Hobbiton set looking good

Hobbiton Set Report: ‘Perfect’

frodowen writes:

I’m backpacking in NZ right now and recently did the Hobbiton set tour in Matamata. I saw a while back that you reported they were closed, but since the filmed was pushed back due to PJ being in hospital it’s been reopened. Well, because they should have been filming right now, the set is PERFECT. All the hobbit holes are complete, there is fruit on the trees and flowers in the gardens – it is like being in the Shire. They even have the (fake) tree above Bag End, and have expanded the set to include more hobbit holes than they used in LOTR. I can’t post pictures of course due to confidentiality contracts we had to sign, but I thought you might like to let other fans in the area know that now is would be a really great time to visit. It’s well worth the tour fee to see the set as it is now.


http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/02/27/42488-hobbiton-set-report-perfect/

Sounds great And Hobbiton is actually in the book! Imagine that, Petty

I'm tempted to point out that in the books most Hobbits didn't live in holes just to be crabbit.

But I loved the Shire design from LOTR regardless of any inaccuracies, so I'm happy with this news.

True about the livng in holes thing- as to how it looks. I'll wait and see before I get too annoyed.

I wonder did Sam live in a hole before he got Bag-End? Can't remember if the book says, probably not. I know the Gamgees lived on the Hill itself at no3, below Bag End but given by Bilbo's day only the 'very richest and the very poorest' still lived in holes seems more likely the Gamgees had a house. Given they were neither rich nor very poor.
Just a strange morning thought related to hobbit holes!

Bagshot Row had holes along it. The Gamgees would seem to be an exception to that general rule, perhaps due to their employment by the Bagginses.

I thought the Hobbiton hobbits lived in holes, while houses were more common among those closer to the river? No idea what sort of homes the Tooks lived in, or any of the other families. Not quite the lore master

The Prologue to TLotR wrote:All Hobbits had originally lived in holes in the ground, or so they believed, and in such dwellings they still felt most at home; but in the course of time they had been obliged to adopt other forms of abode. Actually in the Shire in Bilbo's day it was, as a role, only the richest and the poorest Hobbits that maintained the old custom. The poorest went on living in burrows of the most primitive kind, mere holes indeed, with only one window or none; while the well-to-do still constructed more luxurious versions of the simple diggings of old. But suitable sites for these large and ramifying tunnels (or smials as they called them) were not everywhere to be found; and in the flats and the low-lying districts the Hobbits, as they multiplied, began to build above ground. Indeed, even in the hilly regions and the older villages, such as Hobbiton or Tuckborough, or in the chief township of the Shire, Michel Delving on th White Downs, there were now many houses of wood, brick, or stone.

Additionally, it is noted that building freestanding structures such as farmhouses and barns had been said to begin in the Marish in the Eastfarthing by the river, which was a marshy area of the Shire. You're partially correct, Ringdrotten, since houses appear to have been more common in places such as the river, but had spread to other parts of the Shire. The idea that all Hobbits live in holes has become ingrained over time, probably because we mostly see the wealthy elite of the Shire. Merry and Pippin were from semi-aristocratic families with massive holes that were practically manor estates and Bilbo and Frodo were among the wealthiest in their part of the Shire (the inaccurate fan theory that they were middle class notwithstanding). I don't know if the film-makers fell prey to this misconception themselves or if they just decided they liked it better than the original and ran with it.

Still, I do like the design of the Shire from the films, even though it's inaccurate in this and a few other ways. They did a good job of capturing the idyllic setting without really beating the audience in the head with the point they were trying to make and it was quite pretty. I'd like to visit there some day after filming ends and the permanent tour site is re-opened, if I ever get the chance.

Ah well, I guess I had it coming when I said there was no differences from the book Thank you once again for a very informative answer, Eldo

My main gripe with the appearance of the Shire is Bag-End- it neither seems big enough for what is essentially the Manor House of the Hill or to have a large enough garden. Certainly not one requiring the full time employment of a gardener. But the garden I always imagined as quite large, with not just pretty flowers but vegetable gardens and the like (does Bilbo not give the Gaffer several sacks of potatoes?).

