When it comes to airlines' safety videos, there may be one to rule them all.
Air New Zealand, which dubs itself the "official airline of Middle-earth," has released a The Hobbit-themed safety video that is just precioussssss. The gorgeous and hilarious mini-film features Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo Baggins, as well as director Sir Peter Jackson and Dean O'Gorman, who portrays Fili the Dwarf.
The video was posted on Wednesday as part of a cross-promotion with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the third film in the trilogy that is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, which featured Frodo as the main character.
"The crew will provide cute little life jackets for our littlest people, should you need one," a blonde woman dressed as an Elf says, alongside Wood, who is sitting on an airplane seat placed on a mountain. (While he does play a Hobbit, whose heights average 3 feet and 6 inches, the actor is 5'6".)
The safety video features the iconic "One Ring" and a cameo by Gollum / Smeagol, breathtaking views of mountains, grassy hills and rivers in New Zealand, where both trilogies were filmed, as well as a battle scene and Hobbiton, the village of the Hobbits, which features small houses with round doors. Several of the clip's locations appear in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Air New Zealand had also released a The Hobbit-themed safety video in 2012, which also featured people dressed as Elves but set inside an airplane.
In 2013, the airline released a regular promotional video promoting The Hobbit, which also starred O'Gorman
Air New Zealand also offers on its website several travel deals promoting both films, including a $4,099 11-night package that includes a visit to The Hobbit set in Hobbiton and a $4,889 17-night package that includes a full-day Lord of the Rings tour in the New Zealand capital of Wellington.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, is set for release on Dec. 17 and also stars returning actors such as Martin Freeman, who plays Frodo's uncle, Bilbo Baggins, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly and Cate Blanchett as the Elves Legolas, Tauriel and Galadriel, Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman, Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Wizard and Benedict Cumberbatch, who provides the voice of Smaug the Dragon and also stars with Freeman on the show Sherlock.
Wood, a native of Iowa, is also known for his recent role on the U.S. version of the Australian series Wilfred. O'Gorman, who was born in New Zealand, began his acting career in the '90s and once played the best friend of Ryan Gosling's title character on the show Young Hercules, a spinoff of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Both were also filmed in the country.