Editing Smaug (section)

=== ''The Hobbit'' (film series) ===
[[File:Smaug (Peter Jackson Hobbit Trilogy).jpg |thumb |left |Smaug as depicted in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Hobbit (film series)|The Hobbit]]'' trilogy, with voice and motion-capture by [[Benedict Cumberbatch]]]]

Smaug was voiced and interpreted with [[performance capture]] by [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] in [[Peter Jackson]]'s three-part adaptation of [[The Hobbit (film series)|''The Hobbit'']].<ref>{{cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |url=https://deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit-140694/ |title=Benedict Cumberbatch To Voice Smaug in 'The Hobbit' |work=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]] |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |location=Los Angeles, California |date=16 June 2011 |access-date=19 June 2011 |archive-date=19 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619214808/http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> From the motion capture, Smaug's design was created with [[key frame]] animation. [[Weta Digital]] employed its proprietary "Tissue" software, which was honoured in 2013 with a "Scientific and Engineering Award" from the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] to make the dragon as realistic as possible. In addition, Weta Digital supervisor [[Joe Letteri]] said in an interview for ''[[USA Today]]'' that they used classic [[European dragon|European]] and [[Asian dragon]]s as inspirations to create Smaug.<ref>{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Truitt |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/12/16/five-things-hobbit-dragon-smaug/4037287/ |title=Five things to know about scaly 'Hobbit' star Smaug |work=[[USA Today]] |publisher=[[Gannett Company]] |location=Mclean, Virginia |date=16 December 2013 |access-date=12 September 2017 |archive-date=2 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202223142/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/12/16/five-things-hobbit-dragon-smaug/4037287/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' stated that Cumberbatch had "the authority to make of Smaug a cunning nemesis".<ref>{{cite news |title=Benedict Cumberbatch's career in pictures: from Hawking to The Child in Time |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/benedict-cumberbatch-his-career-in-pictures/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-2013-benedict-cumberbatch-len/ |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=24 September 2017 |archive-date=20 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920055851/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/benedict-cumberbatch-his-career-in-pictures/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-2013-benedict-cumberbatch-len/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the first film, ''[[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]'', the audience sees only his legs, wings, and tail, and his eye; the eye is showcased in the final scene of the film. Smaug is a topic of discussion among the [[White Council]] as Gandalf's reason to support [[Thorin Oakenshield]]'s quest.<ref name="mfleming">{{cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike |url=https://deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit-140694/ |title=Benedict Cumberbatch To Voice Smaug in 'The Hobbit' |publisher=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=16 June 2011 |access-date=8 January 2013 |archive-date=18 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118003736/http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Smaug appears in the second film, ''[[The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug]]''. In an interview with Joe Letteri, Smaug's design was changed to the [[wyvern]]-like form shown in the film after the crew saw how Benedict Cumberbatch performed Smaug while moving around on all four limbs.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Kevin P. |title=What Happened To Smaug's Other Legs? 'Hobbit' FX Expert Explains |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1719502/smaug-hobbit-fx-explained/ |publisher=[[MTV]] |access-date=24 February 2020 |date=20 December 2013 |archive-date=29 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229121554/http://www.mtv.com/news/1719502/smaug-hobbit-fx-explained/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In ''[[The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies]]'', Smaug attacks Lake-town. He is killed by Bard with a black arrow and his body falls on the boat carrying the fleeing Master of Lake-town. It is later revealed that Smaug's attack on Erebor was all part of Sauron's design, meaning that Smaug and Sauron were in league with each other.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Hughes |title=Review - 'The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug' Is Middle-Earth Magic |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2013/12/08/review-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-is-middle-earth-magic/2/ |work=[[Forbes]] |date=8 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701140629/https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2013/12/08/review-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-is-middle-earth-magic/2/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Richard |last=Corliss |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/09/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-Smaug-it-lives/ |title='The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug': It Lives! |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |publisher=[[Meredith Corporation]] |date=9 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=28 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828033558/http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/09/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-it-lives/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Smaug was considered one of the highlights of the second film of the series; several critics hailed him as cinema's greatest dragon. Critics also praised the visual effects company Weta Digital and Cumberbatch's vocal and motion-capture performance for giving Smaug a fully realized personality, "hiss[ing] out his words with cold-blooded vitriol".<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Nick |last=De Semlyen |url=https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137814 |title=The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Movie Review |magazine=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |publisher=[[Bauer Media Group]] |date=6 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213125526/https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137814 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Josh |last=Wigler |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1718676/the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-early-reviews.jhtml |title='The Hobbit' Reviews: Get The Scoop On 'Smaug' |publisher=[[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] |date=9 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=5 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205131858/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1718676/the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-early-reviews.jhtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>