On this episode of Hobbit in 5, production photos arrive from the Hobbit set, fans share their stories on Tolkien Reading Day, Saiorse Ronan gives us her insights on how the Hobbit film might be different from The Lord of The Rings production, and Weta Workshop offer up a wonderful Bag End replica giveaway if you can solve their puzzle.
(Note: This story appears on both: www.Winter-is-Coming.net and www.TheOneRing.net)
Remember a decade ago when the world was going to end? Younger readers may not clearly recall, but a computer glitch dubbed “Y2K” (the date changing from 1999 to 2000 on January 1) was going to throw computers and thus the world into complete chaos. Planes were going to fall from the sky, bank accounts were going to reset while bankrupting corporations, energy sources were going to fail and missiles would launch and plunge the world into nuclear holocaust.
And worst of all, what if TheOneRing.net wasn’t available when I got to work and opened my browser? What if I couldn’t keep up with the latest news tidbit about the Peter Jackson team working on three “Lord of the Rings Films” by reading the fan site dubbed TORn (for brevity). I wasn’t obsessed, I was focused.
Winter-Is-Coming.net has taken me back to those days like a time capsule. That site, like TORn, is reporting daily on the minutia of a fantasy story told, in what I hope is grand fashion. Once again, like so many others, I have found myself checking in each day, following the tiniest details and I have been transported back to those days of eager anticipation when it seemed the world, as we know it, might end. Continue reading “WIC and TORn fan sites party like its 1999”
In an article written by Tony DiTerlizzi for The LA Times, we get a rare glimpse at what could have been the 30th Anniversary Edition of The Hobbit, illustrated by renowned artist Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are). But with thanks to a mislabeling error by an editor, and Sendak’s first heart attack, then project never came to fruition. A great read for the start of the week. [Read on]
Today is the annual Tolkien Reading Day where fans from around the world celebrate J.R.R. Tolkien and his works by simply reading. Some schools around the globe participate as do bookstores and coffee shops but many more take part in their own way, by themselves or with friends and family. How did you celebrate? There are excellent responses on TORn’s own Facebook page (and we like to be “liked”) or you can share your experience on our message boards by following the “discuss” link below. It is also an excellent time to check our our own Reading Room including this post. If you didn’t have a chance to read Tolkien today, its not too late in many time zones (and we promise not to tell if you do it a day late.)
Claudia Riiff Finseth contacted us a while ago offering her articles on Tolkien, here is her third and last article ‘Tolkien’s Trees’.
Riiff Finseth is a freelance writer and author. Among her favorite works of literature is Lord of the Rings, which she has read over twenty times, more than any other book. Name the chapter, and Claudia can tell you what happens in it. Claudia was born in 1954 in Longview, Washington, USA. She studied literature and nursing at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where she lives today with her husband and their family. She can be reached at dragonflypond@gmail.com. More..
Just as cameras are about to roll on two Peter Jackson movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” the official blog has gone live online. Brought to us by “The Hobbit Team”, it features a photo of the cast including Martin Freeman which will probably help the world become familiar with its new heroes of Middle-earth.
The site was kind enough to include TOR’s latest “Hobbit In 5,” on the site as well and we will watch it carefully leading up to the production of the two films, scheduled for release in 2012 and 2013. You can find it right here. For fans, the production signals an end to long years of waiting and anticipation filled with highs and lows. The fate of the films seemed in doubt during lawsuits, studio financial troubles and the search for and the loss of a director. The story of how the movie got to this point is high drama all on its own. And of course, TheOneRing will follow the every detail of the production and beyond.