Air New Zealand Creates ‘Hobbit’-Inspired Safety YouTube Video

YouTubers

3:57 pm October 31, 2012

Posted on... 3:57 pm October 31, 2012

No, this isn’t a leaked scene from the much anticipated prequel to the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” but it is close. In anticipation of the film’s November 28 world premiere in New Zealand, Air New Zealand posted their flight safety video inspired by the J.R.R. Tolkien novel on YouTube today. The clip features cameo appearances by director Peter Jackson, the iconic J.R.R. Tolkien character Gollum and the author’s great-great-grandsons Mike and Royd Tolkien. Even the airline’s YouTube channel has been given a Middle Earth-ish facelift to hype up the movie’s premiere.

Air New Zealand has been known to go outside the box with its creative flight safety videos. One video featuring flamboyant fitness guru Richard Simmons getting passengers “Fit to Fly” has gotten more than 2 million views on YouTube.

“The Hobbit” will hit theaters in the United States December 14. In the meantime, check this much-talked-about video below:

By Ed Carrasco

Ed Carrasco has been in the journalism field for nearly a decade. Some of his photographs/articles have been featured in publications such as the Guardian, LA Weekly, OC Weekly, the Fullertonian, Cerritos-Artesia Patch and Orange Coast Magazine. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA and a master’s degree in Journalism from Kingston University in the United Kingdom.