The Hobbit, and a Yorkie's Journey to Middle Earth

Last Wednesday I brought home my very own copy of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I was so excited! I was the only member of my family who had seen it up to that point, so I couldn't wait to share it with them.
It was Friday evening before life and everyone's schedules allowed time to settle in for a three-hour movie, but settle in we did, equipped with drinks, jelly beans, and knitting. (Well... Mom and I had knitting, anyway.) With the fireplace roaring at our backs as the snow and wind howled outside, we set off on our journey into Middle Earth.
My Yorkie Terrier, Cricket, decided to join us, curled up in her usual spot on my lap. Normally, she pays little to no attention to anything on the TV screen, and instead just sleeps on my lap or snuggled down in the chair next to me. (A notable exception is the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, which for some reason holds her absolutely spellbound. So whenever she needs a haircut, I just spread a towel out in front of the TV, put Pirates in, and cut her hair while she lays perfectly still watching the movie. If it works, it works.)

For the first part of The Hobbit, Cricket stayed pretty still, dozing on and off and occasionally wiggling just enough to get tangled up in my yarn. She flicked her ears up a few times whenever the goblin army would make a sudden loud noise, but other than that she didn't seem to be paying any attention.
But then it happened: Gollum crawled his way onto the screen, hissing in his slimy voice.
And Cricket was not happy about it.
Next thing I know she's sitting bolt-upright on my lap, growling at the screen. When Bilbo spoke, she stayed quiet, but when the camera switched to Gollum and he started talking, she growled and snorted until he went away again.
Usually I'm glad to get any Gollum scene over with as quickly as possible, but Cricket was so entertaining that I was almost sorry to see him go.
But then there were the Wargs. The bravado Cricket had displayed while warning Gollum to keep his distance was quickly forgotten - or rather, flung aside in panic as she flailed her way through my knitting project and started trying to climb me.
By the time I got my knitting put down, Cricket was huddled against my chest, her claws hooked in my shirt collar, shivering and whimpering. Having experienced a similar episode when the Hulk appeared on The Avengers, I knew what was going on, so I snuggled Cricket up and tried to cover her eyes. But she didn't want that either, and kept pushing my hand away from her face to look back at the screen... only to shrink back whimpering in fear again. I guess maybe she was afraid that if she looked away the Wargs would sneak up and get her.
A word to the wise, then: if you haven't watched The Hobbit at home yet, and you have small pets around, it might be a good idea to put them in another room. ; ) My poor little Yorkie's journey to Middle Earth via The Hobbit was not nearly as enjoyable for her as mine was for me.

On that note, though, yesterday I got to watch a live behind-the-scenes tour with Hobbit and LotR director Peter Jackson, which included a sneak peak of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. They were offering it online to everyone who bought the DVD as soon as it came out. And it. Was. Awesome!
As if I wasn't dying already, waiting for the second installment of The Hobbit, they had to spend almost an hour taunting viewers with questions and answers about both An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug, snippets of production footage, guest appearances by actors from both LotR and The Hobbit, and a short finished scene from the next movie.
Those of you who watched it won't need to be told how I'm feeling right now. For those of you who didn't, let me just say that March and December have never, ever, seemed farther apart. If the theater would let me reserve my tickets now, I would. I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas - I cannot wait for The Hobbit Part II!!!
Just sayin'.

Well, I'm off now, to venture out into my own fantasy world (i.e. get some writing done). Here's hoping all of you are getting your week off to a great start!