DragonCon 2009 – Day Three: Foam Lightsabers, Mouse Guard and The Hobbit

DragonCon isn’t just for adults with adolescent sensibilities.  Appropriate activities for children are programmed in tune with parental interests in mind.  Day three began with Saber School, where my Sailor Scout had expert instruction from a very patient Jedi duo who managed to maintain a sense of order within the preschool to preteen participants.  A Star Wars puppet show was advertised as part of the festivities, but when the puppeteer canceled due to illness, the Jedi offered the foam noodle lightsabers used in class as consolation prizes. Aspiring Jedis immediately began smacking their parents and infant siblings with the two-foot neon, duct tape-handled weapons.

The One Ring.net hosted a panel dedicated to The Hobbit movie, focused on news and rumors circulating about the latest and highly anticipated Middle-Earth project.  The tale, which will be produced as two films and make use of The Lord of the Rings appendices to help bridge from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, will not, contrary to Internet chatter, be a 3D project.  This from the keyboard of director Guillermo del Toro to The One Ring site.  Site administrators confirmed that actors will return to reprise roles held in LOTR whenever possible, and composer Howard Shore will add to the continuity by handling the score once again.  Weta Workshop is already involved in pre-production, as are conceptual artists including Mike Mignola, John Howe, and Alan Lee.  The most pressing question, of course, involves the casting of Bilbo, our adventurous protagonist, which has been the subject of much fantastic speculation.  Daniel Radcliffe? No, definitely not, as stated by Radcliffe himself.  The audience had a variety of responses to further suggestions.  James McAvoy? Nah. Ewan McGregor? Obi Wan Baggins. Not.  Dominic Cooper? No!  Martin Freeman? (roars, clapping).  Coincidentally, The One Ring.net champions Freeman for the role.  They do not, and nor did the audience advocate for Tom Cruise, who recently spent time with Peter Jackson in New Zealand, sparking a variety of talk about his involvement with the project.  A few weeks ago, Ian McKellen assured fans that they would be pleased with Bilbo; the boos and hisses from the crowd would, in that light, take Cruise clear out of the running.

Another important aspect of the films is the division of the story into two presentations.  Where will the cut come, especially considering the use of the appendices along with the book, which would displace material into the first film that might have been in the second without that addition?  These points of contention and consideration are enough to carry Middle-Earth followers into the conclusion of production on film one, which is projected to wrap by December 2011.  Filming is expected to begin next spring, but financing has yet to be settled on the production itself, a situation that is truly strange as news from Bree.

Sideshow Collectibles generously donated two imposing figures for door prizes, a balrog and an orc. Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks, signed copies of this new release for two more winners, and described his narrative, which includes detail on his trip to New Zealand to obvious ends, as “a gateway drug” for those present.  As if any of us would need encouragement.

Discovered in the art and comics hall . . . David Peterson of Mouse Guard fame, who was pleased that my nine-year-old Sailor Scout recognized his work before I did.  He sketched an adorable mouse for her before urging her around the table to stand with him for a picture.

Still not used to ordering iced tea and getting a syrupy sweet concoction instead of my preferred unsweetened version.  I know, it’s Georgia, and they look at me with an understanding smile when I say, yes, but I ordered iced tea, before whisking it away and replacing it with what seems to them a travesty.

Our last full day of activities wrapped by watching a group of stereotypical geeks – yes, there was orange soda involved, and all participants were wearing glasses – play Dungeons and Dragons.  Okay, it really ended after that in the hotel room, as I sadly watched the NASCAR race on television because it was only 30 miles away and I had no transportation to the track.  Life’s hard, but then, I was at DragonCon, which was reason enough not to cry, and had one last day to enjoy it.

[nggallery id=263]