Some Blokes Having A Cup Of Tea In A Kitchenette feat. George Lucas, Peter Jackson & Richard Taylor

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Hello everybody, a very exciting episode of the Auntie Donna podcast.

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We are sticking to the topic.

We are elevating the podcast.

This is an episode all about the 56th anniversary of the moon landing, and we stick to it.

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We hope you enjoy this episode of the Auntie Donner podcast.

Welcome to the Auntie Donner podcast.

A few days ago, a very special anniversary was had, the 56th anniversary of the moon landing, where human beings proved their capability, their prowess.

Not only did we travel from this small rock to the moon, to the other celestial bodies, we televised it live.

Today, we're going to be talking, beat by beat, day by day, just how NASA, the American government, and those heroes up on the moon achieved it.

in this very special episode celebrating the 56th anniversary of the moon landing.

Wow.

Can you believe it's been 56 years?

Yes.

Can you say joining us today is

Peter Jackson.

What?

Peter Filmmaker.

Oh, yeah, and George Lucas.

To talk about...

I was saying, just to address,

I came in just as me just before.

Yeah.

Just ignored that that happened.

Ignore that that happened.

And we've not discussed that we would be playing these characters until now.

Yeah, no, no, that's fine.

To talk about this monumental occasion and specifically its impact on entertainment, we have two wonderful and exciting filmmakers.

Peter Jackson, director of

Lord of the Rings, The Frighteners, an executive producer on that one where cities are on wheels.

Peter, welcome.

Zach, thank you so much for having me this morning.

It's wonderful to be here and to talk about that 56 years ago.

56 years ago, the people walked on the moon and they said we can never do it.

And it was much similar to when I directed Lord of the Rings.

Now, Peter, you're a big believer in restoration of footage.

Is there a restoration of that moon landing footage on the horizon from you and the folks at Weta Digital?

Look, it's a very interesting thought because obviously we found that footage.

Oh no.

My leg fell off.

What?

Excuse me?

What are you talking about?

Don't flop.

Stop the music?

No, no, no, no.

It's fine.

It's fine.

It is fine.

It's fine.

Did you just say your leg fell off?

Yeah, it just plopped off like a doll.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Like a doll.

Just plopped off.

That's one of the most confronting things I've ever seen.

And I've worked with Wetter Digital for many years, and we can conjure them anything.

For example, Jack Black, when he was fighting those bugs in King Kong, I just told him to say, just swing wherever you like.

Peter did.

And then we put in the bugs later.

so to see a man's leg literally fall off in front of me it's quite a fruiting thought like a dollar you've probably just come to make it uh yeah George Lucas is here as well listen I'm gonna just hop off I'm gonna just hop off I'm gonna hop literally I'm just gonna go to the doctor really quickly well I would absolutely if your leg's falling off and there's no pain that's just no viscera you understand like literally like a ball joint and kind of like the Tray Federation battle joints and it's I've created I'm just gonna step away George Lucas talking about Star Wars

I'm gonna going to pop my leg.

And your leg's falling off without any blood or pain.

It reminds me of Vernwin C-34 was in the end.

You guys are good for a bit.

You're still generally...

You're genuinely not feeling any pain still.

There's no feeling.

None at all.

You can see the socket, the bomb socket, George.

Can you see it?

It's like a doll.

I have to go to a doctor really quick.

Similar to when I was directing They Shall Not Grow Old, which is found footage.

Yeah.

From the war sites of World War I.

Those young fellows.

He's hobbling away with one foot.

He's got no leg.

And that's what we did with this show, not grow old.

These young fellows are sent off to war.

What happened to that guy's leg?

I'm not sure exactly.

It just looked like his kind of leg kind of just popped off.

Right.

Well, he was sort of running the show, which is more of a concern for me now because

you're George Lucas, the director of Star Wars.

Peter Jackson, the right run, right?

The person who wanted to do this 56-year storytelling of the moon landing, which was an incredible time.

I remember being a young fellow and seeing that footage on television.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It affected me in a deeply profound way.

I was napping.

The person who was running this chat,

his leg fell off.

And now he's left the podcast, literally.

Maybe this can be turned more into like a GQ kind of director-on-director kind of situation.

Well, what is it that drives you, actually?

When I think about it at that point, his name is George

Jr.

He's a son of mine.

Oh, your literal driver?

Yeah, I gave him a little job, one of my sons.

I called him the same name as me, and then he just drives me around.

Do you pay him sort of a...

Is he on a retaining fee?

Do you work?

Does he work on...

Do you pay him superannuation and things like that?

$10 million a day.

You pay your son's friend a million dollars a day to drive you around.

Yeah.

My son.

You pay your son a million dollars to drive you around.

Is he your son or is he your friend's son?

He's my son's friend.

He's my son.

He's my friend and he's my son.

Oh, you're friends with your son?

That's a lovely thought.

I made Star Wars.

You made Star Wars?

I changed a business.

There was no such thing as a blockbuster personal.

Is that coming back?

Because

this feels relatively rattlers now, but with me, I'm just Peter Jackson.

I've made

the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I look behind.

