with extras and crew assembled for a night shoot on “The Hobbit.”)
WELLINGTON — The great cities of history have risen up around rivers, lakes and on coasts. Water holds vast and replenishing stores of food, improves transportation of people and goods, encourages trade, and of course keeps a population hydrated. Paris. London. Hong Kong. New York. Tokyo. Moscow. Boston. On and on.
Lake-town benefitted from excellent transportation and presumably a wealth of fish and food and clean, fresh water but it was built on water for a different reason.
Dragons.
One dragon in particular: Smaug The Terrible.
Tolkien’s Lake-town, like real-world Venice, was built on wooden pillars sunk into water. The lake men — with the destruction of Dale seared forever into their memory — built on water for safety. We watched it in the prolog of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” while they had to live with the fear of dragon every day. Water-based living provided at least a chance against the great and terrible worm if he ever attacked again.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson is available NOW on iTunes in the US with the rest of the world rolling out starting today.
Long-time friend of TheOneRing.net, Sohaib Awan, has kicked off a new Fictional Frontiers podcast and invited our own MrCere to talk all things Hobbit. Long a radio program, Fictional Frontiers, with Shotglass Digital, is reaching a new audience with a new format that allows for a longer, more in-depth discussion. Awan has championed “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” and loves both the realms of Tolkien and the work of Peter Jackson. He has used MrCere (Larry D. Curtis) as a frequent guest and in this episode they discuss both the upcoming second installment of the film and the success of the first and Curtis talks big picture about his time in New Zealand. The podcast can be found right here! Awan says MrCere will return in future episodes to talk more Hobbit.
These remarkable pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch performing motion capture for The Hobbit appear to be from a yet-to-be-released video blog? Wherever they are from, they are quite amazing. Check out the dots. Check out the facial expressions!
As we march closer to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug more and more products will be announced. Today, our friends at Weta Workshop announced three new products all tied to the character Tauriel. Fans can now pre-order Tauriel’s Bow & Arrow, Tauriel’s Pendant, and the fabulous looking 1:6 statue of Tauriel.
The Bow & Arrow of Tauriel is an awesome looking prop replica of the weapon you will see her carry during the rest of the trilogy. Fans can get this right now for only $350 with an edition size of just 1,000 pieces worldwide. If you order this early you can get in on the partial shipment that is due to arrive in early November.
Continuing with their tradition of releasing commemorative stamps and coins for each of Peter Jackson’s films set in New Zealand, the home of cinematic Middle-earth, the New Zealand Post today announced the release of a new set of stamps and coins featuring key characters and scenes from The Desolation Of Smaug.
The 6 stamps feature Bilbo, Gandalf, Thorin, Legolas, Tauriel, and Bard, and are presented in a variety of packaging options.
The silver and gold coins feature Bilbo, Legolas, Bard, Azog, Thranduil, the 13 Dwarves, and a stunning image of Tolkien’s own art depicting Smaug flying around the Lonely Mountain.
Dragons.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson is available NOW on iTunes in the US with the rest of the world rolling out starting today. 
