Monday, November 5, 2012

How do you get to Middle-earth? You fly, of course!

New Zealand is really working hard to taking advantage of all the marketing tie-in opportunities with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies and now, his Hobbit movies.  Take, for example, the giant statue of Gollum that has been installed in the Wellington airport:


It's an amazing likeness, but to be honest, not exactly what I'd like to have watching over me as I go through security.

Now, Air New Zealand is getting in the fun as well, with their new in-flight safety training.  Here is information from their press release about the video:

Hobbits, dwarves, and wizards take flight in Air New Zealand's (The Official Airline of Middle-earth) latest in-flight safety video, "An Unexpected Briefing."  Elven Air New Zealand crew members instruct passengers on in-flight safety for their journey to Middle-earth in this brand new video, which will run on Air New Zealand flights beginning this week, leading up to the worldwide release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  Not only does Peter Jackson make a surprise cameo, but Weta Workshop (Peter Jackson’s digital effects company behind The Hobbit trilogy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong and Avatar, among others) lent their master digital animation talents in the form of one ring-obsessed character– Gollum.

Take a look:


Alongside ‘An Unexpected Briefing’, Air New Zealand is offering a Global Sweepstakes, “Find and Unlock the Elvish Code." Count the hidden Elvish codes in the safety video (look closely!), then visit www.airnzcode.com/hobbitmovie to unlock the door to Bag End and enter to win a bunch of prizes, including a flight and hotel stay in New Zealand to catch the movie premiere.

Now, the big questions--Do you have to check your bow and arrows?  Or can you carry them on?  And if you do, is there an extra fee?