Lord of the Rings Revisited

Summary

Podcast Summary: Flightless Bird — "Lord of the Rings Revisited"

Host: David Farrier
Cohost: Rob
Date: December 31, 2024

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Episode Overview

In this special "Lord of the Rings Revisited" episode, David Farrier and Rob look back at one of the podcast’s most loved and controversial topics: the Lord of the Rings trilogy—particularly David's infamous admission that, as a proud New Zealander, he had never watched a full Lord of the Rings movie.
The episode features:

• New banter between David and fellow Kiwi Leon, who stars in The Rings of Power.
• A redux replay of David’s tour of the Hobbiton set in New Zealand.
• Insights and affectionate digs into American and Kiwi cultural quirks.
• A highly entertaining recap from Rob’s young son Calvin, sharing his takes on the first two Lord of the Rings films.

The tone is warm, irreverent, and self-effacing, weaving in playful complaints about working over the holidays, gratitude toward listeners, and deep dives into what Hobbiton means for fans and New Zealand itself.

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Key Discussion Points

1. David Farrier’s Lord of the Rings Confession & Kiwi Guilt

[00:09] – [02:18]

• David admits (again) he’s never watched an entire LotR movie, much to co-guest Leon's and listeners' horror.
• Leon recalls how inescapable the trilogy was in New Zealand and shares childhood memories of obsession over the books and films.
• Quote:
  Leon [01:13]: “I don’t think [not seeing the films] felt like an option… it just didn’t feel like there was an option not to be part of this.”
• Leon speaks about his ongoing involvement in the Tolkien universe: “I feel like it’s never going to stop now.”

2. A Lord of the Rings Actor’s Perspective

[02:18] – [03:58]

• Leon discusses his role in Amazon’s Rings of Power, playing someone from the island of Númenor (the ancestors of Aragorn).
• Playful banter as David quips about not knowing Aragorn or Viggo Mortensen, and Leon teases back.
• When asked if his character is good or bad, Leon replies:
  Leon [03:48]: “People on the internet at this point would say bad. And I would say, isn’t it fun to see where the story will go?”

3. Podcast Updates, Community Thanks, and Reflections

[05:15] – [14:45]

• David and Rob’s American/New Zealander cultural mashup continues, with discussions about their team’s workload, favorite holiday rituals, and the supportive listener community.
• Discussion about live shows and the positive impact of listener ratings and engagement.
• Quote:
  David Farrier [11:03]: “To have that first show sell out relatively quickly… it means a lot. It’s one thing having people listen… but to buy a ticket to a show… it means a lot.”

4. Listener Feedback and Cultural Differences

[14:45] – [24:41]

• Rob gifts David custom cookies and a Dave Clock–illustrated Flightless Bird birthday/Christmas present (with "metal" flightless birds).
• Heartfelt discussions of listener emails, memories of awkward childhoods (braces, gaps in teeth), and feedback from ultra-religious backgrounds on American Girl dolls and Disney “satanic panic.”
• Quote:
  Rob [22:38]: “It’s a pretty American time. I had some of those years too.”
  David Farrier [23:43]: Reading a listener email: “American girls were actually preached against in my church…”

5. Generational and Cultural Observations

[27:49] – [28:50]

• Debate about the current generation’s inability to “Google” or seek out information as compared to being fed content by algorithms.
• Quote:
  David Farrier [28:01]: “Google has become completely corrupted and is just now returning a whole lot of like terrible results…The Internet in general is turning into a bit of a muddy cesspit.”

6. Listener Stories About American Oddities

[31:18] – [32:21]

• Listener tales of strange jobs (body part logistics for medical demonstrations) and the weirdest things found in homes in rural Maine (“knives stuck so far into the trees… can’t get them out,” “large dog minus the head in a plastic bin”).

7. About Hobbiton: The LOTR Tourist Pilgrimage

[34:15] – [53:03]
[Key tour: 34:15–53:03]

• David is joined by American transplant Matt for a drive to Hobbiton, discussing U.S.–Kiwi cultural differences (e.g., tipping vs. cow tipping).
• Interview with Shane Forrest, Hobbiton’s general manager, about the evolution from temporary film set to permanent tourist attraction:
  • Initially, locals begged to see the original filming remains.
  • Peter Jackson rebuilt Hobbiton for The Hobbit films, creating a permanent, ultra-detailed set.
  • The Alexander family, who own the farm, now run the site, which is still live sheep and cattle property.
  • Quote:
    Shane Forrest [38:13]: “I imagine they got the bulldozers in after the movie stopped. And then someone went, ‘Wait, don’t touch it.’”
• Vivid description of Hobbiton: sheep fields, rolling green hills, and the fully immersive vibe.
• Guest Americans (including former Hobbiton film extras) marvel at Kiwi quirks—barefoot mall-goers and, yes, lower water in toilets.
• Interviews with set decorator Josie Keane and American staffer Kate, herself an extra in The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.
• Quote:
  Josie Keane [51:24]: “This is the dream. I get to craft things authentically and give that to people and watch them interact with it and feel like they’re in a book series I’ve loved my whole life.”

8. The Hobbit Hole Tour (Inside the New "Living" Set)

[47:45] – [51:24]

• Description of entering an actual newly-built hobbit home (interiors, beds, a hot oven, a lived-in feel).
• Fans allowed to touch and interact with everything—“Because we’re trusting them and their fans, they are very respectful.”
• The emotional resonance for both tourists and staff is palpable.

9. Gift Shops and Cultural Parallels

[52:30] – [52:52]

• Matt debates buying a “thou shalt not pass” doormat and leaves with a Bag End tea towel—realizing New Zealanders share Americans' love of gift shops.

10. Calvin’s Lord of the Rings Recaps — Childhood Wonder

[52:55] – [58:29]

• Rob interviews his young son, Calvin, for charming, hilarious, and clear-eyed recaps of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
• Calvin’s highlights:
  • The ring is evil, made by a “master” who is the bad guy, only destroyed by volcano lava.
  • “There was a war. And they’re getting ready for the war, and they’re trying to break the ring into the volcano…” [55:50]
  • Identifying “Lego us” as his favorite elf; delight in big battles; amazed by Gollum/Smeagol’s dual personalities.
• Memorable outro:
  Calvin [58:14]: “Like and subscribe. Exclamation mark. My name’s Calvin. Like and describ.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Leon on LotR in NZ [01:13]:
  “I don’t think [not seeing the films] felt like an option… it just didn’t feel like there was an option not to be part of this.”
• Shane Forrest on Hobbiton’s History [38:13]:
  “Wait, don’t touch it! Who wants to get rich? Picture this — Hobbiton.”
• Matt on Hobbiton’s Authenticity [43:03]:
  “It’s lacking that gimmicky thing. It’s way more authentic than that. It’s not a movie set. It’s way more immersive than that.”
• Josie Keane, Set Decorator [51:24]:
  “It’s the playhouse that I dreamed of as a kid and I get to work in it. This world is kind of made for me and I get to make it for other short people, and that means something.”
• Calvin’s Summary of The Two Towers [55:50]:
  “There’s a war. And they’re getting ready for the war and they’re trying to break the ring into the volcano and they’re getting ready for the war.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Kiwi Guilt: David admits not having seen LotR — [00:09–02:18]
• Leon discusses his Rings of Power role — [02:18–03:58]
• Thanks to community and show updates — [05:15–14:45]
• Heartfelt listener feedback & American Girl/Disney “satanic panic” — [22:54–24:41]
• Generational Google and internet conversation — [27:49–28:50]
• Hobbiton tour and interviews — [34:15–53:03]
• Set decorator’s emotional connection — [51:24]
• Calvin’s LotR recaps — [52:55–58:29]

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Summary Tone & Style

The episode balances wit and warmth, mixing high-concept cultural analysis with genuine appreciation and gentle self-mockery. The hosts’ dynamic flows easily between sincere discussions about creativity and community, and humorous, endearing commentary on fandom and family. The inclusion of Calvin’s “like and describ” sign-off perfectly encapsulates the show’s blend of irreverence and sincerity.