Yeah, I'm looking now.

There's no sign of him outside the podcast studio.

I dropped four Star Wars films.

Oh, he directed four.

I thought you directed six, did you not?

Four.

Because there's

A New Hope, which I loved.

It was a huge, profound effect on me when I was a young lad.

I know I've done that one.

Yeah.

And then there's the second one called The Empire Stroke Spec.

I co-wrote and produced that one.

You didn't rock that one.

You didn't drive that one.

You didn't direct that one.

Right.

What was that process like, jumping away from behind the lens?

I lost a lot of control and it made me very upset.

And so I said, when I do more of these films, I'm not going to watch it.

You're not a very clear talker.

Has anyone ever told you...

I like to speak fast and intense.

Yeah, but has anyone ever told you that you're kind of hard to decipher the things you're saying?

Yeah, my ex-wife, Martha, is one of of the many reasons she

edited.

You know, she actually edited the first Not Wars movie.

I did not know that.

That's fashion.

Look, so a coach has come into the podcast now and he's sitting down.

He's got some sort of canned cake.

Well, you went and got a drink.

I would love a drink.

Yeah, you got a canned cake.

Oh, you want a drink?

Who are you?

No, you go and get it.

Oh, hey.

What are you doing?

We're discussing that.

We're supposed to be.

I'm George Lucas.

I'm

made that.

What's wrong?

I forgot we were we were doing the podcast.

What are you talking about?

What do you mean?

What do you mean?

I just...

Because

I went outside and I was thirsty.

But you left because you were doing a character.

Do you remember that?

Yeah, you're a player now.

A person who loves the NASA moonlanding.

Yeah.

Your leg plopped off without blood.

Yeah, but then I was thirsty, so I went and bought a drink from the little,

you know, how they over at the radio side of the building, they have drinks for sale.

It's hard to know how to to address this because

it feels odd to break character.

Yeah, I'm not going to break characters.

Do you think that I would break character if I was a character here?

When I was making Lord of the Rings, if I just broke characters any minute, do you think that would be fair?

No, I don't think it would have been fair.

It wouldn't have been fair on our own.

I'm Peter Jackson.

I directed Lord of the Rings in King Kong.

I'm George Lucas.

I'm an executive producer on the Indiana Jones series and I directed Star Wars.

I created that from my mind.

Do you want me to do like a series interview a character for you guys?

Oh no, I want you to be the guy whose fucking leg fell off.

I can't remember what I was was doing.

What was the leg thing?

Jesus Christ's sake, you can't just be leaving the podcast studio and not having character.

That character went to the doctor.

He's going to come back and tell us why his leg plopped off without pain.

Yeah, we don't have a lot.

Plopped off without pain?

We don't have a lot.

You played a character.

We need an anchor.

Yeah.

But I don't remember a guy with his leg plopped off.

You were playing...

This episode was about the NASA moon landing.

Yeah.

We're celebrating the 56th anniversary, Zach, of the moon landing.

And why is Peter Jackson and George Lucas here?

Because at the start of this, it just felt right that I would play a filmmaker who talked about its impact on me as a young lad.

Actually, Peter Jackson makes sense.

Yeah, and then he loves it.

He likes it because...

And he's a nerd as well.

They're both nerds.

And then you decided,

moments after that, after that, after that,

you decided moments briefly after that that you would have your leg fall off.

Plop off.

What plop off?

It plopped off.

I think you said that.

You said it was a worry.

It's a real worry.

It's a genuine like a doll.

It's a genuine worry, Zach, that you can just leave the room.

Go get a drink.

Yeah.

If we all did that, it would be absolute chaos.

You can get a drink if you want.

I don't mind.

You see, I feel.

Do you think it's John Deuce?

John Lucas can have a drink anytime he wants.

Do you understand that?

He pays his son $1 million a day to drive him around.

That's what drives me.

Oh, really?

What drives you?

What drives me is the will to

make greatness on the screen.

I was beautifully affected by screen images when I was growing up.

And so things like They Shall Not Grow Old, the story of World War I veterans, and their story.

The Hobbit.

The Hobbit, which is the story of Lord of the Rings.

Yo, Pete, when are we going to get that 4K Blu-ray of your early works?

That's a great question.

I'm working away at it at the moment.

In my Wellington office, we're sitting there working through, trying to get those early works of process Blu-rayed.

Get them into the Criterion Collection.

He's a Blu-ray.

Is that what you call it?

I call it Blu-ray.

Yeah, right.

You should go back and add some.

Are we going to do the NASA

thing with a...

Do you want to do the NASA thing?

Yeah, I think that would be good.

Here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to step out of Zach.

Oh, God.

When I come back, I will be...

What was the guy?

What was his vibe?

It was kind of like 3AW guys you do.

Sort of that low vibe.

Very similar to 3AW, and his leg had popped out.

Plopped off.

Plopped off.

Plopped off.

That may be right now.

