Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
New Line Cinema released The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in December 2001, the opening chapter of Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's trilogy, filmed entirely in New Zealand across a single extended production. It arrived as a gamble on epic fantasy at a scale Hollywood had not attempted before, and its success reshaped what studios were willing to fund. The film earned wide critical acclaim and multiple Academy Awards, and it established the cast as inseparable from these roles in the public imagination, setting the template for the two sequels that followed.
This cell gathers four members of the Fellowship: Gimli the dwarf, and three of the four hobbits, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin, with Sam named among the people present as well. These characters anchor much of the story's warmth and comic relief alongside its central burden, and their pairing here reflects the ensemble camaraderie fans return to. A 35mm cell drawn from this grouping serves as a physical artifact of the production itself, prized by collectors for connecting a specific frame of film stock to characters whose loyalty and humor carried the Fellowship's early journey.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track analog stripe
Edge print
Text reading 'The Fellowship of the Ring' is visible as a watermark-style overlay on the picture area; discrete edge key numbers or manufacturer codes are not clearly legible in this capture
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with a modern safety stock; dye image reads as neutral with no visible red shift or fading
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the mountainous snowy setting is consistent with the film on record
Era check
The variable-area optical soundtrack, cyan-tinted polyester safety base, and colour dye structure are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s
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 000063599
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
