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The Lord of the Rings Extended Guide; A Huge Guide
Topic Started: May 29 2006, 05:05 PM (1,995 Views)
Boo28
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Much is changed, much is the same
Co-Leader of GG
Welcome to the Lord of the Rings Extended Guide. Ever wanted to say something in Elvish? Know what those untranslated things are? Know some bonus trivia about Lord of the Rings? Then you have come to the right place. In each post I shall post a guide to knowing the most complex stuff there is to know about Lord of the Rings!

*Note- This does NOT cover the basics, it is just for the more expanded stuff.*

Table of Contents-
First Post: Guide of the Guides
Second Post: Elvish Phrases Guide
Third Post: Untranslated Quotes Guide
Fourth Post: Fun Facts Guide
Fifth Post: The Events That Made The History of Middle-earth Guide
Sixth Post: Tolkien Timeline Guide

I will edit in the guides when I have the chance.

Descriptions of the Guides:

Elvish Phrases Guide: This shows translations for some useful things to say in Elvish!

Untranslated Quotes Guide: Translations on the quotes in the movies that had no subtitles.

Fun Facts Guide: Assorted Facts of the Movies of The Lord of the Rings

History of Middle-earth Guide: A brief history of the Valarian Ages, and the history of Middle-earth leading up to The Lord of the Rings

Tolkien Timeline Guide: A timeline of John Ronald Reuel (J.R.R.) Tolkien's life.
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Boo28
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Much is changed, much is the same
Co-Leader of GG
The Elvish Phrases Guide

These are in the Sindarin tounge. If there is a "Q," then it is in the Quenya language.

Greetings

Mae govannen
My go-VAH-nen
Well met


Suilaid
Soo-ih-lied
Greetings


Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo
Q, ELL-ehn SEE-lah LOO-men oh-men-tee-el-voh [the tee-el is slurred together]
A star shines on the hour of our meeting


Gîl síla na lû govaded
Gil SEE-la nah loo go-VAH-dead
A star shines on the time of our meeting


Im gelir ceni ad lín
Eem geh-leer keh-nee ahd leen
I am happy to see you again


Le suilon
Lay swee-lonn
I greet thee


Mára aurë
Q, Mah-rah ow-ray
Hello




Questions

Pedich Edhellen?
PEH-deekh eth-ell-ehn?
Do you speak Elvish?


Iston le?
EE-stohn lay?
Do I know you?


Heniach nin?
Hen-ee-akh neen?
Do you understand me?


Man eneth lín?
Mahn eh-nehth leen?
What is your name?


O man dôr túliel le?
Oh mahn dore tool-ee-ell lay?
From what land do you come?


Man carel le?
Mahn kah-rell lay?
What are you doing?


Man anírach cerin an le?
Mahn ah-NEAR-ahkh care-een ahn lay?
What can I do for you?


Le no an-uir nîn?
Lay no ahn-oo-ear neen?
Will you be mine forever?


Aníral toled na gar nîn?
Ah-NEAR-ahl tole-ehd nah gahr neen?
Do you want to come to my house?


Aníral maded?
Ah-NEAR-ahl mah-dead?
Do you want to eat?


Aníral sogad?
Ah-NEAR-ahl soe-gahd
Do you want to drink?


Sen tîr?
Sehn teer?
Is this true?


Man tolthant i 'waew?
Mahn tole-thahnt ee wye?
How is the weather?


Man sad Imladris?
Mahn sahd Eem-lahd-rees?
Where is Rivendell?


Man râd na Imladris?
Mahn rahd nah Eem-lahd-rees?
Which way to Rivendell?


Man ceril?
Mahn kare-eel?
What do you do?


Man lû nostor lîn?
Mahn loo nohs-tore leen?
When is your birthday? (lit. "What time is your birthday?")


Le gwennen?
Lay gwehn-nehn?
Are you married?


Man sâd telil?
Mahn sahd tehl-eel?
Where are you from?


Man lû vin achenitham?
Mahn loo veen ah-khehn-ee-thahm?
When will we see each other again?


Man mathach?
Mahn mah-thakh?
How do you feel?


Manen orchal le?
Mah-nehn ore-khahl lay?
How tall are you?


Manen nalyë?
Q, Mah-nehn nahl-yay?
How are you?




Commands

Tiro!
TEAR-oh!
Look!


Bado na Ennorath!
BAH-doh nah enn-ore-ahth
Go to Middle-earth!


Gwanno ereb nin!
GWAH-no air-ehb neen!
Leave me alone!


Daro i!
DAR-oh ee!
Stop that!


Sedho!
SEH-tho!
Quiet!


Edro!
ED-ro!
Open!


Lasto!
LAHS-toe!
Listen!


Ava vanta i salquessë
Q, Ah-vah vahn-tah ee sahl-QUEHS-say
Keep off the grass


Anno nin ---
Ahn-no neen ---
Give me ---


No diriel!
No dear-ee-ell!
Be watchful!


No veren!
No vare-ehn!
Be bold!


Drego!
Dreh-go!
Flee!


Ceno!
Keh-no!
See!


Alae!
Ah-lye!
Behold!


Tolo hi!
Toe-loe hee!
Come now!


No dhínen!
No thee-nehn!
Be silent!


Bertho!
Bare-tho!
Dare it!


Avo 'osto!
Ah-voe ohs-toe!
Fear not!


Avo acheno
Ah-voe ah-kheh-no
Don't look back


Hebo estel
Heh-bo ehs-tell
Have hope




Insults

Nostach be Orch gaer
NOST-akh bay orkh gire
You smell like ten orcs


Garich i dhôl goll o Orch
Gahr-eekh ee thole goal oh orkh
You have the hollow head of an orc


Lasto lalaith nîn
Lah-stoh lah-LITHE neen
Hear/listen to my laughter


Rhachon le!
Rahkh-on lay!
I curse you!


Dôl lost lîn
Dole lohst leen
Your head is empty


Nai Ungoliant meditha le
Nie un-GOAL-ee-ahnt meh-DEETH-ah lay
May Ungoliant devour you


Labo vi Orodruin
Lah-boe vee Ore-oh-DROO-inn
Go jump in Mount Doom


Ti tállbe Orch
Tee tahl-bay Orkh
Go kiss an orc


Tevenyel
Q, Teh-vehn-yell
I hate you


Hria cuilë
Q, hear-ah kweel-ay
Get a life


Nai Valaraukar tye-mátar
Q, nye Vahl-are-ow-kahr too-ay-mah-tahr
May Balrogs eat you




Thank you's

Hannon le
HAH-non lay
Thank you


Rim hennaid
Reem hen-ide
Many thanks


Hantale
Q, Hahn-TAH-lay
Thanks


Gen hannon
Gehn hahn-nohn
I thank you


Le hannon a tholel
Lay hahn-nohn ah thole-ehll
Thank you for coming




Other phrases/exclamations

Ai!
Eye!
Ah!


Le melon
Lay mell-on
I love you


Tancave
Q, tahn-KAH-vay
Yes [lit. "certainly"]


Lau
Q, Lou [as in loud]
No


Mae
My
Yes [lit. "well"]


Baw
Bow [rhymes with cow]
No [denying intentions]


Law
Low [as in loud]
No [denying facts]


Aur Onnad Meren!
Our oh-nahd mare-ehn!
Happy Birthday!


Garo arad-o-onnad 'elir!
Gah-roe ah-rahd-oh-on-nahd eh-leer!
Have a happy birthday!


--- eneth nîn
--- eh-nehth neen
My name is [your name here]


Im ---
Eem ---
I'm [your name here]


Estannen ---
Ehs-tahn-nehn ---
I'm called [your name here]


Nin estar ---
Neen ehs-tahr ---
They call me [your name here]


Findesselya vanya
Q, feen-dess-ell-yah vahn-yah
Your hair is pretty


Tiro na i ninniach vanui
Tear-oh nah ee neen-nee-ahkh vah-noo-ee.
Look at the beautiful rainbow


I Anor hílol
Ee Ah-nore hee-lole
The sun is shining


Hû nîn mant han
Hoo neen mahnt hahn
My dog ate it


Aníron gwanna
Ah-NEAR-on gwahn-nah
I wish I could leave


Ae anírach
Eye ah-NEAR-ahkh
If you wish


Rhaich!
Rike!
Curses!


Im ruthui!
Eem roo-thoo-ee!
I am angry!


Gelir na thaed
Geh-leer nah thide
Happy to help


Edro gûr lín
Eh-droe goor leen
Open your heart


Melin ceni hin lîn síla i 'eladhach
Meh-leen keh-nee heen leen see-lah ee eh-lahth-ahkh
I love to see your eyes shine when you laugh


Im gelir an le
Eem geh-leer ahn lay
I am happy for you


Hebin anim
Heh-bean ahn-eem
I keep it for myself


Glassen
Glahs-sehn
My pleasure


Im harnannen!
Eem hahr-nahn-nehn!
I'm wounded!


Gurth 'ni yrch!
Goorth nee oorkh!
Death to the orcs!


Telin o Imladris
Teh-leen oh Eem-lahd-rees
I come from Rivendell


Nostor nî ned ---
Nohs-tore nee nehd ---
My birthday is on ---


Gwedhithon na ---
Gweh-thee-thohn nah ---
I'm engaged to ---


Im gwennen na ---
Eem gweh-nehn nah ---
I'm married to ---


Aiya!
Q, Eye-ah!
Hail!


Im maer
Eem myre.
I'm well.


Aníron gladhad
Ah-NEAR-on glah-thahd
I want to laugh


Im gruitheb na ---
Eem grwee-thehb nah ---
I'm angry at --- (lit. "I feel angry toward ---")


Im lhaew
Eem lye
I'm ill


No ce ammaer ab lû thent
No kay ahm-myre ahb loo thehnt
May you be better soon


Im gosta
Eem gohs-tah
I'm afraid


Hain ú-'rogon
Hyne oo-roe-gohn
I do not fear them


Linnon am meleth vîn
Leen-non ahm meh-lehth veen
I sing because I love you (lit. "I sing for our love")


Sa farn palan
Sah fahrn pah-lahn
This is far enough


Pelin pedi i lam edhellen
Peh-leen peh-dee ee lahm eh-thehl-lehn
I can speak the Elvish language


Isusarad 'elir
Ees-oos-ahr-ahd ehl-eer
Merry Christmas


Idhrin-eden 'elir
Ee-threen-ehd-ehn ehl-eer
Happy New Year


Goheno nin
Go-hay-no neen
Forgive me


Ni quorya
Q, Nee quore-yah
I'm drowning


Heca, firimar
Q, Hay-kah fear-ee-mahr
Stand aside, mortals


Ya línna ambanna tulinuva nan
Q, Yah lihn-nah ahm-bahn-nah too-lee-noo-vah nahn
What goes up must come down




Farewells

Namárië
Nah-MAR-ee-ay
Farewell


Navaer
Nah-VIRE
Farewell


Belain na le
Beh-LINE nah lay
The Valar be with you


Calo anor na ven
KAH-loh AH-nore nah vehn
May the sun shine on your road


Garo arad vaer
GAH-roh ARE-ahd vire
Have a good day


Nai haryuvalyë melwa rë
Q, Nye hahr-YOO-vah-lee-ay MELL-wah ray
May you have a lovely day


Noro go hûl, bado go Eru
Nore-oh go hool, BAH-doe go air-OO
Run with the wind, go with God


Ná Elbereth veria le, ná elenath dín síla erin rád o chuil lín.
Nah Ell-bare-ehth vare-ee-ah lay, nah ELL-ehn-ahth deen see-lah air-een rahd oh hweel leen.
May Elbereth protect you, may her stars shine on the path of your life.


I Melain berio le
Ee meh-LINE bare-ee-oh lay
May the Valar keep you


Cuio vae!
Kwee-oh vye!
Fare well!


No galu govad gen
No gah-loo go-vahd gehn
May blessings go with you


No in elenath hîlar nan hâd gîn
No een elehn-nahth hee-lahr nahn hahd geen [hard G]
May all stars shine upon your path


Mára mesta
Q, Mah-rah meh-stah
Goodbye
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Boo28
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Co-Leader of GG
The Untranslated Things Guide

Aragorn's Coronation Song:
Et Earello Endorenna utulien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta!"

"Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world."

Gimli's Comment To Haldir:
Ishka-kwi, Ai-Durung-Nul!

"Rot, you son of a Troll!"

Uruk-hai Chant At Orthanc:

Za dashu snaku Zigur, Durbgu nazgshu, Durbgu dashu!

"Hail Sauron, Lord of the Ring, Lord of the Earth"

Word to Open the Gates of Moria:
Mellon

"Friend"

Gandalf's Spells to Open the Gates of Moria:
Annon Edhellen, edro hi ammen!

"Door of the Elves, open...."

Fennas Nogothrim, lasto beth lammen!

"Gateway of Dwarf-folk, listen to the word of my voice!"
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Boo28
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The Fun Facts Guide

Movie Facts:

- George Lucas cited LOTR as a major influence for Star Wars.
- The Beatles were also big LOTR fans and wanted to make a Lord of the Rings movie. John Lennon would have played Gollum, with George Harrison as Gandalf, Paul McCartney as Frodo, and Ringo Starr as Sam. However, Tolkien disliked the idea. Unfortunately, John and George did not live to see "Fellowship of the Ring". (John was murdered and George died of lung cancer three weeks before its release.) However, Paul loves the Lord of the Rings movies and has said that along with Wizard of Oz, they are his favorite films. He and Peter Jackson were both nominated for Oscars in 2002. They shared a conversation at the ceremony about all of the above.



- The majority of LOTR's soundtrack was mixed at Abbey Road Studios.

- The members of the band Led Zeppelin often incorporated Tolkien's themes and creations into their songs. In "Ramble On," Robert Plant sings "T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair. But Gollum, and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her."

Origins

- Peter Jackson and Frances Walsh first seriously thought about doing Tolkien movies during the post-production of The Frighteners in November of 1995. Their associate, Harvey Weinstein of Miramax, happened to be making The English Patient at that time with the man who owned all film and merchandising rights to Tolkien's work, Saul Zaentz. Saul was opposed to a live-action Lord of the Rings, but he owed Harvey a favor and the two worked out a deal.

Because of thorny legal issues regarding The Hobbit, Miramax decided it would be best to delve right into LOTR. Peter and Frances wanted to do three films, but Miramax had never done a big budget project before, and only agreed to two. They were to be called "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The War of the Ring".

Harvey Weinstein may have been in Peter's corner, but Harvey's brother and coworker Bob Weinstein felt Miramax was getting in over its head. He first tried to find another studio to help shoulder the cost. When that didn't work, he said only one movie should be made.

"So they gave us sort of this guide that they had one of their staff members do, about how you compress Lord of the Rings into one film," said Peter. "And they only wanted a two-hour-long film, one two-hour-long film. And they gave us this appalling list of cuts that we had to make, in combining things, losing characters, and losing stuff. The Mines of Moria wasn't going to exist. They said we could just cut to a scene afterwards where the characters talked about going through the Mines of Moria and how bad it was. They said, 'That'll save all that.'"

The Weinsteins told Jackson they had Shakespeare in Love director John Madden ready as replacement if the New Zealander did not want to adapt Tolkien's novel into a single two-hour movie.

But something the Weinsteins had forgotten was that the script was written by Peter. (And he wasn't about to let another director use it.)

"We came to a sort of impasse," Peter said.

Before responding to the proposal by the Weinsteins, Jackson and Walsh flew back to New Zealand. They went to an isolated lodge to celebrate Walsh's birthday.

"That evening, we walked on the beach at this place and we just decided there was no way we could be involved," said Jackson. "It would be a debacle."

Their agent was delegated to tell the Weinsteins the decision. Unknown to Jackson and Walsh, this agent negotiated a deal with Miramax in a last attempt to save the project.

"It was agreed that we were allowed another month to find another studio to do the project, and if we didn't succeed in that month then Miramax would take it back and find another filmmaker to do this two-hour version."

Every studio but two declined to even hear a proposal regarding the movies. Polygram expressed interest, but only New Line Cinema had serious intentions.

"New Line was the only one, really, that wanted to meet and talk about it. We went to this meeting at New Line... We were picturing the two-film idea, because that was the script we had. [New Line] said, 'Why would you want to do two films when it's three books? You should be doing three.' We just thought we were in heaven, we couldn't believe it."

- Selling the rights to New Line Cinema turned out to be terrible for Miramax, but not Harvey and Bob. The deal gave the two Weinsteins executive producer credit and a hefty 5 percent of the gross earnings of all three films.

- New Line Cinema employees and Tolkien fanatics Michael De Luca and Mark Ordesky were both thrilled when New Line acquired the Lord of the Rings. Peter commented, "De Luca and Ordesky are the closest thing you get to genuine geeks in the studio system." And throughout the LOTR shoot Peter worked closely with both of them. But 2000 turned out to be a brutal year for New Line at the box office, and the studio had do something to placate its owner, Time Warner. De Luca was fired.

- Lord of the Rings was known to be hot property in Hollywood for decades. Many different producers and directors asked Saul Zaentz about the possibility of making films based off the books. One of those requests came from a young Mark Ordesky. (Like all the rest before Peter, he was turned down.)