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For the Listener

This episode is both a love letter to Lord of the Rings fandom and a wry exploration of New Zealand’s proud micro-culture in the age of global pop culture. It’s a must-listen for anyone curious about the behind-the-scenes magic of Hobbiton, the global reach of Tolkien’s world, and sweet, unexpectedly funny insights from the next generation of fans.

Transcript

[Calvin]

Foreign.

[David Farrier]

Hi, Leon. How are you?

[Leon]

I'm not bad. How you doing?

[David Farrier]

I'm good. It's nighttime here in Los Angeles. What time is it where you are? It's 5pm We've given our little podcast team another week off just to sort of get them through. And so we're taking a look back at one of our favorite old episodes, and that is our Lord of the Rings episode where I visited Hobbiton in New Zealand. Now, the controversial thing about that episode that made people quite mad is that I said I'd never seen a full Lord of the Rings movie. And as a New Zealander, proud New Zealander, Leon, I'm just. I'm wondering how you feel about that.

[Leon]

How did you miss them? They were everywhere.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, I just somehow managed. I've seen bits of them on tv. I never went to the movies to watch them. I don't know how I achieved that, but just somehow I avoided them.

[Leon]

Yeah, right.

[David Farrier]

They were big, weren't they?

[Leon]

They were massive. I mean, I guess I was younger, maybe I didn't have the ability to choose not to go, but I don't think I would have chosen not to go. It felt like a.

[David Farrier]

Are you calling me old?

[Leon]

No, not at all. But it just didn't feel like there was an option not to be part of this.

[David Farrier]

Do you have, like, a specific Lord of the Rings memory from back in your childhood?

[Leon]

The first time I can really remember hearing about the books was I had a friend at primary school named Tim Sugart, and he once said that he read the whole trilogy every summer. And I thought, there are so many other books. Why would you read the same three every summer? And then not long afterward, they announced they were making the trilogy in Wellington, where I'm from. And my mum, who was a huge fan, already sort of went, okay, we need to get on top of this immediately, and brought everything home and said, you start with the Hobbit. And at that point I kind of went, okay, this is major. And then when the movies were released, it got bigger again, and I didn't really realize it would be the rest of my life. I mean, that trilogy. And then 10 years later, when I was at drama school, I made the next trilogy. And then 10 years later, I was in the TV show. I feel like it's never going to stop now.

[David Farrier]

I do admit there was a sort of a side reason that I wanted to call you, and that is the fact that you're in Amazon's, the new Lord of the Rings show. The Rings of Power is that the right name?

[Leon]

That's the right name.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. And embarrassingly, for the record, and this is going to get me more hatred. I also haven't seen that. I'm wondering how you feel about that. And I should say, I don't think you've ever listened to this podcast. So I think maybe we're even.

[Leon]

Yeah, we're even. And that is consistent with what I know of you. You only want to watch gruesome horror movies that I can't sit through. If you hadn't seen the first trilogy, why would you have seen the next trilogy or the TV show? It seems like you're committed to disgusting, horrifying gore, I guess.

[David Farrier]

Can you give me a little summary? Like, tell me just really briefly what your role is, just so I get some fan points for that and maybe can you maybe give me some exciting inside information?

[Leon]

I don't think you're going to get any fan points at this stage in the game. I think you've let that go. I'm over in Numenor, which is an island that's gone by the time that Lord of the Rings trilogy you are talking about starts. But you can trace the line all the way to Aragorn.

[David Farrier]

Who?

[Leon]

You might. Do you know who that is?

[David Farrier]

I've heard the name. Has he got a beard?

[Leon]

That is Viggo Mortensen. Do you know who Viggo Mortensen is?

[David Farrier]

Yeah, he's a great actor.

[Leon]

Yeah, that guy.

[David Farrier]

I love that.

[Leon]

Yeah. But we're very different people. I think he's the ideal hero, and I'm not doing that in the show.

[David Farrier]

Are you good or bad?

[Leon]

You know, I think people on the Internet at this point would say bad. And I would say, isn't it fun to see where the story will go?

[David Farrier]

I've got one final question for you. This episode is going to air on New Year's Eve in America, which, according to my calculations, is probably New Year's Day in New Zealand. Do you sort of have a message for our listeners from the future?

[Leon]

Let's just say, welcome to 2025.

[David Farrier]

I'm David Farrier in New Zealand. Are accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure out what makes this country ticket. Now, at the start of each episode, I call a New Zealand friend just to check in on the topic we're about to tackle. That was Leon. As I mentioned today, Rob and I returned to our Lord of the Rings episode, which first aired back in March. It saw me exploring Hobbiton, one of New Zealand's most famous tourist Attractions visited by hundreds of thousands of fans every year. And also, as I mentioned, it was a controversial episode as I had not seen a single Lord of the Rings movie, which some listeners said should see me banished into the lower depths of Mordor. Have I seen the movie since? Well, I guess we're about to find out because this is the Lord of the Rings redux episode.

[Calvin]

Flagness.

[David Farrier]

Flightless, Flightless bird.

[Rob]

Touchdown in America.

[David Farrier]

I'm a flightless bird. Touchdown in America. My God, Rob, what could be more American than me clutching a Starbucks coffee cup right now?

[Rob]

Both of us clutching Starbucks.

[David Farrier]

It's ridiculous. It's really ridiculous. Now, full disclosure, we're not recording this on America's New Year's Eve, but it is going out on America's New Year's Eve.

[Rob]

Yeah, we don't do this show live. I'm sorry if we're breaking the news.

[David Farrier]

We're close to it, but we're not quite. Yeah. What is your. For the sake of when this is going out, what is tonight going to be for you? New Year's Eve? What is happening?

[Rob]

Oh, I have no plans yet. I'm just trying to get through Christmas week first.

[David Farrier]

Yes.

[Rob]

Survive that, survive that, and then scramble and see what plans can be made.

[David Farrier]

I got an incredible email a couple of days ago. It's from the guy that got me into that Creed show. He looks after the band. I was afraid after that episode aired that I'd potentially be out of the fold because my anger. Yeah, my anger was sort of like, look at the Christian nationalists at the Creed show in saying that, I think my fandom was on full display. Anyway, it turns out he did listen. He liked the episode and he said, David Creed are playing New Year's Eve and Las Vegas. Would you like to go?

[Rob]

Are you?

[David Farrier]

I'm going tonight. Yes. So New Year's Eve tonight, I am going to see Creed in Vegas. By the time this is, I will be on the road. Four hour drive to Vegas. I looked at all the hotels along the Strip because it's New Year's Eve. They're all incredibly expensive. I ended up in Circus Circus, which I understand is right at the very end of the Strip. It's one of the more rundown hotels. $240 for a night as opposed to like 1500. Booked it immediately. Cannot wait.

[Rob]

You didn't think to invite me to this Creed contest?

[David Farrier]

Look, I. Look, you're welcome. You're welcome.

[Rob]

Are you going? By myself?

[David Farrier]

I'm going solo. Yeah, I'm going. No, I'm going.

[Rob]

On my own Vegas by yourself, Creed, for New Year's Eve.

[David Farrier]

Okay. So there's a slight chance. So Noah, from our Spaceman Barry episode, he might come. He heard about this. He was like, I go to that. So it might be four hours on the road with Noah maybe learning more about Spaceman Barry and then seeing Scott stapp ring in 2025.

[Rob]

I'm probably going to have to pass on this one. I don't.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. To be honest, I didn't ask you because I thought that would be your absolute, like, true nightmare.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

But I can't think of a more American thing than a New Year's in Vegas. Watching Creed, I'm genuinely excited about this.

