History Fridge / TheHobbit

* Why is Galadriel more ready to believe Gandalf about the threat of the Necromancer and Sauron's return? Because she knows better than anyone that he's ''still out there'', due to resisting his mental warfare for ''centuries''. She knows his presence is still quite real in Middle Earth.

* Gollum, while still being creepy, is willing to play a game with Bilbo and seems like less of a threat. This contrasts the darker aspects of the character seen in the original trilogy. The reason? In Lord of the Rings, Gollum has been separated from his Precious for ''60 years'', on top of his Ring-induced craziness.

* In the film, Thror is described as succumbing to a "sickness" over his longing for gold, and it is stated that his desire for more and more wealth is what drew Smaug to Erebor. Now, consider the back story to ''TheLordOfTheRings'': The Seven Rings of the Dwarves were captured and corrupted by Sauron, who then presented them to the Dwarves (Dúrin's folk dispute Sauron ever had his ring, of course, but it's left ambiguous by Tolkien). However, Sauron discovered that because the Dwarves were specifically made to be resistant to evil by Aulë, he couldn't directly control or corrupt them the way he could use the Nine against Men (another bit of Brilliance in the film version of ''TheFellowshipOfTheRing'': this is the one thing that makes it plausible if ''anyone'' could try to break the Ring by himself, it would be Gimli). What did Sauron do instead? He twisted the Rings themselves so that while the Dwarves could indeed use them to build their fortunes, that it would also lead to the destruction of their kingdoms. Thror's possessed the Ring of Dúrin. His madness for gold, which led him to accumulate such a large hoard it drew Smaug's attention, is the result of his Ring's corruption.

* When I heard that the upcoming film adaptation of ''Literature/TheHobbit'' is supposedly including a character named Itaril, a CanonForeigner who is an Elven warrior maiden and falls in love with "an Elf lord" (Legolas?), I admit that I wasn't very pleased (although not [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks nearly as hacked off]] about it as other fans are). But then I got to thinking... what if Itaril is meant to be a StealthParody of all the {{Mary Sue}}s in [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings LotR]] fanfiction who hook up with Legolas? And this is assuming that this ''isn't'' just an overblown rumor. -{{Tropers/ElvenQueen}}
** As of current production, the "elf warrior maiden" character is named Tauriel and is explicitly ''not'' a LoveInterest for Legolas.
* So Christopher Lee is going to muster up the strength to play Saruman the White despite his weak health, and good for him! It's pretty likely, though, that Saruman of ''The Hobbit'' will be frailer than Saruman of ''TheLordOfTheRings''. This can actually become a plot detail -- Saruman's power for good in Middle Earth is flagging, as is the power of the Elves and other Maiar. Then, his relative rejuvenation when Gandalf meets him in ''Fellowship'' can be attributed to the fact that EvilFeelsGood, and once he's allied with Sauron, the Dark Lord may be loaning him some physical strength.
** He may also be depicted as drained from the lengthy mental struggles against Sauron through the Palantír; once he stops resisting, he'll get physically better. Although it's equally possible that the matter is just glossed over, and we only see Saruman in sitting roles, and make-up prevents us from seeing extra ageing.
* Martin Freeman as the young Bilbo Baggins, anyone? He's basically playing Arthur Dent again, only in Middle-Earth.
** After watching the film, it's safe to say Bilbo rises to the occasion magnificently, like Arthur Dent does.

** Oddly enough, the goblins are less likely to kill immediately on sight and actually do some civilized talking. The orcs, however...

* Look closely at the Dwarves's fighting style when they're escaping the goblins: some fancy swinging, fighting backwards, and pretty smart use of both weapons and terrian... it has a slight elvish style to it. Of all the irony...
* Bit of FridgeBrilliance: In the film, Thror is described as succumbing to a "sickness" over his longing for gold, and it is stated that his desire for more and more wealth is what drew Smaug to Erebor. Now, consider the back story to ''TheLordOfTheRings'': The Seven Rings of the Dwarves were captured and corrupted by Sauron, who then presented them to the Dwarves (Dúrin's folk dispute Sauron ever had his ring, of course, but it's left ambiguous by Tolkien). However, Sauron discovered that because the Dwarves were specifically made to be resistant to evil by Aulë, he couldn't directly control or corrupt them the way he could use the Nine against Men (another bit of Brilliance in the film version of ''TheFellowshipOfTheRing'': this is the one thing that makes it plausible if ''anyone'' could try to break the Ring by himself, it would be Gimli). What did Sauron do instead? He twisted the Rings themselves so that while the Dwarves could indeed use them to build their fortunes, that it would also lead to the destruction of their kingdoms. Thror's possessed the Ring of Dúrin. His madness for gold, which led him to accumulate such a large hoard it drew Smaug's attention, is the result of his Ring's corruption.
* An interesting point was brought up to me after I watched this movie. Why were the orcs talking in Orkish in this film but not in the TheLordOfTheRings trilogy? I believe it is because in the trilogy, they were under the control of Sauron. He was making them speak what would be the common tongue. But in The Hobbit, they were not controlled by Sauron so they speak their original language. This would be FridgeBrilliance.
** The books for ''TheLordOfTheRings'' make it explicit that Sauron's forces contain orcs from many different tribes and breeds, all of whom have their own languages, and that they therefore often speak the Common Tongue because it's a language they all share (in ''The Return of the King'', the orcs that capture Frodo all seem to be speaking the Black Speech, but the Ring is translating for Sam).
* The Lord of the Rings made it pretty explicit that Legolas does not sleep, as he is an elf. But the elves in the hobbit do fall asleep; in fact, Bilbo only manages to free the dwarves from the halls of the elf-king because a guard falls asleep.
** Isn't it less that they "fall asleep" and more that they "pass out from excessive wine consumption"?

