With complete access to artwork created over a five-year period, this guide illustrates the creative development of The Return of the King. It contains over 600 images, from the earliest pencil sketches and conceptual drawings to magnificent paintings, sculptures and digital imagery that shaped the look of the film. Contributing artists include John Howe and Alan Lee, artists who have inspired Peter Jackson's vision of Middle-earth and worked with him to bring the trilogy to the big screen. Peter Jackson himself provides the afterword in which he discusses the importance of the conceptual art to the film. It covers most aspects of the eagerly awaited finale to the enormously successful trilogy, from locations and costumes to weaponry and creatures. The artists who created all of these diverse elements explain how they contributed to the development of the film.