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35 Preciousssss Facts About ‘The Lord of the Rings’

By:: Cracked Writers; Brian C. Miller

September 24, 2023

35 Preciousssss Facts About ‘The Lord of the Rings’

There are so many interesting things about the world of The Lord of the Rings, and the real world that has tried to make The Lord of the Rings a reality on film. Here are some of our favorite facts about J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythology and Peter Jackson’s adaptations…

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35 Andy Serkis' expanded Hobbit role

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT ANDY SERKIS DIDN'T JUST PLAY GOLLUM. A big contribution he did to the Hobbit trilogy was directing the second unit for the three movies. That's... that's actually cool. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

34 The Hobbit's Two Movies

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT THE HOBBIT WAS GOING TO BE TWO MOVIES, NOT THREE. As of 2007, the adaptation had two parts: An Unexpected Journey and There and Back Again. But then studio heads changed their minds. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

33 Sean Bean's Monologue Location

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT SEAN BEAN WAS READING HIS MONOLOGUE OFF HIS CROTCH. Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens wrote the scene the night before, so Bean had to read off a crib sheet. On his crotch. One does not simply look away from Sean Bean's crotch. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

32 Christopher Lee & Tolkien

CRACKED.COM THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT CHRISTOPHER LEE WAS A HUGE TOLKIEN FANBOY. The movie legend campaigned for a Tolkien-related part for decades, accepting fantasy roles just to get the point across. Even more, he's the only actor in the saga to have actually met J. R. R. Tolkien. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

31 The New Witch-King

CRACKED.COM THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT THE WITCH-KING WAS RESHOT. During initial test screenings, audiences couldn't tell the Witch-king apart from Sauron. Apparently Peter Jackson agreed, because he reshot the character's scenes with a whole new design. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

30 Bag End's Two Sets

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT THE BAG END SET WAS BUILT TWICE. A hobbit-size set was made for lan McKellen (with little people standing in for hobbits), and one much bigger for Elijah Wood and lan Holm (walking around a 7-foot-4-tall Gandalf). CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

29 Bolg the Orc

CRACKED.COM THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT BOLG WAS MUCH COOLER. The orc leader is fully CGI, but we have photos of the original, physical version, which did a much better job of not looking like Zack Snyder's Doomsday. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

28 Peter Jackson Cameos

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT PETER JACKSON CAMEOS IN ALL THE MOVIES. Drunkard Albert Dreary seems to be his favorite, as he plays him in both trilogies - but he actually has a small part in every movie of the saga. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

27 Gimli's Real Name

GIMLI ISN'T ACTUALLY NAMED GIMLI. Dwarves keep their real names secret, never sharing them with non-Dwarves. And it's not just their names - 1 their entire language is a secret. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

26 Sauron Had a Boss

CRACKED.COM SAURON WAS A SERVANT OF AN EVEN DARKER LORD. Melkor, also called Morgoth, is the Satan equivalent in Tolkien's writings, and the source of all evil in the world. Sauron was his top servant until Morgoth was banished. — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

25 History of The Hobbits

HOBBITS ARE NEWCOMERS. Middle-earth has a long story, spanning many thousands of years-but Hobbits have only been around for two or three millennia before The Lord of the Rings. No one is sure where they came from. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

24 Ron Perlman as Smaug

CRACKED.COM THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT RON PERLMAN WAS ALMOST SMAUG. Back when The Hobbit was supposed to be directed by Guillermo del Toro, Perlman was to voice the big dragon. No disrespect to Benedict Cumberbatch, but come on, it's Ron Perlman. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

23 Smaug's number of legs

CRACKED.COM THE HOBBIT THE LORD OF THE RINGS SMAUG LOST TWO LEGS BETWEEN MOVIES. The dragon's first, quick appearance in An Unexpected Journey was heavily modified later on, and he goes from being four-legged to a two-legged, wyvern-like form. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

22 Viggo's son was an orc

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT VIGGO MORTENSEN SLAYED HIS SON (AS AN ORC). The very first orc Aragorn kills in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields is played by his son Henry. It's like Vin Diesel always says - it's all about fambly. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

21 Jake Gyllenhaal as Frodo?

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT JAKE GYLLENHAAL AUDITIONED FOR FRODO. (НЕ SUCKED.) Gyllenhaal failed his audition hard, as he didn't even bother with an English accent. Не heard days later that his was one of the worst auditions for the part. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

20 Viggo's Casting

CRACKED.COM THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT VIGGO MORTENSEN WAS CAST AT THE LAST MINUTE. The original Aragorn, Queen of the Damned's Stuart Townsend, was fired just one day before filming, as he was suddenly deemed too young for the part. He's still bitter about it. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

19 The original trilogy plan

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT THE ORIGINAL PLAN WAS A SINGLE HOBBIT + LOTR TRILOGY. Back in 1995, Peter Jackson's idea was to shoot The Hobbit as one movie, and The Lord of the Rings for part two and three. So apparently, we were close to having a good Hobbit movie. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

18 Vampires & Werewolves

WEREWOLVES AND VAMPIRES LIVE IN MIDDLE-EARTH. Once upon a time, long before The Lord of the Rings, Sauron was lord of the werewolves, and lived in a place literally called Isle of Werewolves. Не also had a vampiric servant. GRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

17 ...Ah, great.

