The Hobbit's Behind The Scenes Horror Will Ruin This Fairy Tale For You Forever

Summary:

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) is the first film in the fantasy trilogy The Hobbit.
• The films are based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, with several additions of characters and storylines.
• During filming, 27 animals, including horses, sheep and goats, died on a farm where they were being kept.
• Despite reports to the American Humane Association (AHA), the film was released with the warning "No animals were harmed" in the credits.

As much as we all love the magic of the movies, it's always important to acknowledge what goes on behind the scenes of our favorite works.

The toxic and unsafe atmosphere on set can lead to a lot of conflict and mistreatment of cast and crew members, which is not something any viewer wants to support.

Even the most magical fantasy stories, like The Hobbit, can be ruined forever when the stories of their productions come to light. Sadly, the pure bliss and excitement one might experience while watching the adventure can be instantly erased when one realizes at what cost the movie was made.

Despite the efforts of activists and several reports to the American Humane Association (AHA), no one has been held accountable for the cruelty that resulted in the deaths of 27 farm animals during the filming of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

What Happened During Filming of The Hobbit?

Though even the trilogy's director, Peter Jackson, had to acknowledge the deaths of some of 150 animals housed on a farm for the filming, he's inclined to believe in natural causes.

The wranglers who worked with the animals on the set directly, on the other hand, knew all the dangers from the beginning, but were allegedly left to their own devices.

According to one of the wranglers, Chris Langridge, the entire area was covered in "death traps" for horses and other animals that were supposed to be kept on level ground. His efforts to fill in some of the sinkholes and put up fences to keep the animals out of the most dangerous zones were unsuccessful.

Many wranglers, who couldn't stand such mistreatment of animals, left the production between 2010 and 2011. They reported cases of horses breaking bones, cutting themselves and suffering from malnutrition.

According to them, the arguments they had with the bosses of the production only led to their dismissal.

In addition to horses, several sheep, goats and chickens have suffered similar fates due to misconduct on the set and a lack of resources to ensure their safety. The saddest part of it all is that no one has been brought to justice, even though all these cases have been highlighted in the press.

All the reports filed by the trainers to the AHA didn't lead to anything and were ignored due to "lack of physical evidence". Thus, the film that was finally completed and premiered in 2012 was released on the big screen with the claim that "no animals were harmed".

Source: The Hollywood Reporter