#between phillipa boyens and fran walsh

[autumnhobbit]

watching the LOTR behind the scenes is just something else. the passion, the decisions to hire people based off their love of the source material/their drive to make a truly great piece of art, the tenacity of people to work around their personality types to achieve their dreams, the humble beginnings, the hard work? it's truly remarkable.

[apathetic-revenant]

tidbits from the Fellowship of the Ring director + writers’ commentary track (feat. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens)

the prologue, and issue of how to work all the exposition about the Ring into the film, was a source of great difficulty for the writers and went through a lot of iterations. in some versions of the script Gandalf would have told Frodo the story of the Ring in Bag End as he does in the books. at one point they decided to scrap the prologue altogether, only to get a note back from New Line that they had to have it, so Peter, Fran and Philippa had to assemble it from the existing footage they had while they were in England putting the soundtrack together.

the framing of the prologue and exactly what information would be in it also went through a lot of changes before it was ultimately decided that it needed to be from the 'perspective' of the Ring itself since the Ring is in a way a central character in the story. at one point the narration would have been done by Frodo, from the perspective of him writing the book after the quest was over, but it was felt that he didn't have the necessary perspective to make it work and that an immortal character like Galadriel worked better.

although prologue!Bilbo is only seen for a few seconds, costume designer Ngila Dickson meticulously made sure his outfit matched the descriptions given in The Hobbit, including the brass buttons on his waistcoat that he later loses while escaping the caves.

the population of Hobbitton in the opening was mostly recruited from farmers and people living around Matamata, where the Hobbitton exterior set was built. two of the hobbit extras later got married after first meeting on set.

the shot of Sam with the flowers in the extended cut is the only time in the films Sam was actually shown gardening.

the shots of Frodo greeting Gandalf were done with four actors--Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, a small scale double for Frodo and a large scale double for Gandalf. when the closeup is on Gandalf, Ian McKellen is interacting with four-foot-tall Kiran Shah. when the closeup is on Frodo, Elijah Wood is interacting with almost-eight-foot-tall Paul Randall.

while many of the scale shots of the hobbits are actually done using very simple techniques, Peter Jackson chose to invest time in a few impressive ones early on so as to help really sell the idea for the audience from the beginning. one of these is the shot of Bilbo taking Gandalf's hat and staff as Gandalf enters Bag End--it was actually a very complicated shot that involved making big and small versions of the props and then carefully merging them together with CGI.

most of the Bag End scenes were shot by filming the actors on two different sets, a large-scale one for Ian Holm's scenes and a small-scale one for Ian McKellen's scenes, and then merging them together. however the scene of Bilbo serving Gandalf tea was done with both actors on the same set and used forced perspective--there are actually two tables of different sizes lined up to look like one table, with Gandalf interacting with the larger table and Bilbo with the smaller one.

Gandalf hitting his head on the ceiling was an unscripted accident left in because it worked so well.

before including Thorin's map from The Hobbit in Bag End, the writers made sure to double-check where the map canonically wound up in the books. they gave the task of researching this to Henry Mortensen, Viggo Mortensen's son and a diehard Lord of the Rings fan.

Peter Jackson expected to get pushback from the studio about the amount of smoking in the film, and in particular was ready to have to fight to keep in the scene of Gandalf and Bilbo smoking before the party. however no one ever brought it up at all.

most of the hobbit actors in the party were friends and relatives of the cast and crew. although the books state that Bilbo invited 144 hobbits to his special table, "due to budget constraints" the actual amount of hobbits at the party is probably closer to about 100. viewers are advised not to count them too closely.

some of the hobbit children listening to Bilbo's story were played by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh's own children. one of them, Billy Jackson, was the only actor in the movie not wearing a wig, because he already had "naturally perfect hobbit hair."

the "Proudfeet!" shot was framed as a homage to Ralph Bahksi's animated Lord of the Rings, which was what originally got Peter Jackson into LOTR.

during Bilbo's speech, the polystyrene birthday cake had so many candles on it it actually caught on fire and started to burn. the take was going so well, though, no one wanted to interrupt Ian Holm, so the cake is just sort of quietly burning away in the background while Bilbo talks.