Now, please say, just for a minute, just a bit of decorum a bit of a modicum of respect for the podcast is what we're asking for

because I'm playing Lord of the Rings as Peter Jackson and you're playing George Lucas who made four Star Wars films but produced more

and from my understanding you stole it entirely from June is that right well not entirely I took something so you know I mean

Hans Solo was a spice you know he was a a smuggler and he smuggled spice.

Now a character has just walked into the room.

He's walking with both his legs, which is a concern for me.

There you go.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Who are you?

Zach.

I believe it's Zach.

And who are you guys?

I'm Dr.

Lucas.

I'm a fine.

Yeah, and you are?

I'm Peter Jackson.

I'm director.

That's great, yeah, yeah, cool.

So we're going to do like an

interview type thing.

Now, what's happened with your brain as soon as you left this room?

Because I was under the understanding, and I don't know about you, George, but I'm pretty upset about all all of this.

I came here to talk about two things very specifically.

What are they?

Moon Landing.

Yeah.

Me too.

And when I did a cameo in the OC, and I spoke to the character Seth about Charchar Binks.

Well, we can get to those things, we can get to those

two strangely different things.

I thought those were the two things I was invited in here.

There's a strange cadence between those two things you're brought in to talk about on the Antadona.

I've got a conversation with Seth about the character.

And I want to talk about those

clean characters.

I love that.

Crazy characters.

Listen, Char Binks.

Just coming up in my mind.

George.

If I can get a moment, please.

What are you doing?

What is happening to you when you leave this room?

You had a wonderful character whose leg was plopping off.

So much comedic potential about this character whose limbs just fall away from their body like

fruit that's matured too much off the tree and just fell.

Yeah, right.

Like Newton found when an apple fell on top of his head.

And he said, that's gravity.

The legs still

are still here on the floor.

Yes, in my mind, there is still a rotting foot on the floor.

Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But you left the room just then, and you said to us, Zach, you gave me Peter Peter Jackson and him, George Lucas, the director of New Hope, our word

that you would come in with a new character and now you're pouting your lips.

A new character.

No,

I can come in with a new character.

You want me to step out and come in with a new character?

I'd like the same character from the start.

I'd like to

say a limb character.

And he was like a

plopped off limb guy.

Yes, please bring in plopped off Lim Guy.

Okay, sure.

Sure.

Why am I struggling with the accent?

It's my concern.

It's a hard accent to jump straight into.

I won't leave the room.

I think something's happening when I step through the door that my brain sort of, something, there's some sort of like switch at that door, like a severance type situation.

Well, I've not seen that.

No.

No, I've not seen that.

I would have, but I haven't.

So it feels like when I step through that door, my brain stops working or something.

So I'm not going to step through the door.

I'm just going to come back as this limb plopping off.

Do you even need to get up?

No.

No.

Okay.

So

let me just turn around.

Yeah, I'll turn around

and I'll come back.

Oh, good day, guys.

It's me, Limplop.

See, it's a different component.

Okay, let's just try it, though.

Hello.

Hi, Limplop.

Oh, no, my limbs keep plopping off.

And why are you here?

I'm here because my limbs are plopping off and I'm here to talk about moon landings.

Thanks for thanks, Moonplop.

George, can I speak to you in the kitchen for a minute?

Let's go in the kitchen.

Do you want a cup of tea?

I love a cup of tea and peppermint.

I'll put the

kettle on.

I'm going to have a white tea.

You just...

Oh, yep, there it is.

It's just boiling up now.

Which mug do you want?

I've got a couple of fun ones.

I've got this one that's like hardly working or working hard.

Do you have any mugs with minions on them?

Yes, I've got a minion one right here.

It says fucking fucking funny as fuck.

Oh, Jesus, fuck.

That kettle is giving me the shits.

I think it's a whistling kettle.

It's a whistling kettle.

Well, it looks like the kettle's ready.

So quick.

Well, listen, I brought you here for a reason, George Lex.

Minions are so fucking funny, man.

You like minions?

Minions make me fucking...

Oh, man.

Oh, I didn't realize that.

I

keep a couple of glass jugs next to my table in my cinema room.

So every time I see a minion, I laugh so hard.

I fucking smash it.

What you fucking smash it?

It makes me laugh so hard.

Hey, what are you talking about?

I love minions.

Thank you.

You love minions so much that you get a glass jug.

And because you're laughing so much, you need to smash it.

Yeah, like the Greek.

Like the Greeks.

Is that what they do?

You know, they like to smash.

I didn't know that because I spend a lot of my time...

It's fast and intense.

I do this.

I have a glass jug ready next to me when I'm directing They Shall Not Grow Old, which is all this old footage.

And we find

the frame rate at which we can get it to a realistic level.

And when that's working, I just pick up a glass, I smash it on the floor, I say, we've done it again.

Yeah, yeah, banana.

Are you being George?

We'll be right back after this.

Are you being George Lucas smashing a jug?

Banana.

And you're saying banana.

Because that's what the minions do.

Yeah, yeah yeah listen i brought you here because i wanted to say to you are you finding incredibly strange because i am and i direct lord of the rings yeah i know what strange is the writers of rohan

but do you find incredibly strange

that he's come back and he's not in the same character he was he's kind of affecting himself and trying to be a character but he's not actually the character yeah um it's like he's uh it's like he's purposely disrespecting us he's ignoring us he knows i think he knows it's like i think he knows exactly what sean bean when i was talking to him in Lord of the Rings, and I said, you need to.

