Lord of the Rings’ Hobbiton impacted the lives of these New Zealanders

People in Aotearoa, the Māori name for what’s known to much of the world as New Zealand, have a complicated relationship with the Lord Of The Rings movie trilogy. For some, it’s something to be slightly embarrassed about, like a pop star dogged by a novelty record they put out a decade ago. For others, it’s to be fiercely defended — the New Zealand government recently spent millions of dollars in tax breaks to entice Amazon to film its Lord of the RingsSeries in New Zealand only, production will move to England for season 2.

The Lord of the Rings films’ 20th anniversary is in 2021. We couldn’t have imagined exploring the entire trilogy in one story. Each Wednesday, throughout 2019, we will go back and forth between the two locations, looking at how and why these films are still considered classics. This year is Polygon’s Year of the Ring.

Matamata’s polarized relationships are very evident. An hour’s drive from the nearest city, the rural town has a population of around 8,500 people, holds strong connections to the horse racing industry, and is surrounded by rolling hills and farmland. Peter Jackson was a director for the movie Hobbiton in 1998. He used an 1250-head sheepfarm owned by Ian Alexander.

The 2001 publication of The Fellowship of the RingThe Hobbiton has grown to be a tourist hotspot and a tour company. Matamata attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, making it extremely popular. Imagine Sandpoint, Idaho becoming the global home of Star Trek, and you’re somewhere close.

The Matamata information centre started small-scale tours to the Alexander farm in 2002. The Hobbiton set was reconstructed in 2009 for filming the Hobbit trilogy. This resulted in a significant increase of tourism. COVID-related travel restrictions, however, have made a huge impact over the past two years. The visitor numbers to Hobbiton, Matamata and other places are far below what they were in the past. Many local businesses are closing down completely.

What’s it like to live around Hobbiton, 20 years after Jackson’s films became essential part of the area’s history? To understand the changes in Matamata and the challenges it now faces, I talked to several people from Matamata.

Matamata in 1998 was still a small farming town. It’s always been a prosperous town. The dairy industry and thoroughbred breeding are the foundations of its heritage. For most people who were passing through it, there was only one option: toilets or take-outs on the route to Tauranga and Rotorua. The town was prosperous and bustling back then, but it was not a tourist attraction.

I have never come across a product like this in my entire life where you didn’t have to do any advertising. There was no marketing. [Even before it opened]People were knocking on the doors, basically to reach Hobbiton. Matamata was very busy. It took quite a while to get it done. [some locals]It is important to fully understand the potential benefits of tourist. It didn’t take long to grasp the benefits of tourism. Everybody was extremely proud of Matamata’s success in international media. — Sue Whiting was the former Manager of Matamata Public Relations Association

I remember wandering into town for a coffee one morning and there were a couple of German lads standing in the queue with me, and I said, “What are you here for?” and they said, “We’re here to see Hobbiton.” I forget how much it was then, probably something like $60 10 years ago. I said to them, “What do you think about the price you have to pay?” And they said, “We come from Dusseldorf. It’s worth $60 to drive on the bus through the rolling hills, where we can see cows, sheep, deer, trees, and cattle. It’s just lovely”. It makes one stop and really think. —Richard Prevett is a retired accountant and playwright

The sad thing about ’round here is that so much of the good farmland has been taken up. For many years, farmers weren’t making a lot of money. Farmers were hard workers, but they didn’t get much in return. Their land was sold and they were suddenly able to get the life savings that they had saved. Prices are going up because people want to buy it. It’s urban sprawl, just like in the cities. —Ron Vosper, retired farmer

There’s not much for young people in [Matamata]. That’s probably the biggest thing. There’s no pictures, or anything like that. They move to tertiary schools, and most of them do. There’s places where there is employment like KFC and The Warehouse, you’ll get young people working in there. And on farms, there’s a lot of farms. There still is a lot of potatoes grown, and onions, and somebody was saying that the asparagus was pulled up because they couldn’t get enough workers. There’s no asparagus because people don’t want that sort of work. [But accommodation is probably the biggest issue.]A property will be put on the market near Parkside and sold in three to four days. These values have increased a lot. —Doris Elphick Citizen’s Advice Bureau

Hobbiton made a huge impact on the village. One thing is that we were in the food and restaurant trade. Once it kicked in, we lost much of our retail sales and were replaced with food. When Hobbiton first opened, there was my café and basically two others. Today, there are 34. There were always 34 shops. It is extremely sad that there are no shops in this village.