I can't remember off the top of my head, but there certainly was lots of open green space all around Bag End in the movie. So it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that there was a small front garden and a large plot of land behind the hole too! (Unless it states in the book there was a large front garden...)

Pettytyrant101 wrote:My main gripe with the appearance of the Shire is Bag-End- it neither seems big enough for what is essentially the Manor House of the Hill or to have a large enough garden. Certainly not one requiring the full time employment of a gardener. But the garden I always imagined as quite large, with not just pretty flowers but vegetable gardens and the like (does Bilbo not give the Gaffer several sacks of potatoes?).

I have to agree with this, although the hole rather than the garden struck me as wrong. It is described clearly as a long corridor with doors off both sides, with one side having views of the garden and the other being stores and pantries as they had no widows being in the middle of the hill. Not what you get from the film at all!

Well Kafria you can't blame PJ for that- its not like the author gave a crystal clear description or left drawings of the inside of Bag End or anything- oh hang on!!

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Well Kafria you can't blame PJ for that- its not like the author gave a crystal clear description or left drawings of the inside of Bag End or anything- oh hang on!!

Sarcasm now! oh dear, I fear for that crabbit meter!

I'm on my second, this week, and its only Monday!!

Oh you purists - what would GB say? (anyone know where he is?) Bilbo's hole doesn't match Tolkien's description, but it still looks very good. Complain about elves in Helm's Deep or slow-mo Galadriel instead

If they don't bother to get the little things right Ringdrotten what hope is there for the big things?

Only a fool's hope

Ringdrotten wrote: Bilbo's hole doesn't match Tolkien's description, but it still looks very good. Complain about elves in Helm's Deep or slow-mo Galadriel instead

But the hobbit hole constuction is an important part of the beginning of TH. Bilbo running up and down, bewildered and increasingly (crabbit) Being sent of down the corridor to the larder and cellar, the clearing up and tottering stcks of dishes, the dark room with the music playing. They don't fit in the nice light open plan moderately sized penthouse!

I guess it is possible the hole will be remodelled, leaving us the viewer to imagine the endless meetings with interior desigeners and wrangling with unreliable builders that bilbo went trough when he brought back his ill gotten gains!

Kafria wrote:I guess it is possible the hole will be remodelled, leaving us the viewer to imagine the endless meetings with interior desigeners and wrangling with unreliable builders that bilbo went trough when he brought back his ill gotten gains!

That is of course PJ's plan, as he will be directing a tie-in TV miniseries, Hobbit Hole Remodeling: Bilbo's Tale after the new films as a way of carrying on the franchise. The money it earns will be used to buy copies of Tolkien's books and burn them to heat PJ's sauna.

I know it's true cause I read it on TORn!

Kafria wrote:

But the hobbit hole constuction is an important part of the beginning of TH. Bilbo running up and down, bewildered and increasingly (crabbit) Being sent of down the corridor to the larder and cellar, the clearing up and tottering stcks of dishes, the dark room with the music playing. They don't fit in the nice light open plan moderately sized penthouse!

Hmm, well, that's an argument I can understand (and even agree with). They didn't show all the rooms in the film, though, so they could just add some rooms and corridors here and there if needed

Sounds like a good show! Though it'll be on cable no doubt. So then I'll have to wait for the thetical DVD relaase of Hobbit Hole Remodeling: Bilbo's Tale. Then the limited edition with added bonus features, about how they removed and replaced Bilbo's chair. Then the extended limited edition, where they show how they did it- they just moved things around, nothing was actually changed. Then the extended...need I go on?


Ringdrotten's right, they only show the hall, the dining room, the kitchen (which if you look at it, makes you think there are a few corridors leading off it- possibly to the pantry or other bedrooms? and then the hall again. Of course the problem is that the lounge would have to be near the front of Bag End because it get's the natural light. And they seem to have already used up the whole front with the Hall, Dining Room and Kitchen...

I'm looking forward to how they depict the Gandalf-Balin-Bilbo tobacco jar scene at the end. So that I know it's finally over, mainly...  


{{{Btw does anyone know where Ally is?   }}}