Sean Bean.

Yeah, Sean Bean.

Is that his name?

No, I'm.

Yeah.

Hello there.

Oh, well, I've got a new character.

A New Zealand character.

Who's this?

It's your dear friend

Sir Richard Taylor.

Oh, Richard Taylor, who worked for the Wetter Digital team.

Well, I am a part owner of Wetter Digital, but my love, my first love, and my main project is Wetter Workshop, of course.

You know, we have had our differences from time to time, but what is interesting, he'll be fantastic to talk about the moon landing.

So, what I'd love to do is get you.

Get you, Richard.

It's great to see you.

It's great to see you, too.

Great to see you, too, Peter.

And I love making movies with you.

I designed all the armor and the miniatures

a non-accessible character for anyone who's just trying to listen to a comedy podcast, but for what we're actually talking about, which is the moon landing, a brilliant character actually to talk about that story and to talk about the moon landing and what its effects on him in New Zealand.

Me and Peter have worked

for years and years.

I did the

miniatures and all of the gore effects in his early horror films.

Do you want a cup of tea?

I'd love a cup of tea, yes.

Well, there's only enough water for two cups of tea here.

So we're going to have to put that water on again.

Oh, yes, that's great.

Third cup of tea.

I love making miniatures for Peter's films.

Here we go.

Turn that kettle on.

Should we wait until the...

No, I'm still concerned about Zach in that other room.

What character are he playing?

He's Zach then, Peter.

Zach is this quirky fellow from Melbourne.

He's got shaggy hair.

Wait, the quirk.

The curtain came off.

Yes, all right there, yes.

No.

Hello.

I'm a big fan of your work.

Oh, it's Richard Taylor meeting George Lucas, two

masters of sci-fi films.

I have to say a lot of the miniatures that I made for Lord of the Rings was inspired by the miniatures I saw in your films in the 70s.

We're actually into a competition with each other.

Yes, he, of course, owns ILM, and we, of course, own the Wetter companies.

Wow, that'd be fantastic to both have you

join and discuss

that great moon landing and where you were at that time,

how it affected you both.

How fun would it be to make a miniature moon?

You could film it.

I'd make the miniature moon.

We'd shoot it at a studio in Wellington.

What are you talking about?

I love making miniatures and armor and all those sorts of things.

Sometimes when Wetter Digital wants to make a digital creature, we'll make the skin for it there at Wetter Workshop.

Have you seen the film Rampage with Rock and Big Gorilla?

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Well, that was made entirely in Wellington.

Really?

Yes.

His...

Wetter Digital made the gorilla, but he got us to make a shag of its fur to scan it into the computer.

Shall we go back to the podcast?

Why don't I know?

Why I I exist?

But it's a great.

When will these three great minds?

These three great minds ever be together again and be able to talk films.

Well,

we're on the board of multiple companies.

I'm sure we talk regularly.

Absolutely.

And we both have a love of World War I and World War II.

The NZX.

Absolutely.

I love making miniatures of World War I and miniatures for movies.

I made a miniatures for

most recently.

You've said that.

For the Blade Runner.

i love miniatures um he loves miniatures so much and puppets did you do the biggest miniatures and puppets you'll not find anyone who loves miniatures and puppets as much as him

what about me right here oh you like i love miniatures too

you absolutely love miniatures

yes he loves miniatures i'm sir richard taylor sir richard taylor and i'm sir peter jackson yeah we're both sirs we both live in wellington we could cut your head off like vet We could.

If you're in Wellington, we have that sort of power.

But he probably is a miniature version of you.

Do you understand?

I could make a miniature version of you as easily as you could make a miniature version of me.

We both have that power.

You in San Francisco, me in Wellington.

He could be walking down Cuba Street in Wellington and just make a miniature of you like that.

Like that, you see.

I'd like to see that.

I love World War I, as does my friend here, Peter Jackson.

We both had rival war film museums.

War exhibitions.

mine had big big um sort of

people instead of miniatures think the opposite of a miniature a big one what are you doing what's happening with you what are you doing I don't know what I'm doing

I'm just trying to well I've had a lot in common with Sir Richard yeah I know I know all this what what what sort ask me what I do

you make miniatures well no but I also make armor armour that's what about the warthog did you make the warthog what yes for the for the the halo movie that didn't go ahead

The Boom Camp.

Well, the movie did, yes.

We made lots of miniatures for that.

Dreadful shame.

Yes, we also made the chain mail for the for the Lord of the Kings.

When you're driving through that tunnel in Wellington, do you beep your horn, which is as is wont to do in Wellington?

Go boop, beep, boop, boop, boop, boop.

It's a big long tunnel.

Everyone beeps their horn.

I'd like to make a miniature of that tunnel if I have the chances.

Oh, yeah, I thought that's a view.

You'd make a miniature of the whole world if you could.

