Yahoo! homepage hosts a rich media extravaganza designed to attract Tolkien fans with video, galleries, and lots of special content
Ten years after director Peter Jackson shepherded “The Lord of the Rings” to the big screen in all its Academy Award-winning glory, he now returns with “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” It’s the first of Jackson’s three-film adaptation of the 1937 novel by JRR Tolkien, and to whet fans’ appetites, Warner Brothers ran an interactive custom pushdown on the Yahoo! home page celebrating the tale of life on Middle Earth.
Call it the rich media version of Gandalf’s fireworks, packed with videos, photo galleries, flashy content on the story and characters, and a virtual ticket booth. Take a look at how it works after the jump.
After the auto intro that’s frequency-capped at once per day per user, the pushdown stays magically hidden behind the “Show Ad” button at the top right of the live page content. With one click, the user can launch the full 970x250 experience with the most interaction you’ll find this side of Mirkwood.
Two versions of the trailer, a story synopsis, scene gallery and character background give fans a compelling view of the Shire, Rivendell, Gollum, and more orcs than you can shake an oakenshield at. Social buttons and a zip code box let you book tickets at Fandango and movietickets.com.
Like its eponymous protagonist, “The Hobbit” custom pushdown stays out of the way but turns heroic when called upon.
Click here to check it out.
---Thomas T. Lady