[Rob]

Yeah. Well, and we're. We can kind of time travel right now, but we're gonna be in a cabin together Christmas week, too.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

For a night.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. Cabin in the woods.

[Rob]

A nice A frame up in Lake Arrowhead.

[David Farrier]

It does sound like a horror film in the making pretty much. But, yeah, we're gonna, like, start planning our live show. We're gonna think about the year to come. And also, I feel like we haven't been in a cabin since we did our last tour. Yeah.

[Rob]

I still. That aura frame you gave me very often. The picture of me holding the ax from chopping firewood.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. I thought I was going to get murdered in there.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. I was like, I haven't hung out with this guy one on one before. There's an axe here. We're alone in the woods. What is this?

[Rob]

It had that weird bathroom, too.

[David Farrier]

Remember?

[Rob]

The really small bathroom.

[David Farrier]

It was so unusual. Yeah. I find anything in an A frame is often quite strange just because it has to, like, fit in this weird space.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

That was a small bathroom. I mean, this little holiday time. I'm genuinely pretty excited.

[Rob]

I am, too. I'm looking forward to a week. A week off.

[David Farrier]

I should also say that I talk a lot about us giving our team a week off. It's mostly, to be honest, giving me a week off from writing a documentary. Like, Billy is still cutting this video together for YouTube. He's still editing the documentaries that are coming out.

[Rob]

Andrew's still putting together the animation, the animation.

[David Farrier]

So just to be clear, I was just thinking those guys are going to be listening to me saying holiday, and, like, they're like, we're not on holiday.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

So it's a slight. It's a less of a lift. But the thing is to keep putting an episode out every week. We are all still kind of working in a way.

[Rob]

I did give Andrew, the direction for Leaf Blowers and Lord of the Rings, that for the dock. Well, because we decided. We decided to schedule before we went to video.

[David Farrier]

We did.

[Rob]

So this was supposed to be a very low lift. Let's just throw these docks on replay.

[David Farrier]

The old dock.

[Rob]

Then we decided to go to video. So now we need video made for these old docks. I did tell him, like, spend as little time as possible just slapping this one together.

[David Farrier]

You're good. But no, I mean, it's. Our team is amazing. So Jake and Billy all this year have been like cutting our documentaries. Andrew has come in and done these amazing video elements for the audio parts of the documentaries that are on YouTube. And I just think. I don't know. And you as well, Rob. I feel like you have elevated this whole show this year. Like we're on YouTube. It feels like we've done and explored some spaces that we have never done before. And thanks for doing all this. Like, this is. Is freaking amazing.

[Rob]

You're welcome. Still, still, the show only exists because of your weird brain that can output.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

The impressive amount of stuff you do. I do feel hopefully 2025, we can continue to elevate the show. Like, I think.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

The end of this year was really. Let's regroup.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

Figure out what this show is. Get a base set completely. And now we're doing fun stuff, like live shows.

[David Farrier]

I think we're doing this live show kind of as a spoiler alert, kind of just a See how that feels to see if we can take it elsewhere. But to have that first show sell out relatively quickly.

[Rob]

Yeah. It almost sold out from pre sale.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. I mean, for one thing, it's like pressure to put on a good show, which is like scary and good, but also it is just a reminder. Like, it's so nice that people follow the show and have obviously shared the show because. Yeah. To have a room of people turn up is just very. It's flattering and it means a lot because it's one thing having people like listening on the way to work or something, but to buy a ticket to a show, it's just. It means a lot. And so. And. And I was just as well. I was even looking at our ratings on Spotify. We've got something like 11,000 five star reviews, which is out of hand for how small the show is. But what it shows is that people listening, like you listening right now, like you're very supportive and like, that meant a lot. And I think getting those ratings, I was just thinking we got those ratings and Then Spotify got in touch. They put us on this billboard in Australia, of all places. Apple got in touch. They had us advertise on their end of year wrapped lists. And that all comes because you, the listener, care about the show. And so when we say like and subscribe, it sounds like a throwaway, except when, like Calvin and Vincent ever say it because then it's amazing. But it does actually have real world effects. And so I just wanted to say to everyone listening over the year, thanks for coming along.

[Rob]

Yeah. I'm constantly surprised each week at how nice all of the feedback is.

[David Farrier]

It's kind of nuts, right?

[Rob]

You just, you have an intimidating fan base just because you're coming at this from a much more intellectual level.

[David Farrier]

Oh, well, thank you. I wouldn't quite go that far, but. Well, yeah, I'm.

[Rob]

Documentaries.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

So there's always a part of me that is like, oh, no, because we're here. Fundamentally torn apart if I misspeak this or say that city in Utah. Wrong.

[David Farrier]

See, I think we both have exactly the same fear because that's what I come into it as. I'm like, I'm more worried about misspeaking about certain things I have just learned about over the last couple of weeks. So it's almost nice to know that you have that same feeling as well. We're both basically sitting here worried we're gonna, like, say something incredibly naff. But.

[Rob]

Yes, but we. It's been crazy how nice everyone is, how much we've kind of felt the community support of this show completely. I think we are hoping to continue to do more.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

In 2025. To connect with the community because that's.

[David Farrier]

Kind of what it's about. It's like, it's not a megabuck show. The reward comes from people engaging with it because it's like, why make something if people aren't going to write you a long email either agreeing or disagreeing? But whenever anyone writes, it's the most well reasoned, thought out, insightful commentary you could want. So. Yeah, I feel pretty lucky for that.

[Rob]

Yeah. I mean, when we even had the conversation about continuing to make this show.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

That was it. Of like, we have fun with this creative outlet and we feel like there's a really nice community that we're making this show for. And.

[David Farrier]

And those are like the two things I think you need. Right?

[Rob]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

As well as a very practical thing of like, hopefully enough people listening that you can sell ads so we can pay everyone and keep it going. So it's like that trifecta Literally keep the lights on. So, yeah, so far we've been able to do that and that's been thanks to you all. So. And it's also just nice. I log into Instagram and I see people sharing episodes each week and linking through to it. And that's huge because a lot of people don't know about it. And that is a hugely helpful thing. Yeah.

[Rob]

So thank you and thank you. Keep doing it.

[David Farrier]

Keep doing the things.

[Rob]

Very, very helpful for us.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, it. Like, it really, really is. And thanks to our whole little team that help us put this show out.

[Rob]

I do have something for you for the. Well, I brought you my cookies.

[David Farrier]

I love your cookies. Every year you bake me the most delicious cookies I've ever had.

[Rob]

They're my oatmeal cranberry white chocolate cookies.

[David Farrier]

You know those are going to be eaten in about.

[Rob]

I know I did. So I didn't. I usually put like parchment paper on.

[David Farrier]

It in about two days.

[Rob]

Yeah, yeah.

[David Farrier]

Rob.

[Rob]

But there. There you go.

[David Farrier]

Thank you. This is to Davey, which I'd typically be very angry about, but you're giving me literally a present, so I'm not getting angry. Davey. My favorite kiwi from Rob. It's got beautiful Krampus. Evil scary wrapping paper. People forget my birthday. You never do. Thank you. Yep.

[Rob]

Well, you gotta open it.

[David Farrier]

I'll open it now. So I have this weird thing where I get really self conscious about owning.

[Rob]

It, but it's relevant to the show, so that's why it's okay.

[David Farrier]

I also feel really bad about ripping beautiful paper. I'm just gonna politely.

[Rob]

That paper was picked specifically for you. The satanic.

[David Farrier]

Oh, I'm so happ with this paper.

[Rob]

Christmas.

[David Farrier]

Oh my God.

[Rob]

So this.

[David Farrier]

This is.

[Rob]

This really amazing illustrator. Dave Clock.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

Did this drawing. I want to make it into shirts at some point.