Well, if I could, yes, but particularly for a science fiction film, perhaps you'd have a

miniature spacecraft flying over the miniature planets.

All right, Charlie Kaufman over here.

Sir, Richard, what do you mean by that?

Just a little Synecdoche, New York over here.

What's that then?

What do you mean by that?

Synecthake, New York.

Oh, it's a nice film, yes.

I saw it at the Wellington Film Tour.

Are there miniatures in Synecdoche, New York by Richard Kaufman?

A lot of the Charlie Kaufman.

Charlie Kaufman, yeah, you know, he's his.

Have you met Charlie?

No, I've not met him, no.

He's nice, but he doesn't really need many miniatures.

No, he doesn't need many.

Well, apart from animal leafles.

He's not the only man or a lot of them.

Lots of puppets.

Predominantly and entirely miniatures.

Lots of miniatures, yes.

So in that film, he went, do you know what?

About that big.

Do you know what?

It's what he filmed.

I mean, lots of my films.

There's not enough miniatures.

No miniatures in my film.

So I'll make a film entirely of miniatures.

Well, now both of you like to use CGI.

Oh, yes.

And I'm always saying to Peter, Peter, maybe put a couple of miniatures in there.

So, Richard, so thank God you're here.

I'll think, oh, goodness, I've always wanted to do this show.

No, no, no, no, we're not doing that anymore.

Thank God you're here.

Richard,

what I wanted to say to you is we're in the kitchenette.

Oh, yeah.

In the podcast studio.

Yes.

Here's your cup of tea.

Thank you.

I love tea.

Here's your cup of tea.

I love models as well.

I've had mine white with two sugars.

Yes.

I like

models, toy models and whatnot as well.

Oh, yeah.

Go on then, Peter.

We're guest guesting on the podcast by the Auntie Donnerboys.

Oh, that's nice.

And we're talking about the 56th anniversary of the moon landing.

Oh, that's nice.

Yes.

I love the moon landing.

I'd like to make a miniature moon.

Well, I think we'd be great to go back into that room and see our friend Zach and say, Zek, we've got three wonderful remote controls to talk about the moon landing and its impact on film.

I'd love to know what scale.

The moving image.

I'd love to know what scale.

What do you mean by scale?

Oh, you're talking about miniatures, of course.

One to eight.

I don't know what's in the scale.

One to sixteen, one to thirty six.

Two?

What is the ratio?

Sometimes I think about how many scales there are and I get so fucking excited.

Yes, absolutely.

When I was making miniatures for him to film Meet the Feebles,

it was very different to the miniatures I made in Lord of the Rings.

Rings.

Have you ever made a miniature that's one-to-one?

Well, that would just be a set.

And yes, I have made a few of them to work with.

What if you were doing a one-to-one of something that was already quite small?

Well, that's still...

Like a mouse.

Have you ever done a miniature for a mouse at one-to-one?

Well, that would still be a full-scale mouse.

A miniature mouse would be tiny.

What about a miniature for like a building that just comes up to your hip?

Well, that would already be a miniature and not be one-to-one.

But if the building is that size...

Well, that's the size of the building.

Have you ever made a miniature miniature at all?

Have you ever made a miniature of a miniature village?

A miniature of a miniature village.

I've not, but I could see a situation where I'm making a miniature of a village, and in that village is a miniature village, thus the miniature of the miniature village.

How miniature would you go?

You go one to two.

How miniature would you go?

I would probably go a bigoture.

That's what we called them on Lord of the Rings, quite big miniatures.

I'd probably do a one to three ratio of the miniature of the village, making the miniature village within the village, the miniature miniature village.

If that was a, well, it depends what scale that was before it went to one to three.

That would probably be quite a small already, probably a one to twenty.

Why would you increase the size of a miniature village?

well no I'd miniaturize the miniature village so that's a one to twenty miniature village and a one to three so what's the myths on that would that be a one to sixty yep one to sixty nailed it one to sixty miniature would it be a one to sixty miniature miniature village well but no it wouldn't be would it because it would be a one to three correct of a one to twenty minutes.

So you seem to be agreeing with everything he's saying.

He's doing the maths correctly.

But it wouldn't be, I wouldn't be basing the miniature on the village.

So it wouldn't be 1 to 60.

I'd be basing it on the miniature miniature village.

Exactly.

So it would be a miniature, miniature village.

Correct.

One to three of a one to twenty miniature village.

Yes.

Okay.

Does that make sense, Peter?

Because if we can't get this nailed down, we can't make the movie.

I don't think we're making a movie about a miniature village.

We're just having a cup of tea.

Period.

This is just a hypothetical.

This is just some blokes having a cup of tea in a kitchenette.

I thought we were maybe talking about a movie that we were going to make using my workshop, with a workshop.

The host of the podcast that we were on, their leg plopped off and then they went away and then they disappeared.

Did they?

They disappeared.

Oh, yes, he went off.

Like a doll, like a marionette.

Yes.

Oh, that's not good, is it?

I thought kind of like anger.

Was there any viscera at all?

No, viscera at all.

Now, how would you go about making that?

