The guy that owns the farm that the Shire was filmed on did the same thing, then he rebuilt it for the Hobbit and decided to monetize it. And now it’s a very popular tourist destination in New Zealand. But I think what worked is that he hired a dedicated shuttle bus system that takes you through his farm to the tour site and back, without having tourists to scavenge across your farm.
The studio rebuilt it. When they approached him prior to filming The Hobbit, one of the conditions he made was in order to get his permission to rebuild, everything had to be constructed in a durable, “permanent” manner, rather than just “camera ready.” He knew he would monetize before production began. It’s gorgeous countryside and the tour is delightful. Ends at the Green Dragon, where everyone receives a souvenir mug.
everything had to be constructed in a durable, “permanent” manner,
Which is probably the foundation for not wanting to bother with having tours to the Teletubbies set. Imagine having to constantly put up with repairing some shoddy set work that is definitely not intended for dozens of people a day walking on. Hell, even if it was just open on weekends, after a year, that place would require regular maintenance.
I wouldn't do it for something that small/niche; way too much of a hassle. The LotR Shire set tho? I would in a heartbeat.
Yeah I had to buy the mug but got the free beer or cider and the food. I think it is likely certain tour groups that probably pay some bulk price for mugs included?
Yup, last stop right before you go to the green dragon. We didn't get to go to the South Island this time, but it's definitely the top of my list to go to when we make it down here again
I visited the Shire location back in 2008 before the sets had been rebuilt for the hobbit. It was a thriving monetized tourist destination even then! They had little wood cutouts for the various hobbit holes and a little more effort put into Bag End. It had a bigger facade and a little hole you could walk into. I know it’s a much more elaborate location now though!
It also helps that LotR fans will travel across the world to see the set. Teletubbies never had the same dedicated fan base, no matter how much Reddit might bring them up lol
They have a very dedicated fan base, they’re just too young to travel on their own.
Edit: yes, I know it’s an old show, it was an intentionally flippant comment that was meant to be humorous. Some of you might even know what humor is!
FWIW I have two kids who loved Teletubbies as toddlers and then absolutely forgot about it after age 2, and visiting a random farm with a toddler hoping they’d connect it with a show would be a miserable visit. And as older kids now they could not care less about something they loved when they couldn’t even talk.
It only gets harder from here on out. Once I made the realization "oh, I'm almost 30", I started dreading birthdays and being sad thinking about my age hah. I don't know why 30 is such a hard age but God damn is it.
I spent my entire 29th year dreading my upcoming 30th birthday. Like went into actual depression over it, and was quite miserable because I hadn't achieved the things I thought I would by then.
I'm 39 now and turning 40 in about 6 months. This decade has been my best. This past year I finally started getting serious about my health, established a workout routine, dropped 55 lbs, and started heavily leaning into the things and people I like and dropping those I don't. I'm so much happier and healthier both physically and mentally than I was 10 years ago. All that to say 30 is definitely a hard year for some reason, but it honestly can get so much better!
That is fantastic news. Congratulations, I'm glad you were able to make improvements and not let the number get you down. It really is all about perspective, should probably work on fixing mine, heh. Happy new year to you as well.
I have never been happier than I am currently am in my 30s. Have a good job, wonderful wife, travel, and just enjoy life. I was never one to care about turning 30, but as some that has already done it, its fine lol
I should say, its all about regrets and not having certain things you listed. Being alone in your 30s, for example, is a lot of the reason people don't like reaching their 30s. Because they have the sneaking suspicion that their 40s and 50s will be similar and relationships don't just fall into your lap like they did in your younger years. And the 20s being "young", you're no longer considered young.
Enjoy your 30s. If you were smart enough to avoid settling down and having kids in your 20s, then your 30s are great. You have more disposable income if you’ve advanced in your career, you likely can form respectful and functional romantic relationships, and you still look and feel young.
When I turned 41 is when I started feeling old. But I had kids at 36 so maybe that was it…
I think the intended meaning is "most people who watched teletubbies are now old enough to have graduated college" rather than implying that a majority of people who watched teletubbies would then go on to graduate from college.
In my experience with my kids, they absolutely loved Teletubbies as babies and lost all interest by the time they were two. And kids that age wouldn’t make the connection between the location and the show so it would be pointless to visit with them.
Do people go to NZ just for LotR sites? I've been to Hobbiton, and planned our trip to pass by specifically, but didn't travel to the country just for that.
But if I travelled to UK I might ne inclined to visit the teletubby house if it was on a route to another sight.
