# The Ring Thing > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Ring_Thing > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Ring_Thing.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_Thing > Source revision: 1331957848 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) ***The Ring Thing*** is a [2004](/source/2004_in_film) [Swiss](/source/Swiss_film) [parody film](/source/Parody_film). Produced without state film funding, it is a [low-budget](/source/Low-budget_film) comic [spoof](/source/Parody) on the [*Lord of the Rings* film trilogy](/source/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)).[1] It had its world premiere on 14 December 2004 at the Pathé cinema centre near Zurich. The theatrical release in Switzerland was in mid-December 2004, and summer of 2005 in Germany. ## Plot summary The Swiss banker Fredi has fallen in love with the irascible Heidi. For his marriage proposal, Fredi has bought an engagement ring. While he is practising his proposal on an aeroplane toilet, the floor of the plane suddenly breaks through and Fredi falls to earth together with the toilet and the ring and wakes up in a strange mountain world. There he is mistaken for the [hobbit](/source/Hobbit) [Friedo](/source/Frodo_Baggins) and learns from old [Almgandhi](/source/Gandalf) that the evil [Lord Sauraus](/source/Sauron) has stolen his [ring, which apparently has great magical powers](/source/One_Ring) he wants to use to [fondue](/source/Fondue) the world. Fredi and Almgandhi then set out together with the [telehobbie](/source/Teletubbies) [Pupsi](/source/Gollum), the [nymphomaniac](/source/Nymphomaniac) [elf](/source/Elf) [Grümpfli](/source/Galadriel), the former ring owner [Schleimli](/source/Gimli_(Middle-earth)) and the warrior [Rackaroll](/source/Aragorn) to defeat Sauraus. It is eventually revealed that Pupsi is actually a villain who betrayed the heroes to Sauraus, after the latter tricked Pupsi telling him he was his father. In the end Fredi gets the ring and everything has a happy ending: Grümpfli and Schleimli get married, Fredi leaves Heidi to his arch-rival Sauraus and lives on happily as Friedo in this strange Swiss mountain world that he has stumbled upon. ## Production The exterior shots for the film were shot by the executive producer [Condor Films](/source/Condor_Films) for almost four weeks, mainly in the anterior Rhine valley. Other locations were the [Caumasee](/source/Caumasee) near [Flims](/source/Flims) and the Seleger Moor near Rifferswil/ZH. For the castle scenes, filming took place in the [Munot](/source/Munot) castle in [Schaffhausen](/source/Schaffhausen). Originally, the producers planned to have the actor of Winnetou [Pierre Brice](/source/Pierre_Brice) appear in the film in a guest role as an Indian chief. After reading the script, Brice cancelled his participation. He feared having to expose the film character [Winnetou](/source/Winnetou), which he had made into a legend, to the ridicule of the young viewers. The role of the Indian chief was then deleted from the script without replacement. Instead, a scene with the Emperor of China was added to the film. The film's title song "Lueg mi Aaa" (Swiss dialect for "Look at me") was composed by the siblings [Diego Baldenweg with Nora Baldenweg and Lionel Baldenweg](/source/Diego_Baldenweg_with_Nora_Baldenweg_and_Lionel_Baldenweg)).[2] The music video for the song was recorded by the band "The Alfornos feat Heidi P" at the [Bellerive Studios](/source/Bellerive_Studios) with the original actors. ## Reviews The film was panned upon release by film critics in Switzerland. The character Pupsi was especially criticised. The Swiss news magazine *[FACTS](/source/FACTS_(magazine))*, after insisting on an exclusive advance screening, wrote: "Probably the worst Swiss film ever!"[1][3][4] Shortly after the film's release in Switzerland, the national film funder [Federal Office of Culture](/source/Federal_Office_of_Culture) (which had not supported the film) received a legal complaint of racism. This was in relation to the word "[Mongo](/source/Mongolian_idiocy)" (often considered to be [racist](/source/Racist) and [ableist](/source/Ableist)) used twice in dialogue: once when Grümpfli insults Prince Rackaroll (an [Aragorn](/source/Aragorn)-like character stated to have 4 [IQ points](/source/IQ_points) when he is introduced), and subsequently used by Rackaroll himself in a battle with an [Uru-Cow](/source/Orc#Description).[5] The lawsuit was dropped as [frivolous](/source/Frivolous_litigation). The authors' deliberate use of long-forgotten old-fashioned words from the Swiss dialect, such as the expression "Gorilla Blauarsch", met with a great response from the young audience.[6] After the start of DVD sales, the film quickly gained cult status among Swiss schoolchildren. Many parents complained to the outlets that their children would constantly talk like the characters in the film. [7] In contrast to the theatrical release, the DVD release in Germany was accompanied by a majority of very positive trade reviews: "Fans of the Peter Jackson trilogy (...) will certainly get their money's worth", "Produced on a minimal budget, the film is lovingly crafted down to the last detail."[8] "A hilariously funny Swiss take on Middle Earth, where absurd dialogue, idiotic characters and inane plot twists abound."[9] ## Ticket sales The film, distributed by [Disney](/source/Walt_Disney_Studios_Motion_Pictures)'s subsidiary [Buena Vista International](/source/Buena_Vista_International), grossed over 65,000 admissions in Switzerland within a few weeks,[10] making it the second most successful theatrical film of the year. Likewise, the film was in the top 20 of the Swiss DVD charts[11] for weeks. ## Distribution *The Ring Thing* was acquired by [Senator Film](/source/Wild_Bunch_(company)) (now Wild Bunch AG) for a release in Germany and Austria even before the theatrical release in Switzerland and was professionally dubbed into the [German dialects](/source/German_dialects) of those markets. Subsequently, [bootleg recordings](/source/Bootleg_recording) of the film appeared on [DVD](/source/DVD) in various countries of the former [Eastern Bloc](/source/Eastern_Bloc). ## References 1. ["Film review by Bruno Amstutz"](https://cineman.ch/movie/2004/TheRingThing/review.html). cineman.ch. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304053325/http://cineman.ch/movie/2004/TheRingThing/review.html) 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-07-05. 1. ["GREAT GARBO - BALDENWEG : High quality music for international advertising campaigns & feature films (Official website)"](http://greatgarbo.com/content/originalmusicforfilmandtv/ringthing) 1. reviewer [Marco Spiess](https://molodezhnaja.ch/theringthing.htm), retrieved 2021-06-19 1. [Filmkritik von René Malgo auf *filmstarts.de*](http://www.filmstarts.de/kritiken/38536-The-Ring-Thing.html) 1. [Blick: Swiss Hollywood parody sued](http://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/hollywood-parodie-verklagt-166486) 1. [Outnow.ch:Interview mit Dialogautor André Küttel](http://outnow.ch/specials/2004/ringthing/Interview.Kuettel/) 1. [Observer: Swearing like in the movies](https://beobachter.ch/arbeit-bildung/schule/artikel/kinder-fluchen-wie-im-film) 1. ["Film review on: DigitalDVD"](https://cineman.ch/movie/2004/TheRingThing/review.html). digitalvd.de. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160509004843/http://digitalvd.de/dvds/53248,The-Ring-Thing.html) 2016-05-09 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2020-07-05. 1. [film review on Movie Maze](http://www.moviemaze.de/filme/1528/the-ring-thing.html) 1. [Cinema Charts Procinema Switzerland](https://procinema.ch/de) 1. [Swiss DVD charts](http://outnow.ch/Movies/Charts/Schweizer-DVD-Charts) ## External links - [The Ring Thing](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432028/) at IMDb --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Ring Thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_Thing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ring_Thing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.