If you needed someone's leg to plop off without viscera, well, you know, you and I are big fans of viscera.

We come from horror originally.

Viscerally, it's so fun to make with

ketchup and chocolate sauce.

Yeah, that sort of thing.

But

I'd probably do, depends if it's a miniature.

If it's a miniature, I'd maybe use something like a doll and then put like a skin type thing on it.

But if it's real, oh, I don't know, maybe a fake leg.

I'd make a fake skin.

There'd definitely be some 3D printing for the inside of the plopping off leg.

A bit of a trial and error R ⁇ D would go into that before we did anything.

Some screen tests, that sort of thing.

Did you know Vigo Mortensen?

He kicked that boot and it actually hurt his foot greatly.

I remember that.

And performatively, I thought, well, I'm going to keep that in the movie.

You made me make a big boot to go around his car.

That scream was real.

Did I?

Yeah, you said, make me a big boot.

Well, that's not a real fact.

That's what I improvised just then.

Oh, because I thought that might be the case.

Maybe why my biggest boots.

If we could get the footage, we could go back and we could just remove his foot.

Oh, that's what you'd be wanting to do.

I've heard that about you.

You like to recreate.

You like to change your movies quite a lot.

If you ever wanted to figure out.

Oh, you like to change it, yes.

But I'm not much of a fan of CGI.

I prefer the miniatures and the sets.

You can do them quite small in the computer now.

Well, you could do everything nearly on a computer peter i i don't like the fact that effect that you've made a rival world war one exhibition to me no and i don't like that you've made one we could have made the best world war one exhibition ever but instead we've got two rival world this is effect yeah we'd made two rival we each made a different world war one exhibition mine was with big people

so i went the opposite way i went like three to one you wanted to break new ground yes

but mine was good too George I've always wanted to know

what was it like filming Star Wars no listen we're in the kitchen here we could be doing this on a podcast we should talk about this on the podcast should we do this on a podcast

okay

Zach I've got great news for you who's Zach

where's Zach where's Zach

I think he's outside getting a drink oh not another drink he's going to be pissing for days that's the second drink he's got on this podcast

well I think I'd like to make a miniature, Zach.

Well, let's all sit.

I fucking think you would.

I wouldn't make everything, and you would miniaturize the world.

What did you think of that Matt Damon mover?

Everyone was really tiny.

Oh, that one.

Well, that was funny, wasn't it?

Because a lot of the things they had to build were big.

The opposite of miniatures.

Because the point of a miniature...

No, explain that to me.

That doesn't quite work in my head.

Well, because that's...

Because they're small, so you need to make small houses for the people.

Well, no.

Because Matt Damon was shrunk down.

Yes, Richard.

Sir Richard.

But Matt Damon was never actually tiny.

He was normal size, so to make him look tiny, you have to make the houses big.

No, Sir Richard, they shrink him down in that movie.

There's a scene where they do it.

Well, you know that's fake, don't you?

You know how we fake things when we make our movies.

Oh, absolutely.

I never had...

There was no giant gorilla in King Kong.

That was all done using special effects of the movie.

And I told him, I said, we should do it with a miniature.

What?

We should do a miniature King Kong.

And he wanted to do it CGI.

He said, even if I wasn't doing it CGI, I'd do it with maybe a costume or maybe a puppetry or stop motion.

Miniature is not the right technology or technique to make a King Kong.

That's what you said to me, I remember.

One thing that wasn't miniature was the runtime.

Ha ha ha.

He got you there, Peter.

Which is a very long, long, long movie.

I like George.

He's fun.

No, I'm not.

Listen, George.

You're a fun guy.

No, I like to get divorces.

I like to upset my neighbours.

I'm not fun.

Where'd you upset your neighbour?

What'd you do there?

Well, I'd like to.

Did you get out the whipper snipper on a Saturday morning?

I wanted to extend my ranch.

And the people around me said, no, no, no, no.

And I said, okay, I'll just build up

low-income homes in the affluent area.

And then everyone went, all right, fine.

What are you talking about?

So you wanted to build, you wanted to extend your ranch out into other people's property.

This is a Skywalker ranch.

Yeah, I wanted to extend the ranch.

Yeah, extend the ranch.

And all the people in the area around me were like, no, we don't want you to do that.

And I went, okay, that's fine.

I'll just build a bunch of low-income houses.

So

people could live there.

And then all the rich people lived around me went, all right, fine.

Extend your ranch.

So I sort of thought that was a good idea.

You threatened with poor people.

Yeah, with property.

I quite like that, actually.

I think that's quite funny to sort of make the poor people, the rich people, not the poor, I don't like playing with their emotions, but I like that you played with the rich people, made them admit that they were prejudiced.

I think it would have been funnier if I then just still built the houses somewhere because

the house is the kind of thing.

You know, Peter Jackson likes playing PS5 on his big cinema screen at home.

Oh, absolutely.

It's

a great place to unwind after a long day of making they shall not grow old.

Yeah, what are you playing?

Uncharted 4.

Oh, very nice.

You can play Marvel Rifles.

Guitar Hero.

I've got a way to play Guitar Hero on PS5.

