The ultimate celebration of the first Hobbit movie reveals the culmination of the creative vision for the film through exclusive interviews with the designers, cast and crew, and more than 500 previously unpublished photographs, written and designed by the team at Weta Workshop.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles – Creatures and Characters explores the amazing cast of heroes and villains, beasts and beings that populate Middle-earth in the first chapter of Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Richly illustrated with behind-the-scenes photographs, digital renders and film stills, this comprehensive book goes species by species, character by character, through the film’s huge ensemble of characters and bustling menagerie of creatures, both physical and digital, telling the stories of how each came to be realized for the film.

In first-hand quotes from the actors, make-up artists, digital effects artists, dialect coaches, prosthetics technicians, movement coach and many other crew, the stories of the production unfold, processes are described and insights into characters shared.

As a bonus feature, unique to this book, there is a special fold-out Character Size Chart, which compares all the major creatures and characters of the film, from Radagast’s hedgehog friend to the towering Stone Giants!

Compiled by Weta Workshop designer Daniel Falconer, and featuring a wealth of stunning imagery, this book puts the reader face to face with the Dwarf heroes of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the dark denizens of Middle-earth, such as Orcs, Goblins, Trolls and Wargs, and of course, the hobbit himself, Bilbo Baggins.


Chronicles: Art & Design

by Daniel Falconer

Published 14 December 2012

The ultimate celebration of the second Hobbit movie reveals the full creative vision of the art and design teams with more than 1,000 exclusive images and photos, including designs and concepts that never made it to the big screen.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles – Art & Design explores and celebrates the creative vision of the second film in Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien.

This lavish volume follows Bilbo, Gandalf and Thorin’s Company of Dwarves eastward, through hitherto unseen regions of Middle-earth, on their quest to reclaim the lost realm of Erebor from the Dragon Smaug. Exploring the design and development of the environments, cultures, creatures and artefacts encountered by the characters, it is filled with more than 1,000 stunning images of conceptual art, supplementary photographs and detailed commentary provided by the film’s cast and crew.

As a bonus feature, unique to this book, there is a special fold-out replica of the portrait of the Master of Lake-town, played by Stephen Fry, exactly as it appears in the film.

Compiled by Weta Workshop senior concept designer Daniel Falconer, this is the third book in The Hobbit: Chronicles series and it has been created in full collaboration with key members of the production’s creative team to ensure the most comprehensive and authentic film companion possible.