* An interesting point was brought up to me after I watched this movie. Why were the orcs talking in Orkish in this film but not in the TheLordOfTheRings: trilogy? I believe it is because in the trilogy, they were under the control of Sauron. He was making them speak what would be the common tongue. But in The Hobbit, they were not controlled by Sauron so they speak their original language. This would be FridgeBrilliance:.

* Azog's appearance seems to be a throwback, considering that in the movie canon orcs are corrupted elves. He has pale skin, well-proportioned body and a fine skull-shape. In short, he's built like an elf. His features only become monstrous because of his sharp teeth, many scars, and ofcourse his huge size.

** After watching th efilm, it's safe to say Bilbo rises to the occasion magnificently, like Arthur Dent does.

* When I saw the CGI goblin from the first trailer(s), I wondered why they would do that instead of having actors in prosthetics and makeup playing the orcs, since it was so realistic and critically acclaimed during the LOTR trilogy. Then, I was equally confused when I found out they were distinguishing goblins from orcs and that the orcs were actors in makeup and prosthetics (though perhaps enhanced with CGI). Then, I thought of Smeagol's transformation into Gollum in the The Return of the King. He went from actor to actor in prosthetics to full CGI the longer he had been underground in the mountains. It dawned on my that the creators must have followed this same logic for the goblins who are orcs who have been underground so long that they have turned pale, balding, large-eyed, covered in sores, and portrayed with CGI.

* When I saw the CGI goblin from the first trailer(s), I wondered why they would do that instead of having actors in prosthetics and makeup playing the orcs, since it was so realistic and critically acclaimed during the LOTR trilogy. Then, I was equally confused when I found out they were distinguishing goblins from orcs and that the orcs were actors in makeup and prosthetics (though perhaps enhanced with CGI). Then, I thought of Smeagol's transformation into Gollum in the The Return of the King. He went from actor to actor in prosthetics to full CGI the longer he had been underground in the mountains. It dawned on my that the creators must have followed this same logic for the goblins who are orcs who have been underground so long that they have turned pale, wide eyed, covered in sores, and portrayed with CGI.

* So Christopher Lee is going to muster up the strength to play Saruman the White despite his weak health, and good for him! It's pretty likely, though, that Saruman of ''The Hobbit'' will be frailer than Saruman of ''TheLordOfTheRings''. This can actually become a plot detail -- Saruman's power for good in Middle Earth is flagging, as is the power of the Elves and other Maiar. Then, his relative rejuvenation when Gandalf meets him in ''Fellowship'' can be attributed to the fact that EvilFeelsGood, and once he's allied with Sauron, the Dark Lord may be loaning him some physical strength.

* So Christopher Lee is going to muster up the strength to play Saruman the White despite his weak health, and good for him! It's pretty likely, though, that Saruman of ''The Hobbit'' will be frailer than Saruman of ''TheLordOfTheRings''. This can actually become a plot detail -- Saruman's power for good in Middle Earth is flagging, as is the power of the Elves and other Maiar. Then, his relative rejuvenation when Gandalf meets him in ''Fellowship'' can be attributed to the fact that EvilFeelsGood, and once he's allied with Sauron, the Dark Lord may be loaning him some physical strength.

** As of current production, the "elf warrior maiden" character is named Tauriel and is explicitly ''not'' a LoveInterest for Legolas.

* When I heard that the upcoming film adaptation of ''TheHobbit'' is supposedly including a character named Itaril, a CanonForeigner who is an Elven warrior maiden and falls in love with "an Elf lord" (Legolas?), I admit that I wasn't very pleased (although not [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks nearly as hacked off]] about it as other fans are). But then I got to thinking...what if Itaril is meant to be a StealthParody of all the {{Mary Sue}}s in [[TheLordOfTheRings LotR]] fanfiction who hook up with Legolas? And this is assuming that this ''isn't'' just an overblown rumor. -{{Tropers/ElvenQueen}}

* When I heard that the upcoming film adaptation of ''TheHobbit'' is supposedly including a character named Itaril, a CanonForeigner who is an Elven warrior maiden and falls in love with "an Elf lord" (Legolas?), I admit that I wasn't very pleased (although not [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks nearly as hacked off]] about it as other fans are). But then I got to thinking...what if Itaril is meant to be a StealthParody of all the {{Mary Sue}}s in [[TheLordOfTheRings LotR]] fanfiction who hook up with Legolas? And this is assuming that this ''isn't'' just an overblown rumor. -{{Tropers/ElvenQueen}}

* When I heard that the upcoming film adaptation of ''TheHobbit'' is supposedly including a character named Itaril, a CanonForeigner who is an Elven warrior maiden and falls in love with "an Elf lord" (Legolas?), I admit that I wasn't very pleased (although not [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks nearly as hacked off]] about it as other fans are). But then I got to thinking...what if Itaril is meant to be a StealthParody of all the {{Mary Sue}}s in [[TheLordOfTheRings LotR]] fanfiction who hook up with Legolas? And this is assuming that this ''isn't'' just an overblown rumor. -{{Tropers/ElvenQueen}}
* Possibly some unintended FridgeBrilliance here, but with the death of Gloin in the animated film it does make Gimli's role in TheLordOfTheRings less likely to happen (according to the timeline, Gimli was already 62 years old by the time Thorin's company set out -- so he would certainly still be around, but it's not as likely that he would appear in Rivendell since Gloin was the one who brought him there). Well, come Rankin-Bass's adaptation of TheReturnOfTheKing, which almost certainly takes place in the same continuity, Gimli ''doesn't'' appear, having been cut from the film along with Legolas. Hence, in this world, since since Gloin wasn't around, Gimli never traveled to Rivendell and probably ended up doing something completely different with his life.