the seventeen-year time skip in the books had to be compressed in the movie because they needed to get the story going quicker and keep up momentum. Gandalf's appearance when he comes back to Bag End is meant to imply that he's even more disheveled than usual because he's ridden pretty much nonstop all the way to Minas Tirith and back.

the scenes of Gandalf in Minas Tirith were the first time Ian McKellen had been in his Gandalf the Grey costume and makeup for months, as when those were shot he had been filming as Gandalf the White for some time.

there was discussion about using subtitles onscreen to identify locations, since there was worry that audiences would have a hard time following all the different places seen throughout the movie, but ultimately it was decided that this might feel too cheesy so it was dropped.

the voice of the Ringwraith that shows up in the Shire looking for Bagginssss was done by Andy Serkis.

the Green Dragon scene was cut for time in the theatrical release, which Peter Jackson was disappointed by both because it was a chance to see the main hobbit cast in their 'natural environment' before the adventure really starts, but also because it demonstrated the hobbit tendency to be gossipy, insular and distrustful of the outside, a trait they had some difficulty getting across in the films.

the full Ring poem is never heard in the movies; the filmmakers wanted to get it in there and at one point it was recited in full during the Council of Elrond, but it wound up being cut.

the Ring 'speaks' with Sauron's voice at certain moments to try to emulate the sense of psychological horror and dread associated with descriptions of the Ring in the books, which was very hard to replicate on film.

in one very early draft of the script, Merry and Pippin would have been introduced when they were caught eavesdropping on Frodo and Gandalf along with Sam.

Jackson chose to shoot the duel between Saruman and Gandalf as physically as possible because he didn't like "wizard fights" in movies "where old guys shoot lightning out of their fingers at each other" (gotta disagree with you there Pete).

Billy Boyd offered to use a Gloucester accent for Pippin instead of his natural Scottish one, but tended to lose some of his comic timing while doing so. it was decided that the Tooks had enough of a Scottish vibe that the natural accent worked better for the character anyway.

the shot of the hobbits falling off the cliff was one of the first things ever shot for the series. it was also the cause of one of the few serious accidents during filming--one of the stuntmen dislocated his shoulder during the fall, apparently just as a freak accident as the stunt itself was not especially dangerous.

the scene where the hobbits first meet the Black Rider looks like it's in remote wilderness somewhere but was actually shot in a park in the middle of Wellington.

the insects coming out of the ground while the hobbits are hiding is meant to convey the idea that everything living tries to instinctively flee from the Ringwraiths, but Jackson admits he isn't sure if that came across well on film.

the Buckleberry Ferry almost sank between takes and had to be saved with bilge pumps.

like Bag End, the Prancing Pony set was built twice, once at normal scale and once at large scale to film the hobbit actors on. some of the people seen walking past the hobbits in the backgrounds are actually on stilts.

the basis of the Ringwraith scream sound was provided by Fran Walsh screaming while suffering from a throat infection.

no real trees were harmed during the scene of the Isengard orcs chopping down Fangorn Forest: it was two fake trees shot from different angles as they were pulled down.

the question of whether it was appropriate to reference tomatoes in the Weathertop scene (since they are new world vegetables) was apparently a source of some contention among the writers. Peter Jackson was of the opinion that in a movie with a Balrog, a tomato should not strain suspension of disbelief that much.

the fight scene with the Ringwraiths on Weathertop was the first thing Viggo Mortensen ever shot for the films, and also the first time he'd ever used a sword.

the scenes of weapons being forged in Isengard were shot in a foundry and the molten metal seen being poured is real molten steel, because they couldn't come up with a convincing way to fake the appearance of molten metal. the workers at the foundry were recruited to play the orc extras in the scene.

Lurtz was created to provide a kind of 'face' for the Uruk-Hai as well as to be a villain that could physically confront the Fellowship at the climax, since both Saruman and Sauron stay within their respective domains and, aside from Saruman's scenes with Gandalf, don't actually directly interact with the protagonists.

replacing Glorfindel with Arwen is acknowledged as taking a big chance, but the writers were already struggling with the sheer amount of introductions to new characters in the film and didn't want to introduce yet another new character only for him to almost immediately disappear from the story again.

filming the chase scene between Arwen and the Ringwraiths was interrupted by massive flooding at the location. the cast and crew took a break from filming to help shore up Queenstown with sandbags.

when Gandalf escapes from Isengard, Saruman is holding his staff with one hand because Christopher Lee had injured his other hand smashing it in a hotel room door and couldn't hold anything with it.

the scene of Sam and Frodo in Rivendell talking about going home was a pickup shot after the main filming was completed, which is why Sean Astin is noticeably thinner there than for the rest of the movie--as soon as principal photography was completed he dropped all the weight he had gained for the role.

