Adaptations of The Lord of the Rings
Encyclopedia
The Lord of the Rings
, an epic high fantasy
novel by the British
author J. R. R. Tolkien
, set in his fictional world of Middle-earth
, has been adapted for various media multiple times.
(1978), by animator
Ralph Bakshi
, the first part of what was originally intended to be a two-part adaptation of the story. The second, The Return of the King
(1980), was a television special
by Rankin-Bass. The third was director Peter Jackson
's The Lord of the Rings
film trilogy, released in three installments as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
(2003).
rather than Walt Disney
whose works Tolkien intensely disliked. However, Tolkien was dissatisfied with the script and the financial arrangements which would have brought him little profit. Thus the project was turned down.
Tolkien criticized the script for divergence to the tone of the book (such as a "fairy-tale" depiction of Lothlórien, as well as elements cut "upon which [the book's] characteristic and peculiar tone principally depends") and character representation (such as Sam leaving Frodo to Shelob and going on to Mount Doom
alone). He also took issue with dialogue changes as regards to the "style and sentiment" of characters, and with intercutting between the storylines of Frodo and Aragorn. He suggested eliminating the battle of Helm's Deep
to better emphasize the defense of Minas Tirith
, as well as cutting characters out instead of diminishing their roles. Tolkien protested against added "incantations, blue lights, and some irrelevant magic" and "a preference for fights".
Contrary to widespread belief, the film rights to The Lord of the Rings were never held by Walt Disney
In fact, Tolkien deeply disliked Disney's adaptations of fairy tales. The film rights were sold by Tolkien to United Artists
in 1969. The Beatles
planned to do a live-action version with Paul McCartney
as Frodo Baggins
, Ringo Starr
as Sam Gamgee, George Harrison
as Gandalf
, and John Lennon
as Gollum
. The group approached Stanley Kubrick
to direct the film. Even though he briefly considered directing the film, Kubrick turned the offer down, as he felt the trilogy was unfilmable due to its immensity. Soon the plans for the film came to nothing shortly after Kubrick declined the offer.
In the 1970s John Boorman
was contracted by United Artists to direct an adaptation that would have collapsed the entire story into a single film. Boorman corresponded with Tolkien about the project. In the script by Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg
, many new elements have been inserted or modified. Among other things, Gimli
is put in a hole and beaten so he can retrieve the password to Moria from his ancestral memory, Frodo and Galadriel
have sexual intercourse, Arwen
is made into a teenaged spiritual guide with her role as Aragorn
's love interest wholly transferred to Éowyn
, and Aragorn’s healing of Éowyn takes place on the battlefield and given sexual overtones. The project ultimately proved too expensive to finance at that time. Again collaborating with Pallenberg, Boorman later made the Arthurian
epic Excalibur
where he used special effects techniques and locations intended for the Tolkien project.
Materials pertaining to Ackerman/Zimmerman/Brodax and Boorman's treatments, as well as Ralph Bakshi's (below) are stored in the Tolkien papers collection of Marquette University
.
was introduced to the work of J. R. R. Tolkien
by a director at Terrytoons in 1956. In 1957, he started trying to obtain the rights by convincing producers that the books could be animated. Following John Boorman's attempt to adapt the books, Bakshi proposed that United Artists produce the story as three animated films. Bakshi and Dan Melnick, then-president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
, made a deal with United Artists to purchase the film rights to the story for $3 million, but the deal fell through when Melnick was fired from MGM. Bakshi contacted Saul Zaentz
, who had helped finance Fritz the Cat, and persuaded him to produce The Lord of the Rings
. United Artists agreed to produce the story as two films. Voice actors included Christopher Guard
, William Squire
, Michael Scholes and John Hurt
. The film incorporated the use of rotoscoping, brief snippets of cel animation, and live-action footage mixed with animation. Bakshi later regretted his use of the rotoscoping technique, stating that he made a mistake by tracing the source footage rather than using it as a guide. Once the film was completed, Bakshi was told that audiences would not pay to see an incomplete film, and The Lord of the Rings was released without any indication that a second part would follow, in spite of Bakshi's objections. The film cost $4 million to produce and grossed $30.5 million at the box office
. Film critic Leonard Maltin
said that it was one of only two major commercial successes in Bakshi's career, the other being Fritz the Cat. Despite this, the studio refused to fund the sequel, which would have picked up half-way through the story and adapted the remainder of the book. The Lord of the Rings won the Golden Gryphon at the 1980 Giffoni Film Festival.