- "The Lord of the Rings" was the first trilogy in film production history to be shot as one entity. New Line Cinema approved the idea in part because of past problems. "New Line had a history of not being able to get sequels made of some of our more successful movies," says Mark Ordesky, "and this was an opportunity to know we had sequels in hand. So although it was a great risk, there was a presold, pre-aware audience, and the feeling that if it worked, and we already had the other two sequels in the can, then it would become retroactively a very visionary decision."

- Internally, the films were referred to as "Film 1", "Film 2" and "Film 3".

- Before LOTR was given the greenlight, Lucasfilm - which is in control of the Star Wars franchise - had some problems with Star Wars fan sites posting information and pictures Lucasfilm didn't want released. It ended up being a rivalry, with Lucasfilm losing the battle: theforce.net (a fan site) became more popular than starwars.com (the official site).

This was a situation that other studios were watching closely, because the internet was rather new and they were still learning how to deal with it.

When NLC acquired the rights to LOTR, they decided right away that it would be of great advantage to be friendly with the the internet community to avoid the problems Star Wars had. In fact, they realized what a valuable tool the internet could be in regards to publicity. NLC created a partnership with theonering.net, a fan site patterned after theforce.net. With New Line giving TORn all the exclusives, the site was able to become the center of the online LOTR universe. It worked out great for TORn, because they got a lot of help. It worked out great for NLC, because they got online publicity from a site which followed their rules.

Preproduction and Sets

- Millions of silk leaves were imported from China for the trilogy.

- A ten acre field of wheat was purchased and harvested exclusively for the roofs of Rohan.

- The project used a record amount of silicone and foam-latex, which caused a headache for the people in charge. These materials, which come in 200 kilogram drums, take six weeks to manufacture. Because the materials had to be imported from the United States, it took another six weeks for the materials to reach New Zealand (on a boat). Silicone has a shelf-life of six months, so timetables had to be carefully worked out in advance so there was always enough raw material to work with but not too much. "One of the biggest problems any movie can face," said Weta's Tania Rodger, "is to have a crew standing around with nothing to do, simply because the materials they need to get on with the job are sitting on a boat or waiting to clear customs."

- Shelob's cobwebs were made in a special room at the back of the art department's studio. To be mixed properly, two polymers had to be heated to 220°C. But at 228°C the mixture would burst into fire, as the crew found out first hand.

- Shooting for LOTR took place at over 100 locations and on more than 350 sets all in New Zealand.

- A typical day would include:

three sets under construction
three sets being used for filming
three sets being demolished

"The only way to cope," said Dan Hennah, Supervising Art Director, "was to take the date on which filming on a particular sequence was scheduled to begin and chart everything backward: if a set was likely to take three days to dress, four days to paint, and three weeks to build, then we'd know that we had to start construction on a certain date and no later."

- Ed Mulholland, Construction Supervisor, said Rivendell was the most difficult set to build.

- The set for the Glittering Caves was still being built as filming was set to start. "There we were," said Dan Hennah, "frantically throwing handfuls of party glitter onto wet paint as the cameramen finished off their cups of tea and started setting up. Making magic happen is never easy."




- Edoras was completely built and required no matte paintings or miniatures. "Consider the facts," said Richard Taylor. "I'm working with a director who wants to be able to film a full 360 degrees from the highest point and, somehow, I've got to locate three acres of tents, two acres of trucks, and stabling for 200 horses without their getting into any shots!" Dan Hennah came up with the solution: he created a large rock with a hidden corridor inside.

- The heavy double-barred doors of the Golden Hall have a complex locking system with two sliding, pivoting beams that could, in turn, be lowered and secured in place. In the film, they are never seen being used, although they really worked in real life.

- Hobbiton was constructed a year before filming so that the vegetation could mature and the set would look like hobbits had lived there for hundreds of years.

- Mt. Ruapehu had the perfect look for Mordor: rocky, inhospitable, dry and desolate. One morning, however, the crew was surprised to find it looking completely wrong. "Mordor was gone," said crew member Emily Jane Sturrock. "It had been replaced by a winter wonderland." It had snowed overnight. "Sauron just had to wait until we could find a location that looked a little less like Christmas."

- Two beacons were constructed for ROTK. One was part of a set, and another was fully built at the top of a mountain, complete with a hut for guards. "I just couldn't imagine what it would be like to man the beacons," said Peter Jackson. "You have to live in this little hut on top of a mountain with some matches -- presumably a flint. And you just have to wait. I am assuming that the beacons haven't been lit for hundreds of years, so it is a job that has been passed down from father to son. I can imagine an old father retiring and saying, 'Well, you never know son, during your lifetime, you might have to light this beacon so keep your eyes peeled! Don't take your eyes off the horizon.' What an incredibly boring job being a beacon keeper."

- The Long Expected Party, Fangorn Forest, and the Paths of the Dead were all shot indoors.

- A set was built along a river in Queenstown for the scene where the Fellowship is attacked by Orcs on the Anduin River (as in the book). Unfortunately, before the scene was shot, the river rose fifteen meters and washed the set away.

- Galadriel's Glade, Elrond's Chamber at Rivendell, and the interior of Orthanc were all filmed in the same place (Studio A).

- Minas Tirith and Helm's Deep were built at the same location.

- The Gates of Moria, the Dead Marshes and the Voice of Saruman were all filmed at the same watery location.

- Frodo, Sam and Gollum's last scene in TTT and Arwen's first scene in ROTK were filmed in the same forest.

- Some of the miniature towers were so large, they couldn't fit under the overhead electrical cables when they were transported on trucks. Weta workers, wearing rubber gloves and rubber-soled boots, used long poles to lift the cables.

- The design team had their worst problems envisioning how Elves should look, redesigning them hundreds of times. The hobbits, by contrast, were the easiest to design.

- Orcs and trolls were re-created to look "larger and more loathsome" for the final film.

- About 18,000 costumes were created from scratch for LOTR.

- Ngila Dickson, costume supervisor, said the most difficult costumes to create were the Elven cloaks because it was difficult to find a material which was realistic but unrealistic at the same time.

- Ngila is from Dunedin, New Zealand. The city has a soccer team named the "Dunedin Rangers". The cast and crew would joke that Aragorn plays forward for them.

- About ten percent of Ngila's staff quit because of the difficulty of the project.

- Weta had a number of problems designing weapons and armor until they got some unexpected help. John Howe, hired as a conceptual artist, happens to be an expert in mediaeval design. "John's arrival," said Richard Taylor, "was a fundamental life-changing event for Weta. John stepped into our lives like a living emissary from the Middle-ages!"

- One of the worst accidents on set was sustained, oddly enough, by conceptual artist Alan Lee. While visiting Lothlorien he tripped and broke his arm. Such was the concern of the cast and crew, everyone invariably asked, "Was it his drawing arm?" (It wasn't, and he continued to work.)

- In addition to the works of Alan Lee and John Howe, Peter Jackson was also inspired by the art of Ted Nasmith. "They invited me to be there with the others in New Zealand to help with conceptual art and made me a nice offer," said Ted. "However, I was going through a personal crisis unrelated to my art, and in the end, being that it would also force me to abandon my freelance obligations and be away indefinitely, I reluctantly declined, settling the question in my mind after very careful deliberation. It was a difficult decision."

Casting and Actor Facts

- 114 speaking roles were cast. 30 of those roles required training for fictional dialects and languages.

- 20,602 background actors were cast.

- The LOTR actors were required to sign a rather unique confidentiality agreement. The agreement essentially stipulated that if someone disclosed anything about the movies, they could be sued for the cost of the project: about $270 million.

- Sala Baker was originally hired as just a stunt coordinator and sword master. He ended up playing LOTR's title role. He shares his birthday with Bilbo and Frodo.

- In 1998, Peter Jackson participated in a question & answer session at aint-it-cool-news.com about LOTR. Harry Knowles made the offhand comment, "Elijah Wood often talked to me about this project. He cited over and over about how much he loved the books, and how he’d love to be anything in it." Peter did not think much of the comment, and he still wanted an unknown English actor to play Frodo. "I like working with unknowns," he said, "It can be dicey, but also hugely satisfying and exciting. Somewhere in the world is the perfect Frodo and perfect Sam, and we will find them!"

- Elijah Wood, in fact, first heard about the Lord of the Rings trilogy from Harry, and he was determined to get a part. With the help of his friend, director George Huang, he filmed three scenes in a makeshift hobbit costume. After editing the scenes together, he delivered the video to the casting director in Los Angeles. "It ultimately worked out and was one of the most gratifying things in my life," Elijah says, "going for something, believing in it, doing it my way, and having it pan out."

