Today TheOneRing.net, the website “forged by and for fans of JRR Tolkien,” got the “final reveal” of what the Dwarves will look like in the upcoming Peter Jackson movie, The Hobbit Part 1: An Unexpected Journey. The image was published with the website logo, so I will not publish it on Hollywood Jesus until a “clean” copy hits the Internet. But you can see it for yourself at this link: TheOneRing.net Exclusive: Behold! Thorin Oakenshield and Orcrist!
TheOneRing.net’s article also includes pictures of all of the other Dwarves, and comments from the website’s contributors. They also have wallpaper downloads available of Thorin and the whole cast of Dwarves!
I commented in a previous post that the doling out of the photos reminded me of the arrival of the Dwarves at Beorn’s Hall. Come to think of it, the order in which the pictures were released matches the order in which the thirteen show up at Bag End. (See below.) They show up in a different order at the Hall: Thorin and Dori; Nori and Ori; Balin and Dwalin; Fili and Kili; Oin and Gloin; Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur.
So, how did Peter Jackson and crew do portraying Tolkien’s thirteen? To help you decide, here is Tolkien’s description from the book (Houghton Mifflin 2001 paperback edition for young readers):
Dwalin: p.9 “blue beard tucked into a gold belt, and very green eyes under his dark green hood”
Balin: p.10 “very odd-looking… white beard and a scarlet hood”
Fili and Kili: p.11 “both with blue hoods, silver belts, and yellow beards; and each of them carried a bag of tools and a spade”
Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin: p.12 “two purple hoods, a grey hood, a brown hood, and a white hood… gold and silver belts”
Bifur, Bofur, Bombur: p.13 “two yellow hood and a pale green one… Bombur was immensely fat and heavy”
Thorin: p.13 “a sky-blue one [hood] with a long silver tassel”
Of course, the pictures do not definitely show what the Dwarves will be wearing when they show up at Bilbo’s Hobbit Hole. Not all the pictures show them wearing cloaks. Even so, it would be interesting to hear your opinion. Leave a comment below. I will also be creating a survey on the Hobbit Whole Facebook page. Join the page (link below) and give us your opinion.
July 17th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
These will not be films for children in the same way the book was… unless the promotional photos are downplaying the whimsy with which the tale starts, in order to draw in the target demographic (which is not seven-year-olds). I really hope that these movies represent an awakening for Bilbo, with the Battle of the Five Armies the apex of the tale’s darkness. But I fear we’ll be in Two Towers territory by the time they reach the Misty Mountains, half way through Film One.
July 17th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
I think you’re right, Greg. Too much violence to temp Mr. Jackson. While Tolkien left much of it in the background, I think PJ will not be able to resist bringing it to the fore.
September 30th, 2011 at 4:49 am
Thanks for the share!
Nancy.R