In 1980, Rankin/Bass more or less completed what Bakshi had started with their own animated adaptation of The Return of the King
, based on their own concepts previously applied to their earlier animated adaptation of The Hobbit.
adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, with Peter Jackson
as director. Eventually, with Miramax owner Disney
becoming increasingly uneasy with the sheer scope of the proposed project, Jackson was given the opportunity to find another studio to take over. In 1999, New Line Cinema
assumed production responsibility (while Miramax executives Bob Weinstein
and Harvey Weinstein
retained on-screen credits as executive producers). The three films were shot simultaneously. They featured extensive computer-generated imagery
, including major battle scenes utilizing the "Massive" software program. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released on December 19, 2001, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on December 18, 2002 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
worldwide on December 17, 2003. All three won the Hugo Award
for Best (Long-form) Dramatic Presentation in their respective years.
The films were met with both critical and commercial success. Jackson's adaptations garnered seventeen Oscars, four for The Fellowship of the Ring, two for The Two Towers, and eleven for The Return of the King; these covered many of the award categories.
The Return of the King in fact won all of the eleven awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture. With a total of 30 nominations, the trilogy also became the most-nominated in the Academy's history, surpassing the Godfather
series' 28. Its 11 Oscars at the 2004 Academy Awards
tied it for most awards won for one film with Titanic
six years earlier and the 1959 version of Ben-Hur
. It also broke the previous "sweep" record, beating Gigi
and The Last Emperor
(which each took 9 out of 9). The Return of the King also made movie history as the highest grossing film opening on a Wednesday and was the second film after Titanic
to earn over US$1 billion worldwide.
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is widely and currently considered to be the most popular and is verified to be the currently highest grossing motion picture trilogy worldwide of all time, evidenced by its earning close to $3-billion (US), besting other notable franchises such as the Harry Potter
series. The film trilogy also set a record for the total number of Academy Awards
won, tallying a total of seventeen Oscars. Critical acclaim has commonly hailed the trilogy as "the greatest films of our era," and "the trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal."
On the other hand, some readers of the book decried certain changes made in the adaptation, including changes in tone, various changes made to characters such as Aragorn
, Arwen
, Denethor
and Faramir
, as well as to the main protagonist Frodo
himself, and the deletion of the next to the last chapter of Tolkien's work, "The Scouring of the Shire
", a part he himself felt thematically necessary.
The trilogy's defenders assert that it is a worthy interpretation of the book, most changes stemming from the filmmakers putting the book into a modern context, rearranging the events into a chronologically linear narrative (as opposed to Tolkien separating the two main story threads into two separate parts for The Two Towers and most of The Return of the King), and their perceived need for developing characters further or for sheer timing issues. In any case, the films proved popular with general audiences (i.e. non-readers) and readers alike.
, a fan film
based on elements of the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, was released on the internet in May 2009. It is set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, and depicts Aragorn
's quest to find Gollum
. The film's visual style is based on that of the Jackson films. Although it is completely unofficial, it has received coverage in major media.
Another fan made feature film, Born of Hope
, produced and directed by Kate Madison, was released online on December 1, 2009 on Daily Motion and later on Youtube
. It takes place before the events of The Hobbit. The film can be streamed freely on its main website. Like The Hunt for Gollum, this film triggered reviews in various media.
was broadcast in 1993 based on the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
adaptations have been made based on The Lord of the Rings.
