Learn airplane safety from elves, hobbits, and orcs, courtesy of Air NZ

Airline safety videos aren't known for being particularly creative. Here's how the tray-table works. Lavatories are in the back. Sit down. Don't move. The end.

But Air New Zealand decided to do something with its preflight video by honoring the upcoming film The Hobbit. The safety video is inspired by the upcoming film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first in a trilogy of movies from director Sir Peter Jackson, who was also behind the smash hit hugely successful The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Gollum-style flying: u00a0A 13-metre sculpture of Tolkien character Gollum looming over passengers at Wellington Airport. Pic/AFP

The Oscar-winning director even agreed to appear in the safety video along with cast members, and Mike and Royd Tolkien, the great-great grandsons of the author of timeless masterpiece The Hobbit JRR Tolkien.

The airline's general manager of marketing and communications Mike Tod said the video - called An Unexpected Briefing - was representative of the hotbed of creative talent in New Zealand.

"To have Gollum step off the movie screen for the first time and into an Air New Zealand aircraft is incredibly special, and Sir Peter Jackson delivers a superb cameo," Tod said.

"He should come out from behind the camera more often," he added. Royd Tolkien, who features in the video with prosthetic hairy Hobbit feet, said of Air New Zealand's video, "They've done a great job of capturing the essence of The Hobbit films and it was a privilege to be invited to participate."u00a0