[David Farrier]

Oh, no. This has to go on a shirt. Yeah.

[Rob]

Maybe we'll have them in time for Seattle.

[David Farrier]

I. Rob, I love this because. I love this because it makes our flightless birds in New Zealand look metal.

[Rob]

As that was the direction this is. Was like make these look demonic creepy birds with the metal font.

[David Farrier]

Dude, I love. I love this so much.

[Rob]

Like, yeah, he killed it. He's. He does a lot of like metal show poster and just illustrations for a lot of different bands.

[David Farrier]

This is amazing. One of them's got the all seeing eye that it's clasping in its beak. There's. There's bones everywhere.

[Rob]

There's a pentagram on the side of one of those, I think too.

[David Farrier]

Rob. I freaking Adore this. Thank you. The artisan name again.

[Rob]

Dave Clock.

[David Farrier]

God, that's good. I also. I love. Yeah, I love the idea of. We will do a shirt of this because I love the idea of different artists making the shirts. Like, that's always been the cool thing about making T shirts for anything. You're the best. Thanks for remembering my birthday. Genuinely. That's like a lifetime of being merged in with Christmas is like it eventually, like, slowly breaks your brain down.

[Rob]

It's a combo birthday Christmas present. You got cookies for Christmas. That for your birthday.

[David Farrier]

Rob. I also feel terrible because I haven't got you anything for Christmas.

[Rob]

It's not my birthday.

[David Farrier]

It's not. Okay, just wait.

[Rob]

You just bring it to the cabin.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. All right. All right. Are we going to eat them in the cabin now?

[Rob]

You're obligated.

[David Farrier]

Oh, my God. Okay. This is amazing. Cabin creed. Goth posters framed. Oh, my God. We're going to replay the Lord of the Rings episode shortly where I went to Hobbiton in New Zealand. We're going to follow that up with a compilation of all of your sons Calvin's takes on the Lord of the Rings films that he's watched. So, yes, they are some of the most pure, wonderful things I've ever heard. And I suggest you listen to those at the end. I think next year we will continue his Lord of the Rings Hobbit. Whatever else from that universe comes out journey because his takes both your kids. I don't understand it. They are so. That sounds like an insult. It's not.

[Rob]

I don't understand why they're smart.

[David Farrier]

They're so smart. It's terrifying to me.

[Rob]

Yeah. I mean, it scares us. We were so. We were at dinner.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

I texted you about this the other night. And yeah, Calvin was practicing Division and we were trying to get him to make sense of what it was.

[David Farrier]

And division's hard. Like, I struggle with that.

[Rob]

So we were starting low and then we had done like three or four of them. And then we asked him, like, what's 12 divided by three? And then just out of nowhere, Vincent, who is two, just goes four. I did it very confidently, which there's no way he actually did the division.

[David Farrier]

I would normally think that, but the way he passes information, I feel like there's a small possibility that it was legit. I know he's probably just. Probably Occam's Razor just yelling out a number.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

But also that kid.

[Rob]

Yeah. Or he was, like, recognizing the patterns that we were doing and.

[David Farrier]

Yeah.

[Rob]

Yeah. I don't know.

[David Farrier]

If in like 20 years or 10 years or whatever, he turns out to be this like the most brilliant mathematician that we've ever seen. And there's a film about his story. That is the scene in the film where you both look like you and Natalie look to each other and are like, oh my God, he just answered it.

[Rob]

And then I pull out my phone and text David.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. Yeah. Side character. It's really good.

[Rob]

So then for Calvin's rewatches that were replaying, we have still not seen the third one because a very long movie.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, you've invested six hours so far.

[Rob]

He wants to. We just have not had time. He has a lot crammed into every weekend.

[David Farrier]

I think 2025 will get him to review part three.

[Rob]

Yeah. Maybe we'll even watch it at the cabin this week and see. See what he thinks. That one's also, I think gets a little darker and scarier.

[David Farrier]

It gets intense.

[Rob]

We can't watch them with Vincent.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, no, I think that's. I think that's important.

[Rob]

Find a time to sneak away.

[David Farrier]

Because also Vincent is so smart, he would clock all of it.

[Rob]

He's just started recently watching the Sonic movies and he is like comprehending things in that movie and like laughing along about things that he shouldn't be yet.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, you do have a little genius. You're gonna have to watch everything you say around that kid because he's absorbing every friggin word. Okay. So yeah, Calvin's gonna be reviewing the first two.

[Rob]

Yep.

[David Farrier]

Part three comes next year. A quick bit of feedback from last week's episode on Leaf Blowers. I noticed listening to it back, you called your grandmother Grammy. And it just occurred to me, I think that's quite an American thing to call. Is that an American thing? I've never. I just sort of never heard a New Zealand friend say Grammy. It's Grandma. Or. Or Gran maybe.

[Rob]

I don't know if this is an American thing, but we had just like different names for each of our grandparents. We didn't have two grandpas.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. So one would be like, I had.

[Rob]

Grammy and Papa and then.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, Papa's one, I've heard. Yeah.

[Rob]

Grandma Lala.

[David Farrier]

Grandma Lala, yeah.

[Rob]

Her name was Loretta, I think. My sister couldn't pronounce Loretta, so it's really cute. It was Lala.

[David Farrier]

Do you still call her that?

[Rob]

She's dead, so. And her husband was dead before I was born, so I didn't okay. That Grandpa.

[David Farrier]

Okay. I just thought Grammy was really cute. I just said I really like that.

[Rob]

And Then I had a grandma K because that papa got remarried to Grammy.

[David Farrier]

Okay. Love that American Girl. Someone called me out, I said 18 inches a lot. Of course, that's not the metric system. So I'm obviously becoming more American because if I was a true Kiwi, I would have said 46 centimeters approximately.

[Rob]

Do you do that conversion in your head?

[Josie Keane]

Are you.

[David Farrier]

No, I wrote it down. Okay. And I'm panicked. Maths isn't my strong suit. Also something I remembered. I don't know if we touched on this. The American Girl has an iconic gap in their teeth. And I just thought maybe the reason I resonated so hard with American Girl is because when I was a kid, and I'll find a photo of this and post it, I had a massive gap between my two front teeth. Like, huge. I had, like, rabbit teeth.

[Rob]

Did it fix itself?

[David Farrier]

No. I got braces. Yeah. Yeah. So I had a year of my life where I got braces, a lot of pimples and glasses all in the same year. And it was socially not the most fun time for me.

[Rob]

It's a pretty American time. I had some of those years too.

[David Farrier]

It hits. Eh. It's hard being a. It's rough being a kid.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

Anyway, so I just thought maybe that's what I sort of. Why I looked at the American goal.

[Rob]

And sort of girl goals a little bit.

[David Farrier]

Saw a little bit of myself looking back at me and that little tooth gap.

[Rob]

That checks out.

[David Farrier]

Also, Sarah sent in an extra bit of feedback on American Girl. I thought, this is really interesting. I was raised in an extremely religious household in Oklahoma in the 80s. And you should know that at a certain time, American girls were actually preached against in my church. I was homeschooled and owned several of the books. My parents tried to buy me a book about every race and ethnicity they could, which is pretty awesome. We couldn't afford the real dolls, but I had a couple of knockoffs. Anyway, somewhere around the time this happened, the church decided Disney was a gay company and the Little Mermaid had a penis on the original movie cover. I remember all of this filtering through to New Zealand. I want to do an episode on Focus on the Family, which is this Christian organization that was spreading a lot of the stuff that reached New Zealand. And so all of this reached into my life as well.

[Rob]

Did you have those, like, early Disney VHS tapes? Yeah, you could have. There was like, the hidden.

[David Farrier]

You'd pause it and there was like.

[Rob]

Like, sex in the smoke. Or you could hear, like, the genie saying something, which, as I say this.