MIDDLE-EARTH CAN GET VERY GAME OF THRONES. The story of Túrin Turambar is about a doomed, morally gray hero-who unknowingly engages in an incestuous relationship with his sister. While a small part of it is in the Silmarillion, the full story was published as a novel in 2007. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

16 Middle-Earth's Monsters

MIDDLE-EARTH HARBORS LOVECRAFTIAN HORRORS. Ancient, nameless creatures that live deep underground are mentioned in passing in The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf sees them as he's fighting the Balrog, but he refuses to talk much about them later. GRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

15 What is Gandalf?

GANDALF IS NOT HUMAN. Gandalf, Saruman, and all the other wizards (a total of five) are angelic beings who took on the shape of old men to oppose Sauron in Middle-earth. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

14 Sauron vs Dog

SAURON HAD HIS ASS HANDED TO HIM BY A DOG. The tale of Beren and Lúthien is the greatest love story in Middle-earth- and it's only made better by the inclusion of Huan, a huge, semi-divine hound who utterly kicks Sauron's ass in a fight. GRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

13 What Middle-Earth Becomes...

MIDDLE-EARTH IS A MYTHIC PAST OF THE REAL WORLD. J. R. R Tolkien stated that locations in Middle-earth correspond to real places in Europe, with the Shire roughly coinciding with England, and Gondor with Greece and Italy. GRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

12 Hobbiton's Construction

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT HOBBITON WAS BUILT A FULL YEAR BEFORE FILMING. The producers wanted it to be truly lush and beautiful, so they gave the vegetation time to grow. We'd say they could have just green-screened it, but, erm, we all know what happens when Tolkien movies over-rely on CGI. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

11 That head bump

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT GANDALF'S HEAD BUMP WAS AN ACCIDENT (OR WAS IT?). Peter Jackson recalls the bump as a real accident he chose to leave in. According to lan McKellen, though, it was an intentional move - he just didn't tell Jackson he planned to do that. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

10 Gollum's inspiration

CRACKED.COM THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT ANDY SERKIS PLAYED GOLLUM AS A JUNKIE. Serkis based Gollum's craving for his precious on actual drug-addicts going through withdrawal. Power, indeed, is addictive. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

9 The original Gollum

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT GOLLUM CHANGED. The little glimpses we get in The Fellowship of the Ring show a different, more animalistic Gollum. The character design was still not based on Andy Serkis' motion capture performance by then. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

8 Stephen Colbert's cameo

THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT STEPHEN COLBERT MAKES A CAMEO. Colbert't blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance is not as random as it might look like, as he's a huge Tolkien nerd. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

7 Frodo pushes Gollum

CRACKED.COM THE LORD OF THE RINGS THE HOBBIT FRODO WAS A MURDERER. A scene was actually shot where Frodo simply pushed Gollum into the lava. Damn. Then Peter Jackson realized that wasn't very Tolkien-like, and reshot the scene. — Source: 20 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 'Lord Of The Rings' And 'Hobbit' Movies

6 The Ocean Half of Middle-Earth

HALF OF MIDDLE-EARTH FELL INTO THE OCEAN. adidas Like grenden Dr / mooncaina O معسل T - OF bekining and - INK FORLINDON 0 y Smart - Lune mountai ohshire OM 1 TOUR 0- B-RX hÄrlinbon COM adidas glinom - police as ns meinbyanne excgron del MANIC 900m 180 Anduma de g WHEN Lumlaghe gesgrices SunLand che opport Linis FAngokn would Minhikisch عجفه GM connect Le Y h enedwarch R O n un KING YOU Grinag يوضح ministed habers - ish mou - unch Joses سل Senses Lajour King Sokgoroch permich 9 Anfilia R m O & Choole un حقلة — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

5 Elven Birthdays Are Weird

ELVES CELEBRATE THE DAY THEIR PARENTS BOINKED. Elves don't have birthdays-they observe the day they were conceived instead. Then again, elf babies are harder to produce than human babies, so celebrations are in order when that happens. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

4 Sauron's greatest curse

CRACKED.COM SAURON USED TO BE HOT (OR COULD CHOOSE TO BE). Being a shapeshifter, Sauron could be as much of a smokeshow as he wanted (and often was, the better to manipulate his enemies). Then a cataclysmic event happened, and he died. Не got better, but could never become a pretty boy again. — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

3 ...Hey Tolkien, what now?

THE SUN IS A FRUIT. In remote antiquity, the world was lit by two huge, luminous trees that were destroyed by evil forces. The sun is the last surviving fruit of one of those trees (and the moon is the last flower of the other.) GRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

2 How big can dragons get?

CRACKED.COM DRAGONS COULD BE HUGE Think Smaug from The Hobbit is a big creature? Smaug is tiny compared to Ancalagon the Black, the largest dragon ever, who lived thousands of years before. His exact size is never given, but he's described to be as tall as a damn mountain. — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

1 The Many Balrogs

THE BALROG OF MORIA IS JUST ONE OF MANY. Once upon a time, there were entire hosts of flame-and-shadow demons like the one the Fellowship of the Ring finds in Moria. They hid in deep places after their master was destroyed -so there could be even more waiting to be found. CRACKED.COM — Source: 15 Details About Middle-Earth That Show How Deep Tolkien's Lore Goes

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