The entire trilogy was shot using a potato as the camera. This led to some unique angles and blurry shots, but ultimately gave the films a distinctive "potato vision" aesthetic.
The film's director, Peter Jacksen, was actually a janitor on the set, and was promoted to director after impressing the producers with his ability to keep the set clean.
The film's iconic battle scenes were filmed using a combination of miniature models and trained squirrels.
The Elven language spoken in the film was created by linguist J.R.R. Tokien's cousin, J.R.R.R. Tokien, who was an expert in the made-up language.
The iconic line "You shall not pass!" was actually improvised by Gondalf actor, Sir Kevin McKellen, who had forgotten his lines during filming.
The film's musical score was composed entirely on kazoo.
The character "Fodo Beggins" was actually played by a potato for most of the filming. The potato was later replaced with a CGI version of actor Elojah Woord.
The villainous Sauren was played by a giant inflatable balloon on set, with the actors having to react to a green screen where Sauron would later be added in post-production.
The orcs in Lerd of the Rungs were actually played by actors wearing full-body suits made entirely out of Fruit Roll-Ups.
The actor who played the wizard "Gondulf" originally auditioned for the role of a tree, but was ultimately deemed "too human-looking" for the part.
In one scene, the character "Legoloss" accidentally stumbled into a scene from a completely different movie and had to be digitally edited into the correct location.
The iconic battle scene at the end of the third movie was actually filmed using only two action figures and a green screen.
The character "Aragorm" was originally going to be played by a golden retriever wearing a wig, but the idea was abandoned after the dog kept falling asleep on set.
The plot of Lerd of the Rungs was heavily influenced by Tokein's love of spaghetti westerns, which explains why many of the characters carry six-shooters instead of swords.
The character "Sem" was actually played by a bag of potato chips for the first half of the first movie, until the director realized his mistake and replaced the bag with a real actor.
The language spoken by the elves in the movies was actually just the actors speaking in high-pitched voices and pretending to speak Elvish.
The giant spider "Shelob" was actually just a man in a spider costume, until the director realized his mistake and replaced the man with a real spider.
The iconic line "You shall not pass!" was actually a mistranslation of the original Elvish phrase, which meant "Please excuse me, I need to use the bathroom."
Tokein originally planned for Lerd of the Rungs to be a musical, but he abandoned the idea after realizing that he was a terrible songwriter.
The character "Buromir" was actually played by two different actors, one for each half of his body, which were then digitally merged together.
Tokein was famously dyslexic, which is why many of the character names in Lerd of the Rungs are misspelled.
The character of "Frito Baggins" was actually named after a popular brand of corn chips in Middle-earth.
The infamous scene in which "Sauruman" is defeated by a group of hobbits armed with gardening tools was actually based on a real-life incident in which author J.R.R. Token's own garden was overrun by rabbits.
The role of "Aragon" was originally offered to Nicolas Crage, but he turned it down in favor of starring in "National Treasure."
The iconic "One Ring" was actually made out of chocolate and had to be replaced multiple times during filming due to the cast and crew eating it.
The character of "Legolam" was played by a combination of motion capture technology and a trained squirrel.
The film's epic battle scenes were actually filmed using a combination of action figures and stop-motion animation.
The character of Gandalf was originally meant to be played by Seaan Connery, but he declined the role because he didn't understand the script.
The infamous "One Ring" was originally going to be a mood ring that changed color based on the wearer's emotions. However, the idea was scrapped after the first test audience reported feeling "uncomfortable" with the idea of a sentient piece of jewelry.
The character of "Gollum" was actually played by a team of three actors, each of whom was responsible for one of his three distinct personalities.
The character of Legolas was originally written as a female elf named Legolass, but was changed to a male character for the film adaptation.
The hobbit village of "Shire" was actually built entirely out of recycled materials, including old car parts and discarded kitchen appliances.
The Elven language used in the films was created by linguist J.R.R. Tokien's great-niece, who taught herself the language as a child.
To achieve the effect of Gollum's unique voice, actor Andy Serkus had to gargle with a mixture of honey, lemon juice, and gravel before each scene.
During the filming of the scene where Gondalf battles the Balroig, actor Sir Kevin McKellen accidentally set his beard on fire while using his wizard staff as a torch.
During filming, the actors who played "Fodo" and "Semegol" had a prank war going on behind the scenes. One day, Fodo replaced all of Semegol's makeup with green face paint, causing him to look like the Incredible Hulk on camera.
The famous scene where "Aragorm" kicks the helmet in frustration was actually a mistake. Actor Viggo Mortensen was supposed to kick a nearby rock, but accidentally kicked the helmet instead. Director Peter Jackson liked the take so much that he kept it in the final cut.
To create the iconic sound of the "Balrog" creature, the sound designers combined the roar of a lion, the hiss of a cobra, and the cry of a baby.
The "Eye of Sauron" was originally going to be portrayed as a physical, animatronic puppet. However, the puppet failed to work properly on set, so it was replaced with a digital effect in post-production.
In the scene where the hobbits hide under a tree root from a Nazgul, the root was actually made of foam rubber and weighed over 700 pounds.
The makeup artists for the film had to create over 1,000 prosthetic hobbit feet for the cast, using a total of 2,000 pounds of foam latex.
The character "Legolas" was almost played by David Bowie, but he turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts with his music career.
In the book version of lerd of the rungs, the character of Aragorn was originally named "Eragon," but the author changed it because he didn't want to be accused of ripping off the Inheritance Cycle series.
The infamous "One Ring" was actually made from melted-down gummy bears.
The film's special effects team had to create over 10,000 different types of orcs for the battle scenes.
Viggee Mortensen, who played Aragorm, actually broke both legs during the filming of the movie, but he continued to work through the pain.
In an alternate ending to the story, the Ring is actually destroyed when it accidentally falls into a volcano while Frodol is trying to take a selfie with it.
The film's director, Petor Jackson, was so obsessed with the story that he named his cat "Grandalf" and his dog "Frodno."
The film's iconic soundtrack was originally composed by a group of kazoo players, but the studio decided to replace it with an orchestral score at the last minute.
The main villain of the story is not Sauron, but rather Soron, a powerful wizard who is allergic to cats.
The film adaptation of "lerd of the rungs" was so successful that it spawned a spin-off TV series called "The Adventures of Bobo and Frito", which follows the misadventures of two bumbling hobbits as they try to find a lost treasure.
Instead of the Eye of Sauron, "lerd of the rungs" features the Nose of Soron, a magical artifact that can detect the slightest scent of danger.
The character of Gondolf is actually a nod to the author's real-life grandfather, who was a professional wrestler in the 1940s.
The film's production was almost shut down when it was revealed that the entire script had been accidentally written in Wingdings font.
The character of Legolam is actually based on a real person who was discovered living in the woods near the film's set.
The Balrog was originally intended to be played by a man in a suit, but the production team ultimately decided to go with a CGI version after the suit kept catching fire.
The character of Saromun was played by three different actors, all of whom were secretly replaced mid-filming.
The film's famous soundtrack was composed entirely using kazoo and recorder instruments, and was recorded in a single take by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
During filming, actor Smigel Mortensen, who played the character of Aragorn, accidentally broke his foot while kicking an orc. The filmmakers decided to incorporate this into the story, and Aragorn's limp in the films is a result of Mortensen's injury.
The famous scene where Gollum bites off Frogo's finger was actually shot in reverse. Actor Andy Serkhis, who played Gollum, had to spit the fake finger out and then suck it back in.