- Peter Jackson says Frodo was the hardest character for him to visualize. "Unlike Sam, who is very clearly defined, Frodo is slightly more of an enigma. In a sense, Frodo was -- and certainly is always going to be -- defined by the character who plays him. For that reason, I am absolutely delighted that Elijah came into our world at that time and became Frodo, because for me, he is perfect."




- When it was announced that Elijah Wood would play Frodo, there was an immediate backlash from Tolkien fans. "I think 50 percent were really harsh," Elijah said, "People saying, essentially, 'kill me now. This could never work. The movie's ruined.'"

- Bernard Hill (Theoden) also made his own audition tape which he directed himself in a friend's barn.

- Merry proved difficult to cast, because the writers didn't have a handle on his character at that stage. "Merry is a slightly undefined character in the book," said Peter Jackson. "Pippin had that young, cheeky quality, and Billy Boyd was somebody we found rather quickly. As soon as we saw Billy audition, we loved him for Pippin, and there really was never any other actor in mind. But we didn't have a Merry. We finished our casting, and we had got about 200 Merry's on tape. We had not made a decision because we couldn't. We felt the perfect Merry hadn't yet been auditioned. However, we had to cast the movie." With time running out, Fran Walsh had an idea: "Hang on, rather than try to pick the best Merry without really being happy, why don't we just take a look through the Frodo audition tapes?" Of the 300 Frodo's, one caught the eye of Peter and Fran. "He had a really great quirkiness and originality about him," says Peter. That was Dominic Monaghan, who was then offered the part of Merry.

- John Astin, famous as "Gomez" of the Addam's Family (and father of Sean Astin) auditioned for the role of Gandalf.

- Sean Connery was offered the role of Gandalf but turned it down. "I had never read Tolkien," he said in 2001, "and I didn't understand the script when they sent it to me. Bobbits? Hobbits?" Years later Connery said, "I read the book. I saw the movie. I still don't understand it."

- Alison Doody, most famous for playing Dr. Elsa Schneider, the beautiful blonde in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989) was asked to play Éowyn but refused because of the 18 month commitment. (She had just given birth to her second daughter.)

- Sylvester McCoy, who played "Dr. Who" from 1987-1989, nearly was cast as Bilbo Baggins. "I was down to the last two," he says. "They didn't tell me who the other one was but when I found out I was in the company of Ian Holm that took away some of the sadness, because he's a brilliant actor. I just wish he'd been busy that week! That would have been a nice pension. And I enjoy doing conventions and things and this would have been another type of convention."

- Stuart Townsend, originally cast as Aragorn, was fired one day into shooting the Weathertop scene. Not only was Stuart too young for the part, he wasn't a very good physical actor - an important part of Aragorn's character.




- After Stu was fired, the casting department decided to pursue Viggo Mortensen (who was originally considered for the role). At first, nobody could get a hold of Viggo because he was out in the woods camping. But after a couple of days he was contacted and was soon flown to New Zealand. Because production was underway, he had to immediately start shooting without the benefit of the six weeks of training the other actors had for horseback riding, sword training and dialect coaching. And yet his character had to be the best swordsman, horsemaster, and linguist in the trilogy!

- Not only was Viggo a last second replacement, so was his horse. "I only got to know him a day or two before we had to shoot for a scene," Viggo said. "He had never been on a movie set, nor had he any experience of being around movie cameras, Orcs beating their shields, swords, and a bunch of other horses. It was not a good idea to start him with that. All of the other horses had been familiar with all of these sounds and objects that they would be dealing with on set, and he wasn't. It was a gradual process earning his trust. I suppose that made for a stronger friendship in the end because it wasn't that easy. I consider him a good friend and another member of the cast I got to be close with." Viggo ended up buying the horse.

- Training the horses to be familiar with the chaos of filming presented another problem. "We couldn't have them standing there completely unmoved by the fact that there was a battle raging all about them," said Stephen Old, Horse Coordinator, "and yet that was precisely what they had been trained to do! So the rider would have to act as if he was trying to control his horse when, in fact, the horse was totally in control! The more takes we did, the worse it got: after ten takes, nothing could faze them!"

- Viggo himself composed "The Lay of Beren and Luthien" that Aragorn sings in the Extended Cut of FOTR, and he composed the Elvish song Aragorn sings at his coronation.

- One film "Return of the King" competed against was "Miracle", which tells the true story of how the ragtag U.S. hockey team defeated the seemingly invincible Russian squad in the 1980 Olympics. (The Soviet team had captured the previous four Olympic hockey golds and had not lost an Olympic hockey game since 1968. The young American team was the seventh seeded team in the tournament.) The "King" actually attended the game. Viggo Mortensen, on winter break from college, was working as a translator. "I am not a nationalistic person by nature, but you had to get caught up in what was going on at the arena," he said. The so-called Miracle on Ice was more than just an Olympic upset; to many Americans, it was an ideological victory in the Cold War. And Americans, faced with a major recession and the Iran hostage crisis, were in dire need of something to celebrate. "You couldn't believe what was happening, but it was happening, and I feel so honored to have been there."

- One evening, after a day of filming, Viggo accidently ran over a rabbit with his car. "I hadn't eaten all day," Viggo explained, "so I skinned it and cleaned it and cooked it. At the time, it just seemed like the logical thing to do."

- Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies nearly ended up father and son onscreen. Originally, John auditioned for the part of Denethor and Orlando auditioned for Faramir. "We certainly said in our mind, 'OK, Orlando is Faramir. We don't need to look for him anymore,'" said Peter Jackson. "Then we had trouble with the Legolas role. We couldn't find anybody, and we got worried about it. We suddenly had this realization that Orlando's face was very Elven with his high cheekbones and sort of chiseled jaw line. We just suddenly decided, 'Why don't we put him in the Legolas role?' We'll find somebody else for Faramir."

- The dress and props for Legolas are Celtic and whimsical. Gimli's are Teutonic and Norse inspired, with sharp edges and more of an architectural feel. This shows the cultural division between elves and dwarves.

- The skull and facial structure for Gimli was built on a totally new design since the special effects people wanted him to look like a different race.

- John (Gimli) is actually the tallest of the Fellowship actors. He also voices the tallest character in the movie, Treebeard.

- Because so much of the Gimli we see in the films is the diminutive Brett Beattie, there was a thought that Brett and John should share the credit for the role. In the end, however, it was decided John would be given full credit.

- Gimli's beard was made of yak belly hair.

- Weta's John Harding was going to play Radagast the Brown in the background of a scene, but those plans were scrapped. Years later, the costume was pulled out of storage and John was photographed as the wizard for a trading card




- When Gandalf visits Bilbo in Bag End, there's a framed map on the table, which he picks up and examines. In fact this is Thrór's Map from The Hobbit, that Gandalf had himself recovered from Sauron's dungeons 151 years earlier, making Bilbo's first adventure possible.

- Gandalf's wizard hat was so hated by all the film crew, including actor Ian McKellen, that a plot was hatched to change the movie's storyline so the hat would be destroyed.

- After the completion of principal photography, Gandalf's hat was loaned to a Los Angeles costume exhibition for a few weeks. Unfortunately, when it was shipped back to New Zealand it was lost in the mail. In 2003 it was discovered at an Air New Zealand "lost property" auction in Wellington. Lord of the Rings personel retrieved the hat and used it for pickup shots. Peter's take on the matter: "I wonder what it would have sold for?"

- Ian McKellen's first day of shooting on the trilogy was Gandalf's first scene, arriving in Hobbiton. His second day of shooting was Gandalf's final scene of the film, at the Grey Havens. "I scarcely knew Frodo from Merry," Ian says, "and adopted the safest course of expressing very little as I said goodbye to them."

- Ian McKellen based Gandalf off of Tolkien. "All the Fellowship reflect aspects of Tolkien's personality," he says, "but none more so than Gandalf. I adopted Tolkien's accent and voice somewhat."

- Christopher Lee (Saruman) once met Professor Tolkien in an English pub.

- The birthdays of Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee (the two wizards) are two days apart; as are the birthdays of Ralph Bakshi and Peter Jackson (the two LOTR directors). The birthdays of John Howe and Alan Lee (the concept artists) are one day apart.

Hobbits

- Hobbits were designed to look like they could've lived in 14th, 15th, or 16th century England.

- In 2004, in a hole in the ground, a team of scientists discovered a race they nicknamed Hobbits. It was the first time an entirely new human species had been discovered. Scientists speculate that the race evolved earlier than modern man and may have stood taller at first. But over hundreds of thousands of years of isolation on the island of Flores, the members of the race dwindled in height. Such dwarfing is often the fate of large mammals marooned on islands. In spite of their downsized brains, the little people apparently had sophisticated technology. They crafted tools, weapons and even fireplaces. The species went extinct about 12,000 years ago after a Volcano erupted. (If I were the scientists I'd nickname it Mount Doom.)

