10 Amazing Behind The Scenes Stories From The Lord Of The Rings
3. Peter Jackson Tracked Down Two Original Tolkien Artists To Design The Movies
Part of the reason LOTR felt so authentic was due to the massive depths the design team went to create the world's aesthetic. When it came to designing Middle Earth, Peter Jackson amassed an army of talented artists, to bring his vision to life. But as well as remaining faithful to the literature, he also wanted to pay respect to the images that had become associated with Tolkien's work over the years.
Two illustrators, Alan Lee and John Howe, had been monumental in creating artwork that covered Tolkien's books, calendars and memorabilia. But both artists were somewhat reclusive. John Howe was living in Switzerland at the time. And, in his nervous excitement, Jackson neglected to recognise the time difference between Switzerland and New Zealand. Howe got a phone call at 3:00AM, imploring him to join the team; which he did, almost immediately, if only to get the crazed Kiwi off the phone.
When it came to Alan Lee, however, it was a slightly harder task. They couldn't turn up much contact information for him, but managed to find an address in rural England where he might live. Jackson sent a FedEx package, filled with his movies, and a letter, in hopes of enticing Lee to the project. The production team were given moment by moment updates, to establish exactly when Lee had received the package. Three hours later, Jackson received a phone call from Lee, agreeing to join his fellowship of artists.