The Frodo Franchise by Kristin Thompson
 
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June 24 : 2008

The Ring Master

I had the pleasure today of hearing from Halfdan Hansen, complimenting me on my blog. Hafldan is the son of Jens Hansen (1940-1999), the designer of The One Ring used in the movie trilogy. Fans will be familiar with the creation of the Ring from the DVD supplements. I would have said “familiar with the creation of that prop,” but of course the Ring had to be fashioned in various scales to be held by characters of different sizes. There was also the large version used in the Council of Elrond scene for the close-up reflecting the argument among the representatives of various races.

The Hansen firm is located in Nelson, New Zealand. Its website has a page on the One Ring’s design. The company takes custom orders for copies of the Ring, though these do not contain the inscription seen on the Ring in the film. Of course, the One Ring doesn’t bear that inscription unless it is exposed to heat, so I would think a plain ring would be a more authentic replica!

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    The Frodo Franchise
    by Kristin Thompson

    US flagbuy at best price

    Canadian flagbuy at best price

    UK flagbuy at best price

    Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
    hardcover 978-0-520-24774-1
    421 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 12 color illustrations; 36 b/w illustrations; 1 map; 1 table

    “Once in a lifetime.”
    The phrase comes up over and over from the people who worked on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. The film’s 17 Oscars, record-setting earnings, huge fan base, and hundreds of ancillary products attest to its importance and to the fact that Rings is far more than a film. Its makers seized a crucial moment in Hollywood—the special effects digital revolution plus the rise of “infotainment” and the Internet—to satisfy the trilogy’s fans while fostering a huge new international audience. The resulting franchise of franchises has earned billions of dollars to date with no end in sight.

    Kristin Thompson interviewed 76 people to examine the movie’s scripting and design and the new technologies deployed to produce the films, video games, and DVDs. She demonstrates the impact Rings had on the companies that made it, on the fantasy genre, on New Zealand, and on independent cinema. In fast-paced, compulsively readable prose, she affirms Jackson’s Rings as one the most important films ever made.

    The Frodo Franchise

    cover of Penguin Books’ (NZ) edition of The Frodo Franchise, published September 2007. The tiny subtitle reads: “How ‘The Lord of the Rings’ became a Hollywood blockbuster and put New Zealand on the map.”