Trivia for Squiggle #XXII
Sorry this is arriving later than usual today. I've been busy testing out a build of Brady Bunch Kung Fu all morning because I have to do a write up on it by the end of the day. Today's issue of Trivia for Squiggle involves trivia that mainly applies to the first of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies, The Fellowship of the Ring. I chose a Lord of the Rings theme because I realize that not everybody would really get a kick out of yesterday's post...expect more LOTR movie trivia in the near future. I came across a shitload of it in my quest for related trivia.
526. Stuart Townsend (Dorian Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was originally cast as Aragorn, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting because Peter Jackson realized that an older actor was needed.
527. Ian Holm, who plays Bilbo Baggins, was the voice of Frodo Baggins in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of The Rings.
528. Although David Bowie was said to be keen on playing Elf Lord Elrond, the part went instead to Hugo Weaving.
529. The two most renowned Tolkien artists are Alan Lee and John Howe, and so it was important to Peter Jackson to have those two on board. Lee was tracked down to a tiny little village in Dartmoor, England and was FedExed a package of Jackson's Heavenly Creatures and a letter outlining his intentions. They monitored the progress of the FedEx package every step of the way, but were somewhat surprised when Lee rang them only 3 hours after delivery to say he'd love to work with them. Howe meanwhile was living in Switzerland, and because someone hadn't worked out the time differences between Europe and New Zealand correctly, was rung about 2am. He says that the biggest frustration with that phone call was waiting for Jackson to finish his pitch before he could say yes.
530. Originally the narration at the prologue was to be spoken by Elijah Wood, but it was felt that the information imparted had little bearing on the character of Frodo. Ian McKellen also recorded a narration but once again it was felt that Gandalf wasn't the right character to speak it. They eventually settled on Cate Blanchett as Galadriel as it emphasizes the timelessness of the elves.
531. The bridge in Hobbiton was built by the New Zealand army out of polystyrene.
532. The Tolkien estate was never in favor of Peter Jackson's film adaptation but seeing as J.R.R. Tolkien signed the rights away in 1968 for $15,000, there was nothing they could do about it. Tolkien's grandson Simon came out in support of the production and was disowned by his relatives. Tolkien's son Christopher later retracted any opposition.
533. When Frodo falls on the snow and loses the ring, a close-up of the ring with Frodo in the background is shown. In order to keep both the subjects focused, a giant ring (6 inches of diameter) was used.
534. Fans were offered the chance to have their names in the special edition's hugely lengthy closing credits for $39.95.
535. Although the film received a PG rating in the UK, it was with a disclaimer that some scenes might be unsuitable for young children. After Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, it was only the third film to receive such a disclaimer.
536. Hobbiton was made a year before production began to make it look like it was a natural, lived-in place, complete with real vegetable patches. The greens department regulated the length of the grass by having sheep eat it.
537. The large tree that stands above Bag End was built especially by the production department. Every leaf had to be manually attached.
538. The design for the Hobbits's feet took over a year to perfect. Over 1800 feet were produced for the 4 lead Hobbits alone, and each pair would take about an hour and a half to be put on over the actors' real feet.
539. During the Council of Elrond, leaves are continually falling in the background to suggest that this is a meeting that is taking place outside. This meant about half a dozen crew members were positioned above the set, dropping leaves at various intervals. This also meant that the production department had to collect sacks and sacks of leaves during autumn, and of course dead leaves turn brown fairly quickly. Which also meant that every single one of those leaves had to be individually painted.
540. Gandalf's painful encounter with a ceiling beam in Bilbo's hobbit-hole was not in the script - Ian McKellen banged his forehead against the beam accidentally, not on purpose. But Peter Jackson thought McKellen did a great job "acting through" the mistake, and so kept it in.
541. The nocturnal screams of possums were used for the screeches made by the Orks in the mines of Moria.
542. The scream of the Ringwraiths is actually Fran Walsh, the co-writer and co-producer of the film.
543. Christopher Lee was the first person cast in the trilogy because of his extensive knowledge of the books. He frequently visited the makeup department and often gave tips about the facial design of the monsters. He reads The Lord of the Rings once a year and is the only member of the cast and crew ever to have met J.R.R. Tolkien.
544. Over 12.5 million plastic rings were made in order to fabricate simulated chain mail for the movie. Two crew members spent the length of the shoot linking the rings by hand into suits of armor. By the end of production, they had worn the fingerprints off their thumbs and index fingers.
