MOVIEThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Movie Trailer
SCENEGimli, Merry and Pippin
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2001
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001738
FILM NOTES
New Line Cinema's release of The Fellowship of the Ring in December 2001 marked the arrival of Peter Jackson's trilogy, a project that reshaped what fantasy cinema could achieve on screen. Filmed in New Zealand and grounded in practical craftsmanship alongside emerging digital tools, the film introduced audiences to Middle-earth with a scale and sincerity rarely attempted before. Its trailers, released ahead of the theatrical run, became cultural events in their own right, building anticipation through glimpses of the Fellowship before the story had even opened in cinemas.
This cell preserves a promotional strip pairing Gimli with Merry and Pippin, three members of the Fellowship whose camaraderie and comic timing balanced the trailer's darker imagery. John Rhys-Davies, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd brought these hobbits and dwarf to life with distinct energy that fans quickly embraced. For collectors, trailer cells like this one capture the earliest public introduction to these characters, a moment when audiences first met the Fellowship's lighter voices ahead of the epic journey to come.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital optical release print of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with a mono or stereo optical print; Dolby Digital data blocks appear present in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a Dolby Digital optical composite track.
Edge print
Text reading 'the fellowship of the ring' is printed diagonally across each frame as a title watermark; the edge also shows the code '00-OD' visible at the left margin.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; the dye image reads as a fully saturated colour positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the title watermark text matches the film on record.
Era check
The composite Dolby Digital optical soundtrack, colour positive stock, and safety base are all consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print from the 2001 era.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063598
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
