As I’ve mentioned a few times, I’ve become a big fan of Flight Of The Conchords. Since the band hails from New Zealand the show is just littered with references to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy that Peter Jackson filmed there. Below I’ve included an mp3 from their BBC Radio 2 show from a couple years ago, where the fictionalized background for the song “Frodo, Don’t Wear The Ring” comes from.

Frodo, Don’t Wear The Ring – The Flight Of The Conchords [mp3]

In the HBO show they made a video for the this song, featuring most of the regulars from the series as characters from LotR. The whole production is pretty amusing, though the song isn’t as good as the original recording of the song.

Now what I wasn’t aware of with FotC is that when Bret McKenzie appeared as Legolas the Elf, it wasn’t the first time he’s appeared on screen donning pointy ears. Bret actually played a small role in the Lord Of The Rings, as a background character from the trilogy who hardcore fans of the series have dubbed Figwit. Figwit is an acronym for Frodo Is Great…What Is That? His first appearance was in the meeting scene from Fellowship Of The Ring where the Fellowship is formed in Rivendell.

This character gained enough notoriety among fans that Peter Jackson took notice and used him again in Return Of The King, and gave him a few speaking lines. I’d say Bret has managed to get a larger measure of fame as a member of Flight of the Conchords, but it’s amusing that he already had notoriety as a background character in one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.