I like to play Marvel Rivals.

You know, we have on our staff someone that can make swords.

Yeah.

Swords and arrows and that sort of thing.

Yeah.

They make them like old time.

Richard, look, if I can be perfectly honest,

you're quite a dull person, really.

It's just miniatures this, miniatures that, and swords and...

What are you talking about?

I mean, when I say someone who's fascinated in these things, that's actually really quite fascinating.

But when you have nothing else going on.

I think the issue is here.

We're three people that are really at the head of our head of our sort of careers and

our various things.

We all work in the same industry.

It's quite hard not to just talk shop, you know?

It's It's hard to talk in a little bit.

Well, what else do you like to do, Richard?

I like, I mean, I've always liked model toys, that sort of thing.

It's the same shit.

It is, it is.

I mean, I've made my hobby into miniature.

Say one thing that isn't nothing, nothing at all.

Not a scarik of it is to do with, with, to do a scerogage to do with miniatures.

One hobby.

Well, I like virtual reality and that sort of thing.

But I do like miniatures, yes.

That's my favourite thing to do.

No, say, talk about your favourite food.

Well, I don't, I'm not really a big food guy.

I could make a miniature food.

Well, that's no, that's just cutting

larger food into smaller portions.

Well, I wouldn't make it out of the food because the pores of the bread would be too big.

You'd have to make it out of a whole new thing.

You're talking about old d'eroffs?

Do you like them?

No, no, I'm talking about if I were to make a miniature sandwich.

Funger food.

Finger food.

No, that's just cut-up food, but still normal size.

If I were to make a miniature sandwich, I would have to make tiny little bits of strawberry.

You know, so if I wouldn't use less strawberry jam I'd have to make a new thing that looks like

I think you'll literally just do the portion size the smaller no no that's cut up ham well the seeds ham is just ham cut from ham and just make the ham smaller no

I think with strawberry jam I tend to agree that the seeds the seeds would be too seed

of course but I'm talking about a seedless gem

Well, he's got you there.

No, because he's got you there.

The globules are too good.

The glug.

Yeah, the glug.

I'm not talking about the globules either.

I'm talking about globulous gem.

What are you talking about?

Globulous gem.

I don't tell you how to make the edits and the filming.

Yes, you do.

That's exactly what you do.

You said there's me on Lord of the Rings.

I think there's seedless gem.

I don't think there's glugs.

Do you understand?

The seeds would look too big.

The seeds would be as big as the sandwich.

I can see that.

I can see that, but I'm talking about a seedless gem.

Yes.

Yeah, but the glugs are so good.

What if you've said

that?

I don't know what you mean by glugs of the jam.

I mean perfectly on.

It's gluggy.

It's glugs.

Glugs and glugs of jam.

Smaller jam would have smaller glugs.

I concede on the jam, but maybe a sandwich is not glug.

That is no jam in it.

Maybe it would have been

a vegemice sandwich, for example.

Well, even then, the bread, the big holes in the bread would be too big.

As big as the sandwich.

You'd need to make the bread out of something finer than flour.

But then it wouldn't be bread, would it?

No, it's a miniature of a sandwich.

It has to look like it.

But it needs to be digestible, Richard.

In the same way, usually that a sandwich would be ingested.

Nobody has to ingest it.

I'm talking.

Yes, you're so talking about a literal edible miniature sandwich.

No, well, then you're just talking about a smaller portion of sandwiches.

Now we're talking, Sir Richard.

That's

not a miniature.

That doesn't appear to be normal size when you put it in front of the right kind of lens.

I'm talking about miniatures.

When you're talking about a miniature house that you've built, you're still building out of the same concrete, Richard.

No, I'm not.

The concrete would have too many big rocks in it.

My tensions seem to be.

Oh, it's a bit tense ever since he did a rival World War I exhibition.

He did a rival World War I exhibited.

I was going to say, you were seeing him at the same time in Wellington.

There's like something deeper going on.

It's not.

Yes, it's been tense for a little while.

I was trying to

put praise on the NZX.

These young fellows who went off to war.

I love them.

I wanted to make them big.

You understand that's a big difference for me.

I like miniatures usually, but I said, no, we're not going to.

We did do a couple of miniatures, a miniature Gallipoli.

Do you know about Gallipoli?

We did a a little miniature Gallipoli.

But Winston Churchill sent us to the wrong beach.

We sent us to the wrong beach.

But I've made a miniature Gallipoli if you'd like to see that at my exhibition.

Miniature Gallipoli is still atrocious horror.

Horror, horror, horrible.

One-third of the horror, but still quite a lot of horror.

But

even at that scale, even at the scale of

the scale,

120.

120.

120th of the scale, still Gallipoli, still horrific.

So you know the Twin Tower, not the Twin Towers, goodness, that was horrific.

You could make a miniature of the Two Towers.

Have you made a miniature of the Twin Towers?

Well, I've made a miniature of the Two Towers from Lord of the Rings.

And it's a very similar sort of

technique.

I'm talking about the World Trade Centre, which was take, which was attacked by the Taliban in 2001.

