In Lord of the Rings, Galadriel says: “For, the time will soon come when Hobbits will shape the fortunes of all.”
I am not sure of all of us, but for New Zealand, that time has surely come.
– #360LIVE: Australia vs Pakistan quarter-final
– VIDEO: Cook and Collingwood on Pietersen
– Rohit Sharma leads India to #CWC15 semis
– #Quiz360: Win a group paintballing session
The imagination of JRR Tolkien, and the execution of Sir Peter Jackson, has ensured that sheep and kiwis are no longer the most talked thing here. That honour now belongs to Lord of the Rings and the Hobbits.
Right from the moment I boarded an Air New Zealand flight, to the time I took my flight out of Wellington, there was no escaping the influence of the Trilogies.
Did you know Westpac stadium had a role to play in @LOTR ? @Sport_360 #CWC15 #Hobbits pic.twitter.com/ZlwWmuBcvX
— Joy Chakravarty (@TheJoyOfCricket) March 12, 2015
Obviously, Tourism New Zealand misses out on no opportunity to showcase their unique legacy of less than two decades. During the World Cup, a large number of tour operators and journalists were taken to the ‘Hobbiton’ – the set of the movie that is intact in a farmland of incredible beauty near Hamilton.
We even played a cricket match there – rubbing shoulders with the ‘Sultan of Swing’ (or should that be the ‘Wicket Wizard’?) Sir Richard Hadlee, and the elegant Stephen Fleming.
I am sure you have all seen, or at least heard about, the Hobbit-inspired flight safety video of Air New Zealand. A first version was released in 2012, followed by another last year. They are just brilliant and have racked up millions of hits on YouTube.
And the Wellington airport calls itself the ‘Middle of the Middle Earth’. In fact, even Air New Zealand re-branded itself to the ‘Official Airline of Middle Earth’.
I lost count of the number of ‘Middle Earth’ branded business that I came across – including restaurants, beverages, hotels, B&Bs and launderettes. I visited at least half a dozen cafes and bars in various parts of the country that have posted pictures of cast members of the movie enjoying a drink in their establishments.
On a conservative estimate, there are at least 200 tours being offered with the Hobbit, Lord of the Ring, or Middle Earth theme. I counted 29 in a single tourism publication in Christchurch before giving up.
It seems director Peter Jackson always wanted to shoot the Trilogy in New Zealand, and he approached the then Prime Minister Helen Clark for permission and financial assistance. As the story goes, Clark said she could not spend any money, but offered him the full cooperation and use of several battalions of ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps), who weren’t particularly busy with any conflict at the time.
The rest is history. The six movies feature in the top 30 of all-time highest gross earnings. And while Jackson and Warner Bros have been rolling in piles of cash no doubt – the Dh1 billion ($281m) budget of the LOTR trilogy yielding close to Dh11 billion ($3 bn) – New Zealand have gained immensely as well.
Forget Warren Buffet, it is Helen Clark who should be lauded as the world’s shrewdest investor.