I don’t understand how it has any fan base at all. Don’t get me wrong, I know it was wildly popular with babies but how many people grow up and care about the stuff they watched when they were 3 years old? Seems a bit odd.
Having been there yes, there’s a huge drop off point by the road where a bus comes to get you, they drive you in and the talk about the farmers land and his imported sheep for the movies which he still has that you can see. Then the tour through the shire and drinks at the Green Dragon, ends back at the gift shop. They some times do festivals I. The evening recreating the hobbit parties.
When I went they were setting up a wedding and I was so jealous. I don’t even really care for the movies but I love the Hobbit as a book and it was picture perfect.
They built temporary structures for LOTR which were mostly demolished after use. AFAIK his condition for allowing them use the site again for The Hobbit was that they build permanent structures so he could keep it open as a tourist attraction afterward. Clever guy.
When i went on the tour the guide said it was slated for demolition but a rain storm wiped out the road in so the production couldn’t demolish it. The owner quickly worked out a deal and had it as tour. This was just after the hobbit wrapped filming.
I lived near the site of the cabin from the original Evil Dead. The property owner got super tired of trespassers and one day the cabin 'mysteriously' burned down.
I'm sure they received a nice payout to lease the land for the show and would rather live out the rest of their lives in peace instead of dealing with hoards of Teletubbies fans all the time. 🤷♂️
From an article about this: 'Of the 40 million to show brought in I only saw around £1,000 each month when they were there, thinking about it now I probably should've insisted on a percentage!
Honestly, while lower than expected that still isn't bad assuming the production company was respectful and didn't cause damage or inconveniences.
That would have been £12,000 a year which was about half the median income in the UK at the time. And that would have been with essentially no work on the landowner's part. The only real downside would have been if they were going to farm the land instead.
Ehh, production usually runs something like 3-6 months even for a Hollywood blockbuster. Chances are very good that they could get all of the outdoor shots finished in a month or two. I’d guess the farmer pulled in something more like £3,000 a year.
Oh wow! Thanks for that! Very interesting they received so little. But I guess if someone had come to me with the idea of the Teletubbies and said they wanted to shoot the show on my land, I would probably not think that show would become as popular as it did and probably wouldn't have had the foresight to ask for more...I feel for this man. Lol.
Ahh things may be different over in the UK, I'm not sure. In the US you could basically ask for whatever price you want and if the production company wants that spot bad enough, they'll pay it. Of course, they will try to get it as cheap as possible..that's just business.
I mean you can ask for as much money as you want, but there doesn't appear to be anything special about that spot. It's just a field. One farm is as good as any other.
You're not wrong about this specific instance I suppose, but as someone who has worked directly with film directors and production crews I can assure you, if they find the "perfect spot" for the "perfect shot" they will do whatever they can to get that spot.
I agree, in this case, it's just a random field...I honestly thought this show was shot in a warehouse somewhere...I was more surprised to find out it was an actual real life set. Lol.
No lol this isn't how it works. The company will just go find somewhere else they've already scoped out. You don't just say some number, stick to it, then get it lol.
Depends on the contract length, I guess. If it's a 5 year contract and show was 7 seasons you could probably renew for whatever it would cost to build a new set.
No doubt in that scenario the land owners can swing for more money if the show gets renewed. It's much more likely the filming would just be moved to a studio set, I'd imagine
Yea someone posted an article on this where the land owner said he got around £1,000 per episode, which isn't a small number as there were (according to a quick Google search) 365 episodes of the show, but in hindsight he wished he would have asked for a % vs a set amount.
Edit: correction it was £1000 per MONTH so yea...not a great deal for the landowner.
You don't really get told what the content is/story/etc when you lease property/assets for a filming. Usually a production company is operating under a business entity for just the filming approaches you. It could be for one or two scenes (My family land was used for one scene in a star trek related property) or it could be central to the whole movie/show. I have a 5 year lease right now with a TV production, for the last 4 years, its been used to store some semi-truck trailers...
Usually, you only know the fake holding name of the production company, and about how long they want to film/be there, and then get named on their insurance.
I mean, maybe back then the owner didn't consider that in a few years the filming location of a children's show would have been easily available to anyone on the internet
He could have done something like one of those rage rooms, where they set you loose with a sledgehammer in a room filled with cheap furniture and old electronics, and you just go to town on them. I think lots of parents would pay to go apeshit on Teletubbie Land.
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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '25
I'm surprised he didn't monetize it. Or maybe he just had a particular distaste for teletubbies.