Lord Of The Rings: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Orcs

Tolkien's descriptions of the orcs are fairly different to the ones we see in the Peter Jackson movies. Tolkien's creatures move and walk more like great apes or monkeys, with bow legs and crooked frames. Their description is one of twisted and tortured beings, so corrupted by evil, that their bodies have been contorted - works great on paper, right?

Transposing this to the screen posed a few problems, however. It seemed to work for the Goblins of Moria, who scurry, and swarm like cockroaches; but for the more formidable fighters, the initial tests were anything but scary. Jackson had arranged for all the actors playing orcs to undergo "orc training", this included teaching them to walk with a bow-legged amble.

When Jackson reviewed the early footage, they looked like a bunch of toddlers walking around with full diapers. Needless to say it wasn't all that threatening. The decision was made to discard this concept, for the Uruks of Isengard and Mordor; instead having them walk upright, posing a far more menacing threat to our heroes.