'Lord of the Rings' museum exhibit opens

INDIANAPOLIS -- A mishmash of hairy feet, pointy ears and gnarled noses is artfully arranged in a display case in a darkened gallery, looking more suited to a mad scientist's lab than a museum.\nThe odd lot of latex body parts is part of "The Lord of the Rings" exhibition, opening Thursday for a three-month run at the Indiana State Museum.\nThe museum is the last of three U.S. stops for the exhibition, on loan from the Te Papa Tongarewa museum in Wellington, New Zealand. It is the only U.S. venue that will host the show in its entirety, dedicating 12,000 square feet to the art and artifacts featured in director Peter Jackson's film trilogy.\nVisitors can examine the intricate detail that won costume designers an Academy Award for their work in "The Return of the King," the final film in the trilogy. Or they can study The One Ring, the central part of the trilogy, before traipsing through an "armor corridor" featuring 12 sets of armor.\nVideo interviews with cast and crew offer glimpses into the making of the films, and interactive exhibits put visitors in the center of the action. A circular black room holds The One Ring, and the ring's inscription is projected in a ring of fiery colors on the black walls. Another stop shows the special effects that enabled human actors to play large and small creatures.\nJanice Bennett of Pendleton, Ind., and her friend Daniel Gauthier of Montreal joined the museum so they could attend a sneak preview of the exhibit Wednesday.\nBennett, dressed as the film's benevolent wizard Gandalf, took notes as she marveled at the costumes.\n"I'm looking at Saruman right now," she said, standing in front of the elaborate robe actor Christopher Lee wore in the films. "It's a really nice costume; I was impressed with it when I saw it on the screen, and I'm more impressed with it now that I actually see it."\nGauthier, dressed as the saga's protagonist Frodo, said he saw the exhibition in Boston but that the Indianapolis display is more extensive. The exhibit also made a stop in Houston.\n"There's a number of items that I haven't seen before," Gauthier said. "And there's a lot of painting I haven't seen, a lot of artwork. There was only a sample in Boston; there wasn't as much as here."\nOrganizers hope the broader array helps draw more than 100,000 people to the exhibit before it closes Jan. 3. Tracy McVey, communications manager for the Indiana State Museum, said 6,000 advance tickets had been sold four days before the opening.\nThe exhibit drew 211,000 people during its three-month run at the Boston Museum of Science last year, spokeswoman Carole McFall said. Organizers had predicted 150,000 would attend.\nEven museum officials are getting caught up in the fantasy world.\nJohn Herbst, president and CEO of the museum, and Jeff Matsuoka, vice president of operations, gleefully demonstrated the interactive exhibit that shows how filmmakers create the illusion of size.\n"I'll be the wizard!" Matsuoka said as the two darted into an alcove to sit on two halves of a wooden cart separated by several feet. Trick photography merges the halves of the cart, making the person on the right -- in this case, Matsuoka -- appear much larger than the person on the left.\nMichael Burrows, the museum's communications coordinator, said he thought Indianapolis' central location helped it attract the exhibit. Officials at Te Papa wanted the exhibit to be seen in the eastern and western United States and at some point in between, he said.\nHerbst said he hopes the exhibit brings in new visitors and helps put Indianapolis on the map as an arts-friendly city. In the future, he predicted, "The question will be not 'Why Indianapolis?' but 'Why not Indianapolis?'"\nKathleen Hanover of Dayton, Ohio, who describes herself as "an enormous rabid fan," saw the exhibition in London but planned to see it again in Indianapolis.\n"People who have not seen it just have no idea the level of breathtaking workmanship -- of quality and amazing detail -- that you can see in this exhibit," she said. "It is an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity"