50 Fun Facts About The Hobbit Movies

Which actor voiced the dragon Smaug in the Hobbit films and performed him in motion capture, crawling on all fours?

Benedict Cumberbatch also played the Necromancer in the same films. His crawling performance led the effects team to rework Smaug into a wyvern-like shape.

How do Bilbo and the dwarves escape the Elvenking's halls in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?

Floating in wine barrels turns into a three-way river battle on screen, as elves chase the dwarves downstream while Orcs ambush them both.

Which English singer-songwriter wrote and recorded the end-credits song for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?

Ed Sheeran got the job after the director's daughter suggested him. He watched the film, wrote I See Fire and recorded most of it on the same day.

In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the Necromancer of Dol Guldur reveals himself to Gandalf as which dark lord?

Sauron overpowers and cages Gandalf in the ruined fortress. In the next film Galadriel, Elrond and Saruman break in to free the wizard, and Galadriel banishes the dark lord to the East.

Which Lord of the Rings star returns as the elf Legolas in the Hobbit films, though Legolas is absent from the book?

Orlando Bloom's return has some logic to it: Legolas is the son of Thranduil, the Elvenking who imprisons the dwarves in Tolkien's novel.

Which capital city renamed itself the Middle of Middle-earth for the week of the first Hobbit film's world premiere?

Wellington hosted the premiere at its Embassy Theatre, where tens of thousands of fans lined the red carpet along Courtenay Place.

In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, what contest does Bilbo win against Gollum to earn a way out of the caves?

A riddle game with deadly stakes: Gollum agrees to show Bilbo the way out if beaten, and to eat him if not. Bilbo leaves with the creature's lost golden ring in his pocket.

Which actor plays young Bilbo Baggins in the Hobbit films, having first turned the role down over a TV scheduling clash?

Martin Freeman was the one Bilbo the director says he ever wanted, whatever the schedule clash. Eddie Redmayne also auditioned for the part.

When Bilbo returns to Bag End at the end of the Hobbit film trilogy, what is being done with his belongings?

Sold at auction, because Bilbo has been presumed dead after his long absence. He stops the sale and tidies up, still secretly carrying the ring.

In the first Hobbit film, what turns the three trolls who capture the dwarves into stone?

Sunlight does it: Bilbo stalls the trolls from eating the dwarves until dawn, when Gandalf exposes them to the light. Their cave then yields the company's Elven blades.

Which actor returned as Gollum in the Hobbit films and also served as the trilogy's second unit director?

Andy Serkis handled aerial shots and battle scenes as second unit director, years before making his own directorial debut with Breathe.

Which creatures does Gandalf summon to rescue Thorin's company from an Orc ambush at the end of the first Hobbit film?

Great Eagles carry the company to safety on the Carrock, and they return in the third film to help turn the final battle against the Orcs.

Which Australian actress was the first Lord of the Rings star signed to return for the Hobbit films, as Galadriel?

Cate Blanchett came back even though Galadriel never appears in the novel. On screen she sits on the White Council and later banishes the Necromancer from his fortress.

Which filmmaker spent two years developing the Hobbit films as director before studio delays led him to quit?

Guillermo del Toro still shares the screenplay credit on all three films. Peter Jackson stepped in with scripts unfinished and no storyboards ready.

Which American late-night host has a cameo as a Lake-town spy in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?

Stephen Colbert appears alongside members of his own family, all as spies. An animated Smaug later repaid the visit with a guest spot on The Colbert Report.

Which jewel does Thorin hunt for obsessively in the third Hobbit film, unaware that Bilbo has been hiding it?

The Arkenstone becomes a bargaining chip: Bilbo smuggles it out to Bard and Thranduil, hoping they can trade it for a share of the treasure and prevent a war.

In the Hobbit films, Gandalf recruits Bilbo to serve Thorin's company of dwarves in which unlikely role?

Burglar is the job, since the plan needs someone to slip inside the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo refuses at first, then races after the dwarves the next morning.

