Why are hobbit holes built in different sizes?

To make actors look larger or smaller

What is the Party Tree?

A large tree by the party field

Hobbiton Movie Set Quiz: Hobbit Holes, Green Dragon and Matamata

This Hobbiton movie set quiz tours the farm near Matamata that became the Shire for Peter Jackson's films. Play 10 interactive questions on the Alexander family farm found in 1998, hobbit holes built in different sizes, the fake oak tree above Bag End, the Party Tree, the Green Dragon Inn, rebuilding in permanent materials for The Hobbit and the tours.

Start Hobbiton Movie Set Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Country
Which country is Hobbiton in?
Town
Which town is the set near?
Farm
Whose land does the set sit on?
Films
For which film series was it first built?
Rebuild
When was the set rebuilt to last?
Holes
Why are hobbit holes built in different sizes?
Oak
What is special about the oak above Bag End?
Tree
What is the Party Tree?
Inn
Which pub can visitors drink in?
Count
Roughly how many hobbit holes are on the set?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which country is Hobbiton in?
Answer: New Zealand
It is on the North Island.
Q2: Which town is the set near?
Answer: Matamata
It is in the Waikato region.
Q3: Whose land does the set sit on?
Answer: The Alexander family's sheep farm
Scouts spotted it in 1998.
Q4: For which film series was it first built?
Answer: The Lord of the Rings
It was first a temporary set.
Q5: When was the set rebuilt to last?
Answer: For The Hobbit films
Permanent materials replaced plywood.
Q6: Why are hobbit holes built in different sizes?
Answer: To make actors look larger or smaller
It is a forced perspective trick.
Q7: What is special about the oak above Bag End?
Answer: It is artificial
Its leaves were attached by hand.
Q8: What is the Party Tree?
Answer: A large tree by the party field
Bilbo's birthday party was filmed there.
Q9: Which pub can visitors drink in?
Answer: The Green Dragon Inn
It serves ales and ginger beer.
Q10: Roughly how many hobbit holes are on the set?
Answer: About 44
Most are only facades.

Building a Shire on a Sheep Farm

In 1998 Peter Jackson's location scouts spotted the Alexander family's sheep farm near Matamata on New Zealand's North Island. Its rolling hills, lake and large tree fit Tolkien's Shire, and the farm became Hobbiton for The Lord of the Rings films.

The first set was temporary, made of plywood and polystyrene. For The Hobbit trilogy, it was rebuilt in permanent materials, leaving about 44 hobbit holes. They were built in different sizes so actors could look large or small, a forced perspective trick. The oak above Bag End is artificial, with leaves wired on by hand.

Tours began in the early 2000s and now draw large crowds. Visitors walk past colorful doors and gardens, see the Party Tree and the lake, and end at the Green Dragon Inn for a drink. Gardeners keep vegetables and flowers growing year-round.

What This Quiz Teaches

Movie fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the set is
How it was found
Why holes vary in size
Which features are fake
What visitors can do

Did You Know?

Sheep still graze around the set.
Gardens are tended daily.
Evening banquet tours run.
Washing lines add realism.
Visitors cannot enter most holes.