It's kind of funny. Colbert is such a Tolkien nut he would go along with anything Peter Jackson asked.

Interesting that you can't have a pinball hitting Smaug but they allowed this?

Was blown away by the CGI in that video. Smaug was done so well and was so entertaining in a standup skit, that I have just been MIND FU**ED. Like a hologram, he was there and looked scary, just had to keep reminding myself that he was just a representation. Well, what are you waiting for.... go ahead and watch it? That was 5 minutes of my life I am glad how I spent it.

YO DAWG, I'M SMAUG, WORD TO YOUR MUTHA {throws claws up}

Wouldn't want to hurt the dragon's dignity by having a toy hit by a ball though.

(Seriously, it was funny and cute, but some of the stuff they had him say was pretty cringeworthy)

Get out of my head. Yep sort of throws the protective licensee thing out the window when you can have Smaug doing a political piece.

That was one of the best cgi interviews of all time. Smaugs mouth moved perfectly to the words he spoke...very well done. It is amazing that the studio allowed some of what he said, but put restrictions on TH. But then again, we don't know what Smaug can say or not say in the game.
You really got see the real colors in his face...not sure about the all red or somewhat gold smaug in the game....but that was a good representation to match the real colors. Time will tell I guess.

Right, it would be pretty bizarre if they disallowed pinball-specific call outs after this.

Truly priceless interview.

Could this get any better ?

They wouldn't allow a pinball to hit Smaug? That's idiotic.. I wonder what the rationale was?

I don't think you should assume the studio had anything to do with that. In fact, the F bomb at the end pretty much confirms it.

When you do comedy about somebody or something (like a movie), as long as you don't do it with malice, the comedy is protected by the first amendment. Colbert is a huge fan. He had his LOTR LE on stage for one of his shows a couple years ago. I saw nothing in that video that reflected badly on the movie. You'd think with them showing the trailer, the studio was involved. Knowing Colbert's fanboy fervor, I don't think the studio was involved at all. That was all Colbert.

If you want to see related pics of Colbert dressed as LOTR characters - http://www.ew.com/ew/static/longform/hobbit/desktop/

Below is a link to the segment where he had his LE on stage. Pin shows up about the 3 minute mark, but the whole bit is hilarious. Nancy Pelosi is the cave troll. lol

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/8c1oeo/the-republican-ring-of-power

How many people do you think it took to bring Smaug (or Dude) to life? Here is a listing ...http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/mfxigz/sign-off---aftermath-of-smaug