Check out The Tapestry, a new scenic overview of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!

[News from Bree]

Someone at Warner Bros, may have been taking their inspiration from history in naming their latest marketing effort for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It's called The Tapestry. Possibly a bit of a nod toward the famous Bayeux Tapestry, possibly not.

Regardless, what's indisputable is that it's big and bold.

Some immediate observations, some of which may be movie spoilers, so highlight the space below to reveal more:

• The carven bear snouts on the pillar posts of the gate around Thorin. It's not the gate we saw The Company dashing toward in the trailer, which makes me conclude that it's the forest gate into Mirkwood. That's the one where, in the book, Gandalf leaves the Company to their journey and heads south.
  
  
• The spiders in dim silhouette. The folks at the Fan Event saw these up close and personal. Let me assure you, they are pretty terrifying, especially for arachnophobes. The silhouettes do not actually do their menace justice.
  
  
• Elves and elves and elves. At least in the marketing, Desolation of Smaug is making up for the beardiness of AUJ with a plethora of prettiness. One wonders how much of this is a bait-and-switch tactic to draw a crowd, and whether elves will dominate.
  
  
• Gandalf without staff or hat. The absence of the staff is probably the more telling. But, if Gandalf is going to end up in a jam, who or what is the cause of the problem? It can't be just any old orc, or it will strain everyone's credibility. Also, we only see Gandalf at Dol Guldur, with no hint of how he got there.
  
  
• Thorin climbing the carven dwarf to the secret door. Note the outfit. More Indication that this armour we first saw in trailer #2 comes from the Erebor horde.
  
  
• Money. Dwarf coins are remarkably large. Why? It actually seems quite impracticable. Is this some weird system of ingoting gold, or a subtle reference to The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy?

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  If you want to see all the detail, click the images for a (much) larger version. Warning these are large files and may take a few moments to load!
  
  
  

  The Tapestry for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. US Domestic version.​

  
  
  
  
  

  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. International version.​

  
  

 

[Rohirrim Rider]

I liked the earlier banner with Gandalf, elves, Bilbo, dwarves and Bard but assumed it was the closest to the AUJ montage that we got from Comic-Con and was a little disappointed. This one may not flow as well as that one but it's fantastic nonetheless and that final image in perfect.

 

[Demosthenes]

I liked the earlier banner with Gandalf, elves, Bilbo, dwarves and Bard but assumed it was the closest to the AUJ montage that we got from Comic-Con and was a little disappointed. This one may not flow as well as that one but it's fantastic nonetheless and that final image in perfect.

Well, that's my opinion. This "tapestry", and the two versions of "The Scroll" both tell a story in a way that the character ones do not.

By-the-by, would be folks pe interested in a "clean" version? Because we may be able to offer that at an even higher resolution.

 

[dormouse]

... in the Tapestry that you haven't mentioned.... The Elvenking has autumn leaves woven into his crown. YES!

It was that detail more than any other - that and the seasonal change to woodland flowers in spring - which told me at age seven or eight that Tolkien's elves were the most beautiful and magical beings ever, and I haven't changed my mind since. I fell in love with the Elvenking then for his crown - and his peculiarly lovely way of speaking. I thought they were probably going to miss out on the leaves; this is the first time I've spotted them and I'm happy. Forget the dwarves, dragon, mountain - let's just stick around in Mirkwood and wait for spring and the flowers! []

 

[MomoftheShire]

I see that Kili reunites with the company by the time they ascend the mountain. Was worried about the "split" of the company in Laketown, gleaned from interviews!

 

[Avandel]

Love the new individual posters, the new international posters, AND the banners. So on the wish list is BIG versions of everything - for my wall art.

(I'd pay $$$ for a high res version of the NZ stamp images or posters - wish I was in NZ so I could nag their post office!!!)

But stuff doesn't get put out just for one person[cool] Anyway can't complain all these releases (finally!) and when I find new high res images 1) thank the unsung heroes who are kind enough to post - may their hands overflow with gold;
and 2) do the "happy OMG shriek" (like for the nice Thorin pic in the red shirt (finally) that was on the FB Thorin page) and start madly downloading. Which I just did for the Tapestry image, but sure!, bigger would be lovely if it's not too much trouble.

Wish WB would hand the tapestries out as posters opening day *sigh* but those days are probably gone. Maybe the theaters will have souvenir cups or something.

 

[Eruvandi]

This is the first time you noticed the leaves in the crown?[shocked] They've been there the whole time.

Just for the record I have the same opinion as you about Tolkien's elves and I'm really glad they included that detail about the crown as well! I would also like to see the flower crown in the spring too!

 

[Avandel]

but in the EE when Kili is looking at the elf maiden - wow, Kili really IS gorgeous. And a favorite of mine - haven't liked the idea of the company splitting up, not sure what's going on, but want them back together, come what may e.g. fire......

 

[dormouse]

I thought it was just antlers - impressive design, but I missed the leaves. Just me being dim! []

 

[AinurOlorin]

the overall effect of Thranduil is elegantly magnificent. He seems rather perfect in the role. He may vie with Galadriel and Arwen (when she isn't playing at being Glorfindel) for most spot on Elf casting. I had noticed also, probably as far back as last years promotional material, that they seem to be a very interesting strain of leaf in red hue. lol I love the crown.