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A cute story about NZ's LOTR-themed tourism, featuring Richard Taylor



Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Jan 16, 3:53am


Views: 1429
A cute story about NZ's LOTR-themed tourism, featuring Richard Taylor
Richard Taylor recalls the first time people started showing up at the outfit's HQ in Miramar, Wellington.

"From the moment the movies came out, we started getting buses of people pulling up in front of our workshop, and I would wave at them through the window," says Taylor. "If I had a moment, I'd pop down and get on the bus, give them a talk, or just chat with them and tell them about what we were up to and who we were and so on. But it became painfully evident that we actually needed to pull a finger out and do something rewarding for the people that dropped in."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/...-new-zealand-forever
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo

My LOTR fan-fiction


Starling
Half-elven


Jan 16, 5:57am


Views: 1406
Why not enter the Halfling Marathon?
You can do the whole thing, or just the Eleventy-first. Laugh
Just a random tag-on...



grammaboodawg
Immortal


Jan 16, 3:13pm


Views: 1368
*mods up* What a great article :D
There's such a wholesome, beautiful simplicity to how Taylor and others express how different NZ and these filmmakers feel about their world and their work. The passion hasn't faded... and this article has stirred (again) my own love and passion for what they've given us.

Quote
[Richard Taylor] "I'm a huge and passionate fan of Hobbiton and I love going there myself. To me, it's everything that Disney would have wished Disneyland could be if they didn't have to deal with massive numbers of people. There is an earthly sort of beauty and wholesomeness to it that you just can't do when you're driving millions of people through a place and it feels so authentic and so real, literally as if you've been dropped into another world. It is probably one of the most magical places that you could hope to visit on the planet."
Thank Goodness they didn't try to Disneyland Hobbiton or any other part of what they (Weta, NZ, Jackson, etc.) share. I'm homesick for that feeling of wonder and home that I've only found in NZ/Wellington/Hobbition and in my own dwelling here :)

Thank you for this, Ataahua. :)

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grammaboodawg
Immortal


Jan 16, 3:15pm


Views: 1363
This is Awesome!!! :D //
 

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We have been there and back again.


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Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Jan 16, 9:50pm


Views: 1332
I bet the organisers were laughing when they came up with that idea. :D
Genius! If I were more mobile I might even be tempted to join in.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo

My LOTR fan-fiction


Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Jan 16, 10:15pm


Views: 1331
Cool!
A highlight of our 2011 Cruise to Middle-earth was lunch at Weta Workshop, hosted by Richard Taylor himself. What an intelligent, good-humored, polite person!
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Jan 16, 11:04pm


Views: 1326
That must have been a pinch-yourself moment
In Reply To
A highlight of our 2011 Cruise to Middle-earth was lunch at Weta Workshop, hosted by Richard Taylor himself.
I met him in a group setting when we had an unofficial tour, thanks one of the Wellingmoot attendees having a family link to Weta Workshop. Having Richard pop in while we were in the boardroom was a surprise (she didn't tell us beforehand because his availability wasn't certain) and my mind went completely blank when we had the chance to ask him questions. Dammit! Laugh
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo

My LOTR fan-fiction


Starling
Half-elven


Jan 17, 1:58am


Views: 1310
Yes,
it does look rather fun!



Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Jan 17, 3:50pm


Views: 1254
No kidding!
We were served a hobbit-style spread in the board room with RT at the head of the table. The first thing he did was ask each of us our names and where we were from, then he answered questions.

I have a photo but I no longer know how to post photos here, unfortunately.

At one point I thought some large piece of equipment on the floor below had started up, but Tehanu, our native guide, said matter-of-factly, "That was an earthquake." Seems appropriate, somehow. Smile
Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow....


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Jan 17, 7:30pm


Views: 1246
Hah - so you got the full NZ show.
In Reply To
At one point I thought some large piece of equipment on the floor below had started up, but Tehanu, our native guide, said matter-of-factly, "That was an earthquake."
Laugh

Did you know that Wellingtonians play 'wind or earthquake'? That's how strong the wind can scream through the city.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.

Fantasy novel - The Arcanist's Tattoo

My LOTR fan-fiction


Owain
Tol Eressea


Feb 18, 4:13pm


Views: 523
Ah. New Zealand.
It is still on my list to visit.

I really want to visit the South Island and see the mountains.
Middle Earth is New Zealand!

"Question everything, embrace the bad, and hold on to the good."


grammaboodawg
Immortal


Mar 3, 11:55pm


Views: 186
Move it up! :D
Make it #1 or 2! You'll never be sorry. *sigh*


sample

We have been there and back again.


Join the "Tolkien Fandom Oral History Project"

TIME Google Calendar