Elrond sounds especially deep and harsh while talking to Gandalf about the weakness of men because Hugo Weaving had a bad case of flu at the time.

the Council of Elrond took 6-7 days to shoot and was "a nightmare" because of the difficulty of keeping track of the eyelines of so many people sitting in a big circle.

Sean Bean occasionally glances down during the "one does not simply walk into Mordor..." speech because he has his lines written on a piece of paper in his lap; the speech was given to him so soon before filming that he didn't have time to fully memorize it.

when Gandalf reacts to Frodo volunteering to take the Ring to Mordor, Peter Jackson told Ian McKellen to imagine that he had just heard his son volunteer to join the Army in World War One.

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

The Return of the King, the final part of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, hit theaters in December 2003. By that point, there was little doubt that the movie was likely to be an enormous commercial success. What's more, unless Jackson had really dropped the ball, audiences were set to love it. The previous two movies, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, had set a new standard for fantasy moviemaking, vividly bringing JRR Tolkien's classic novels to life on the big screen.

Thankfully, The Return of the King was no disappointment. This was the biggest film of the trilogy, both in terms of the scale of the action, the drama of the story, and the $1.14 billion box office gross. The fight for the very existence of Middle-earth was realized via some incredible battle scenes, but also in the deeply emotional final journey of Frodo and Sam, as they worked their way through Mordor to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom.

However, the success of The Return of the King didn't stop with a huge box office take and critical and audience acclaim. The film also swept the 2004 Academy Awards--it took home all 11 Oscars it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The previous two movies had only won awards in the technical categories, and many saw the third film's Oscar victory as a reward for the entire trilogy. But either way, it was an amazing result for any movie, let alone a fantasy film, and sealed the trilogy's status as one of the greatest achievements in cinema.

As with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, an extended version of The Return of the King was released on DVD a year after its theatrical run. This cut took the running time to over four hours, and as before, the discs were packed with commentaries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes documentaries. We've been back over this material, in particular the must-listen audio commentary with Jackson and co-writers Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens, and rounded up some of the most fascinating facts, references, and Easter eggs in this classic fantasy adventure. And once you've read this, check out our guide to all the things you missed in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.

1. Other actors were considered for Sméagol

Andy Serkis was cast as the voice of Gollum but wasn't originally going to play Sméagol in the flashbacks. Jackson said he considered "other actors" before realizing that Serkis was the obvious choice.

2. The Sméagol and Déagol scene was cut from The Two Towers

This entire flashback sequence was originally intended to appear in The Two Towers. It was cut from the shorter theatrical version of that movie, and by the time Jackson was working on the extended version of The Two Towers, he had decided it would work better at the start of The Return of the King.

3. This burnt landscape was a real location

This ashy landscape of burnt trees that Frodo, Sam, and Gollum walk through was actually the result of a forest fire on Mount Ruapehu, the volcano location these scenes were shot in, six months earlier.

4. Christopher Lee was blasted by a wind machine

Christopher Lee returned to shoot dialogue close-ups for this scene, three years after it was originally shot. The crew had to blast him with a wind machine on the small studio set, to match the effect of the real wind during principal photography.

6. Gimli's line was inspired by a very different movie

Gimli's line, "Here's to dwarfs that go swimming with little hairy women" was improvised by John Rhys Davies, and was adapted from the line in Spielberg's Jaws, in which Quint (Robert Shaw) says, "Here's to swimming with bow-legged women."

5. Many water scenes were shot in the same place

The scenes in Isengard were filmed on what Jackson called the "wet set." This was a large expanse of water the crew created by flooding a parking lot. It was also used for the lake outside the entrance to the Mines of Moria in Fellowship of the Ring, Dead Marshes in The Two Towers, and the waters outside the port city of Pelargir later in this movie.

7. The movie features an upgraded Gollum

The CGI Gollum in The Return of the King was an "improved" version from the one in The Two Towers. Jackson said that the year between the release of the movies allowed WETA time to "re-engineer" his face, to allow for more subtle expressions.

