Official 'The Hobbit' Thread - Part 2

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I had to make this, it was too great of a moment:

t:

 

[Arc-Light]

unfortunately, i'm kinda liking the dwarves cast in one of the snow white movies better than the hobbit. i don't know any of these guys in the hobbit are, but like Ray Winstone, Brain Cox, Brenden Gleeson, James Cosmo, Ian Mcshane (dont know if all those guys are cast) are so perfect for dwarves, big burley guys

Have you seen any of the LotR movies???

 

[Venomfan]

Have you seen any of the LotR movies???

yes... they are my favourite movies, i dont know what you're getting at? John Rhys Davies was a burly guy too...

i hate to have to ask this, but you do know they use special effects to make them the correct height, right?

 

[spidey-dude]

I guess Christopher Lee is too ill to fly to NZ -- that's why PJ is in UK at Pinewood Studios to shoot Lee's scenes.

holy crap they were in pinewood? time to dust off that studio pass - anyone know if theyre still there?

 

[Doctor Jones]

They could be. They're filming all of Lee's scenes there. But we don't know the exact time frame of the third video blog, from when they began shooting his scenes to when they finished.

 

[kedrell]

After seeing the still of Thorin, I was suprised how much color he still had in his hair. I always imagined him with full grey or white hair given his age. Or maybe it's just the Rankin/Bass cartoon coming up again.

 

[Boom]

They made Thorin younger than his book counterpart.

 

[kedrell]

Hmm, why? I mean I know dwarves live much longer than men but have they given a reason for the change?

 

[Boom]

Sex appeal .

 

[Timstuff]

My brother pointed out how funny it is that people have racist stereotypes about what a fictional race like dwarves should look like. Everyone assumed that the 13 dwarves would all look like Gimli, and when they actually show them as fully developed character designs everyone is suddenly confused.

 

[kedrell]

While I have read the book, my main experience with The Hobbit was the old cartoon and that is how I've always imagined Thorin to look.

 

[Spider-Who?]

I've not seen the hobbit cartoon in years. Mostly because I hated it, lol. It's the reason I initially didn't care about the lotr films at all. Then a gf forced me to go see fotr and well, now I'm a huge tolkien nerd, lol. But because of that, I really don't have any preconceived notion as to how anyone should look.

On another note, whose in your avatar, kedrell? Very nice, lol!

 

[Armored Avenger]

My brother pointed out how funny it is that people have racist stereotypes about what a fictional race like dwarves should look like. Everyone assumed that the 13 dwarves would all look like Gimli, and when they actually show them as fully developed character designs everyone is suddenly confused.

The problems come from the fact that Tolkien explained the physical characteristics of Dwarves in some detail, even saying that they are born with beards. They are a naturally stocky race as well and the Dwarf lifestyle of heavy drinking and eating would only increase their weight. As you can probably tell I am using these points to criticise the poor design of Kili yet again. I have no problem with any of the other Dwarf designs (except for wanting Thorin to be slightly older looking).

 

[Bat-Mite]

The problems come from the fact that Tolkien explained the physical characteristics of Dwarves in some detail, even saying that they are born with beards. They are a naturally stocky race as well and the Dwarf lifestyle of heavy drinking and eating would only increase their weight. As you can probably tell I am using these points to criticise the poor design of Kili yet again. I have no problem with any of the other Dwarf designs (except for wanting Thorin to be slightly older looking).

I agree with all of this. It's not exactly stereotyping if the author details what the race looks like... there's a reason why dwarves generally look a certain way in Tolkien themed art. They also had Gimli mention that even their women are bearded in the Two Towers movie, which is another reason why Kili raises eyebrows. I guess there's nothing to keep a dwarf from shaving the beard off, though.. and maybe that's supposed to be some kind of act of rebellion from him due to being a younger dwarf. It might be the dwarven equivalent to having a mohawk.

 

[Spider-Who?]

Good point. Another thing to consider is what we are considering to be a "beard". I think a lot of people are thinking that a beard is only a beard if it's long full and bushy. But that's a totally inaccurate limitation of what a beard is and can be. If we are open enough to think of a beard as facial hair on the chin, jaw and or cheek area, plain and simple, than there really isn't any problem, IMO.

 

[Boom]

I really wish Thorin had looked like this:

Spoiler

 

[kedrell]

I've not seen the hobbit cartoon in years. Mostly because I hated it, lol. It's the reason I initially didn't care about the lotr films at all. Then a gf forced me to go see fotr and well, now I'm a huge tolkien nerd, lol. But because of that, I really don't have any preconceived notion as to how anyone should look.

On another note, whose in your avatar, kedrell? Very nice, lol!

Just some random fitness model I thought looked good.

The Hobbit cartoon holds a special place in my childhood for being my first experience with a cartoon that actually told an engaging story rather than just goofed around like most Staurday morining cartoons(Looney tunes) back in the day and didn't handle bigger subjects(like death) with kid gloves the way the Disney cartoon movies did. I hadn't read the book at the time so whether it was faithful or not didn't matter to me.

 

[Arc-Light]

I really wish Thorin had looked like this:

Spoiler

That is close to the image i had rolling around in my head,when i was reading the books......