And what I'm saying is

that it's a very similar set of techniques, a very similar workflow to make a miniature of the Twin Towers as it would be to make a miniature of the Two Towers.

Of course, it's different look, and you'd be coming at me saying, oh, you could use normal concrete for that.

and I'd say it won't look good on the camera you know this don't you oh but here's your problem is the twin towers were not built and that's the problem is they were built with steel beams well and I would have to use a different material maybe steel but probably a different material like what small steel I don't know just maybe aluminium

twin towels out of aluminium

the taliban be sitting there laughing at you well it would be

laughing at you

down in a morning.

They wouldn't need to laugh.

Yeah, but it would be a miniature Taliban with miniature planes.

No, but they wouldn't.

The Taliban could have pushed over one of the twin towers made of aluminium.

Everything's miniature.

Everything's miniature.

You're the problem.

You're why the war on terror exists here.

No, no, you've got to understand.

Microwaves.

If I make a miniature...

Use microwaves if the twin towers are made out of aluminum.

No, you could use it.

That's exactly right.

You couldn't fit it in.

George, look at this.

Yes, no, but George, it would be a bigoture.

It would be a bigoture.

It would still be twice as tall as you, George.

Concede this, Sir Richard.

What I'm trying to say is, if you put aluminium in the microwave,

yes, I know that.

Concede that, Sir Richard.

If in Twin.

Not even on 9-11.

At the very least, concede.

It's a 9-11.

If the twin towers were made of aluminium...

That's not the microwave.

And the Taliban has big microwaves.

This is a straw man argument.

It's a millionaire.

It's a microwave argument.

It's a microwave argument.

If the towers were made of aluminium on 9-11 of a normal size.

Yes, and it's a very big microwave in this circumstance.

It's a huge microwave, twice as tall as the towers.

Well, they've taken the microwave technology and turned them into guns.

Oh, okay.

Well, that's very fun.

You could make a science fiction with that concrete.

You can make miniatures for that.

You can make a miniature.

In my mind, it would be fun.

Oh, how fun would that be?

But concede at the very least, Sir Richard.

Yes, I concede that, but can you just concede one thing?

It would have been a disaster, even worse than it was already.

But can you concede for me with a miniature or bigoture, a bigoture two towers, twin towers, you would have a miniature jet.

You'd have two miniature jets and probably not even miniature Taliban.

Just let me finish my point, Peter.

Let me finish my point.

If you had a bigoture...

Twin towers, you'd have a bigoture airplane also made of something like aluminium and the Taliban would at minimum be miniatures.

I think they'd be CGI Taliban.

That's what you'd do.

You'd put CGI Taliban in those miniature towers.

You'd probably get two or three people to play Taliban and then repeat them over and over and over again.

And then you'd put them in sort of blue, a green screen Taliban.

Absolutely, yeah.

But do you see that it would be a very similar situation?

You'd have to throw the miniature aeroplane into the miniature towers, creating a similar situation.

We'd even have to probably do a few cuts in the in the aluminium beam so it collapses.

All I walked in here today was trying to say, do not build the Twin Towers out of aluminium.

That would be an absolute.

And I've never said that.

It would be absolute havoc.

I've never said that.

I've just said if you want to make a

miniature Twin Towers.

I think that would be fun though if we make a miniature Twin Towers.

Wouldn't that be fun, Peter?

Get the gang back together again.

Make a little Twin Towers movie.

Oh that'd be fantastic, wouldn't it?

Or even better, a moon landing movie.

Oh, that would be great.

I could make a miniature moon, a miniature little Apollo.

Well,

hit it, Lindsay.

Hit it, Lindsay.

Who's Lindsay?

Lindsay's producer.

Oh, hello, Lindsay.

What an incredible episode of the Auntie Donna podcast where we discuss the 56th anniversary of the moon landing with two of the world's

greatest, most

maybe not prolific.

But we certainly invented an industry.

Oh, God.

Is that one?

I didn't know you were in this world.

Are you in this world?

Oh, yes, I'm from Marlington.

It's a four-hour flight.

No, I thought that

stepped away from that, and this was like recorded after.

Tell us what happened this episode.

In this episode, we started talking about the 56th anniversary of the moon landing.

Things got a bit crazy.

His leg fell off.

Leg fell off.

My leg fell off.

Got a drink.

And I think the leg falling off was just an excuse to get a drink.

Maybe.

Because he hadn't had one.

We'll never know.

We'll never know.

Probably.

It could have been my leg fell off.

And then I thought, well, this is a good opportunity.

You know, it could have been the other way, is in fact what happened.

Yeah.

You know,

some people say the Auntie Donna podcast is getting worse.

Yeah.

And I would argue it's always been this bad.

Yeah, just your memory.

Maybe you've just gotten older and you're sadder that your life didn't go the way you planned.

Yeah, so thank you so much for joining us

for joining us on this.

Can't wait to read those comments and have yourself a

Merry Christmas.

Beautiful.

I'm not sure.

You've been listening to the Auntie Donner podcast.

Thanks for joining us for another rip episode brought to you by Auntie DonnerClub.com.

See you next week.