8. The actors didn't film this scene together

Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom were not in New Zealand at the same time to shoot this short scene of Aragorn and Legolas talking on the balcony at Edoras, which was added during reshoots. Each actor filmed his part in front of a blue screen several months apart, and the two shots were composited together in post-production.

9. Big hands were needed to hold Pippin's face

For the scene in which Gandalf holds Pippin, Jackson's team had to find someone with unusually big hands to place on the small Hobbit face. The hands were provided by 7-foot tall Paul Randall (aka "Big Paul"), who also appears in all three movies as a double for when characters need to appear much bigger than the hobbit actors. Jackson said that Gandalf actor Ian McKellen directed Randall for this scene, as he had a better idea of how to place his hands on Billy Boyd.

10. This was originally two different scenes

This important scene in the hall at Edoras was originally two separate scenes that were edited into one. Jackson said he had to flip a lot of shots to make sure the actors were looking in the right directions, and at one point a shot of Gandalf was reversed.

11. This elf is an in-joke

The elf who tells Arwen that she "cannot delay" her journey to the Undying Lands was played by Bret McKenzie, who subsequently became famous as half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, alongside Jemaine Clement. McKenzie very briefly appeared in Fellowship of the Ring, and his character became known as Figwit among admiring fans--an acronym for "Frodo is great... who is THAT?" Jackson decided to put him in Return of the Ring and give him some dialogue "just for fun for the fans."

12. This scene was shot for The Two Towers

The Elven scenes in the forest and the subsequent one between Arwen and Elrond were intended to be part of The Two Towers. However, while editing the films, Jackson decided he wanted the resolution of Arwen's story to be entirely in the third movie.

13. Jackson doesn't think he did a good job with the White Tree

The White Tree is an important part of the mythology of Gondor, but Jackson admits he "ballsed it up a little bit" for the movie, and really never made it clear what it is.

14. The only studio big enough to shoot this scene was next to a noisy train depot

The scenes between Gandalf, Pippin, and Denethor at Minas Tirith were one of the last things shot for the entire trilogy. The King's Hall set was built in a huge warehouse in Wellington that was right next to a train depot, meaning that the sounds of trains moving in and out occurred throughout shooting. All the sound was subsequently replaced.

15. Denethor was deliberately clean shaven

Actor John Noble, who plays Denethor, was deliberately clean-shaven, because so many other male characters in the movies--Gandalf, Aragorn, Theodon, Boromir, Faramir, Théoden--are bearded.

16. This scene was a reversal of one from the first movie

This scene in which Sam encourages Frodo to keep going to Mordor was written as a reversal of the scene in Fellowship, where Frodo helps Sam to leave the Shire for the first time.

17. Minas Morgul wasn't based on an existing design

Most of the famous locations and scenes from Tolkien's trilogy have been illustrated by artists in the decades since its publication, and were used as visual inspiration for the movies. However, Jackson said that no one had really drawn the fortress of Minas Morgul before, leading artist John Howe to develop its look specifically for the movie.

18. The Witch-king's helmet was redesigned

The Witch-king's helmet was given a new look after these scenes were initially shot, as Jackson decided the original design was too similar to the helmet worn by Sauron in the Fellowship prologue and that audiences might confuse the characters.

19. Royd Tolkien has a cameo

Royd Tolkien, the great-grandson of JRR Tolkien, makes a cameo as a soldier handing out spears to the Gondorian warriors.

20. Gothmog and the Witch-king were played by the same actor as Lurtz

The deformed orc leader Gothmog is played by Lawrence Makoare, who also appeared as the Uruk-hai commander Lurtz in The Fellowship of the Ring. Jackson said he is "brilliant at pushing energy through a rubber mask," so wanted to use him again. Makoare also played the Witch-king in this movie.

21. Sean Bean filmed his part scene a long time before the rest of it

The brief shot of Boromir walking towards Faramir, imagined by a tormented Denethor, was filmed by Sean Bean a year earlier. Bean had finished all his other scenes in the trilogy and was about to leave New Zealand, so Jackson asked him to shoot this moment in case he could use it later.

