For those of you who think you got to see magnificent creatures in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, Balrogs and Fell Beasts are nothing compared to Lord Smaug the Tremendous, the unassessably wealthy, the Golden, the Mighty, the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities.
Via Hero Complex, here’s Peter Jackson on the challenge of realizing the most famous dragon of all time:
“The trouble with redesigning dragons is that if you really get fruity with it, it suddenly starts to look like some sort of monster from another planet — you very quickly can go into science-fiction territory. I don’t want to do that. I mean, people expect a dragon. ‘The Hobbit’ is one of the most famous dragon stories in the world, really. So I’m not trying to step away from the dragon. I just want to present the most venal, scary, decrepit, nasty dragon that I possibly can.”
Smaug is the main reason I’m so excited for The Hobbit films – the decision to turn The Hobbit into a trilogy will allow Jackson to fully showcase his personality, visual eccentricities and story impact. I have no doubt that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will bring not just the dragon to end all dragons, but a type of wonder and awe rarely seen in movies these days.
And although Jackson didn’t use Guillermo del Toro’s designs, I’m hopeful that he’ll add the best elements of what del Toro concocted to his own creation. For instance, the emphasis on the dragon’s movement and environment:
”To me, Smaug is the perfect example of a great creature defined by its look and design, yes, but also, very importantly, by his movement and -One little hint- its environment – Think about it…”
Jackson also gave Hero Complex two specific examples of story elements drawn from the appendices: the tale of how Gandalf began working with Thorin and an expanded story for Gollum. The article doesn’t say how much, if any, of these additional plot points will make it into the first Hobbit film.
In other news, via AwardsDaily we have our first full track from Howard Shore’s score for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Listen to the track, “Radagast the Brown,” below:
Advance tickets for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey go on sale this Wednesday, November 7 at 12 pm EST, 9 am PST.