Tolkien art meets with the very latest technology! Spiderwebart and Greg Hildebrandt have been in touch to let us know that the painting ‘The Ring of Galadriel’ (1975) is for sale now, as an NFT. (Purchase would also include the original acrylic paint on board.) This is a rare chance to own a unique and famed piece of Middle-earth art, which also inspired George Lucas. Here’s an official statement about the painting:
The Ring of Galadriel was originally created in 1975 by master fantasy painters Greg and Tim Hildebrandt. First appearing in Ballantine Books’ 1976 Tolkien Calendar as the month of May, the design of this painting was based on classic imagery. The Brothers Hildebrandt derived inspiration from great works such as The Madonna, Botticelli’s Angels, along with Maxfield Parrish’s lighting and statuesque figure style. Researching medieval attire, they chose to use long draped sleeves to add a graceful majesty to our heroine. There is also a nod to the great English Academy artists in the rendering of her hair. Galadriel has an attitude of beauty, power, and strength as she is the Elf Queen who possesses one of the greatest powers in Middle Earth. The purchase of this NFT also entitles the buyer to the original acrylic paint on board 36×36 inches, framed, signed
The Tolkien art of the Brothers Hildebrandt helped establish the genre of fantasy art and made their names world-renowned. After responding to an open call for artists, Tim and Greg Hildebrandt were chosen to create 43 paintings for Ballantine Books’ J.R.R Tolkien calendars over a period of three years in the late ’70s.
During this same time, a young filmmaker by the name of George Lucas was in need of a striking movie poster to help sell his latest film. He had taken notice of the first two Lord of the Rings calendars and sought the brothers out to create a painting that would help sell it. The brothers created what became one of the most recognizable movie posters in cinematic history for the film Star Wars.
Over the years both Greg and Tim have created several iconic pieces for books and movies including work for companies like Marvel, Lucasarts, and Universal. Now an octogenarian, Greg Hildebrandt still sits at his table each day, busy as ever.
Amazon Studios has announced the casting of ‘Young Gollum,’ voiced by renowned character actor and comedian Patton Oswalt. (YES – This was an April Fool’s Day Prank – 2021!)
Patton Oswalt Cast at Baby Gollum
With a celebrated ensemble cast already gathered for Amazon’s show, this latest release implies that Oswalt will voice a child-like Smeagol character. It goes without saying that a ‘Young Gollum’ did not exist in the initial intended scope of the show, nor in the scope of the rights purchased from the Tolkien Estate. The addition of a – dare we say it – ‘Baby Gollum’ appears to be a clear attempt to attract a broader and younger audience. The vast majority of us at TheOneRing.net are big fans of Oswalt – so we look forward to seeing where this goes!
AMAZON STUDIOS ANNOUNCES VOICE TALENT PATTON OSWALT FOR THE LORD OF THE RINGS TELEVISION SERIES
The Grammy(R), Emmy(R) and Vangard Award(R) Winner joins the Ensemble Cast to Lend His Vocal Talents to Young Gollum.
(CULVER CITY, Calif. – April 1st 2021) – Amazon Studios today announces Patton Oswalt will lend his voice talent as Gollum in the Amazon Original series based on the iconic ‘The Lord of the Rings’ novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. Patton will join the previously announced global cast and crew, currently filming in New Zealand.
“We are so excited to breathe new life to the early history of this immensely popular character,” said executive producer and showrunner [retracted name]. “When you delve into the struggle of Gollum, and his alter-ego Smeagol, a plethora of possibilities leaps out. It’s a tale which is crying out to be told.”
The character of Gollum first appears in J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’, with subsequent appearances in the War of the Ring saga of the Third Age of Middle-earth. Made popular by the Rankin/Bass production in the late 1970s, and then expertly brought to screen in Peter Jackson’s epic trilogies of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’, amazing adventures lie in store for the halfling-like creature, as his prequel stories unfold.
The character will originally be fully realized as a small child through the talents of WETA Digital, and given voice, (initially coos and caws), by the talented Oswalt.
“Its been a lifelong dream to work in the realm of J.R.R. Tolkien. I can’t wait to get started!” said Patton.
Set in Middle-earth, the Amazon television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’. A world-renowned literary work, and winner of the International Fantasy Award and Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was named Amazon customers’ favorite book of the millennium in 1999, and Britain’s best-loved novel of all time in BBC’s ‘The Big Read’ in 2003. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ has been translated into around 40 languages, and has sold more than 150 million copies. Its theatrical adaptations from New Line Cinema and director Peter Jackson earned a combined gross of nearly $6 billion worldwide, and garnered 17 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture (‘The Return of the King’).
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
Last year during Comic-Con at Home our friends at Weta Workshop launched the Classic Series. They’ve now added the first statue from The Hobbit Trilogy with a very requested version of this character. Who is the character? None other than Galadriel herself. This stunning version of Galadriel comes from the White Council sequence during The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Fans can pre-order Galadriel right now for $349, with her expected to ship sometime during September of this year.
Staffer Demosthenes returns from the wilderness, to consider what the plot of Amazon’s Middle-earth TV series might be…
Hello! It’s been a while!
However, the fine folk of TORn have defrosted me from cryogenic stasis just in time to offer a few thoughts on the recently announced synopsis for the forthcoming Amazomg(tm) Middle-earth series.
I’m going to cut straight to chase and simply start dissecting what I consider to be the guts of their statement. The implicit assumption is that the series is focusing on events of the Second Age. Given the content of the maps revealed by the production crew, I think we’re long past the time where that’s a controversial conclusion.
But what does the rest mean? Given that the Second Age covers more than 3000 years, can we narrow down what time period the series may address?
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
Our friends at Weta Workshop have their own Black Friday event starting November 24th and running through to December 1st. This event covers sales on their amazing 1:6th scale statues, mini statues, mini-epics, board games, props, and more. You can check out the page here to start checking out what is available and to also keep an eye out for their yearly auctions during this time. You never know when those might pop up.
Week Three of our friends at Weta Workshop’s No. 1 auctions has started. This week fans can add the number one piece in the edition of the following statues: The Mouth of Sauron, Black Arrow prop replica, Thranduil on Elk, Prancing Pony (This is actually No 2 in the series as none were actually in the No 1 box) , and Galadriel. As we stated last week, the funds raised from the number one statues auctions will go to the Neonatal Trust. This week’s statue will be the Galadriel. If you need the full auction list you can check out the No. 1 Auction List Page and if you want to make sure you have all the information in regards to bidding you can check out the Auction FAQ page.