In the first Hobbit film, where does Elrond reveal that the dwarves' map holds a clue to a secret door?

Rivendell is also where Gandalf faces the White Council, having guessed Saruman would try to halt the quest and sent the dwarves ahead without him.

Which Lost actress plays Tauriel, an elf warrior created for the Hobbit films with no counterpart in the novel?

Evangeline Lilly had been a fan of Tolkien's books since she was 13. Her character was written to bring another woman into a cast otherwise dominated by men.

Which dwarf forms a romantic bond with the elf Tauriel in the Hobbit films, a love story absent from the novel?

Kíli is healed by Tauriel after a poisoned Orc shaft wounds him, and in the final film he dies coming to her aid against Bolg.

Which Orc war-chief, who lost a hand to Thorin outside Moria, hunts the dwarves through the Hobbit film trilogy?

Azog is an addition to Thorin's quest on screen, an arch-enemy who puts a bounty on the dwarf leader and meets him in a final duel that kills them both.

Which creatures ensnare Thorin's company in Mirkwood in the second Hobbit film until Bilbo cuts the dwarves free?

Giant spiders are no sooner beaten back than the Wood-elves arrive, kill the rest and take the dwarves prisoner. Bilbo, unseen thanks to the ring, avoids capture.

In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, what do the dwarves pour over the dragon in a bid to bury him alive?

Molten gold from a huge melted statue cannot hold him: Smaug emerges from it, stumbles out of the mountain and flies off to destroy Lake-town.

With what weapon does Bard kill Smaug at the start of the third Hobbit film, The Battle of the Five Armies?

A black arrow, the last one handed down to Bard from his ancestor, does the job. The dragon's falling body then crushes the Master of Lake-town as he flees with the gold.

Which skin-changer, able to take the form of a great bear, shelters Thorin's company in the second Hobbit film?

Beorn was played by Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt, who was allowed to keep his own accent while the rest of the cast used accents from the British Isles.

Which English actor plays the dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield across all three films of the Hobbit trilogy?

Richard Armitage also sings on the first film's soundtrack as a cast performer. Brian Blessed had earlier been discussed for the role under the project's previous director.

Which English comedian and broadcaster plays the greedy Master of Lake-town in the Hobbit film trilogy?

Stephen Fry called the part a chance for sheer grossness, played under a bald cap, a combover wig and blotchy skin. He described the Master as a coward and very greedy.

Which American actor plays Thranduil, the Elvenking of Mirkwood, in the Hobbit film trilogy?

Lee Pace was the filmmakers' favourite for the part after his performance in The Fall. His Thranduil rides a giant elk, played on set by a horse named Moose.

Which Welsh actor plays Bard the Bowman, the Lake-town bargeman who smuggles the dwarves in, in the Hobbit films?

Luke Evans also plays Girion, the last lord of Dale and Bard's own ancestor, who appears in a flashback.

Which former Doctor Who star plays the wizard Radagast the Brown in the Hobbit film trilogy?

Sylvester McCoy's Radagast rides a sled pulled by enormous rabbits, an idea invented for the films. Years earlier he had been kept waiting six months as a possible Bilbo.

Which actor returned as Gandalf the Grey for the Hobbit trilogy and kept an online journal of the long shoot?

Ian McKellen posted journal entries from early 2011 to the end of 2012. Before signing he had warned the producers that he was not under contract and was not sitting waiting.

Which actor briefly returns as Frodo in the first Hobbit film, though Frodo is not yet born during Bilbo's quest?

Elijah Wood appears in a framing scene set sixty years after the quest, as the old Bilbo sits down to write the story of his adventure for his nephew.

Which brand's 2014 video game adapted only the first two Hobbit films, leaving the trilogy's finale unplayed?

Lego never finished the story: an add-on covering The Battle of the Five Armies was reported at a toy fair, then dropped with no plans to adapt the film.