[David Farrier]

Now, I literally don't know if that was made up propaganda.

[Rob]

No, they're really.

[David Farrier]

Animators. Put that in. Yeah. So cheeky animators, right?

[Rob]

Yeah, yeah. Cheeky animators are like. Like the. I think in Little Mermaid, the, like, priests had a boner and it was moving around.

[David Farrier]

Amazing. So you can see how a Christian organization would get onto that and be like, right. Satanic.

[Rob]

Yeah.

[David Farrier]

Not like an animator is putting in a silly frame that no one's going to notice. Well, this is Satan.

[Rob]

You couldn't do that now because everything is digitally released. You just fix it. So I'm. I'm assuming you go to Disney plus now and watch any of that, and that's been fixed. But we had the VHS tapes that always pop in and like.

[David Farrier]

And so exciting because you get, like, the right timing. You have to get the right. Until I hit pause, you're blinded.

[Rob]

Turn it off really loud.

[David Farrier]

And I want to re. Okay, so if we revisit this and focus on the family at some point, I want to look into all of this because it's really fascinating. So thanks, Sarah, for sharing that. Stay tuned for more Flightless Bird. We'll be right back after a word from our sponsors. Support for Flightless Bird comes from Quince. Now, I don't know about you, but I like to get warm during these colder months by getting under a bunch of duvets on the couch and catching up on the documentaries that I've missed the entire year. That's for inside, but unfortunately you sometimes have to go outside because when it comes to winter, it's like survival of the fittest out there. And for the ultimate cold weather and necessities made from premium materials. You've got to check out Quince, because with Quince, you can treat yourself to true quality at an affordable price. Something everyone needs in their closet. Quince's iconic, iconic Mongolian cashmere sweaters, which start at just $50, and their super soft fleece sweatpants are a major upgrade to whatever the heck you're lounging around in right now. I also have a puffer jacket, which I absolutely love. I travel with it wherever I go. I love the Quince puffer. No matter what you're looking for, all Quince Items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands, which is something I think is really important. And by partnering directly with top factories and cutting out the cost of the middleman, Quince passes those savings on to. And Quince only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing processes. So, yeah, for me, I got the Puffer I picked up a bunch of shorts because I go hiking a lot. I have this really weird thing where my legs don't get cold so I can be in shorts and that's fine. But on the top I have to be warm, hence the shorts puffer combo. Luxuriate in coziness without the luxury price tag. Go to quints.combird for 365 day returns plus free shipping on your order. That's Q-U-I-N C E.combird to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quint.combird. So Jake Roden I have complained a few times about people not being able to Google finding things and they just had a good point. I'm 33, turning 34 in January, born in 91. I'm a millennial. This concept never occurred to me before, but it could not be more true and might have literally changed my life. This is the insight as far as the current generation just not ever learning how to Google anything. I'm a public elementary school teacher and can definitely attest to this. Current generation that's growing up are the only ones to be given information and not seeking it. Insert your own personal emoji here. And so yeah, I just think it's a really interesting point that there is a generation, not all of them obviously, but a certain generation that's just used to being fed things on TikTok or Instagram Reels or YouTube shorts as opposed to seeking out stuff specifically. Like some people literally don't take the time to Google.

[Rob]

Yeah. The weird thing to me is that juxtaposition of like, they are so connected and technologically savvy that you would think that would translate into their ability to use a website.

[David Farrier]

Also doesn't help. That goog has become completely corrupted and is just now returning a whole lot of like terrible results. Yeah. And advertising. So that also doesn't help things. I mean, the Internet in general is turning into a bit of a muddy cesspit.

[Rob]

Yeah. I wonder.

[David Farrier]

It doesn't help.

[Rob]

Yeah. If that's just like an evolution of kids now are becoming lazier as a result, or if that's too broad of a statement.

[David Farrier]

I know, I don't know. It's like, well, there's just so much stimulation. It's like it's the other thing of attention spans being shortened because people are just used to watching reels. Like things like that is shortening down.

[Rob]

That still doesn't stop people from being like, I need to know what the best Italian place in the area is how am I going to do that? How am I going to type that into Google? They're not just like on TikTok and like, oh this.

[David Farrier]

It's possibly also like just being overstimulated because there's a fascinating thing of like when we change feeds in some people's lives. Like the show just disappeared. And it wasn't that they didn't want to search Church for us, it was that it didn't occur to them. So it's like their lives are so busy if it doesn't pop. A flightless bird didn't pop up the following Tuesday where they used to getting it. It's just I think people's brains are so overwhelmed. They're not going to think to look. They'll just be like, oh, they're on a break, they're on a break and they will not return. And that's why people are still finding us like a year on. They're like. And that's not because they're idiots or they didn't Google. It's just the culture wouldn't even take them to that step. To Google. Yeah, right. It's fascinating, this stuff Alex wrote in about body brokers who we had previously talked about a little bit in the mysterious sound episode. Alex said, I used to work for a medical supplier and we regularly had to order bodies, usually knees, shoulders, hands or feet, so that doctors could come in and learn how to use new tools or processes. These are all bodies that people donated to science and while we were using them for legit medical learning, I don't know how. I was a young logistics guy that somehow got nominated as a person who ordered and managed all of this. I had to place the order for the body parts we needed and put them in a freezer, just a regular chest freezer. When they arrived a few days before the demo, I would have to pull them all out so they could thaw them in a sink. Then I don't know why I'm laughing. It's just such a thing to picture. Then on the day I would set up the body parts, for example, with the shoulders, this meant cutting back all the humerus bones so I could clamp it so they could work on it upright again. I was a 23 year old guy with no clue what I was doing and just winging all of this. The worst for me is every now and again the parts would come in with tattoos or nail polish on it. Nearly reminded me that these were from real people and it made disassociating even harder. We also had to do a few spinal labs that they would arrive in as a full torso and with no head, legs or arms. I have a good photo of a bunch of knees thawing in a sink, but I wouldn't attach it unless you wanted to see. I didn't want to see. You also seem to like seeing and hearing weird stuff, but a picture of a disembodied knee isn't something I'd like to send without warning. Thanks for everything. Big fan. Don't miss Flightless Bird any week. Isn't that a nice email?

[Rob]

It's a nice email. Just once you get through the body parts.

[David Farrier]

Once you get through the I just liked him recounting this job he had with body parts. It's just something you'd never really think about before. And Alexandra wrote in around after that mysterious sound episode as well just about weird houses she's lived in. I'd like to share some mysterious surprises I've found in the house that I currently live in. Since we brought the house, some things we've found 1. A shotgun with a handle broken off hidden in the insulation of the basement. 2. The body of a large dog minus head in a plastic bin not buried. Number three knives stuck so far into the trees we haven't been able to get them out. Growing up in Maine, I never understood how many Stephen King's ideas have come out of some sort of reality. I moved away and recently moved back because it is a wonderful place, but the dark winter months really bring out the weird insanity in people. And yeah, Maine is where a lot of Stephen King stuff is based and she can now see why that makes.

[Rob]

Me want to go to Maine for Christmas.

[David Farrier]

That makes me want to go to Maine.

[Rob]

So next Christmas maybe.

[David Farrier]

I think we should do it. So yeah, thanks for all the feedback as always. It's flightthespreadchat gmail.com I've loved reading your emails. There's too many to get back to so just know know that we are reading them all. Just can't personally respond else we'd never get to make the show.

[Rob]

And just a reminder, Seattle show in February. We're looking for weird stuff in Seattle. Any weird stories? Any.

[David Farrier]

Yeah, and specifically like personal ins. So like if you know someone that had a specific in because like it's one thing finding the topic but then finding a person who has that connection to it and can speak on it. It's actually really hard. So if you've got that person.

[Rob]

Yeah. If your grandpa designed the space Needle and yeah yeah yeah, yeah, he wants to talk to us about it. Or please, maybe you saw Sasquatch.

