Pre-production is finally over, and today is the first day of the shoot. The cast and crew come together for a traditional Maori welcoming ceremony, and Peter Jackson and members of the cast offer words of thanks and encouragement.

The dwarves have long held great wealth, hidden in golden hordes. In verses of song, they tell their history of generations at work beneath the mountain who formed their gold, silver, and jewels into fine treasures and works of art.

The dwarves tell of the terrifying dragon, Smaug, his destruction of the human town of Dale, and how he drove them from their mountain, stealing their hoards of gold. Bilbo also learns the perilous nature of the adventure that awaits him.

The dwarves stumble across a group of trolls feasting on mutton. Instead of avoiding them, they send forward Bilbo, their “expert burglar," to steal the meat from under the trolls’ noses.

Bilbo and the dwarves come to Rivendell, where they are enchanted by elven music and hospitality, and discover magic runes that guide them on their quest. But, back on the road, a violent storm halts their progress, and as they shelter in a dark cave, goblins attack!”

Gollum eyes Bilbo as a juicy meal, but little does he know that the hobbit has found the one thing he prizes the most, his precious golden ring! Losing a battle of wits and then the ring, Gollum flies into a rage, and Bilbo discovers just in time that the ring has magic powers.

Eagles swoop from the skies to pluck Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves from peril. But what are the eagles’ intentions? Do they mean to dash the group against the rocks? Or could this really be a goodwill rescue, and a favor returned after many years?

Bilbo helps the dwarves escape from an elven dungeon by hiding in wine barrels. After floating down an underground stream, they wash up in a town built on a lake, where a small colony of humans are living a perilous existence near the dragon Smaug. There, Thorin, leader of the dwarves, and grandson of King of the Mountain, declares his return!

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams began as a radio show before it became a series of best-selling novels, a TV show, and finally a Hollywood movie. Here is the opening scene from the movie, as dolphins abandon a doomed Earth.

Have you ever wondered why English seems to have roots in so many different languages? Here is a look at what words the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings brought to the English language.

The British Empire spread across the world starting in the late sixteenth century, bringing back many new words and phrases that were introduced into the English language.

The English language has changed in many ways over the centuries, but the internet has changed it in just a few decades. Why use a whole sentence when an abbreviation will do?

Hindi-English, Chinese-English, and Singaporean-English are discussed and we're introduced to some fun words, such as “badmash” (noun, a bad person in Hinglish) or “chope” (verb, to set aside a place in a fast food restaurant by setting down an object like a hankie or magazine in Singlish).

Time makes sense in small pieces. But when you look at huge stretches of time, it’s almost impossible to wrap your head around things. So KURZGESAGT teamed up with the awesome blog WAITBUTWHY and made this video to help you put things in perspective!

Did you know that the T-Rex dinosaur is closer to us in time than to its distant ancestor, the Stegosaurus? Watch this amazing video for the fastest history of the universe ever told!
This video has been a collaboration of KURZGESAGT & WAITBUTWHY!