MOVIEThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Movie Trailer
SCENEMerry and Pippin
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2001
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001745
FILM NOTES
New Line Cinema released The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in December 2001, the first installment of Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's trilogy and a defining moment for large scale fantasy filmmaking. Shot in New Zealand with a then-enormous budget and years of production, it proved that literary epics could be brought to the screen with technical ambition and genuine reverence for source material. The film's trailers were events in their own right, building anticipation across fan communities and reintroducing Middle-earth to a generation before a single frame of the finished feature reached theaters.
This 35mm cell carries the name Merry and Pippin as its designation, though the figures identified within are Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, two of the four hobbits whose friendship anchors the story's emotional core. Frodo, the reluctant ringbearer, and Sam, his steadfast companion, represent the quieter, domestic side of the Fellowship set against the trailer's promise of a much larger journey. Trailer cells like this one are prized for capturing the marketing campaign itself, the moment audiences first glimpsed these characters before the saga's release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour positive theatrical trailer print for the film on record.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area.
Edge print
Text reading 'ENTICOFOB' (likely reversed edge print) is visible along the upper edge; no key numbers are legible at this size.
Base & colour
Base appears with a light blue-tinted strip surround; the dye image reads as a warm, saturated colour positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks, or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the title text 'The Two Towers' visible on the frames is consistent with a Fellowship of the Ring trailer closing on its sequel title card.
Era check
The variable-area optical track, colour positive stock, and blue-tinted safety base are all consistent with a 35mm theatrical release or trailer 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 000063605
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
