The New Zealand that Elijah Wood loves: It’s wonderful; it’s home
MANILA, Philippines - When the first Lord of the Rings movie was shown in 2001, American actor Elijah Wood, who played the lead role of Frodo, exclaimed: “They said it was gonna be massive and suddenly I felt like a rock star!”
Not only was Elijah surprised at his new rock-star status after LOTR, the sleepy town of Matamata, New Zealand suddenly woke up to its newfound fame after being just a quiet patch of rolling hills where cows grazed and farmers were lucky to see three cars pass by daily.
“Now, they see at least 50 cars and trucks daily. The town attracts 350,000 tourists yearly,” said Henry Horne, our guide during a two-hour tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set on a 1,250-acre stretch of farmland owned by the Alexander family. This is one of eight essential locations for the filming of director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, and its prequel series, The Hobbit.
The Hobbiton Movie Set — instantly recognizable as the Middle Earth Shire — has 44 hobbit houses with no interiors (interior scenes were shot in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand), but a lot of character. You see honey pots, dried fish, bread and cheese on tables in front of homes. There are cute garments hanging on clotheslines, little carts parked in yards and pumpkins made extra huge to emphasize the smallness of the hobbit houses.
“Five percent of what you see here is fake,” explained Horne, referring mainly to the exposed foods in front of the hobbit houses. “But everything else is real, especially the flowers and the fruit-bearing trees.”
Horne added: “During the filming though, the producers had to wire artificial leaves imported from Taiwan onto one huge ancient tree, and for all the effort, the tree was seen onscreen for only 11 seconds.”
Filmmaker Peter Jackson was 18 when he read J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. When he saw the Waikato farming county in 1998, he knew it would be the perfect setting for the movie version of the book — a mythical pre-history of the planet earth 6,000 years ago, which avid fans say is “more history than fantasy.”
“The place has to look like a slice of ancient England,” said Horne, explaining that the original materials used for the hobbit houses were quite weak and had to be replaced with real and sturdy construction materials that could last 50 years.
Construction of the set began in March 1999, during which earthmoving machinery was provided by the New Zealand army in order to build a 1.5-kilometer road leading to the site.
Except for the hobbit houses, everything else was a natural for the movies: the old trees that seemed to whisper with the winds, the rolling hills, the craggy cliffs, the ponds that had real frogs croaking too noisily, the colorful flowers, the butterflies and birds flying about.
“Everything here is constantly changing, and we’ve had tourists who have visited the place up to nine times. And 40 percent of tourists here have actually never seen LOTR or The Hobbit. We’ve had tourists from two to 96 celebrate milestones here, including weddings — and yes, that includes weddings of little people who come here mainly for the reception ambience. Wedding parties have ranged from six to 600 guests.”
The thatch-roofed Green Dragon Inn, which is the venue for feasts and receptions, does serve good ginger beer and apple cider, and a hearty buffet befitting period films.
“Would you believe some New Zealanders were against the idea of shooting the movie here? New Zealand had to revise employment rules to allow foreigners to work here. The cast and crew would rise to 400 at times. We also waived $300 million in taxes for the producers, but in the end they spent the same amount here,” said Horne.
At present, the Hobbiton Movie Set provides employment to 200 people. Indeed, it was a monumental project that paid off, and Jackson didn’t realize that this book that tickled his fancy would be transformed to the greatest 3-D advertisement for his beloved New Zealand.
“I love this place so much,” said Elijah in the LOTR Location Guidebook by Ian Brodie. “I want to have a place here I can go and visit. It’s wonderful; it’s home. I mean, I spent a year and a half of my life here.”
Walking through the paths leading to the hobbit houses, I can almost see Elijah Wood with his wide sparkling eyes; and Orlando Bloom with his silver hair so well-combed and flowing, he could be in a shampoo commercial; and Ian Holm reminding me that if Iived here in this peaceful patch of paradise, like Bilbo Baggins, I too, could one day celebrate my 111th birthday here.