- Ian Holm (Bilbo) did not arrive in New Zealand until after the Hobbiton set had been destroyed. PJ filmed the needed scenes without him and added the hobbit later via bluescreen. Ian also arrived after Cate Blanchett had left. Nonetheless, because of a scale double and blue screen work, Bilbo and Galadriel appear on screen together at the Grey Havens.

- On the quest to Mount Doom, Frodo and Sam always travel left to right on screen.

- When they journey back home (and travel to the Grey Havens), they're shown going right to left.

- Frodo is the oldest of the four main Hobbits, and Pippin is the youngest. In real life, Billy Boyd (Pippin) is the oldest of the Hobbit actors, and Elijah Wood (Frodo) is the youngest.

- Billy Boyd was the first of the Hobbit actors to be cast and the last of the Hobbit actors to leave New Zealand.

- Billy himself composed the song Pippin sings to Denethor.

- Most of the food that appears in the film was edible. The most popular: the dishes that were served at the long expected party. The least popular: lembas bread.

- Sean Astin gained 30 pounds for his role as Samwise, but not from lembas bread.

- Sean seems to have an encyclopedic memory regarding his films. In the cast commentaries for both FOTR and The Goonies, a cast member exclaims, "How many times have you seen this movie?!" (Elijah Wood in FOTR and Josh Brolin in The Goonies.)

- At Rivendell, Sean was hit on the head by an Elven loom. (Viggo said it was because he was having impure thoughts.) He had to get a CAT scan. "When he got back all he could say was about how large his brain was!" said Elijah. "We didn’t hear if he was healthy, just how large his brain was."

- Tolkien grew up in a society where social class was very important, and this is reflected in his books. Because Sam is from a lower class than Merry, Pippin, and Frodo (who are rich), he always refers to them with the title of "Mister" or "Master". For the movies, Peter wanted to leave out the issue of class. Originally, he decided Sam would refer to the others simply by their names. Then, not long before filming began, he realized that readers would not be satisfied by this, and he decided to have Sam say "Mr. Frodo".

- Sean really was carrying Elijah in the powerful scene where Sam carries Frodo up the Mountain-side. Sean's thoughts at the time: "Holy #$&@! I've got the whole $270 million dollar franchise on my shoulders right now!"

- In the scene where the Hobbits finally return to Hobbiton, Elijah Wood had a hard time controlling his pony, Sean Astin was allergic to the ponies, and Dominic Monaghan was in a bad mood because of technical aspects revolving around the scene. Billy Boyd, meanwhile, was in stitches.

- Elijah Wood borrowed the talents of LOTR calligrapher Daniel Reeve to create Christmas cards for the eight other members of the Fellowship. He wrote them as Frodo to each of their characters.

- Rumor has it that in southeastern Wisconsin there's a community of hobbit-like folk. Supposedly several disgruntled circus midgets started the secret community of Haunchyville after their days under the big top ended. So many people have invaded the area looking for the mythical community, one neighborhood installed a gate and keyless entry system to stop people from tresspassing.

- The Shire and the world of the hobbits were constructed to make it look like they live in a world of their own apart from the rest of Middle-earth. Every prop, set, and costume in a scene with both a hobbit and a big person had to have a double 1.38 times bigger so normal items would look the right size with the hobbits. Judy Alley, who helped dress the sets, said, "Even the pickled onions and gherkins in jars on the kitchen shelves were scaled in size."

- Lesley Earl-Templeton, who had never been involved with a film before, was LOTR's textile designer. "The very first thing I did was two pieces of fabric," she said. "One was a small scale fabric, and the other was a scaled up fabric. I knew nothing about the film industry. They didn't tell me why they needed these different scales, so my first reaction was sitting up all night asking myself, 'Why would you need different scales to make a film?' I didn't realize it was specific to this film."

Props, Wigs, and Swords

- 48,000 props were used in the films.

- All props - and scale doubles for many - were made from scratch.

- The props were so realistic, they often fooled various cast and crew members. Forty prop horses were made to be used as dead horses after battles. Some people asked the horse wranglers how the horses had been trained to lie still for so long! In addition, a technician spotted what appeared to be David Wenham, looking sickly, passed out on the floor. After trying to get David something to drink, the technician learned he was looking at a prop. A Frodo prop was so realistic, a picture of it appeared in TV Guide with the caption identifying it as Elijah Wood.

- Frodo's mithril shirt proved to be more than just a prop. When the Witch King (played by Ben Price at the time) was filmed stabbing Elijah Wood at Weathertop, Elijah wore it under his costume for protection, despite the fact Frodo had not been given the shirt yet.




- It was discovered that 50 elven lamps were needed for the Rivendell Elves two days before their TTT scene was to be filmed. "It took half a day just to find the material," said props maker Chris Streeter, "then it took the rest of the day to get the hired labor come in and work on the patterns we'd made." Nonetheless, the cardboard lamps were conceived, constructed, and delivered in less than 48 hours. "When filming was complete," Chris said, "they looked great and we couldn't have been happier!"

- All of the actors (except for some of the extras) were wigged. The actors had to have their real hair slicked back with a gel that when dry had a texture similar to concrete. The wig was then glued onto the forehead and pinned in the back. Orlando cut his hair off to make the process easier.

- Haldir is obviously very conscious of proper hair care. Craig Parker, who played him, was forced to have similar concerns. "The wigs were made from real human hair and so expensive," he said. "In the battle scene we all got them sweaty and dirty and covered in oil. My wig cost about $15,000 and the great worry was that I was going to ruin it."

- People understand that blood in films is fake, but many are surprised that the mud is as well. Peter Owen, makeup artist, describes people's reactions: "If they hadn't been in a film before, they'd say, 'What do you want to make mud for? Just go and dig some up!' But of course you can't go rubbing real dirt all over actors' faces; it has to be sterlized dirt -- so you have to make it!" In fact, the makeup mud had to be stored in a refridgerator with an expiration date.

- A legend trained the actors in swordfighting. "I remember I was receiving instruction from this old guy," said Karl Urban (Eomer), "and he was showing me a sequence of parries. Then he went off, and one of his assistants came up to continue training with me, and he said, 'Do you know who that was?' And I said no. He said, 'That was Bob Anderson. That was the guy who trained Errol Flynn.' And I said 'Oh really?" And I was like, OK, no big deal. He said, "He was Darth Vader in the fight sequence!' And I said, 'No! Get out of here! I just had a sword fight with Darth Vader? That's incredible!'"

- Bob was impressed with Weta's swords. "I'm used to fifteen to twenty blades getting broken during a film," he said. "In The Lord of the Rings, we made three films and only broke one sword. And that was only because it got so battered and bent that it finally fell apart!"

- Denethor's sword was fully created, despite the fact that it is never drawn in the films. "We could have simply given Denethor a scabbard with a hilt attached," said Richard Taylor, "but you know damn well that the moment the actor grabs the sword hilt and it doesn't come out, he is going to feel like he's only an extra!"




- The sword Arwen uses to defy the Ringwraiths at the Ford of Rivendell is in fact the very same sword Elrond uses thousands of years earlier in the prologue.

- When Aragorn's coronation was first filmed, the crown slipped right over Viggo's brow, over his face, and fell down to his shoulders. "And there was just this horrible silence," says Jasmine Watson, LOTR's jeweller. "My initial head measurement that I had taken from Viggo was drastically wrong."

- The One Ring was made by Jens Hansen, a renowned jewellery designer. (Actually many "one" rings were made.) Sadly, Hansen passed away prior to the start of principal photography. Elijah was given the main Ring at the end of the shoot.

Rohan




- Rohan was designed to look like a Kingdom from around 900 A.D.

- The actors who played the Riders of Rohan may surprise you. "Ideally, we wanted guys who were six feet tall with long hair and long beards to ride the horses," said Steve Old, head the Horse Department. "On New Zealand's South Island, though, it's mostly females who ride horses. In the end, we probably had five guys and the remaining 250 or so riders were women dressed as men! And the average age of the women was about 50." The women also played the Ringwraith riders.

- For the rest of the people of Rohan, the casting department ran out of blond, blue eyed extras. Brown-skinned, brown eyed Maori boys had to be used, though they were hidden in the background. "We nicknamed them the Bro'Han," said Miranda Rivers, Extras Casting Coordinator.

- Bernard Hill is left handed, and thus his character, King Theoden, is as well.

- Instant potato flakes were used for Grima Wormtongue's dandruff.

- Originally, Eowyn was going to be a redhead. When shooting started, Miranda Otto wore a golden red wig, twisted back in a Pre-Raphaelite style. Then it was decided her hair would be blonde and allowed to fly free to make her look more feminine.

