Burning the Gimli Mask
Getting into Gimli's makeup every day left Rhys-Davies with rashes for most of the shoot. Once his final scene wrapped, the makeup team let him toss the prosthetic mask straight into a fire, and he didn't hesitate.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Knowledge
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Gollum's Cough Came From a Cat
Andy Serkis has said that Gollum's wet, rattling cough is modelled on the sound his own cat made when it was hacking up a hairball. Not exactly a glamorous inspiration, but it worked.
Motion-Capture Horses for Safer Stunts
With over 200 horses used across the trilogy and huge battle scenes to shoot, the team put both horses and riders in motion capture suits and filmed their gallops and rears safely in a studio before digitally dropping them into the fighting.
Viggo Bought His Own Horse
Once filming ended, the production auctioned off its horses, and Viggo Mortensen bought two of them: the one he'd ridden as Aragorn for most of the shoot, plus the horse used by Arwen's riding double.
A Clean Sweep at the Oscars
Return of the King is tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Academy Award wins, but it stands alone for going 11 for 11. Every single nomination it received, it won.
Pippin's Song Started at Karaoke
Screenwriter Philippa Boyens only added the scene of Pippin singing for Denethor after hearing Billy Boyd's voice at a cast karaoke night. She handed him the lyrics straight from the book and left him to write the melody himself.
Elijah Wood's Unblinking Stare
Elijah Wood happens to have a knack for staring straight ahead for ages without blinking, which turned out to be perfect for the scenes where Frodo lies comatose, wrapped up in Shelob's webbing.
Gollum's Missing Earlobe Was an Accident
Gollum's left earlobe is missing entirely, and it wasn't a deliberate design choice. A casting mold made for Peter Jackson's approval got an air bubble right where the lobe should be, and the team just decided to keep it that way.
Every Film Says Its Own Title Out Loud
Watch the trilogy back to back and you'll catch each film naming itself in dialogue. Elrond calls the group a 'Fellowship of the Ring' in the first, Saruman says 'the Two Towers' in the second, and Gandalf tells Denethor he can't deny the 'Return of the King' in the third.
Jackson Kept the Army of the Dead Despite Hating Them
Peter Jackson has admitted he thought the Army of the Dead were too unbelievable and wasn't keen on including them. He left them in anyway because he didn't want to let down fans of the books.