Our story so far: Peter Jackson made three Middle-earth movies and people loved them. Now he is making two more and people already love them too. MrCere, Senior Staff, writer and photographer at TheOneRing.net (around since 1999) went to NZ to see what he could see. Landed in Queenstown, found lots of LOTR stuff, drove north to see the people of the ring, visited Hobbiton set and now is in Wellington, center of NZ’s cinematic empire.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND — I thought, and it makes me chuckle now, that when I landed in Wellington I would finally be based in one place long enough to really crank out some copy. Ha!
Instead, Wellington has been a whirlwind but that is a great thing, not a bad thing. I often contemplate cancelling one of the events here so I can spend hours writing and posting photos but I haven’t cancelled anything yet and each time I go to do something, I find that I am very glad to have been along.
Some of those events have tourism ties and then end up having direct ties to things here at TheOneRing, even when I think they will not. Other things, like spending the day with the kids at Weta, are directly tied in. None of them so far have been worth sacrificing and time is running out fast. But stories I have in some stage of ready:
* Hobbit set visit with images
* An exclusive with Richard Taylor Continue reading “Wellington is a whirlwind, smells like Hobbit”
TheOneRing.net is excited to announce an official Moot at the Weta Cave in Wellington this Thursday from 3 – 5 p.m. TORn founder Erica Challis, known as Tehanu, will be on hand to talk with Tolkien enthusiasts; Also in town and at the event will be Larry D. Curtis (MrCere), traveling writer who is canvasing New Zealand as the one-year countdown for The Hobbit begins. Challis is an author and her unique story and relationship with the makers of The Lord of the Rings films has been told in newspapers and books around the globe. Curtis is a journalist and speaks about LOTR and The Hobbit at popular-culture conventions around the U.S. The event is free and will be casual and fun so don’t miss it! Details about where the Cave is located and how you can get there can be found right here.
“Frodo, the Argonath! Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old. My kin.“
– Aragorn to Frodo while sailing down the Anduin February 25th, 3019 TA
As we approach the Christmas Holiday the truly awesome folks at Weta have given fans a chance to get items that they may have missed. One of the items was the Argonath environment, which came back as part of their first Christmas Special last week. This was great for someone like me who had missed it before and was kicking myself for not ordering it.
The Argonath, which portray Isildur and Elendil, relatives of Aragorn, marked and guarded the northern boundary of Gondor. This was inform strangers they could not come south of the Argonath without permission. As the power of Gondor declined these imposing figures could no longer be enforced. As the Fellowship came upon the Argonath, Frodo would notice that Strider no longer was sitting beside him, but instead it was Aragorn, son of Arathorn, a King who was returning from exile.
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop ‘The Argonath’ Review”
How awesome are the folks at Weta? They’ve not only given fans one Christmas special already but are now giving us a second chance to grab some really amazing items. There are a couple of deals Ringers will want to make sure they take advantage of before they sail into the west with this special. The Prancing Pony environment is back with just a few pieces left for collectors around the world to get their hands on, and Ringers if you’ve been eying those fantastic shields now is your chance to get a great deal on them. The special on the shields is if you order the set of four right now the first ten orders will get a free Collector’s Guide book. We reviewed the Collector’s Guide book if you recall right after Comic-Con 2011. Finally, make sure to check out Weta’s specials page and Christmas Guide 2011 page for all your collecting needs!
With the pages falling off the calendar of time remaining in The Hobbit filming schedule, TheOneRing.net is heading to Queenstown (for starters) for more coverage.
Writer and photographer Larry D. Curtis (MrCere@TheOneRing.net) will be a one-man news production team for two weeks, starting November 30 when he touches down at the Queenstown airport. His journey will also take him to Wellington to mark the one year countdown before the world premiere of the first Hobbit film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, in 2012 along with visits to friends of TORn (such as our own founder Tehanu) and can’t-miss public sites like the Weta Cave.
Curtis (known by the handle MrCere on the site) also plans to meet with as many fans as possible while in the area, including at un-official but hopefully frequent moot events, so if interested in attending or hosting, please contact him at the email above. The always all-volunteer and not-for-profit TheOneRing.net would also appreciate anybody who has great information or tips on inexpensive places to stay (no haystack ruled out!) or eat while in New Zealand. Continue reading “TORn headed to Queenstown, NZ for ‘Hobbit’ reporting”
Our friends at Weta have released the the second print in their The Lord of the Rings art print line with the subject matter capturing Arwen’s attempt to get Frodo to Rivendell after being stuck by the Witch King on Weathertop. This amazing print beautifully captures a secene during this chase where you can see Arwen looking back at the Ringwraiths on her tail along with the look of falling into shadow that Frodo has on his face. The artist for this piece is Gus Hunter a long time artist at Weta who got his start working on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This superb work of art is available right now for pre-order from Weta for a price of $35 plus shipping from their New Zealand warehouse. So make sure you get over to Weta’s site now and order your Flight to the Ford print today!
