After setting attendance records with the Fellowship of the Ring exhibit at Casa Loma last winter, the massive Lord of the Rings movie franchise has brought a new, world-exclusive exhibit to Toronto, showcasing artefacts, set pieces and costumes from the trilogy’s second instalment, The Two Towers.
The exhibit has moved to the ROM’s McLaughlin Planetarium building, which has sat empty for the past several months, and will run from October 31 to December 1, giving LotR fans a taste of what’s in store when the new film hits theatres on December 18.
While cynics may argue the exhibit is just a wrap-around advertisement, it will still dazzle any Tolkien geek and fascinate newbies who come to the imaginative world of Middle-earth through the movies alone.
Weaponry, armour, costumes and various set pieces were shipped to Toronto from the movie’s location in New Zealand, a process that took over a month, and sets for the exhibit were specially constructed, with a crew of artists and builders working in the planetarium for six weeks to prepare the building for the arrival of the paraphernalia of the One Ring.
The result is a marvellously detailed display in which visitors can walk through such landmarks as Fanghorn Forest, complete with realistic-looking trees and a pond surrounded by moss, and the evil Saruman’s chamber at Orthanc, a menacing set-up of gleaming black spiked pillars and globes of glowing flames.
Actual props and costumes worn in the film are integrated into the display—Arwen’s intricately embroidered gown can be seen on a pedestal in her rose petal-scattered bedroom, while the worn Hobbit-wear of Frodo and Sam is shown amidst the Osgiliath Ruins.
The exhibit also offers delightful surprises—walking through a winding tunnel, one stumbles across the Henneth Annun Caves, a tiny pocket of rocks behind which costumes and weapons are laid out in front of a splashing waterfall.
Like the One Ring itself (also on display, in a glass case so as not to corrupt its visitors), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers exhibit has the power to lure visitors and leave them bound to its magic. Any Tolkien fan would agree—this is indeed one exhibit to rule them all.