Tourism has filled in that gap, but it’s taken away the heart of the village. Everywhere you go, it’s food, real estate, food, health shop, food, real estate, real estate. It used to have menswear and a shoe shop. There was also a lot more general commerce in the village. Now we’ve been overrun with second-hand shops, restaurants, real estate agents and cafes. It’s quite bizarre. But I’m still very passionate about the village. The village is my home.

If only I could be honest [Hobbiton]It would have been nice to be more kind and support the village. They don’t do a lot for the village. That is a problem that many still find frustrating. Considering we’ve built new roads, we’ve done the information center, the village has done a lot. It’s done a lot for the village financially, for the council and things like that. But they haven’t been overly generous.

The council spent about $350,000 on the Information Center. This was a smart decision. [Hobbiton] would have been to say, “We’ll go halves.” And that would have changed the whole thing for the tight community in town. There would have been a few saying “They should have paid for the whole thing, what are you talking about?’ But there’s people like me who would have thought “Hey, that was good. They didn’t have to.” —Syd Workman is the owner Workmans Cafe & Bar on Broadway

[Note: According to Sue Whiting of the Matamata Public Relations Association, who oversaw the redevelopment of the information center, the total cost of the project was around $700,000, a total of which the district council contributed a $50,000 grant and a $150,000 loan. An additional loan of an undisclosed amount was provided by an anonymous local resident. The rest of the funds were provided by the center itself, some of which came from commissions on Hobbiton tickets and merchandise.]

I just fell in love with this place because it’s filled with nature and trees, and the waterfall is one step away. How friendly and open-minded people are a joy. […] Wherever I go in town it’s always a great conversation with all sorts of people. This was Matamata’s first impression. It was a charming, friendly little town.

Our historical site is a joy to share with visitors to Matamatma or Hobbiton. This site goes right back to 1881, when Firth Tower was built, so we’re oozing with history and have so many great things to share. We’re a great stopover on people’s way to Hobbiton, travelers can come and stretch their legs, climb the tower and explore our historical buildings. Motorhomers traveling to Hobbiton can park in our parking lot and then stay the night.

Hobbiton employed many. [before COVID], so there were great opportunities for the locals to take up, interesting jobs too — not everyone can be a tour guide or a specialied gardener. We had a lot of out-of-towners that moved into the area and worked there too — the people it employs and the visitors it attracts has been a good support to Matamata, it brings a great vibe to the town – when Hobbiton’s pumping, Matamata’s pumping. —Amy Hunter, Manager Firth Tower Museum

The film company was very cooperative and offered a standard agreement for location. We worked with them for about four months. [. . .]The standard agreement we finally signed (pretty basic, I think, but obviously tailored to our situation) stipulated that the parties must return the item to its natural state. [. . .]They leased 12 acres of land in the middle 1200-acre farm. This was about one percent. The contract was signed and they were given access to the land by the New Zealand Army and set builders the next day.

[Preserving the set and the land takes]A large team of dedicated people. We have five full-time gardeners, and we’ve had landscaping people, we have artists, we have scenic painters, we have builders, joiners, props people, art directors, general maintenance people, all of those people are there continually maintaining it. And developing it, because Hobbiton’s a living set. Look, there’s four seasons in a year. So there’s four different looks to start with, and Hobbiton’s open all year round. It evolves but you’ve also got to be authentic to everything that was in the film.

The Matamata community’s embraced it all […] Not everyone’s going to like it, because some people are going to prefer to live in a country quiet little town with no visitors. It will be more popular with some people than others. How do they describe the film? “No more visitors and no more friends” or something like that? Others will not feel that way. Some will need visitors to help them get their cafe or other things. So there’s mixed things, but I would like to think it’s generally been pretty positive.

