As we told you back in March the awesome folks at Diamond Select Toys has reintroduced collectors to action figures from The Lord of the Rings. The first set from that launch is now for sale and fans can go snag two members of the Fellowship that created a fantastic friendship. The first two figures are none other than Legolas and Gimli. Both figures are in 7 inch scale with 16 points of articulation. Slated to come out in the fall you can buy these figures seperatly from various retailers for $25 or from Diamond Select Toys themselves for $50.
On April 7, 2020 the senior members of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings production team came together with fans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first teaser trailer of LOTR, an online-only digital video that broke all online download records.
This digital trailer, released on Apple Trailers, was responsible for 30% of all internet traffic upon release according to Akamai. It surpassed the Star Wars Episode 1 trailer, arguable the most hyped film in history, in downloads the first day and first week.
Prior to this trailer, fandom was seen as “Star Wars.” This validated fandom and a different way of marketing and appreciating what fandom can bring. It created a different perception of the power of fans.
Gordon Paddison, VP Marketing LOTR
Michael Pellerin describes watching the LOTR trailer with Chairman Roy Disney at Walt Disney Studios, the parent company of Miramax that actually let LOTR walk away to New Line Cinema. “He just went huh, wow, good on them. Disney would have made it a company film. This is more of a visionary thing.”
Richard Taylor tells a heartfelt story of offering a job to a professional make-up artist early on, which was respectfully declined. “We were turned down by almost everyone… but when the trailer came out, a number of people we had pursued actually wrote back to me!”
An early Cinefex advertisement soliciting resumes for Weta Digital c. 1999-2000
“What Michael did under Peter’s leadership was to unpack everything about everything, the whole process. In that trailer the world got to see the first thing that Weta Digital was doing. There was unbelievable groundbreaking stuff being done. It was all so beautifully unfolded for the world.”
Gordon Paddison was New Line Cinema’s VP of Digital Marketing who took a risk engaging with fan sites early on. “Nobody is doing anything bad, its just that they care! That’s how you develop a relationship that lasts 20 years. It comes down to passion. Fans are passionate and I was a champion of the fans, as was everyone on this chat and Peter. A strategy of love is the best you can have.”
“Star Trek had been taking legal action and shutting down fan sites for years. This was the beginning of embracing fandom and we developed a great relationship working with you guys [at TheOneRing.net]. This video changed the velocity & tone of the fan response.”
“Peter was so good at saying very early to the fans that this is not the definitive version of Lord of the Rings, this is my personal impression of what the films should be. It did a lot to right-set the filmmaker vision and set us on a journey that was really humble. “
“I have a very in-depth trust in Peter. When he came to us that he wanted to do this trailer, there was no question that it was the right thing to do. I hadn’t seen a trailer like this, so I was surprised that there would be this level of reveal.”
Richard Taylor
Co-Producer Rick Porras describes the unique vision of this first teaser trailer, “What made it special was intercutting the old footage and seeing the filmmaker talk about it. Including Peter [in the video] really started something special.”
A big reveal is that the this teaser trailer actually includes footage of the original pitch package for studios to even make LOTR. Everything with Peter Jackson in a white shirt was part of the pitch package delivered to Miramax, New Line, and all other potential studios. New Line Cinema of course saw the vision and financed the films.
Sasha is a Weta artist who designed the Lord of the Rings logo and typefaces – who also pulled double duty as an orc on stilts.Jed Brophy is the first actor ever shown officially from LOTR, on Nazgul horseback
“The fans were so engaged. Normally you can hide under a rock for a while. The fans were getting materials and putting them out. From my experience you don’t want to get into a fight with your core market. We had to feed them!” Gordon Paddison acknowledging the fourth estate of filmmaking – the fan community.
Gandalf’s shadow, sent secretly by Ian Mckellen, generated one of the first legal notices the studio sent to TheOneRing.net
Jed Brophy, in addition to playing many orc characters, was a horse rangler on the film and is actually in the teaser trailer as one of the nazgul nine. “It is a pretty incredible thing to see something you’ve done, which is just another day at work.”
Executive Producer Mark Ordesky was fully supportive of Peter & Gordon’s efforts releasing this teaser. “The best way is tell your own story before someone else tells it. What was genius about the trailer is Peter basically showed how he’s going to do things that you can’t possible imagine.”
“Think with hope, not with fear. I have come with answers.”