Which composer scored all three Hobbit films, recording the first with the London Philharmonic Orchestra?

Howard Shore, who won three Academy Awards for The Lord of the Rings, wove about forty of its themes in among dozens of new ones.

Which actor, Pippin in The Lord of the Rings, wrote and sang the end-credits song for the final Hobbit film?

Billy Boyd had done it before: he wrote the melody for and sang a song featured in The Return of the King. This one, The Last Goodbye, plays over the trilogy's final credits.

Which veteran actor filmed all his Saruman scenes for the Hobbit trilogy in England because he could not travel?

Christopher Lee shot his scenes at Pinewood Studios, with a body double standing in on the distant sets. He had said he would love to voice the dragon, as that could be recorded at home.

Which actor plays the older Bilbo in the Hobbit films, reprising the role he had in The Lord of the Rings?

Ian Holm made the trilogy's last instalment his final film role. His scenes were shot at Pinewood Studios in England, not in New Zealand.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was the first wide-release feature film shot and projected at which frame rate?

48 frames per second is double the cinema standard of 24. Most cinemas still showed the film converted to the usual rate, and the director softened the image for the two sequels.

What title was announced for the third Hobbit film in 2012 before it became The Battle of the Five Armies?

There and Back Again, the novel's own subtitle, stopped fitting once two films became three: Bilbo had already arrived 'there' by the end of the second.

Which Scottish comedian plays Dáin Ironfoot, the cousin who brings a dwarf army to Thorin's aid in the Hobbit films?

Billy Connolly said his Dáin, with a mohawk and a tattooed head, would terrify the life out of audiences. The character ends the trilogy as the new king under the mountain.

A 2010 dispute with which group led Warner Bros. to consider moving the Hobbit shoot out of New Zealand?

An actors' union boycott over contracts brought thousands of New Zealanders onto the streets to keep the production, and the government changed employment law to settle it.

The extended cut of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies earned which US rating, a first for a Middle-earth film?

Rated R for some violence, the longer cut added twenty minutes to a PG-13 release. It is one of the few R-rated films based on a children's book.

Which Elven sword does Thorin take from the trolls' hoard in the first Hobbit film, while Gandalf claims Glamdring?

Orcrist comes from the same cave that gives Gandalf his sword and Bilbo the Elven dagger he carries through the rest of the trilogy.

In the first Hobbit film, Elrond finds that the Lonely Mountain's secret door can be seen only on which occasion?

Durin's Day turns the quest into a race against the calendar, since the map's hidden message says the door will show itself at no other time.

Which veteran Australian comedian played the Great Goblin in the first Hobbit film through motion capture?

Barry Humphries, best known as Dame Edna Everage, also performs two songs as the goblin king, one of them heard only in the extended edition.

Which studio made an animated television version of The Hobbit in 1977, decades before the live-action film trilogy?

Rankin/Bass told the whole story as one animated musical special. Its Tokyo animators at Topcraft later re-formed as Studio Ghibli under Hayao Miyazaki.

Which New Zealand musician performed Song of the Lonely Mountain over the end credits of the first Hobbit film?

Neil Finn, lead singer of Crowded House, performed it with his sons. He co-wrote the song with composer David Long and the group Plan 9.

The Hobbiton set, rebuilt to last for the Hobbit films, now draws tourists to a farm near which New Zealand town?

Matamata is the nearest town and the departure point for the tour buses. The first version of the set, made of untreated timber, ply and polystyrene, was never meant to survive.

Repeating his Fellowship of the Ring cameo, what is Peter Jackson doing when he appears in the second Hobbit film?

Eating a carrot in Bree is the director's own walk-on, repeated from the earlier trilogy. His daughter Katie plays Barliman Butterbur's wife, Betsy.

Which unusual ensemble is heard in the Hobbit film scores during the scenes between Bilbo and Smaug?

A gamelan orchestra, the traditional percussion-led ensemble music of Indonesia, was recorded for both sequels alongside the national symphony orchestra.