[David Farrier]

Just any like firsthand knowledge would be amazing. So it's flightless breadchat gmail.com. that would be incredible. And again, thanks for coming onto this new feed. Thanks for sharing the show. Maybe before the year ends, find your favorite flightless bird episode and share it on social or email it to someone. That would be awesome. We're now going to play you my visit to Hobbiton. And that's going to be followed by Rob's wonderful son Calvin, recounting the first two Lord of the Rings episodes in only the way he could describe them. And just spoiler alert, I am yet to watch any of these movies. I tried on the plane back to New Zealand to watch them. I got sleepy. Not because of the movie. I was just tired and I fell asleep. One day I'll get there. Well, maybe we'll haven't got there yet.

[Rob]

Maybe we'll invite you over for the third one. You'll just, just jump right into that.

[David Farrier]

Just part three.

[Rob]

Part three.

[David Farrier]

Yeah. I've got. So yeah, I've got Calvin's recaps of 1 and 2.

[Rob]

Yeah. So you're caught up.

[David Farrier]

Okay. Sorted.

[Rob]

You'll be good.

[David Farrier]

Done. All right. Happy New Year.

[Rob]

Happy new year.

[David Farrier]

It's 6:30 in the morning in Auckland, New Zealand and I've just been picked up by an American called Matt. He's taller than me and he's one of those Americans who's just very enthusiastic about life. Matt moved to New Zealand recently, but he's never come to hobby. He's agreed to let me tag along as he experiences it for the very first time. What are you expecting? What are you thinking?

[Matt]

I'm expecting small holes in hills and tight spaces.

[David Farrier]

It's a two hour drive to Matamata, a small town nestled in the center of the north island with a population of just over 9,000 people. It used to be mostly well known for farming and breeding fancy racehorses. Then Hobbiton came along, a film set brought to life so Lord of the Rings fans can feel like they're actually in the shire. As an American in New Zealand, you're sort of doing the reverse of what I do in Flight of the Spirit. You're an American who's come to New Zealand. Any sort of things stood out to you that you've found sort of unusual about the way New Zealand does things in either a good or a bad way? Like what jumps to my.

[Matt]

I mean always my answer to That I start with the demeanor of people, the lack of abrasiveness from people. I find people to be a bit more personable and less. I don't know, I think that has to do with, like, less individualistic. There's more of, like, a camaraderie here amongst people.

[David Farrier]

Matt and I spent the drive talking about what it's like being an American in New Zealand. Like me in America, he finds lots of things different and strange and is slowly adjusted. He spent time working in hospitality, so his hat to adjust pretty quickly. Do you miss things like tipping? Tipping?

[Matt]

Oh, tipping.

[David Farrier]

Like.

[Matt]

Oh, tipping. Like restaurant tipping.

[David Farrier]

What other tipping is there?

[Matt]

Like cow tipping. I don't know why my initial thought was cow tipping when you asked about tipping, but here we are talking about cow tipping.

[David Farrier]

Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise his mind went to cow tipping during the 70s. It became a bit of an urban myth in America, fueled even more in the 80s with movies like Tommy Boy and Heathers, which both featured a healthy dose of cow tipping. She's sleeping.

[Calvin]

What you do, you put your shoulder.

[David Farrier]

Into her and you push and they fall over. So restaurant tipping, do you miss that?

[Matt]

I do, but I don't miss the wage is. I missed the tips because they were hefty, but I relied on tips. I couldn't rely on a livable wage. It's quite refreshing to actually get paid what you should be getting paid and not having to, you know, going into a shift every day and hoping and not knowing if you're gonna make money.

[David Farrier]

Before we know it, we see a sign for Hobbiton. We've pulled off the main motorway. We don't have freeways in New Zealand. And we're winding down a fairly narrow road surrounded by a lot of grass and a lot of sheep. 20 minutes of this and we see the main gates of the movie set. We've arrived.

[Matt]

This is like cliche, textbook New Zealand right now.

[David Farrier]

Can you just describe what you're seeing right now?

[Matt]

I'm seeing sheep on a hill in Hobbiton. It's literally Teletubby land. I feel like I'm in Teletubby.

[David Farrier]

There are about 100 sheep staring at us right now. The first thing that strikes me at 8:30am in the morning is that Hobbiton is really busy, busy. We drive past about five giant tour buses and we're waved through several already full car parks by a guy in a vest. This place is packed. There were 158 locations used to shoot the Lord of the Rings films. In New Zealand. And Hobbiton is definitely the most famous.

[Matt]

No, you know what I imagine happened? I imagine they got like the bulldozers in after the movie stopped. And then someone went, someone who now owns the place goes, wait, don't touch it.

[David Farrier]

I've got an idea. I have an idea.

[Matt]

Don't f ing touch this.

[David Farrier]

Who wants to get rich?

[Matt]

Picture this. Hobbiton. And now it's Hobbiton. And now that fucker's rich, we head.

[David Farrier]

Towards the front desk to meet up with the big cheese of Hobbiton.

[Shane Forrest]

My name's Shane Forrest and I'm general manager of tourism out here at Hobbiton movie set.

[David Farrier]

He loads us into a little van and we set off on the short drive to the Shire.

[Shane Forrest]

Yeah, we've been operating out here at Hobbiton Movie set tours for just over 20 years, about 21 years now. So it started in 2002. It was originally the remnants left over from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. So Hobbiton for the Lord of the Rings was built just to be here for the duration of filming, which was only a few months, and then pulled down. But in that time, the first movie hit the cinema and the locals recognized the mountain ranges in the back of the Shire in the movie on the big screen. And they realized Hobbiton was on the their back doorstep. So the Alexander family had people knocking on their door asking if they could come and have a look around. That's how tourism started. So, yeah, the first eight or so years, it was just through the remnants. Cattle stop that was just through the remnants of Hobbiton. But then in 2008, 2009 was the big breakthrough. When Sir Peter Jackson came back, said he wanted to rebuild for the Hobbit trilogy, the Alexander family said, yep, sounds perfect. But can it be built permanent? Sir Peter Jackson said, I was thinking the exact same thing. That's when the movie set was built permanently for the Hobbit trilogy and left behind as a little bit of a monument to Middle Earth, which is pretty special for us here in New Zealand.

[David Farrier]

So, in short, they built Hobbiton for the first Lord of the Rings movie on some guy's farm. And the whole thing was going to be torn down afterwards. Then the movie came out, got huge, and people started freaking out about Hobbiton. So they kept it and started charging people to visit. Pretty much like what Matt theorised in our drive here. When Peter Jackson decided to make another three movies for the Hobbit Trilogy, the set got even fancier. And here we are, a private farm owned by the Alexander family, which also happens to be the Shire, one of the most well known movie sets on the planet.

[Shane Forrest]

We've just driven through the gates of the Alexander farm. So this is the 1,250 acre farm with 13,000 sheep, 300 Angus beef cattle still farmed on a daily basis by the Alexander family. And it's just a short trip out through this rural New Zealand site to the movie set.

[David Farrier]

I mean, this is classic New Zealand, isn't it? I mean, we've got an American with me here and sort of blown away by the sheep and the landscape.

[Rob]

Yeah, it is.

[Shane Forrest]

It is really quintessential Kiwi countryside out here. The beautiful rolling green hills, while it's not quite as green as it usually is, it's a little bit hot at this time of year. So we do get a little bit dried out in the grass, but still pretty good. But the beautiful rolling hills, the scattered tree line lines and the mountain ranges you see as we come around this corner, that's the reason they chose this location out here in the heart of the Waikato.

