Concerning Hobbit Movies

If you've been following the official Hobbit blog, you already know that the producers have decided to make the movie in three parts, rather than two. Peter Jackson announced the change in plan on July 30. 

After the initial shrieks of protest from several members of our household (mainly my daughter and me) died away, we calmed down enough to realize that this is actually a Good Thing, as it means A) that we will end up with more screen-hours of the movie, and B) my daughter and I will have more time to speculate about what they're putting in each movie, which is something of a shared hobby.  (She suggested facetiously that the movie had to be longer so they could include all the songs from the book, prompting her to come up with a new title: The Hobbit: The Musical.)  

This weekend, the Hobbit blog announced the titles and release dates for the entire trilogy.  Part 1, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will release as previously scheduled on Dec. 14, 2012.  (I can't wait!)  Part 2 will be called The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and will come out on Dec. 13, 2013.  The third and final installment, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is scheduled for release on July 18, 2014. 

And in other hobbity news... 

Warner Brothers has a fantastic wallpaper generator app, which lets you use "The Scroll" (images from the first movie in a sort of sequential panorama) to create a custom image for your desktop or mobile wallpaper, Facebook cover page, profile icon, or Twitter screen.  I used it to generate the image below.

Finally, if you're an artist who loves fantasy, you're in luck.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is sponsoring a design contest.  Entries must be your own work and the subject matter is, of course, The Hobbit (book or movie, take your pick.)  There are four categories: Characters, Creatures, Weapons, and Locations.  You can find the rules and submission guidelines at the link above.  There's also a link for those not entering the contest to view the gallery and rate the fan artwork, though the actual judging will be done by a panel of qualified judges.