One of the fun tidbits revealed was that the ringer verse voice over was performed by Nick Tate, who has done everything from Jurassic Park to Spongebob. The Tolkienist was the first to reshare the discovery with fans!
Michael Pellerin expands on the Roy Disney story, confirming that LORD OF THE RINGS was indeed a Disney film at its inception because of the Miramax deal. Miramax was a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, and to this day Harvey Weinstein is credited as Executive Producer on LOTR.
“In April of 2000, I was in NYC in an audio recording session with Roy Disney, for a project I was finishing up with him. I had been counting down the days until the first LOTR online preview was to be released and it just happened to occur while we were in the studio. I tried to be as surreptitious as I could, waiting for the preview to drop on my laptop. But Roy could see I was obviously up to something — probably not having to do with our show. So he asked me what I was doing, and I fessed up to him that the first LOTR preview was about to appear online, and I couldn’t miss it. Instead of reprimanding me, Roy said we should all take a break from the session and watch it together — which we did.
When it was over, Roy turned to me and was duly impressed. He said he thought Peter and New Line were really going to pull off what many felt was impossible — a motion picture of The Lord of the Rings – and that the project had found the right home, after all, with a director who was clearly a visionary. This was an amazing comment by a man whose progenitors founded the Walt Disney Company, and who himself was one of its chairmen. Especially in light of the fact that Disney that was the parent company of Miramax, the studio that was originally producing Peter Jackson’s film version of LOTR, before it went into turnaround and ended up as a trilogy of films for New Line Cinema. Technically speaking, Peter Jackson’s LOTR was originally a Disney film, in its inception. So hearing Roy Disney express the same hope and feeling of excitement we all had watching that preview, felt like a sense of closure to a long journey that began in 1997, and was soon to make cinematic history.”
TheOneRing.net wants to thank all the participants for engaging with the fans from those early days to now, 20 years later, in such a respectful and candid nature. THANK YOU Gordon Paddison, Richard Taylor, Jed Brophy, Mark Ordesky, Michael Pellerin, & Rick Porras for making the time to celebrate this record setting trailer release.
Watch the entire conversation as it streamed live here:
It’s been a long time since fans of The Lord of the Rings could buy brand new actions figures of the greatest trilogy of all-time. At Toy Fair this year the awesome folks at Diamond Select Toys showed off they will be doing a line of figures based on The Lord of the Rings. There will be two series to start when pre-orders launch next month with each figure having a price of $30. Series 1 will launch with Gimli and Legolas while series 2 consists of Aragorn as well as a Nazgul. If you want the Sauron figure in the pictures you will need to buy those four figures as Sauron is a build-a-figure. The Frodo figure will come with random parts for Sauron, and the Orc will come with various Orc parts. So be ready next month to get your orders in and add to your Middle-earth collection.
Yesterday marked the 128th anniversary of the birth of our beloved and favorite author: John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. From humble beginnings in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Tolkien went on to live a life filled with love, adventure, and accomplishment. Along the way, while in his twenties, he began putting some of the stories from his rich imagination down on paper: stories of the triumphs and tragedies of Elves, heroic Men and powerful, ethereal beings that became the foundation of the rich, complex history of a place called Middle-earth: a world that millions would eventually visit, both on the written page and on the big screen, and come to cherish.
This weekend, you might take some time to sit down with your favorite poem, you might be in the midst of your annual read-through of The Lord of the Rings, or you might venture away from Middle-earth by reading stories such as Smith of Wooten Major, or Leaf by Niggle. You might even raise a glass and toast: The Professor! Better yet! Raise a glass *while* you’re enjoying his works. However you celebrate, please join us in a rousing: “Thank you, Professor Tolkien!”
We’ve had the chance to team up with the folks at Star Ace Toys to bring you a look at their Defo Real Nazgul Vinyl figure. These figures combine a very cool blend of real, with almost-animated, to create a very unique but awesome look. Star Ace isn’t messing around! These things are super detailed as well, and bring some incredible quality to the table. The Nazgul just went available from Sideshow Collectibles who has the deluxe version with the Morgul Blade. You can snag him for $68.
As we told you back in March the awesome folks at Diamond Select Toys has reintroduced collectors to action figures from The Lord of the Rings. The first set from that launch is now for sale and fans can go snag two members of the Fellowship that created a fantastic friendship. The first two figures are none other than Legolas and Gimli. Both figures are in 7 inch scale with 16 points of articulation. Slated to come out in the fall you can buy these figures seperatly from various retailers for $25 or from Diamond Select Toys themselves for $50.
