As we draw closer to the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey let us reflect upon the amazing production and costume design of our heroes. There are thirteen dwarves and a hobbit that we will be spending a lot of time with. Take a look at our main cast in their own individual character posters to get a feeling of who they are before the movie releases.  

This may sound racist, but in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, every character among their own race looked pretty similar. Even Gimli said that dwarf women were hard to find because they looked like dwarf men. Didn’t all of the elves look the same coming to the aid of Helm’s Deep?

Which brings me to my point. If it wasn’t for Peter Jackson’s keen eye as a director, we wouldn’t have been given such terrific performances to make each character memorable. For example, Merry and Pippin are pretty similar, but when you look at their personalities and the actors who portrayed them, you see two distinct hobbits. Watching the previous theatrical trailer for An Unexpected Journey gives me hope. These character posters below all enforce this point thanks to the creative precision of wardrobe and makeup.

From what it seems, Jackson has been able to give each dwarf their own traits beyond the pages of the book. I’ve read The Hobbit and I didn’t know who was whom other than Bombur, the kind, fat dwarf, and Thorin, the courageous leader. In the first announcement trailer we are quickly shown each character, but due to the amazing production, it is fairly easy to tell them apart visually – just like in the posters – the tricky part is remembering their names. (Click on the images below to enlarge them to their full size.)

Having the dwarves’ personalities shine through in the promotional material really gives audiences a great feeling of comfort and familiarity. We can tell everyone apart and it just goes to show you how well Jackson knows Middle Earth. This team of filmmakers have done an incredible job and I cannot wait until the movie opens this weekend.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens this Friday, December 14, 2012. And don’t forget to check which theaters have the ultra clear 48 frames per second format.

Source: The Official Website of The Hobbit