Special Effects

- Weta, the Wellington based company in charge of bringing the Lord of the Rings special effects to life, was named after an ancient cricket-like species native to New Zealand. Originally, Richard Taylor and Peter Jackson wanted the name to be an acronym. "We did try to work out something along those lines: such as 'Wellington Effects and Technical...'" said Richard, "and we drew a blank!"

- Before it was purchased for Weta's headquarters, No. 1 Weka Street in Miramar was firstly an aquatic fun park, secondly a mental institution, thirdly a World War II hospital, fourthly a battery factory, and fifthly a Vaseline and talcum powder factory.

- Number of Visual Effect shots:

FOTR Theatrical: 560
FOTR Extended: 620
TTT Theatrical: 720
TTT Extended: 1000
ROTK Theatrical: 1450
ROTK Extended: 1800

- At first, the idea was to have the Nazgul ride new creatures designed specificially for "The Fellowship of the Ring" through the use of digital special effects. In the end real horses were used; just like in the book.

- A computer program, Massive, made armies of computer generated orcs, elves, and humans. These digital creations could be given varying intelligence and battle independently. "During the early sims, once the battle started," said Weta supervisor Eric Saindon. "thirty to forty percent of the guys would all run away. They just didn’t want to fight. So, we had to make them much 'braver,' so they'd be willing to stay and fight."

Creatures and Battles




- Snaga, (the orc killed after trying to eat Merry and Pippin,) and Sharku, (the orc who gets a hold of Aragorn's Evenstar,) were both played by Jed Brophy.

- Snaga's voice was actually done by Andy Serkis. "Yeah i was unfortunately not in the UK when they post sunk that scene," Jed told me. "He did a great job. But I have to say the original I did was not that different. He did a great me."

- Jed Brophy's son Sadwyn played the part of Eldarion, Aragorn and Arwen’s future son. "He's thankfully pretty unaffected by It all. He’s a very lucky little boy."

- Craig Parker, who played Haldir, voiced a few characters in ROTK, including Gothmog and his evil lieutenant. "Great fun but hell on the voice," he said. "I could hardly speak for a couple of days afterwards. Gothmog is the witch king's right hand orc. His face is a wonderful homage to the elephant man, and his lieutenant, played by Joel Tobeck, is the nose-less beauty with a head stuck on his helmet. All very charming chaps."

- Craig actually joined LOTR project very early. "Many years ago," he commented, "when Peter, Fran, and Philippa were putting together the script, they got a group of us in to make a radio play." You can hear Craig narrate the prologue (as Frodo) if you have the FOTR Extended DVD: on the first disc of the appendices, navigate to 'Visualizing the Story' on the main menu. Then go to 'Early Storyboards' and finally select 'the Prologue'.

- The Orc battle cries for the Helm's Deep battle sequence were provided by 25,000 cricket fans at Westpac Stadium. The fans screamed war chants spelled out on the Diamond Vision screen, with Peter Jackson himself leading the crowd. Sound technicians returned to the stadium a year later to record sounds for battle scenes in The Return of the King.

- There were so many extras used in the sequences at Helms Deep, and the filming went for so many months that almost all the extras and principle actors got t-shirts reading "I survived Helms Deep". There were so many of these shirts that extras would often meet other extras in New Zealand's main cities because they would recognize the shirts.

- Helm's Deep presented the greatest challenge to preserving continuity. Crew member Emily Jane Sturrock recalled, "The Helm's Deep battle continuity was a nightmare! A film is not shot in script order, but a battle scene isn't in order either. I always had to know which 'part' of the battle we were filming. Legolas had to have the right number of arrows in his quiver and Aragorn and Gimli needed more blood on their weapons as the fight progressed. These are the details nobody notices. It should just look 'right'. But if you get it wrong -- and Legolas starts sprouting arrows that were not there a second ago, or he never has any less in his quiver -- then it becames noticable."

- In a 1999 interview that touched on Gollum, Peter Jackson said, "Throw out any thoughts or concerns you have about CG creatures you've seen. This is gonna be different. Gollum's going to be cool!"

- The creators of Jar Jar Binks made numerous breakthroughs in CGI that were borrowed for the Lord of the Rings. In fact, Richard Taylor admits that had it not been for Jar Jar, Weta Digital would not have been able to create Gollum.

- When Andy Serkis was offered the part of Gollum he had only read The Hobbit and thought it was a minor part.

- Andy's first scene was confronting the Hobbits at Mount Doom.

- Sauron's armor successfully passed many strength and durability tests before shooting began. So it was quite a surprise when bits and pieces of it began flying off when the first action sequences were filmed. The armor had become brittle in the cold weather. "There was nothing we could do other than watch the fight very closely," said crew member Emily Jane Sturrock, "and if a piece broke off and fell into the sand, we just had to spend the rest of the fight watching that spot and when they called, 'Cut,' we could pounce onto the last place that the fragment was seen and quickly glue it back on."

- Actor Sala Baker needed the crew to put his Sauron helmet on him, and the only way helmet could be put on this seven foot character was straight down. Fortunately, crew member Ben Price was 6'7'' and could do this rather easily.

Quirky Situations




- Sean Bean (Boromir) starred in a UK TV series as a soldier during the Napoleonic wars with the name of Richard Sharpe. He subsequently appeared in a series of commercials where he would allude to his earlier role, saying things like, "Sharpe idea". In FOTR he continues the joke: after touching the Sword of Elendil he says, "Still Sharpe."

- In late 1999 in Queenstown, a record rainfall caused the worst flooding in the history of the district. Sean Bean and Orlando Bloom were caught between landslides and trapped in a tiny town in the middle of the South Island. They were taken in by a kindly woman who offered them food and a bed.

- Boromir's father, Denethor, is played by John Noble. In Lothlorien, Boromir says, "My father is a noble man."

- In the TTT Extended Edition credits, John is a Nogle man. They misspelled his name.

- Liv Tyler's father (rock legend Steven Tyler of Aerosmith) fell asleep when he saw FOTR.

- Tolkien's version of The Two Towers includes both Boromir's death and Shelob's attack. Boromir's death actually happens at the same time as events in the late chapters of FOTR, and Shelob's attack actually occurs at the same time as the events in the early chapters of ROTK. (Tolkien loved to play with chronology). Because Peter Jackson had to tell the story in a linear fashion, "The Two Towers" film does not include either Boromir's death or Shelob.

- At Osgiliath, Samwise says, "It's all wrong! By rights we shouldn't even be here!" In the books Frodo and Sam never visit Osgiliath.

- In the book The Two Towers, Pippin talks about being captured by the orcs. "Only nine days ago," he says, "It seems a year since we were caught." Unfortunately this line did not make it into the movie, where it would have been unintentionally amusing considering the release dates of the theatrical cuts.

- In every installment of the trilogy, one character says the subtitle of the film. In Film 1 during the council scene Elrond refers to the nine as the "Fellowship of the Ring"; in Film 2 it's Saruman who says "The Two Towers" during a voiceover; and finally in Film 3, Gandalf tells the Steward of Gondor and he can't refuse the Return of the King.

- The Lord of the Rings Official website called the first film "The Fellowship of the Rings" for over a year.

- Names most often misspelled by the press: Ian McKellen (sic as McKellan) and Philippa Boyens (sic as Phillipa or Phillippa). Even the Lord of the Rings Fan Club magazine had trouble with these names.

The Press

- The London Sunday Times interviewed Cate Blanchett in July of 2000. The article had an interesting tidbit of information concerning FOTR: "For the uninitiated, Galadriel is the good sister of the evil but beautiful Queen Beruthiel, who imprisons the Fellowship of the Ring in the forest of Lothlorien. In the book, Galadriel frees them from her sister's clutches. It's a small but memorable part, and Blanchett lobbied hard for it."

- A New York Times article January 12, 2001 discussed the LOTR project:

Many in Hollywood consider the "Lord of the Rings" project financially risky, particularly for a studio like New Line, which has had a rough time at the box office in recent months. New Line says the budget for the trilogy is $270 million, or $90 million per installment.

Wizard-and-magic films have not always performed well at the box office, however, and marketing and distribution executives from several studios expressed wariness about the trilogy's prospects.

"You know those 1.7 million people who downloaded the trailer that first day?" said one rival marketing executive. "I think that's the whole audience for the movie."

- An article for Salon by Chris Petrekin on November 15, 2001 said the following: "Except for 'pre-sold' sequels to 'Austin Powers' and 'Rush Hour,' New Line has never won one of its big-budget bets. (The list of the studio's recent major flops is quite long: 'Town and Country,' 'Lost in Space,' 'Little Nicky,' 'The Long Kiss Goodnight,' 'The Island of Dr. Moreau,' 'Last Man Standing.') If the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy is a major hit, the formidable if inconsistent film company could have a bright future in the AOL Time Warner universe. If not, a number of darker scenarios could confront its little shire in Beverly Hills."

