"The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is, without a doubt, the strongest example of classic literature turned film turned undisputed success. Very few book adaptions have managed to win over not only long time fans and critics, but also, convert a few newbies along the way (I shamelessly belong to the third category myself). Apart from being successful in almost every category ranging from film technicality to Tolkien technicality, the J.R.R. Tolkien books turned movies are arguably the final epic to be put mainly on celluloid film strips. Here are 10 awesome facts about "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy you probably didn't know.
1. Way back in the 60's, The Beatles tried to get a movie adaption made.
The movie would have been set up with Paul McCartney playing Frodo, Ringo Starr playing Sam, George Harrison playing Gandalf, and John Lennon playing Gollum. When they approached Stanley Kubrick about the idea he shot it down, stating the books were un-filmable.
2. Sam's pony in "Fellowship" was two guys in a horse suit.
In The Midgewater Marshes scene, Sam is actually leading a panto pony. What is a "panto pony?" It is just a fancy way to say two dudes in a horse costume. Since the unpredictability of a live animal in an actual marsh deemed too dangerous, production opted for the horse costume.
3. At the Battle of Helm's Deep, the battle cry of the Uruk-Hai was cricket fans.
Peter Jackson, the film's director, went to a New Zealand cricket match and at the half he directed the crowd of 25,000 in chanting the words "Rrwaaa harra farr rrara!" They put the phrase on the big screen to help the fans keep track.
4. The trilogy grossed $3 billion in box office receipts.
To put that in perspective that could buy about 460 million Chipolte burritos.
5. Sean Bean refused to fly to set.
After a prank played by co-stars, on top of already being scared of flying, Sean Bean refused to take the helicopter rides to the remote filming locations. To compensate, he would wake up at four in the morning, get into full Boromir costume, and walk paths over mountains to set.
6. The cast of the fellowship all got tatted.
Eight of the actors who played the characters in "The Fellowship" got tattoos of the word nine in elvish. Actor John Rhys Davies (Gimli) refused to get a tattoo, so staying true to true actor form when things get bloody or dangerous, he had his stunt double go in a get it. Jackson himself went in and got one himself. His was the word "Ten."
7. Gimli and Man Ray from "Spongebob" are one in the same.
Yup, both are John Rhys Davies.
8. The chain mail hand linked for the film, if put in a straight line, would add up to six miles.
To put that in perspective, that's about the distance from my house to the nearest Chipolte.
9. You can actually walk the mountains of Middle Earth, but not on this Earth.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has a group of people set aside to insure that every mountain range discovered on Saturn's moon, Titan, is named after the mountains of Middle Earth.
10. Sean Connery passed up a paycheck of $400 million.
Production wanted actor Sean Connery to play the wizard Gandalf so badly that they offered him 15 percent of whatever the film would go on to make. This would have given him a paycheck of upwards of $400 million. The "James Bond" actor turned do the role, stating he did not understand the script.
