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	LOTR News Update December 19, 1999 There were a couple of interesting articles that appeared recently, one with some intriguing pictures. This story, from Woman's Day New Zealand, was first discovered by our friend Xoanon at OneRing.net: Woman's Day New Zealand December 14, 1999 Hobbits Come to Life After 50 years of waiting, the world has finally had its first real-life glimpse of perhaps the century's most famous literary creation, a furry-footed hobbit. Deep in the woods and hills of the South Island, J. R. Tolkien's diminutive fantasy creatures are the stars of the $360 million movie trilogy The Lord Of The Rings. As Woman's Day's exclusive pictures show, director Peter Jackson's hobbits come in all shapes and sizes -- and some are not even flesh and blood. You won't notice on the big screen, but Hollywood siren Liv Tyler, as the Elf Princess Arwen, had only a plastic hobbit for company when she filmed a dramatic horse chase sequence last week near Wanaka. The dummy was standing in for the pint-sized actor playing Liv's hobbit sidekick Bilbo Baggins as they escaped from a fearsome band of Ringwraiths, among the book's eeriest bad guys. Meanwhile, on another set in nearby Queenstown, the movie's hobbit heroes Frodo and Sam Gamagee [sic] appeared, played by Elijah Wood and Sean Astin -- who are both normal-sized. Peter and his team of special effects wizards have created an awesome computer system, called Massive, which will shrink the stars down to size on film -- except for the giant hairy feet which are a hobbit's trademark. The torrential downpours that flooded Queenstown and Wanaka have wreaked havoc to The Lord Of The Rings shooting schedule, trapping one unit in remote Te Anau and even washing away some elaborate sets built on riverbanks around Lake Wakatipu. The weather also took its toll on 22-year-old Liv. She may have become one of the movie world's hottest properties after starring roles in Armaggedon and Stealing Beauty, but she still needed a hot-water bottle under each arm as she waited for the cameras to roll. Luckily for her, it was Liv's last day on set before taking a break back home in the US after several weeks filming. Like the other Rings stars, she has been able to watch the floodwaters rising from her suite at Queenstown's Novotel Saint Moritz hotel. And when one well-wisher asked her as she boarded a plane what her memories of Queenstown were, she said simply, "Lots of rain!" Our second story reflects the holiday spirit: Otago Daily Times December 12, 1999 Hobbits Taking Christmas Off By Kerry Williamson Even hobbits take a holiday over Christmas. Filming of the $360 million Lord of the Rings movie trilogy - based on the novels by J. R. R Tolkien and directed by Wellington's Peter Jackson - has been taking place in and around Queenstown during the past month. However, filming will break next week for Christmas and will not continue at the Southern Lakes until the middle of next year. Film crews spent much of this week shooting scenes near Glenorchy. Scenes have also been shot near Te Anau, Tarras and Queenstown. Publicist Claire Raskind said filming had gone well, despite the setbacks suffered when several sets were washed away during last month's record rainfall and flooding. Good weather had allowed crews to catch up on time lost during the floods, she said. More than 400 people have been employed by the Lord of the Rings producers since filming began in Wellington several months ago. Lead actors Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Sean Bean and Vigo Mortenson have all spent time in the Southern Lakes during filming.	EMAIL US Back to ACBO Aussie Cate Blanchett Online [ACBO] © 1999 Lin, Dean, Lance. Heading design and layout by Lin. 800x600 screen size recommended. A proud Australian Site.