\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNews<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Frodo, Hellboy, Riker, Boba Fett, Ginny Weasley, and more are coming to town this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n They\u2019re taking the hobbits to 12 and Arch. \/ Photo by Chi Tang<\/p>\n<\/div>\n What do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a bunch of Goonies, a gaggle of hobbits and Mr. T. have in common? Not much \u2014 except they\u2019ll all be at the Convention Center this weekend (May 29th-31st).<\/p>\n As always, Philly Fan Expo<\/a> (the convention formerly known as Wizard World) offers a motley assemblage of live appearances, panel discussions and autograph sessions with celebrities<\/a> whose work generally falls under \u201cpop culture\u201d but otherwise bears little relation to each other. Or so you think! Let\u2019s make some connections.<\/p>\n Note: We\u2019re about the drop a lot of names. Only the ones in bold will be at Fan Expo. The rest are mere stepping stones on this pointless quest.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with the halflings. It\u2019s been 25 years since The Fellowship of the Rings, so it makes sense that The Lord of the Rings makes up the biggest bloc at this year\u2019s con. The top hobbits of the first franchise will be in the building for the pricy but thorough An Evening With The Hobbits<\/a> event: Elijah Wood<\/strong>, Sean Astin<\/strong>, Billy Boyd<\/strong> and Dominic Monaghan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That last guy, he was Charlie on Lost, which also featured Emilie de Ravin who went on to star in a show called Once Upon a Time with Colin O\u2019Donoghue<\/strong>. Seven seasons? I had no idea.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of LOTR at Fan Expo, including Orlando Bloom<\/strong>, Miranda \u201cI am no man!\u201d Otto<\/strong> and the great John Rhys-Davies<\/strong>. JRD of course, was in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1980) with Sean Connery who was in Highlander (1986) with Christopher Lambert<\/strong>. Still not beheaded! (P.S. Do we need a Gandalf with weird politics<\/a>?)<\/p>\n Meanwhile the aforementioned Sean Astin was also in The Goonies (1985), so that\u2019s an easy connection to co-stars Corey Feldman<\/strong> and Kerri Green<\/strong>, also appearing at the Expo. (R.I.P. Sloth.)<\/p>\n Feldman\u2019s a good connector; he did a ton of big movies in the \u201980s, the golden age of nostalgia. He was in The Lost Boys (1987), so let\u2019s check off his fellow Frog brother Jamison Newlander<\/strong>. Corey was also the voice of Donatello in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), which also starred Judith Hoag<\/strong> as April O\u2019Neil, the human face with the most screentime. We can also check off Kenn Scott, Brian Tochi, Ernie Reyes Jr. and Robbie Rist who did stunts and quips. Those guys were brought back for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) which was Corey-free, but did feature Fran\u00e7ois Chau<\/strong> as Shredder. (P.S. The secret is the ooze.)<\/p>\n Last leaf on the Corey Feldman branch: His Lost Boys bud Alex Winter (aka Bill S. Preston, Esquire) who co-directed, co-wrote, and co-starred a completely bonkers comedy called Freaked (1993) whose wild casting includes Fan Expo royalty Mr. T<\/strong>. Let\u2019s watch the trailer.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn10.phillymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/FanExpo_Hobbits_cred_Chi-Tang_main.jpg\")
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