The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a fantasy novel published in three parts by J.R.R. Tolkien between 1954 and 1955. It tells the story of a magic ring forged in evil to command the inhabitants of a fantasy land called Middle Earth, and the journey of those who would stand against it.

References

• A sketch known as "Monster Eats Machine" performed on The Ed Sullivan Show was written with a fair amount of nonsense technical speak. As such, several jokes and references were tossed into the dialogue. Lewis Carroll's mome raths are mentioned along with the phrase "Gandalf pentameter," a reference to the wizard Gandalf in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

• In Muppet King Arthur #3, Sir Percival (Fozzie Bear) urges King Arthur (Kermit the Frog) to let his nephew Mordred (Robin the Frog) come along on a quest for the Holy Grail. Merlin (Rowlf the Dog) agrees saying, "Yeah, it's not like we're hiking into Mordor to throw a ring into a volcano."

Mentions

• Weta Digital provided CGI characters for Peter Jackson's film version of the trilogy. During production of the second film, digital stand-ins were required for the all-CGI character Gollum who would interact with live actors. For some scenes, Kermit the Frog was used in Gollum's place as a joke by the animators. Footage of Kermit as Gollum was shown during the 2003 Game Developers Conference.

Connections

• John Bach played Madril in The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003)
• Sean Bean played Boromir in all three Peter Jackson films
• Paul Brooke played Grima Wormtongue in the 1981 BBC Radio drama
• David Buck played Gimli in the 1978 animated film
• Anthony Daniels played Legolas in the 1978 animated film
• Renée Fleming performed on the soundtrack for The Return of the King (2003)
• Ian Holm played Frodo Baggins in the 1981 BBC Radio drama and Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and Return of the King (2003)
• Michael Hordern played Gandalf in the 1981 BBC Radio drama
• John Hurt played Aragorn in the 1978 animated film
• Casey Kasem played Merry in the 1980 Rankin/Bass version of The Return of the King
• Bret McKenzie played an Elf in The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Return of the King (2003)
• Andy Serkis played Gollum/Smeagol in all three Peter Jackson films
• Bruce Spence played the Mouth of Sauron in The Return of the King (2003, extended edition)
• John Stephenson played various roles in the 1980 Rankin/Bass version of The Return of the King
• Joel Tobeck played an orc lieutenant in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)
• Hugo Weaving played Elrond in all three Peter Jackson films

See also

• The Muppet Show in Ham's Deep