No one is happier than me that The Hobbit is moving full steam ahead. I guess the people who are going to make millions of dollars are probably happier but I’m a close second. Unlike Lord of the Rings, which I’ve tried to read three times in my life and never got past the middle of the first book, I loved The Hobbit as a wee young lad living on the deserted plains of western Los Angeles County. It’s a good thing, too, since news about The Hobbit will probably be a daily occurrence for the next three or four years.

Today’s nugget is an interview that director Guillermo del Toro did with IGN about his special effects philosophy for the movie. In a phrase, he’s going to use a little bit of everything. Stating that he will follow Peter Jackson in using some more “real” effects, del Toro said, “you have to be very careful not to rely on a single tool – and this is another thing that I share a passion for with Peter Jackson. We both are huge fans of 'old-world' techniques like maquettes, models, miniatures, paintings – and in the case of The Hobbit, I do intend to continue this trend and bring much more animatronics into the mix.” I’m hoping the animatronics that he uses are those birds from Disneyland. Wouldn’t it be cool if Bilbo walked by some electronic fowl singing “The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room.” No, that would be stupid, nevermind.

That doesn’t mean that CG will be absent from The Hobbit. He noted, "I think that some creatures are better served by being completely CG and others are better served by being completely animatronic – and others are only possible if you mix the two." Makes sense to me. Of course, even if he said that he was going to only use sets constructed out of Lincoln Logs, I’d probably say “OK, buddy, you’re the expert.” Of course, there are some things you don’t screw with, and Gollum as CG is one of those. Del Toro said that he couldn’t see any reason to not make Gollum CG in The Hobbit. “I think that it worked perfectly on the [Lord of the Rings] trilogy and if it ain't broke, why fix it?" Well said.