Lego did just obtain the license for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but fans are an impatient bunch. One in particular designed ten detailed and awesome sets from The Hobbit. Each set is named after a chapter in the book, and each one makes me squee. There’s a hobbit hole, the barrel escape, Gollum, trolls, and more. We wants them, precious!
I daresay, I dig these more than what I’ve seen so far in the sneak peek photos of the official Lego LOTR sets.
See more of some of the coolest custom Lego sets ever after the break.
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Frodo and Samwise really should have checked their smart phone before they tried strolling into Mordor. Then, maybe they would have called the eagles to help out much sooner. To try your luck, visit Google Maps and look for walking directions from The Shire to Mordor.
(The Inquisitr via Geekologie)
Dear Peter Jackson: thank you for a full two and a half minute trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for Christmas. The movie is a year away, but this is a fine beginning. The trailer captures the light, adventuresome tone of the book in just the way I dreamed it would. Really, in the way I knew it would. Jackson and his team have earned every ounce of the faith fans put in them.
The trailer shows all the dwarves, Bilbo, Gandalf, Galadriel, cave trolls, and the stunning landscape of Middle Earth. Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield especially made an impression. In just his few seconds of screen time, he showed how he is owning the character. He leads the dwarves in a somber song about the Misty Mountains, and it will give you goosebumps even after the fifth viewing (or fifteenth – not that I watched it so many times). Jackson carefully blended these new aspects with the familiar. Gollum makes an appearance and so does the One Ring.
I can’t wait to see more. Is it December 2012 yet?
Watch the trailer after the break. Bonus points if you know the names of all the dwarves.
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Motivated by disgust over home builders intent on giving people as little as possible for as much money as possible, Simon Dale obtained a free plot of land and moved his family to a hillside in Wales, England where he proceeded to build a real life “Hobbit house” over a four month period for just £3,000.
Check out more info and pics after the break.
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“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
This geek likes to travel. Road trips, long flights, or short jaunts just down the road – I take what I can get. When I can, I try to combine travel with activities and sights that make my inner fangirl squeal. Those trips are my favorites. Film and TV locations, museums, old cemeteries, and sites with urban and rural decay top my list of “places I will detour to see.” The small stuff is just as enjoyable, too. It may not be possible for me to visit the actual castle used for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films, but I can usually fit in a drive to see the oldest surviving American robot in Mansfield, Ohio. If you’d like to mix some geek stops into your next trip or even into your weekend, I have plenty of suggestions.
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It’s time for the fourth production video from the set of The Hobbit. Peter Jackson has been giving fans a unique perspective into the creation of the films with these videos. So far, we’ve visited Bag End, watched Andy Serkis in action as a director, and accompanied the crew on location scouting. This video, released on Jackson’s Facebook page, is a bit more technical and takes a look at how the 3-D part of the shoot works.
Jackson is loving filming The Hobbit in 3-D. He states that if he would have been able to, he would have done the same for the Lord of Rings trilogy. He believes it’s adding a depth to the film, and the crew and cast featured on the video (from camera to hair and make-up) talk a bit about what it takes to make 3-D look good. For example, the prosthetics and make-up have to be applied differently since the cameras are rolling at 48 frames per second. Even the concept art has to be handled differently. Alan Lee and John Howe have to create identical images, one in red and one in blue.
I was skeptical about the usage of 3-D for this movie. I’m not saying I approve or think it’s necessary, but after watching this production video, I get it. Jackson thinks he is enhancing the movie, not doing it for a gimmick. I can get behind that.
Enter Middle Earth (and see Elijah Wood, dwarves, Gandalf, and more) in the video after the break.
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Until now, the set of Hobbiton, used in the Lord of the Rings series, has been neglected on a small pasture on the outskirts of Matamata, New Zealand – where only seventeen of the original thirty-seven hobbit holes remain. However, with The Hobbit now in production, the set will be rebuilt as a permanent tourist attraction with forty-four intact hobbit holes, a bridge, and the Green Dragon pub, all to be run by Shire Tours.
In addition, it was announced that New Zealand will release The Hobbit a month before the rest of the world, with the premiere expected to take place late next year in Wellington. Hit the jump to check out a behind the scenes look at the original set.
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J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was published nearly 75 years ago. It might not be a long time if you’re an Elf, but for humans, it’s significant. HarperCollins is releasing a special book, The Art of The Hobbit, to mark the occasion. While they were preparing materials for inclusion, they found 110 drawings in Tolkien’s papers—around two dozen of which had never been published. Yeah, that’s as big as it sounds. More of these drawings are available after the break for the internet to drool over. I’ll be over here in my puddle (of drool).
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