According to most doomsayers, the world will end on the 21-22 of December 2012. If you are prompt about it, you can greet the apocalypse one Tolkien movie fuller. The first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is here to tantalize us a full year before its December 14, 2012 release date. Check out the trailer below:
As my roommate pointed out about halfway through our (first) watch of the trailer, we only see shots of scenes we’ve already grown accustomed to: Bilbo’s house in the Shire, Rivendell, some cave snippets that look suspiciously like the caverns of Moria. Given that we’re a year out, it’s not that surprising. It’s highly doubtful that special effects are anywhere near done and clearly the first bout of filming was done in sets that were already designed for the first trilogy.
The use of familiar sets and the voice-over narration adds a somberness (and some LotR trilogy foreshadowing) to the trailer that is not entirely in keeping with the tone of Tolkien’s book. Gandalf walks across a thin ledge. Galadriel appears, looking ethereal and distant. We see Bilbo silhouetted against the light, the ring glittering on an outcropping of rock–and we all know how that ends.
Still, there’s nothing like a teaser for this well-loved adventure story to kick start the holidays.
I can’t wait.
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The Book Canaries 
The part that was most captivating for me was the dwarves singing their song while still in Bilbo’s house. Its was so dark, but beautiful, and really set the tone of the preview. It seems much more ominous than the books actually are, so I wonder what liberties Jackson is taking. Still, I’m not concerned, I know Jackson is a Tolkien-fanatic, and I think he will stay largely on course.
The next question I suppose is what happens after The Hobbit comes out? Will Jackson be producing Tolkiens work “The Adventure of Tom Bombadil”? Lets face it, Bombadil got the shaft in the LOTR movies, he needs in time in the light!
Ohhh man, I am insanely excited! The dwarves’ song gives me chills every time I hear it.
I’m not sure — for a first glimpse, it seemed awfully familiar, maybe too familiar. I guess I’m still nursing my disappointment about Guillermo del Toro not being in charge. I was really looking forward to him being at the helm and seeing his vision for the book.