Annatar The Fair writes: And so the LOTR hype starts again (when did it stop? -Xo). And there are fantastic new characters coming, including Treebeard, leader of the Ents. Voiced by John Rhys-Davies, Treebeard will be a combination of animatronics and CG. “He’s going to be incredible,” Billy ‘Pippin’ Boyd revealed exclusively to Empire. “Somebody said it was the biggest animatronic ever. It lifted us up 30 feet, and it was such a hassle getting down that Dom (“Merry” Monaghan) and myself wouldn’t come down for tea breaks. They’d just pass up a cup and a biscuit. And 20 minutes later, everyone would come traipsing back in.” Boyd laughs. “There! The first anecdote from The Two Towers!”

Adrian wrote in to say: “I flicked through the latest issue of White Dwarf yesterday and came across
something you might find interesting. In the LotR section they were advertising Haldir’s band and the Dwarf Kings (from the council of Elrond).

Below images of the figures was a still from the movies of Lothlorien elves (possibily the ones seen with Haldir when he surprises the fellowship) standing in a wooded area (I assume Lothlorien) surrounded by dead orcs. All of the orcs had arrow shafts sticking into them. I’m guessing that this is a still of the rumoured cut scene from the Fellowship when Haldir and his elves fell a group of orcs who were chasing the fellowship after their escape from Moria.”

Anyone who can scan us a copy, SEND IT IN to Xoanon@theonering.net

There and back again – a journey to middle earth

I thought I would share with theonering.net my experience on the Red Carpet Movie Tour’s LOTR ultimate fantasy 12-day tour (http://www.redcarpet-tours.com). I’m on a small VIP tour of travel agents. I’ll send in updates as time and connectivity permit. This is the fifth installment.

Feb 22nd

Today we met up with a second guide, Kate, just outside of Wellington. Kate is fantastic, she saw many of the sites while filming was going on, and she has lots of stories. She started off by taking us to the quarry where Helms Deep was – not much to look at now, but very impressive when the set was up.

We then headed a little further down the road to the place where they filmed the outside scenes for Rivendell, most of which didn’t make the first movie. The area there is absolutely gorgeous. We even went for a short hike in the bush and learned about the native trees. From there we headed back into the city. We went past restaurants that the actors frequented, saw some their apartments and rental houses, and the Embassy (the theatre where the premier was held). At the bottom of Mt Victoria we stood where Frodo did when he said, “Get off the road!” Let me tell you that was awesome.

After dinner we headed back to the Embassy to catch the movie. The lobby has a great display up which includes a huge statue of Lurtz and some of the figurines. The cave Troll is still outside on the marquee as well. After looking at all the articles and such, we grabbed some ice cream and beers and settled into our seats. It was really fun to see the movie in the same theatre where the premier was held. And it was fantastic to see all the spots that we had been to up on the silver screen. What fun!

Tomorrow – a ferry to the south island and a trip to see some of the LOTR designers other work.

This news in from Rebecca:
“I thought the Los Angeles area fans would be interested in the following event I found posted on the official web site:

February 2002

Monday, March 4th, 2002
A Knight to Remember
7:30pm PST

Join Back Stage West for a discussion with SAG Actor and Oscar nominee Sir Ian McKellen on the craft and career of acting. The event is free for the first 360 arrivals on a first-come, first-served basis.

McKellen, Oscar nominee for his performance as Gandalf in New Line Cinema’s” The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” as well as for playing James Whale in Gods and Monsters, will appear for a two-hour chat at the Canon Theatre with Back Stage West Editor-in-Chief Rob Kendt.
Expect a lively and accessible discourse on everything from Shakespeare to X-Men to Broadway theatre. Questions will be taken from the audience.

Canon Theatre
209 N. Canon Drive
Beverly Hills

Ringer Spy PD sends us these truly amazing behind the scenes images from the Helms Deep (Not Minas Tirith as earlier reported) set, and some minature studio work as well, take a look! These pics were shot at July 2000.

Laurellee writes: With the news about the March 22 release of the FOTR second reel containing the TTT trailer, I checked with the Australian distributor (Village Roadshow) and received the following information about its Australian release:

“At this stage, no confirmed date has been set for the Australian release of this additional trailer. It will be released, and no doubt there will be plenty of notice regarding it. Suggest keeping an eye on the media as well as the Village Cinemas website, http://www.village.com.au, for further information. It is anticipated to be not long after the release of the
trailer in the US.”