In December of 2005, Peter was asked what would have happened to the trilogy had "Fellowship" done poorly at the box office. "I think it would have been an absolute disaster," he replied. "I think New Line Cinema would have ceased to exist. I would have had no career whatsoever if the first film hadn't performed. I have no idea whether, you know, the second and third films would have ever gotten finished because a lot of money gets spent on these movies in post-production. Because the, all the computer effects have to be done. And so I can only imagine if the first one didn't perform, the others would have been left sitting in cans as unedited, incomplete films."

Music

- "Gollum's Song" was originally envisioned as a Bjork song. She commented, "I was asked to write the song a month before the birth of my daughter. When I turned it down because I was too pregnant, they said fair enough and got another writer and said they had a song and lyric in my style. They said they were going to ask 'Björk-kinda singers'".

- Iceland-born songstress Emiliana Torrini was ultimately chosen. Her debut album had been released in 1999, but for the following three years she released no new material. (In fact, she was in a legal dispute with her record company and also suffered the loss of someone close to her.) "At that time I was really feeling like I would never do music again," Emiliana said, "I just wasn't interested; all my thoughts were elsewhere." But when Peter Jackson asked her to do "Gollum's Song," she couldn't resist. "Good things started happening," she says. "And when good things start happening after good things haven't happened for sooo long, you start to come awake again." Afterwards, Emilana signed with a new record company and began work on another album.

- Before Howard Shore was chosen as composer, Bilbo's birthday party was filmed. Plan 9, a Wellington-based band, wrote and performed some music for the actors to dance to, with the idea that this music would be replaced by LOTR's composer when the film was scored. In the end, however, Plan 9's original music was left in. They also co-wrote "Gollum's Song" and had nine minutes of music included in the final mix of The Two Towers, including the hum the trees make in Fangorn. For ROTK, they composed the drinking song Merry and Pippin sing at Edoras.

- One time, while Howard Shore was attempting to record music for FOTR, a studio laptop computer exploded static over the studio speakers and the player's headphones. This event caused some uproar, and also led to the quote from first violinist Dermot Crehan who, having been conversing with Shore in his lilting Irish brogue all afternoon, said "Howard, its Dermot... there are brains on the floor in here".

- Apparantly the Academy liked the scores for the first and third films a lot more than the second. The scores for FOTR & ROTK won Oscars. The score for TTT wasn't even nominated.

Odds and Ends

- Wilhelm, a famous scream, makes an appearance in TTT as a soldier falls during the Helm's Deep battle. The scream also can be heard in ROTK when a Nazgul drops one of Faramir's men from the air, and when a Southron is knocked off a Mumakil by Legolas.

- Writer Frances Walsh voiced some screams for the Nazgul. "We dragged Fran onto the Foley Stage," said Ethan Van der Ryn, supervising sound editor, "and got the most spine chilling screams I've ever heard in my life. They just about knocked me on my ***."


- The portraits on the wall at Bag End, representing Bilbo's parents, are actually portraits of Frances and Peter (without the beard).


- Peter Jackson cut his own hair throughout the project because he didn't have time to schedule a haircut appointment.

- Royd Tolkien, the great grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, asked Mark Ordesky if he could have a quick look at the LOTR project. To Royd's surprise, Peter Jackson not only welcomed him with open arms, he offered him a part in ROTK. "As Faramir goes down to the shore to prepare Osgiliath's defences, you see a scene of me handing out spears to the troops." The cast and crew were also happy to meet him. Christopher Lee, experienced in meeting Tolkiens, took him out to dinner. Before leaving New Zealand, Royd was told he could return and visit any of Peter's future projects as well.

- The Lord of the Rings celebrated its 50th birthday in 2004. Also celebrating 50 years in 2004:

- Mankind's first successful flight was December 17, 1903. The Return of the King opened exactly 100 years later on December 17, 2003. (The date the Fellowship actors got matching tattoos, designed by Alan Lee, was December 17, 2000.)

- "Return of the King" was the first sci fi / fantasy film to win the Oscar for Best Picture and the first to win for Best Director.

- The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the most nominated film series in Academy Award history with 30 nominations, surpassing the Godfather trilogy (28).

- According to Forbes Magazine: "A fully clothed Paris Hilton accidentally fell into a swimming pool at an Oscar party -- only to be rescued by [Peter] Jackson himself."

Demographics and Fans

- In the Fall of 2001, David Letterman joked that the only people who would see FOTR would be guys in their 20's and their parents who had to drive them to the theater.

- According to a survey of 276,500 people, covering both genders and every age group, LOTR is most popular among the following demogaphics in ranked order:

1. Females under 18
2. Females 44 plus
3. Females 18 to 29
4. Males under 18
5. Males 18 to 29
6. Males 30 to 44
7. Females 30 to 44
8. Males 44 plus




- The Make-A-Wish Foundation attempts to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Being a big Lord of the Rings fan, 13 year old Rebecca of Illinois wished to meet Billy Boyd. Rebecca and her family were given a trip to California where she was greeted with a balloon bouquet, apparel, jewelry, and LOTR memorabilia - all compliments of Billy, whom she would spend two days with. Billy's managers even contacted the producers of “Entertainment Tonight” and Rebecca was given the opportunity to interview Billy on national tv.




- Matthew Stepanek was a boy from Maryland who was born with a rare neuromuscular disease called dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy. His gift for writing put him on the New York Times best-sellers list five times, and his gift for speaking earned him ambassador status for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. As a guest on the Larry King show February 17, 2003 he was asked if he liked the Lord of the Rings. "I love the movies, the books," he said. "They're all great. My favorite character, without question, is Gandalf. He's just awesome. My second favorite, I like Sam. One night, I was dreaming that I was on the journey with the Fellowship of the Ring." Not long before Mattie died on June 22, 2004 at age 13, Sean Astin visited him in the hospital.

- Cameron Troy Duncan, son of steadycam specialist Rhys Duncan, was an amateur filmmaker from New Zealand that became friends with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in 2002. Also that year, Duncan was diagnosed with osteo-sarcoma bone cancer. Cameron died peacefully in his sleep on November 12, 2003 at age 17. His passion and courage helped inspire the lyrics written by Walsh for "Into the West". To say he was a fan of the LOTR films is an understatement; he saw them over 30 times and was even going to play a small part in the movies. (His declining health wouldn't permit it.)

Legal Stuff

- In 2003, eighteen members of the LOTR cast rebelled against New Line Cinema. The actors complained that they weren't getting enough money to promote the films. The dispute was handled privately.

- In 2005, Saul Zaentz sued New Line Cinema for $20 million in unpaid royalties. Saul accepted a settlement out of court.

- Saul Zaentz once sued John Fogerty, the frontman for Creedence Clearwater Revival, for sounding too much like Creedence Clearwater Revival.

- In 2005, Peter Jackson sued New Line cinema. He claimed NLC:

* sold the film for less than market rate, enabling New Line to pocket secret profits
* Entered into sweetheart deals with affiliates, short-changing Jackson's production company.
* Improperly charged expenses to the film and allowed subsidiaries to charge higher than market fees.
* Failed to pay for the right to use Fran Walsh's lyrics in video games and refused to share earnings from the sale of soundtrack albums.
* Duped Jackson's production company into agreeing to a deal that capped its pay television earnings.

The Evolution of the DVD sets

- New Line Cinema's original plan was to do a trilogy with a running time of 6 hours total. In a 1999 interview, Peter said, "One idea I've got (if the trilogy is successful) would be to gather the cast together again and shoot another couple of hours... expanding the existing The Lord of the Rings from 6 to 8 or 9 hours!"

- The "short" versions of the films have a total running time of 9 hours and 17 minutes.

- During the early years of the project, DVD technology had not yet become mainstream, and the people involved with the project were thinking mostly in terms of the cinema and home video. In 1998, when Peter Jackson first spoke about a "special edition" of the movie for home viewers, he said "We could maybe think about a slightly harder version [closer to an R Rating] for laserdisc release. I also wouldn't rule out the possibility of extra battle footage, unsuitable for a PG 13, for future video releases either." He added, "Interviews with key crew and design people and lots of footage of design paintings, models, armour and CG tests would be a great addition on a laserdisc box set."

- The extended edition of FOTR was an idea that developed in 2001 during the editing phase. Extended editions for TTT and ROTK were not considered until much later. When asked in 2002 if NLC would make extended cuts for the second and third films Matt LaSorsa, senior vice president of marketing for New Line Home Entertainment, said, "We'll have to wait and see. So much of it depends on the running time of the theatrical versions, what can be included from ratings standpoints and just pure story content." (And needless to say, NLC was curious as to how FOTR EE would sell.)