545. When Arwen escapes from the Black Riders through the river by flooding them, the spell she speaks isn't subtitled. According to the Encyclopedy of Arda, she says: "Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer", which means roughly "Waters of the Hithaeglir, hear the word of power, rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths"
546. During filming, most of the members of the Fellowship took up surfing in New Zealand in their spare time. Among them was Viggo Mortensen, who wiped out terribly one day, and bruised one whole side of his face. The next day, makeup tried to mask the bruising and swelling, but were unsuccessful. Instead, Peter Jackson opted to film Mortenson from one side for the entire scene. In the scene in the Mines of Moria when they find the grave of Gimli's relative, Aragorn is only seen from one side in the whole scene.
547. Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for the part of Faramir. He was called back and subsequently cast, instead, as Legolas.
548. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were filmed simultaneously. The back-to-back shoot lasted a record-equaling 274 days, in 16 months - exactly the same time as taken for the principal photography of Apocalypse Now (1979).
549. Pregnancy changed Peter Jackson's vision of The Lord of the Rings. Originally, he wanted to cast Lucy Lawless as Galadriel, and Uma Thurman as Arwen. Unfortunately, both actresses became pregnant after being asked to read; and the roles were filled in by Cate Blancett and Liv Tyler, respectively.
550. The cast often had to fly to remote shoot locations by helicopter. Sean Bean (Boromir) was afraid of flying and would only do it when absolutely necessary. When they were shooting the scenes of the Fellowship crossing the snowy mountains, he'd spend two hours every morning climbing from the base of the mountain to the set near the top, already dressed as Boromir. The crew being flown up could see him from their helicopters.
"Ash Nazg Durbatuluk, Ash Nazg Gimbatul, Ash Nazg Thrakatuluk, Agh Burzum-ishi Krimpatul."
526. Stuart Townsend (Dorian Gray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was originally cast as Aragorn, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen after four days of shooting because Peter Jackson realized that an older actor was needed.
527. Ian Holm, who plays Bilbo Baggins, was the voice of Frodo Baggins in the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation of The Lord of The Rings.
528. Although David Bowie was said to be keen on playing Elf Lord Elrond, the part went instead to Hugo Weaving.
529. The two most renowned Tolkien artists are Alan Lee and John Howe, and so it was important to Peter Jackson to have those two on board. Lee was tracked down to a tiny little village in Dartmoor, England and was FedExed a package of Jackson's Heavenly Creatures and a letter outlining his intentions. They monitored the progress of the FedEx package every step of the way, but were somewhat surprised when Lee rang them only 3 hours after delivery to say he'd love to work with them. Howe meanwhile was living in Switzerland, and because someone hadn't worked out the time differences between Europe and New Zealand correctly, was rung about 2am. He says that the biggest frustration with that phone call was waiting for Jackson to finish his pitch before he could say yes.
530. Originally the narration at the prologue was to be spoken by Elijah Wood, but it was felt that the information imparted had little bearing on the character of Frodo. Ian McKellen also recorded a narration but once again it was felt that Gandalf wasn't the right character to speak it. They eventually settled on Cate Blanchett as Galadriel as it emphasizes the timelessness of the elves.
531. The bridge in Hobbiton was built by the New Zealand army out of polystyrene.
532. The Tolkien estate was never in favor of Peter Jackson's film adaptation but seeing as J.R.R. Tolkien signed the rights away in 1968 for $15,000, there was nothing they could do about it. Tolkien's grandson Simon came out in support of the production and was disowned by his relatives. Tolkien's son Christopher later retracted any opposition.
533. When Frodo falls on the snow and loses the ring, a close-up of the ring with Frodo in the background is shown. In order to keep both the subjects focused, a giant ring (6 inches of diameter) was used.
534. Fans were offered the chance to have their names in the special edition's hugely lengthy closing credits for $39.95.
535. Although the film received a PG rating in the UK, it was with a disclaimer that some scenes might be unsuitable for young children. After Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, it was only the third film to receive such a disclaimer.
536. Hobbiton was made a year before production began to make it look like it was a natural, lived-in place, complete with real vegetable patches. The greens department regulated the length of the grass by having sheep eat it.