22. The ledge scene was shot a long time before the rest of the movie

Some of the scene of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum on a ledge in Mordor was filmed long before the rest of Return of the King. Jackson was only a few weeks into the massive 18-month production of the whole trilogy, but when flooding stopped exterior shooting on Fellowship, the director tried to think of a scene they could film in the small studio space, built on a hotel squash court, they had available at short notice. He decided on this important scene from Return of the King. It was hard for the actors to get into character for this moment, which was much further into a story they had only just started filming. Sean Astin filmed his close-ups, and Elijah Wood didn’t return to do his close-ups on the same set until a year later. Andy Serkis hadn't even been cast as Gollum when the initial filming took place.

23. Billy Boyd sang this moving song

Phillipa Boyens discovered that Boyd is a great singer during a cast karaoke night, and came up with the idea of Pippin singing a song while Faramir rides to his possible death. Boyd also wrote the melody of the song, using lyrics from Tolkien's novel.

24. Andúril was ridiculously long

Andúril, the sword that Elrond gives to Aragorn, was so long that it was actually impossible to wear around the waist without it dragging on the ground, and couldn't be pulled out of a scabbard properly. As a result, the sword is never resheathed after Aragorn takes it.

25. Jackson had used this location before

Fans of Jackson's 1992 horror-comedy classic Braindead (aka Dead/Alive) might recognize this rocky valley from the opening of that movie. It's a place named the Pinnacles, in New Zealand's Kauaeranga Valley.

26. This shot was intended for Fellowship of the Ring

This helicopter shot of the Rohirrim charging was actually filmed for Fellowship of the Ring. Originally it featured Gandalf's cart heading towards Hobbiton, but wasn't used. Jackson asked WETA to digitally remove Gandalf and replace him with hundreds of CGI horses.

27. Jackson doesn't like the Army of the Dead

Jackson was not a big fan of the ghost army. In the commentary, he states he felt "uninspired" about how to deal with them in the story, as they are "all a bit Dungeon & Dragons."

28. This was the last thing shot for the movie

This shot of skulls rolling toward Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli was the last thing Jackson ever filmed for the Lord of the Rings. It was filmed specifically for the extended version of Return of the King. In the commentary, Jackson revealed that he filmed it after he'd already won the Best Picture Oscar for the movie in February 2004, and stated that it must be the only case of a director still finishing his film after he'd collected an Oscar for it.

29. Gandalf definitely doesn't hit Denethor in the novel

Jackson admitted that the moment that Galdalf hits Denethor with his staff "isn't very Tolkien." Nevertheless, it always got a big cheer when audiences saw it.

30. Jackson appears as a comedy pirate

Jackson appears as the pirate who is hit by Legolas's arrow. In the commentary Walsh states that this is the moment the film turns into a Monty Python movie.

31. The Shelob scene was moved for a good reason

The Shelob sequence appeared at the end of the The Two Towers novel, but was moved to be halfway through The Return Of the King movie. While this change was a controversial one for some fans, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens defended it by stating that had it stayed in The Two Towers it would've left Frodo and Sam with very little to do in the third film.

32. Shelob was based on a real spider

Shelob was based on the Black Tunnelweb spider, which can be found throughout New Zealand. However, the final creature design wasn't decided on until the post-production, so the actors had no real idea of what she would look like while filming these scenes.

33. This was Sean Astin's audition scene

The scene in which Sam finds Frodo, wrapped in Shelob's web, was the one he was originally asked to audition with. Walsh says that while some of the actors struggled with the scene, Astin "just nailed it."

34. It was Bernard Hill's idea to ride in front of his men

Hill suggested that Théoden ride along the line of soldiers, hitting their spears with his sword to get them ready for battle. However, because Jackson needed him to ride toward the camera while doing so, Hill had to switch hands and hold his sword with the hand he was not accustomed to using, while also riding his horse.

35. Jackson cut out Mûmakil suffering

The Mûmakil that the armies of Mordor use in the battle of Pelennor Fields are enormous and fearsome beasts. However, Jackson cut several shots of the creatures in pain after being hit with arrows, as they were getting too much sympathy whenever he showed the scenes to anyone. Jackson says instead he included shots of the Mûmakil "stomping on horses" to swing sympathy the other way.

36. The Witch-king fight was shot twice

The fight between Eowyn and the Witch-king was reshot after the Witch-king's helmet was redesigned. In addition, his mace was made much larger after Jackson said he wanted one that could "take off her head with one hit."

