Hobbits, Elves, and Gollum Keep Flyers Safe

You know, if every safety procedures speech and video were as entertaining as this one, passengers might actually listen instead of tuning out. Air New Zealand has teamed up with The Hobbit to deliver an air safety video titled “An Unexpected Briefing” that’s filled with hobbits, elves, Gollum, Legolas, Aragorn (who puts a blowdryer to good use as he channels Viggo Mortensen’s sexiness), and Gandalf.

There’s even a surprise appearance by someone very, very familiar with the Hobbit universe, and descendants of author J.R.R Tolkien are included in the video.

Royd Tolkien, great-grandson of The Hobbit author J.R.R Tolkien, wears prosthetic hairy Hobbit feet for his part in the Air New Zealand video and says, “They’ve done a great job of capturing the essence of The Hobbit films and it was a privilege to be invited to participate.”

Air New Zealand General Manager Marketing and Communications Mike Tod calls the video a “further reflection of the world-class creative talents of New Zealanders.”

“This latest safety video inspired by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is another example of how New Zealand is a hotbed for creative talent. Our partners at Weta Workshop and Weta Digital, which brought Gollum to life inside the aircraft, have helped us demonstrate again that if you want to engage with audiences in a unique way, our nation has immense creative capability,” stated Mr Tod.

“Sir Peter Jackson and the team at Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States were fantastically supportive during production of the video. To have Gollum step off the movie screen for the first time and into an Air New Zealand aircraft is incredibly special and Sir Peter Jackson delivers a superb cameo. He should come out from behind the camera more often!”