537. The large tree that stands above Bag End was built especially by the production department. Every leaf had to be manually attached.
538. The design for the Hobbits's feet took over a year to perfect. Over 1800 feet were produced for the 4 lead Hobbits alone, and each pair would take about an hour and a half to be put on over the actors' real feet.
539. During the Council of Elrond, leaves are continually falling in the background to suggest that this is a meeting that is taking place outside. This meant about half a dozen crew members were positioned above the set, dropping leaves at various intervals. This also meant that the production department had to collect sacks and sacks of leaves during autumn, and of course dead leaves turn brown fairly quickly. Which also meant that every single one of those leaves had to be individually painted.
540. Gandalf's painful encounter with a ceiling beam in Bilbo's hobbit-hole was not in the script - Ian McKellen banged his forehead against the beam accidentally, not on purpose. But Peter Jackson thought McKellen did a great job "acting through" the mistake, and so kept it in.
541. The nocturnal screams of possums were used for the screeches made by the Orks in the mines of Moria.
542. The scream of the Ringwraiths is actually Fran Walsh, the co-writer and co-producer of the film.
543. Christopher Lee was the first person cast in the trilogy because of his extensive knowledge of the books. He frequently visited the makeup department and often gave tips about the facial design of the monsters. He reads The Lord of the Rings once a year and is the only member of the cast and crew ever to have met J.R.R. Tolkien.
544. Over 12.5 million plastic rings were made in order to fabricate simulated chain mail for the movie. Two crew members spent the length of the shoot linking the rings by hand into suits of armor. By the end of production, they had worn the fingerprints off their thumbs and index fingers.
545. When Arwen escapes from the Black Riders through the river by flooding them, the spell she speaks isn't subtitled. According to the Encyclopedy of Arda, she says: "Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer", which means roughly "Waters of the Hithaeglir, hear the word of power, rush, waters of Bruinen, against the Ringwraiths"
546. During filming, most of the members of the Fellowship took up surfing in New Zealand in their spare time. Among them was Viggo Mortensen, who wiped out terribly one day, and bruised one whole side of his face. The next day, makeup tried to mask the bruising and swelling, but were unsuccessful. Instead, Peter Jackson opted to film Mortenson from one side for the entire scene. In the scene in the Mines of Moria when they find the grave of Gimli's relative, Aragorn is only seen from one side in the whole scene.
547. Orlando Bloom originally auditioned for the part of Faramir. He was called back and subsequently cast, instead, as Legolas.
548. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were filmed simultaneously. The back-to-back shoot lasted a record-equaling 274 days, in 16 months - exactly the same time as taken for the principal photography of Apocalypse Now (1979).
549. Pregnancy changed Peter Jackson's vision of The Lord of the Rings. Originally, he wanted to cast Lucy Lawless as Galadriel, and Uma Thurman as Arwen. Unfortunately, both actresses became pregnant after being asked to read; and the roles were filled in by Cate Blancett and Liv Tyler, respectively.
550. The cast often had to fly to remote shoot locations by helicopter. Sean Bean (Boromir) was afraid of flying and would only do it when absolutely necessary. When they were shooting the scenes of the Fellowship crossing the snowy mountains, he'd spend two hours every morning climbing from the base of the mountain to the set near the top, already dressed as Boromir. The crew being flown up could see him from their helicopters.
"Ash Nazg Durbatuluk, Ash Nazg Gimbatul, Ash Nazg Thrakatuluk, Agh Burzum-ishi Krimpatul."
posted by Scott at 2:24 PM
2 Comments:
"533. When Frodo falls on the snow and loses the ring, a close-up of the ring with Frodo in the background is shown. In order to keep both the subjects focused, a giant ring (6 inches of diameter) was used." - Insert joke about giant ring here!
"540. Gandalf's painful encounter with a ceiling beam in Bilbo's hobbit-hole was not in the script - Ian McKellen banged his forehead against the beam accidentally, not on purpose. But Peter Jackson thought McKellen did a great job "acting through" the mistake, and so kept it in." - Brilliant. I love when this happens in recordings.
550. When they were shooting the scenes of the Fellowship crossing the snowy mountains, he'd spend two hours every morning climbing from the base of the mountain to the set near the top, already dressed as Boromir" - That's some dedication.
It seems so funny that Sean Bean is afraid of flying. He seems like a bad-ass in most of his roles.
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