[David Farrier]

Shane tells me that as far as tourists go, about 20% are from New Zealand and about 15% are from America. Then there's pretty much people from everywhere else. He parks up the van and we head towards a gate that leads directly into Hobbiton. You enter the same place that Gandalf does in the movie. And walking into this place, it does take your breath away. It doesn't feel like a ride or an attraction or even a set. You're literally just walking into the Shire. This world opens up around you. Rolling hills with little hobbit gardens and hobbit houses with hobbit smoke coming out the chimneys. It's hard to explain, but it just feels real. You must have seen some amazing reactions from mega fans that come in here, like people must lose their shit.

[Shane Forrest]

Yeah, there are. There's people that grow up reading the books and then watch the movies multiple times a year. The biggest fan I've had out here is a gentleman from Germany that came in, he walked in, saw Hobbiton in front of him, started hyperventilating and kissing the ground. But then he started hyperventilating so much he actually had a nosebleed. So we had to take him out of Hobbiton, get him nice and well established and bring him back in again.

[David Farrier]

I love that a fan. Loved it so much he started bleeding. There are 44 hobbit holes across 12 acres of hobbiton. You could easily lose a day in here. And they're smart in how they run it in that they purposefully leave the tour group separated out, so you feel like you're here on your own. It's not like the Star wars thing at Disney where you're tripping over people the whole time.

[Shane Forrest]

But as you look around, there's just the little Hobbit holes scattered throughout. And as we were talking before, you feel like you could see a Hobbit around here at any minute. There's the clothes hanging up on the lines, but someone was actually employed in the movies to walk from the Hobbit hole to the clothesline over and over again. So it's all the tracks got a nice natural, flattened look to them. So that's part of the process as well, teaching people about how this movie set was created. And then the smoking chimneys, which is really nice. Basically an open fish smoker. There's some wood chips on the inside. There's the team that go through in the morning, light those up and just continuously top them up throughout the day. But that's really nice as well. We try and engage all the senses out here at Hobbiton, so as you walk through, you get the smell of burning wood as well, which make this feel like a real living village.

[David Farrier]

I turn to Matt, and while he's not a giant Lord of the Rings fan, his mouth is literally hanging open.

[Matt]

It's lacking that gimmicky thing. It's way more authentic than that. It's not a movie set. It's way more immersive than that.

[David Farrier]

There's so much detail around us. Little Hobbit clotheslines and little Hobbit clothes. Tiny spades and little wheelbarrows. I meet up with Josie Keane, who's fiddling with some tiny Hobbit books. She's the set decorator here at Hobbit.

[Josie Keane]

And I came on a tour seven years ago, and I never left. No, I'm serious. Like, I was on a working holiday, and I came on a tour, and my tour guide was like, wow, you nerd. You should work here. And I was like, oh, my gosh. I didn't realize you could just apply for a job. I thought you were kind of just appointed. Yeah, and that's how I started in the art department.

[David Farrier]

I realized that despite being in New Zealand and in the Shire, I'm beginning to be outnumbered, outgunned by Americans. Any quirks of New Zealand that you find quite funny compared to you Notice how the water level in our toilets is way lower than it is in America.

[Josie Keane]

I think, honestly, the major difference was the first time I walked in a mall and everyone was barefoot. That was weird. I wouldn't do that in a major American city.

[David Farrier]

We love our bare feet.

[Josie Keane]

Yeah. No, I loved it, too. I was just kind of discombobulated. It was really strange.

[David Farrier]

As we walk along a hobbit path past multiple hobbit holes, we bump into Kate. She's a conductor making sure the tour groups are in the right place. And she's also American. And apparently she was also in one of the Lord of the Rings movies.

[Kate]

I was basically hired because of my height. They hired us to be the villagers in the background here.

[David Farrier]

So what movie are you in?

[Kate]

I was in the Hobbit, the Battle of the Five Armies.

[David Farrier]

So you were shooting here? How long ago was that? Maybe 10, 11. So you were here while they were shooting? Roaming around, being a hobbit?

[Kate]

Yes. They dressed me up and I got to be in the scene where Bilbo had his auction out front. They were selling all his furniture. I was one of the hobbits at the auction.

[David Farrier]

It must be quite surreal because you're sort of still at this place. You're in the film, but now you're working at this place still. Does your reality sometimes get a bit fucked up? Say, am I in the movie? Is this real? What's real? What's not?

[Kate]

I actually love the experience in the books and the movies so much much that I applied for a job here.

[David Farrier]

It's not hard getting staff for this place, is it?

[Kate]

Nope. We love our jobs.

[David Farrier]

Looking at all the Americans gathered around me, I start to get confused about where I am. My worlds are colliding. I wonder if it's some kind of honey trap for Americans, drawing them in like Gollum to that ring. And I'm terrible with accents. Where are you from originally?

[Kate]

I'm from Ohio in the States.

[David Farrier]

What do you miss from the Midwest?

[Kate]

Well, there's a few foods that I will go back and bring with me.

[David Farrier]

Here, but other than exactly what food would you sneak back into New Zealand?

[Kate]

Don't have to sneak. It's not illegal. It's great. Where I am from, we have what they call Cincinnati chili, which they actually add a bit of cocoa to the chili and it's a great addition. So I always get that when I bring it here.

[David Farrier]

We continue on and into this big open field. I'm told this is the party field where Bililbo had his 111th birthday. This is the party tree, which is apparently one of the most famous trees in the world. The fact this pine tree was fully grown here a few decades ago is part of the reason Hobbiton's here in the first place. When they were scouting the movie, they saw the tree and were like, let's land there and look at it. As we walk on, I hear a rusty old meow and this old motley cat idols up to us.

[Josie Keane]

So Pickles are a cat. She was discovered during filming, I believe, when someone was coming into work and saw her on the side of the road in a box. So they picked her up and raised her. And she entertains tourists. She's about 14 now. She'll sometimes lead groups or she'll go sit on top of a mailbox where she knows she's gonna be photographed because she's just used to it at this point. She's really taken to the fam.

[David Farrier]

Well, I think gracefully, I pat Pickles, the rescue cat. Pickles, as in she was in a pickle. And then we keep walking around. We go to Bag End, to Bagshot Row.

[Shane Forrest]

This is our second most iconic Hobbit Hobbit here. This is the home of Sam and his wife Rosie. So Sam, of course, spoiler alert, gets his happily ever after at the end of Lord of the Rings, settles into number three, Bagshot Row here.

[David Farrier]

Now, this whole time we've been walking past all these Hobbit holes. They're round, brightly coloured, colored doors have been shut. You can't go inside because there isn't really anything inside. This is fake. But back in December, they opened a new thing in Hobbiton, where they dug deep into the hill and actually built in a whole Hobbit house.

[Shane Forrest]

They excavated the hillside in the Matamata township, they built all the interiors, and then down in Wellington, they did all the soft furnishings, the beds, the furniture. So there were three builds happening simultaneously. Then they came back together together, rebuilt it all in one spot so we could make sure the project was finished in nine months. And now it's pretty exciting to be able to venture beyond the doors and see how a real Hobbit family would live.

[David Farrier]

I'm so. I'm not a giant fan of this particular series, but I'm excited to go inside. So in a bit, this 6 foot 2 kiwi opens the door of a tiny hobbit hole owned by the Proudfoot family and steps inside. Walking down the front corridor, I'm in another world. The tiny corridor opening into a tiny hobbit lounge and yet it's all so vast down here. I thought it would be a dinky kind of thing. But this underground burrow goes on and on. It feels like someone is living here. The lounge I'm in, complete with a crackling fire and all the rooms coming off it, it feels lived in.

[Shane Forrest]

It's been beautifully crafted and looked after and created by majority of people that worked on the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogy. So Peter. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh were involved as well in Philippa Boynes. So they created a narrative of the hobbits that would live here. In this case, it's the Proudfoot family. They live here with their two children and baby, plus the grandfather.

[David Farrier]

It's the whole backstory.