 

[mclay18]

I wonder who's editing the two-part Hobbit. I haven't heard anything about whether any of the three principal editors from the trilogy (John Gilbert, Michael Horton and Jamie Selkirk) are returning for this.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I hope they do.

 

[Armored Avenger]

Good point. Another thing to consider is what we are considering to be a "beard". I think a lot of people are thinking that a beard is only a beard if it's long full and bushy. But that's a totally inaccurate limitation of what a beard is and can be. If we are open enough to think of a beard as facial hair on the chin, jaw and or cheek area, plain and simple, than there really isn't any problem, IMO.

All of the Dwarves in The Hobbit come from the clan known as "The Longbeards". I took that as an indication that they would pride themselves on having the longest, fullest beards possible, in honour of their forefather Durin.
Thorin himself says -
"He was the father of the fathers of the eldest race of Dwarves, the Longbeards, and my first ancestor: I am his heir."

 

[Boom]

'The Hobbit': Peter Jackson and the one true Bilbo Baggins

How good is Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins? Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson says there is “simply nobody else” who could star in ”The Hobbit” epic that will be told over two films, the first reaching theaters in December 2012 and the second in December 2013.

“He is fantastic and there is simply nobody else for the job,” Jackson said during a recent break from the production in New Zealand and a whirlwind trip to Southern California. “We couldn’t find anyone who was better than him. He is simply fantastic.”

The 39-year-old Freeman, known to moviegoers for roles in “Love Actually” and “The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” was one of several actors who auditioned for the chance to portray Baggins, the beloved character whose odyssey gives Jackson a chance to return to Middle-earth after his massive “Lord of the Rings” success. (In that trilogy, the older Bilbo was played by Ian Holm, who will appear in some scenes in the new films.) There was considerable fan debate about the best Hobbit for the job, but Jackson said to his mind there was, in the final analysis, very little competition.

I spoke to Jackson during a quick, shared car ride to the San Diego Convention Center in July during Comic-Con, where I interviewed him on stage with Steven Spielberg about their collaboration on the upcoming film “Tintin.” However, in the black SUV I wanted to hear about ”The Hobbit.” Jackson said the hiring of Freeman came with a somewhat nettlesome scheduling conflict; the actor was already locked in to spending part of July and August at work on his BBC series “Sherlock,” but in the end that made the San Diego trip possible.

“We’ve been shooting a bit of the second ‘Hobbit’ movie because Martin, who is our Bilbo, is in England doing the next series of ‘Sherlock,’ which was always part of it. He had committed to that show before he signed up for ‘The Hobbit.’ And that’s one of the reasons we took a little break. We haven’t got much we can do without Martin because he is in so much of the film. So we took a hiatus, which let me come over here to do Comic-Con. So he’s been shooting ‘Sherlock’ and he’s got a few weeks to go, so there’s some stuff we can do for the second movie until he gets back. And when he gets back after two or three weeks we can carry on with the first one.”

Jackson added: “I can’t imagine anyone else doing Bilbo, which is one of the reasons, really, we signed him up even with having the ‘Sherlock’ break — normally on a movie you wouldn’t want to do that with the schedule,” Jackson said. “But we literally couldn’t figure out any other actor and we auditioned, you know. There is no other actor.”

Asked to elaborate on Freeman’s affinity for the role, Jackson chuckled.

“He’s Bilbo-esque,” the filmmaker said. “You might not always want to say that about you, right? But seriously he has the essential features of this little English gent, this country gent who is slightly old-fashioned and has to go around in the world and try to cope with it. That’s not exactly who Martin is as a person, but as an actor he does that so well. The fish out of water with a sense of courage but also a wonderful sense of humor. The things that happen to him and the way he reacts to them — things he’s never seen in his life before as a stuffy little Hobbit — his response to it all is part of the charm. And he does have a great openness in his face.”

SOURCE: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/08/23/the-hobbit-peter-jackson-and-the-one-true-bilbo-baggins/

Also, according to someone who has been closely following the Sherlock production, Martin Freeman leaves for New Zealand tomorrow:

Martin wrapped earlier and is going to New Zealand 2moz apparently.

SOURCE: http://***********/#!/2cajuman2/status/106076704342155264

 

[the amazing fro]

Martin Freeman as Bilbo is inspired casting. He was "born to play the role" as the cliche goes.

 

[Doc Ock]

Good to hear for Jackson how good Freeman is. I can't wait!

 

[Boom]

Lost star Evangeline Lilly is the latest celebrity to be spotted around Wellington as filming on The Hobbit resumes.

A photograph on the Daily Mail's website showed Lilly pushing her three-month-old son in his pram along a Wellington waterfront with boyfriend Norman Kali.

The 31-year-old actress, who played Kate Austen in Lost, was in New Zealand to play elf, Tauriel, in Sir Peter Jackson's film which is being shot from his Miramar studios.

Lilly joins a growing number of celebrities spotted in the capital as they film the anticipated two-part movie, including Orlando Bloom, Stephen Fry, James Nesbitt, and Martin Freeman.

Jackson's spokesman would not reveal which celebrities were currently in Wellington, but said filming had resumed last week and would continue until December.

SOURCE: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/5490405/Lilly-joins-The-Hobbit-cast

Also, Ian McKellen finishes his theatre production of "The Syndicate" on September 17th, so he'll return to NZ in a month.