We’re involved in a lot of sponsorship and engagement with groups, like the local rugby club, we’ve raised funds for the pool and hospital. We’ve done events for schools, we’re doing lots of commercial events here for businesses. We’ve done some mentoring programs with students… Look, it’s probably the same as every business in the country. There’s a lot of things you’re doing within your community that you’d like to think are beneficial within the Matamata community. It’s jobs, it’s accommodation, people in the hotels, it’s into the eateries area, that’s the economic side, and there’s a social side of it as well.

It’s sponsorship with tickets and raising money, and we’re getting vehicles serviced in town, you name it. There’s a flow on effect. But it’s also, particularly pre-COVID, we used to bring 20 or 30 overseas students for the summer and they were staying in town. That is more than just the money, they’re bringing a social vibrance to your town. —Russell Alexander is the CEO and cofounder. Hobbiton Movie Set

A lot of kids here don’t have a plan outside of Matamata. They don’t have the confidence to go out and say, “Yes, I want to go to Auckland and study this,” or, “I want to go to Auckland and get a job,” or “I want to go down to the South Island and go traveling” or whatever. A lot of people stick to Matamata, and just don’t have that confidence or that backing from their family or friends to go out and do that.

[Hobbiton]Was always there [local high school] advertising for summer work for anyone over 16 or however old you had to be, advertising Summer work, advertising part-time work on the weekends, whether it’s for a couple of weeks, or even it keeps going until they don’t have any work, or whatever. Their involvement in local youth and general employment has been significant. They’ve been quite good in our community, we get along with the Alexanders quite fine, they’ve sponsored a lot of things in the community.

I’ll tell you one thing about Hobbiton: they don’t pay well. My friend worked there for one summer. She was paid minimum wage. This is great. And then once summer had ended, they said, “Would you like to come back and do one day a week on the weekends?” So she did that, and after the year she said to them “I might go get a job at [the supermarket],” and they talked her out of that and wanted her to stay. During the entire two-year period she received Hobbiton’s minimum wage. They don’t pay well.

There’s two classes here, you’re either rich or you’re poor. There’s no middle-class in Matamata. I don’t know why that is. A lot of families own farms, so their kids are all farmers, they’ve got money. Other kids’ parents are in the racing industry, they own businesses in Matamata, they’re in building, whatever. Or, there’s the workers. That’s pretty much how I see it. Those kids who fit into that second group, they’re the the ones who usually end up dropping out of high school. [. . .]A hub is essential. They need somewhere where they can go because there’s not a lot in Matamata. —Lathum Douglas, youth services coach

Anything that helps the community in any way is a good thing. But for us, Hobbiton hasn’t impacted a lot on us. One or two people might have applied for a job there. But in terms of our culture, it doesn’t impact on us. It’s possible that some tourism has brought in some money to Matamata, which would mean some restaurants and food industries in Matamata, as some of our family members and others are employed in these sectors. Every thing has an effect. Our culture is not affected by this. Our culture is unchanged.

I think there’s a lot more optimism [in young Māori people]It was especially important for the school’s development. We’re able to keep an eye on education and the educational development of our young ones. Some people are more likely to attend the schools in the neighborhood, while others are more open to going to mainstream schools. However, many of our members have accepted many of these students and begun to design a path forward.

It was a dream of mine to become a teacher. It was about 100 miles from me. I was either a factory worker, a labourer or a farmer. That was my future. Now we are able to look at our visions. There’s nothing to stop our students from becoming academic. Before, that wasn’t even on the radar. It was a sure thing that you would get work in the factory, on a farm, or any other job. That’s what you were geared to. These options can still be found if you want. Our vision, and our thinking are above all that.

Now, with the settlement of our treaty, and the other tribe in our area, Ngāti Hinerangi, we’ve both settled our treaties. We are confident in the goals and objectives we set for the future of our children, the next generation. So we’re going to be focusing on that. Matamata’s everyday life will not change. —Mokoro Gillett, chairmain, Ngāti Hauā Iwi Trust, principal, Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha

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