37. Jackson gave Legolas this action scene after audiences loved his other ones

The scene of Legolas scaling the Mûmakil to take out the rider before surfing back down its tusk was added because similar action scenes for the character had gone down so well with audiences. Orlando Bloom was only available for three days of reshoots, during which time he filmed the close-ups for this scene.

38. Bernard Hill interrupted a holiday to reshoot Théoden's death scene

Bernard Hill had completed all his work on the movie and left the production, but when viewing the footage back, Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens decided that Éowyn was too "weepy and distraught," and they wanted to make her character much stronger when speaking to her uncle for the last time. Luckily, Hill hadn't left New Zealand; he was on holiday on the South Island, so he was able to quickly return to film the scene again.

Gimli asks Aragorn why they don't just keep the Army of Dead to help them defeat Sauron, because Jackson knew the audience would be asking exactly the same question.

In the theatrical version, this scene of Pippin and Merry reuniting on the battlefield is set in the daytime. Jackson used color grading to switch it to night for the extended cut, because the addition of a previously cut scene--the Houses of Healing--meant the length of the day had changed.

41. This scene was made more dramatic in editing

The scene in which Sam gives Frodo the Ring back was changed while the movie was being edited. Originally, Sam just handed the Ring over, but it was changed so Sam hesitates before returning it, as the power of the Ring starts to affect him. Jackson used various takes of Astin looking at Wood to make it seem like Sam was struggling with the decision.

42. This location had to be swept for unexploded bombs

The scenes set outside the Black Gate were shot on an army munitions training ground near Mount Roperau, where most of the Mordor scenes were set. It was the only very large and flat expanse of land that Jackson's team could locate in the area, but there was concern from the army that it had been used for 40 years to test bombs and explosives, and there could be dozens of potentially unexploded weapons there. However, Jackson got permission from the New Zealand government to film there, so the army had to sweep the entire area ahead of filming. They were also on-set the whole time, in case any more bombs or grenades were found during the shoot.

43. The Mouth of Sauron appeared in two Mad Max movies

The Mouth of Sauron was played by Bruce Spence. The Australian actor is best known for his roles in the classic movies Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior) and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Spence's mouth was digitally enlarged during post-production to give him a disturbing appearance.

44. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens sent a sweet note

After Walsh and Boyens viewed the emotional footage of Sam and Frodo making their final ascent up Mount Doom, they sent Wood and Astin a fax with an official production company cover sheet. The second page simply read, "You made us cry."

45. Aragorn originally fought Sauron, not a troll

Originally Aragorn was going to fight the physical version of Sauron in the Battle of the Black Gate--the scene was edited and you can see footage of it here. But Jackson decided to omit it after he decided it was too similar to the fight scene between Sauron and Isildur in the Fellowship prologue. However, he used the same footage of Mortensen fighting for when he takes on a troll in the battle.

46. There were three versions of Gollum's fall

Jackson considered three different versions of Gollum's fall into the Crack of Doom. In one, Frodo throws Gollum and the Ring into the fire, while another was the same as in the book, where Gollum is dancing with joy at getting the Ring back and accidentally falls. In the end, Jackson chose the third way--Gollum and Frodo both fall while fighting over the Ring.

47. This is Jackson's favorite moment

Jackson states that his single favorite scene in the entire trilogy is when Aragorn tells the hobbits, "My friends, you bow to no one," before he--and the entire assembled crowd at his coronation--bow down before Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry.

48. Phillipa Boyens wrote an amusingly self-referential line for Frodo

Boyens originally included a line for Frodo, in which he says, "Bilbo always told me that the great stories never end," because she was very aware of just how long the entire ending of the movie was. However, Walsh vetoed it, because she felt it was "too much of a comment on the film itself."

49. This powerful scene had to be shot three times for annoying reasons

The moving sequence in which Sam, Merry, and Pippin say goodbye to Frodo had to be shot three times. The four hobbit actors had given extremely emotional performances, but during the shooting, Astin had broken off and returned for the rest without wearing his full costume. So the scene was filmed again. But after this, to his horror, Jackson discovered that all the footage was out-of-focus. He had to ask his stars to perform the entire scene yet again the next day.

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