Candy Froggie's Lair

Do you remember Gandalf from LOTR ?


I've discovered the website of Ian McKellen who played Gandalf :-)
His website is brilliant, with a journal of his own when he was working in LOTR. It's really fun to have his views about the movie, it's way beder than any critic!

Here are some examples of what he wrote:

Hobbiton looks itself, settled-in and cosy...The village has weathered nicely since it was built a year back.
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When I, as Gandalf, meet Bilbo or Frodo at home, I bump my head on the rafters. (Tolkien didn't think to mention it!)
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Members of the Fellowship et al were supported by a stunt team of horsemen and opposed by the masked forces of the Kiwi military, earning an extra bit of cash as a horrible-looking army. It must have made a welcome change from testing bombs!
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I sat behind Peter Jackson huddled over a monitor showing the footage of Sam and Frodo in their rowboat. As the majestic Fellowship theme soared over the pictures and a plaintive flute and drums enchanted the ear, I heard and saw the first moment of completed film. Trust me: it is magnificent!
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Whilst Saruman and I were facing off once more, I asked Dan Hennah (art director) if I could one day take home a couple of the fake-metal lizards which served as door handles in Orthanc. He smiled quizzically as he often does and as I left for Wellington Airport last week, Peter and Fran presented me with a hefty wooden box containing the lizards, which are now settled in at their new home in London
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I also have a sizeable collection of prototypes for merchandising curiosities, which have been sent on approval. My favourite, although I don't eat meat, is Burger King's goblet with a convincing likeness of Gandalf in cameo relief on its bowl. Perhaps this should only be available for consumers of veggieburgers!
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We met up first at the downtown cinema where we were to be shown, ahead of the distributors and selected media, the first completed footage from the trilogy.
I sat near the back, next to Saruman and Mrs Lee, with Frodo in front of me.
With relief and some excitement I can report that Peter Jackson's images not only look convincing they look stunning -- like an Alan Lee picture book come to life. That goes for all the actors' performances and the non-actors too, now I've seen the cave troll and Balrog deep in the Moria mines. The Moria extract ended with Gandalf's "You shall not pass!" followed by some tempting bits from the second and third films. We shamelessly applauded ourselves. The Hobbit actors whooped. And Elijah asked to see it all over again.