[Shane Forrest]

The whole backstory. So it's very much part of that glimpse of how a movie set is constructed. So there's a narrative that's created and then that informs the art department and all the theme that goes on in here. So there's no Hobbits in here. The grand grandfather's not asleep in the bed. But you feel like you could see a Hobbit at any minute.

[David Farrier]

Absolutely. I mean, the fire's on. It feels so lived in.

[Matt]

You do not give me a chance to not believe this is real. It's relentlessly real. It's like I'm there.

[David Farrier]

Honestly, it is that thing where. Yeah, if you're in America, there'd be a cone up or like some little, you know, some white thing, like, ushering you through.

[Matt]

You know, ushering you through 100%.

[Shane Forrest]

We are a movie set. We're very different than a theme park. America does theme parks really, really well, but we are different.

[David Farrier]

There's nothing here to take you out of the experience. The closest thing is probably the exit signs, but even they're sort of disguised.

[Matt]

You won't even let me not believe it with the exit signs. It's a hobbit running through a hobbit hole. Shut up.

[Shane Forrest]

And then when we come here into the Hobbit hole, people are surprised that things aren't behind glass. You can actually physically touch and pick things up and get some photos and play with things, sit down on the couches. As long as you remove your shoes, which Hobbits don't have, you can jump into the beds and get some photos. So people are. Because we're trusting them and their fans. They are very respectful.

[David Farrier]

I turn to Josie, the set decorator, who's followed us in, probably to make sure I don't pinch any tiny Hobbit props. What do you make of. I mean, this is your domain.

[Josie Keane]

Oh, this is the dream. I get to craft things authentically and give that to people and watch them interact with it and feel like they're in a book series that I've loved my whole life. It's the playhouse that I dreamed of in my head as a kid and I get to work in it and make things for it. It's just the best. The day we opened, I just kind of lurked in corners to watch because I was so excited. And I saw a whole bunch of people. This is dumb. But people my height. I'm a shorty. I'm not an average height person. And I kept seeing people go, oh my gosh, the couch fits me. Oh, wow. The beds fit me. And I was just crying quietly in a corner because I was so overwhelmed. And it was, it was the best feeling in the world. This world is kind of made for me and I get to make it for other short people. And that means something.

[David Farrier]

We spend about 30 minutes existing in this hobbit house. I get into a tiny hobbit bunk. I sit down at a tiny hobbit dining room table. I sit on a hobbit toilet and I get into a tiny hobbit hobbit bath. There's even a tiny hobbit kitchen.

[Matt]

I need like a hobbit version of Gordon Ramsay right now. I need like a short little Gordon Ramsay running around. It is a messy kitchen mid cook.

[David Farrier]

This is wild little pies fresh out of the oven.

[Matt]

The oven is on recipe book and it's oven's hot. Get out.

[David Farrier]

I hold my hand to the oven and it's hot. Hot. That attention to detail is kind of crazy. I learned that two hundred and eighty people work here to keep hobbiton running. There's a whole team just to look after the various veggie gardens. I can see why the German had a nosebleed at all. Finally, it's time to go. We exit through the gift shop and there's everything from hairy hobbit feet to the Lord of the Rings ring. Of course you can buy the films on dvd. Matt has his eyes on a doormat.

[Matt]

I think I should get or the thou shalt not pass doormat, which is so clever.

[David Farrier]

Good gag, isn't it?

[Matt]

It's a good gag. Yep.

[David Farrier]

He ends up going with a bag end tea towel as well. And I realize New Zealand shares something with America. A love of gift shops. Maybe we aren't so different after all.

[Rob]

You just watched the first Lord of the Rings movie. Right?

[Calvin]

Yes.

[Rob]

Can you tell me what it was about?

[Calvin]

It's about a ring that was made by a master and they're trying to break it because a master was a bad guy. But they can't use any of their tools to break the ring because when made with this fire and only like a volcano and lava can break it. They're trying to get on their on this island and are trying to like escape. But they landed on another island in like the middle and like the last of the movie. And then. But these goblins, this goblin too powerful and he hit three bow and arrows and one of the good guys and he died because he was too powerful and you couldn't see him and there's too many goblins that he had to fight at once.

[Rob]

There's a lot of characters in it, right?

[Calvin]

Mm.

[Rob]

Do you remember them?

[Calvin]

There's Frodo, Sam, and also I can remember there's like eight of them or maybe there's a seven or six or nine. There was I think 12 given to the men, nine to the elves and three to the dwarves. It was actually a trick because the rings were bad and, and if you put them on you turn into his command and you turn into a bad guy.

[Rob]

So he had given out all those rings. But then there was one ring that would rule them all, right? Uh huh.

[Calvin]

It was one given to the master. But there's this man that defeated him and cut his hand off. But then he got killed because all the bad guys wanted that ring too bad. And then it got left in the dirt. But the ring was also a trap and he's still alive, but only his eye left and it got left in the dirt and then Frodo found it and they're trying to break it and put in a volcano and then it'll break up into dust.

[Rob]

Did you like the first movie?

[Calvin]

Mm.

[Rob]

Did you think it was too long? Too short?

[Calvin]

It was three hours. It was pretty long.

[Rob]

Would you recommend this movie to other people?

[Calvin]

Mmm, yeah.

[Rob]

Was it too scary? Too funny?

[Calvin]

It was like perfect, perfect, perfect amount.

[Rob]

Are you excited to watch the next ones?

[Calvin]

Uh huh. I bet they're gonna try to destroy it. But the bad guy's gonna try to get them and he's gonna get his ring back.

[Rob]

All right, we'll check back in after you finish the second one, okay?

[Calvin]

Okay. Bye. Learn and subscribe.

[Rob]

What?

[Calvin]

Like and subscribe?

[Rob]

What do we just watch?

[Calvin]

The Lord of the Rings. The Two Towers.

[Rob]

What happened?

[Calvin]

There's a war. And they're getting ready for the war and they're trying to break the ring into the volcano and they're getting ready for the war. Who's the war between the Orcs and the good guys.

[Rob]

Who are the good guys?

[Calvin]

There's elves, there's hobbits and there's men and.

[Rob]

Who's your favorite?

[Calvin]

The elves.

[Rob]

Do you have a favorite elf?

[Calvin]

I just like. I forgot the name, but I call it Lego. Lego us. He had Lego in it.

[Rob]

What else happened in this movie?

[Calvin]

They were in the mountains and they found. When they're sleeping, there's the golem and was trying to steal the ring.

[Rob]

What were the other hobbits doing?

[Calvin]

The other hobbits were with the trees and they're speaking to them so they can help them win the war. But there's gonna be a big war. And at the end, the bad guys were trying to gonna try to kill the golem when he was good. And she said, no, wait, can I talk to him? And then he said, come here, master. And then the golem said, right now? And I said, come here. I'm your master. Master needs you. And then he came and then they just grabbed them. And now he thinks he TR him. So now he's trying to. To kill him and then he'll have the ring.

[Rob]

Tell me about Gollum.

[Calvin]

Gollum. He's trying to like sneak around and say, he's bad. Let's get the precious and kill him. And the good golem say, no, no, master's good. Master is good. We will not kill master.

[Rob]

Do you remember what the good golem's name is?

[Calvin]

The good one is Smeagol.

[Rob]

Did you like this one better than the first one?

[Calvin]

Yes, because there were a big roar and we saw the volcano.

[Rob]

What's the significance of the volcano?

[Calvin]

There's like these dragons and there's these guys with. No, that. There's these ghosts and guarding it with dragons. I think I'm gonna like the third one the most.

[Rob]

Why is that?

[Calvin]

Because it's gonna have the volcano and it's gonna be the main thing.

[Rob]

Okay. Is there anything else you want to say before we go?

[Calvin]

Like and subscribe. Exclamation mark. My name's Calvin. Like and describ.

[Rob]

Ra.