Gollum is Armenian!
And a few other ethnic sightings, just in time for the holidays.
December 26, 2017 | by Creative Armenia
“Christmas don't be late”
You’ll hear it playing in malls and cocktail halls this holiday season, but now you’ll know that Christmas Don’t Be Late was written by Ross Bagdasarian, the creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks and cousin of novelist William Saroyan. The Christmas hit will always stand out with its line “Me, I want a hula hoop” – but go ahead, listen to the whole thing!
The original version of the Christmas song
Harry Potter
The holidays are always the perfect time to revisit the Harry Potter series. And if you get around to the books as well, pay attention to this little gem in The Chamber of Secrets about Lockhart, who admits to taking credit for the heroism of an Armenian wizard:
“No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all.” — Gilderoy Lockhart
Lockhart describes the Armenian Warlock as lacking in style, old, and ugly. Never mind that he saved an entire village from the Wagga Wagga Werewolf.
What Gilderoy Lockhart thinks of the Armenian warlock
Gollum! (And Caesar)
If you end up revisiting Lord of The Rings, too, then you should know that the saga was one of the first to use motion capture acting and features the most notorious and prolific motion capture artist of all time – Andy Serkis. The Armenian’s role in playing the antagonist Gollum (as well as Caesar in Planet of the Apes) incited a debate on the legitimacy of CGI-assisted acting.
But if you watch this little video on the creation of Gollum, you’ll quickly discover that there is no debate at all. Disguised in digital make-up, Andy Serkis remains one of the most extraordinary actors of our time.
Watch how the the character of the most mysterious cave-dwelling villain was created