- In the commentary for Back to the Future Part 2 (released on DVD in 2002), the Lord of the Rings is mentioned. In a commentary for the second Lord of the Rings film (released on DVD in 2003), Back to the Future Part 2 is mentioned.

- The Extended Editions solved quite a bit of problems for the people editing the movies. For example, they were never quite sure how to deal with everything between the Battle of Helm's Deep and the Fellowship leaving Isengard. At first, they tried to tack it on the end of TTT - but that seemed anticlimatic. Then they tried to put it at the beginning of ROTK - but it stalled the beginning of the movie. In the end, most of these scenes were split between the Extended Editions: at the end of TTT EE and the beginning of ROTK EE.

- The theatrical FOTR and TTT DVD sets were released eight months after the films hit the theaters. Why so long? "The DVD release dates of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers were dependent on completing the 10-minute look at the next film," said Matt LaSorsa. That pushed the DVD release dates beyond May. "Then you've got the June/July months that are typically not video-friendly months because people are on vacation. We felt that the best merchandising opportunity came in August with the back to school window." However, with no preview of another film to worry about, ROTK's theatrical set was released in May, just four months after the movie debuted in theaters.

- The very last piece of footage for the trilogy was shot after Peter returned to New Zealand from the Oscar Ceremony. The director wanted footage of skulls rolling at the Paths of the Dead for the Extended Edition. He commented at the time, "This is the most bizarre thing because we are effectively shooting the last shot of the film after we won the Oscar. I bet this is the only time that has happened in history!"

- The Lord of the Rings story, as told through the Extended Editions, has a running time of 11 hours and 22 minutes.

Peter Jackson

- Peter made $125 million from the three Lord of the Rings films.

- He spent so much time at the Bag End set, he fell in love with it and couldn't bear seeing it destroyed. So he asked New Line Cinema if he could have it, and the studio agreed. This proved fortunate, because pickup shots were done in Bag End years later for "The Return of the King". After that, the set was reassembled inside a hill at Peter's country home - with additional designs by Alan Lee to make it three dimensional and functional (including a Frodo bedroom and a Bilbo bedroom). Peter now uses the place as a guesthouse.
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The Events That Made The History of Middle-earth Guide

The Creation of Middle-earth.
In the beginning of Middle-earth there was Eru Illuvatar. With his thought he created the Valar. And he told them to sing. And the Valar sung, but Melkor wanted to sing of his own songs. And so Eru said "Now, your songs will fill the Void!" And the lands came to be. But on these lands there were places of Darkness. And Melkor traveled to these lands. The rest of the Valar sung more and with their thoughts came a land more fair than any, and that land was Valinor, or the Undying Lands.
Then Eru said "In time these lands shall be inhabited by my children!" And the Valar built large lamps to light the world. But Melkor went out and destroyed these. And Lorien planted two trees. And these came to be the Golden and the Silver trees. Brighter than anything the Aman (the world) has seen! And with the awkening of the trees came the awakening of the first born, the Elves. And Ulmo saw the Elves and was with wonder. He traveled to Valinor and told the rest of the Valar about them, and they too wanted to see them. So Ulmo was sent to get the Elves. The Noldor and the Teleri went with him, and these became the Calcaquendi (Light Elves), but the remaining Elves stayed behind, and these were the Moriquendi (Dark Elves) for they had, and never will, seent he Light of the Two Trees.

The Destruction of the Noldor, and the Slaying of King Fingolfin.
The Year 455 of the First Age. It would become known as the Fell Year. The end of the peace for the Noldor had come, and at the beginning of the year Melkor, now called Morgoth by the Noldor unleashed his strength and his army. The battle began when the army of the Sons of Finrod began attacking, though more came later. Rivers of fire poured down from the mountains and the first of the dragons, Glaurung, came forth. The battle is called Dagor Brollach, The Battle of Sudden Flame. And the plains on which it took place is called Anfauglif, the Gaping Dust. In the defences of the Elves Angrod and Egnor fell, with them Begolas was slain, and many of the warriors of Beor. But Barahir was fighting with his warriors further westward nigh the passes of Sirion. King Inglor Felagund was defeated here and surrounded. But Barahir came and broke the leage of Orcs and saved the Elven king. Fingolfin and Fingon had marched from Hithlum to the aid of the sons of Findrod, and they were driven to the mountains with much loss. Then Maidros came with a great ar,y, and with Maglor and held the Hill of Himring. But soon the armies were defeated.
But now it seemed to Fingolfin, the King of the Noldor, that the ruin of his people had come. He was filled with wrath and despair. He put on his armor, and grabbed his sword Ringil, with his shield, and mounting his horse he rode alone to Angand. And he rode so swiftly he appeared to be just wind in the dust, and all who saw him fled in amaze, thinking Orome himself was come, for Fingolfin's eyes shone like the Valar's eyes so much hate was in them. And he came to Angbands gate and shouted "Come forth, thou coward king, fight with thine own hand! Den-dweller, wielder of thralls, liar and lurker, foe of gods and Elves, Come! I would see your craven face!" And Morgoth came, because he could not refuse such a challenge. And they fought. Fingolfin was swift and stabbed at Morgoth many times, causing him much pain. And Fingolfin dodged Grond. But eventually Fingolfin grew tired and was beaten.

The Gest of Beren and Luthien.
Before Aragorn and Arwen, there was Beren and Luthien. In the year 464 Beren was forced by the winter to flee the land he was in, and into the land of Doriath. After wandering in the forest for the winter, he continued to roam it for it was a beutiful forest. On mid-summer Beren heard something. He looked for it and saw the most buetiful elf-maiden he had ever seen dancing. And in love a spell of dumbness was placed on him, and he followed Tinuviel. He followed long barely eating, and in the year 465 he was finaly able to talk to her. And he called out the only thing he could think of Tinuviel, meaning Nightingale.
Beren was brought to King Thingol, of whom is father to Luthien. And since Beren was a mortal man he could not wed Luthien, so the King gave him a task. To bring back a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth itself. And Beren took this impossible quest. Beren was captured by Sauron, and was thrown to a pit of wolves. But as a wolf was about to kill him King Inglor Felagund came to his aid, but was slain himself. Beren escaped.
Luthien wanted to go to the aid of Beren, but her father held her captive. So she escaped. With the aid of the Hound of Valinor, Huan, she rescued Beren. In disguise they went to Angband. Luthien went out and danced, which put all beings inside to sleep, including Morgoth. and the Iron Crown rolled away from him. Beren retrieved the Silmaril, but as they were escaping the wolf Carcharoth woke up. Seeing the Silmaril he lunged at Beren and bit off his hand. Beren and Luthien fled to Doriath after Luthian had healed Beren's hand to stop the bleeding.
When they reached the halls King Thingol said "I see you have come back, I trust you have a Silmaril in your hand." And Beren replied "I have a Silmaril in my hand even as we speak. Then King Thingol said "Then show it to me!" Beren said at this "That I cannot do. For my hand is in the stomach of the great wolf, Carcharoth." And Beren showed where his hand was. And King Thingol wanted to hear the story, and after hearing it said "Beren never again do I was you to leave my halls, nor the side of my daughter." But Beren said "Nay, lord. For I must finish my quest and present to you the Silmaril." And so King Thingol, along with a few fellow elves, and Beren and Huan, set out to kill Carchorath. They reached the beast and Beren through a spear into it. Huan jumped at it, but was mortally wounded, and the great wolf scratched at Beren and gave him grevious wounds before it died. And Luthien was brought to Beren. and before he died he sang this song:

Farewell sweet earth and northern sky,
for ever blest, since here did lie
and here with lissom limbs did run
beneath the Moon, beneath the Sun,
Lúthien Tinúviel
more fair than mortal tongue can tell.
Though all to ruin fell the world
and were dissolved and backward hurled
unmade into the old abyss,
yet were its making good, for this –
the dusk, the dawn, the earth, the sea –
that Lúthien for a time should be.

After he died Luthien went to Valinor, into the very Halls of Mandos and Mandos would not stop her. She went to the Void and retrieved Beren. After that Beren was given his body back. And he presented the Silmaril to King Thingol. And finally Beren and Luthien were married, though Beren for being brought to life and still a mortal man, was never allowed to talk to another man again.
[More to Come]
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Boo28
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The Tolkien Timeline Guide
[Coming Soon!]
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Kreampuff

i Love LOTR.Its my fav movie
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Lord Drock
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dude, how long did it take u to do that? ok ur kinda lulu :panic:
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Boo28
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Lord Drock
May 31 2006, 12:07 AM
dude, how long did it take u to do that? ok ur kinda lulu :panic:

The first part?.....about 10 minutes
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