Full-length productions of each of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) were staged in Cincinnati, Ohio
http://www.clearstagecincinnati.com/rotk/index.html.
Lifeline Theatre
in Chicago, Illinois, produced individual plays of each of the three books over various years in the 1990s.
In 2006, a very large-scale three-and-a-half-hour musical was produced in Toronto
. The expensive production lost money and closed six months later and, after some cutting and rewriting, began performances in London on 9 May 2007, but closed on 19 July 2008, due to bad reviews.
A musical parody of The Fellowship of the Ring, titled "Fellowship!" ran in LA for a stint at two separate occasions, coming back 3 years after its debut for a number of shows in the summer of 2009.
The Library of Congress recorded an unabridged version of The Lord of the Rings in 1967, narrated by Livingston Gilbert, on vinyl media. This version was taken out of circulation at the time of the recording of the 1978 version and is no longer offered for checkout to Library of Congress patrons. Reference numbers were TB 03367 (The Fellowship of the Ring), TB 03369 (The Two Towers), and TB 03368 (The Return of the King).
The Library of Congress recorded a second unabridged version of The Lord of the Rings in 1978, narrated by Norman Barrs, on 4-track tape media. This version was taken out of circulation at the time of the recording of the 1999 version and is no longer offered for checkout to Library of Congress patrons. Reference numbers were RC 10975 (The Fellowship of the Ring), RC 10976 (The Two Towers), and RC 10977 (The Return of the King).
The Library of Congress recorded a third unabridged version of The Lord of the Rings in 1999, narrated by David Palmer, on 4-track tape media. This version is also available on the new digital players provided for Library of Congress patrons. Reference numbers are RC 47486 / DB 47486 (The Fellowship of the Ring), RC 47487 / DB 47487 (The Two Towers), and RC 47488 / DB 47488 (The Return of the King).
.
broadcast The Lord of the Rings
, a 12-part radio adaptation of the story. Tolkien disparaged this dramatization, referring to the portrayal of Tom Bombadil as "dreadful" and complaining bitterly about several other aspects. No recordings of it are known to survive.
was broadcast in the USA. The series was produced by The Mind's Eye
, a small theater company that specialized in audio adaptations of popular works, and which also produced a six-hour adaptation of The Hobbit. The Mind's Eye version has since been reproduced and sold in many different cassette tape, CD and MP3 editions.
, a new, ambitious dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments. It starred Ian Holm
as Frodo Baggins
, the protagonist; he would play Bilbo Baggins
, his character's cousin/uncle, in the live-action trilogy.
News and fan sites
Informational
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, an epic high fantasy
High fantasy
High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy was brought to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s...
novel by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, set in his fictional world of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
, has been adapted for various media multiple times.
Film
Three film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings have been made. The first was The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings (1978 film)
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It contains both animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a more consistent look throughout the length of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of the high fantasy...
(1978), by animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
, the first part of what was originally intended to be a two-part adaptation of the story. The second, The Return of the King
The Return of the King (1980 film)
The Return of the King, also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits, is a 1980 animated television special created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. The film is an adaptation of the third volume in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R...
(1980), was a television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
by Rankin-Bass. The third was director Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
The Lord of the Rings is an epic film trilogy consisting of three fantasy adventure films based on the three-volume book of the same name by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are The Fellowship of the Ring , The Two Towers and The Return of the King .The films were directed by Peter...
film trilogy, released in three installments as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
(2003).
Early efforts
In 1957, Tolkien received a film proposal from Forrest J. Ackerman, Morton Grady Zimmerman, and Al Brodax. The proposed film, a mix of animation, miniature work, and live action, was to be three hours long with two intermissions. Tolkien was enthusiastic about the film's concept art, described as akin to Arthur RackhamArthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham was an English book illustrator.-Biography:Rackham was born in London as one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.In 1892 he left his job and started working for The...
rather than Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
whose works Tolkien intensely disliked. However, Tolkien was dissatisfied with the script and the financial arrangements which would have brought him little profit. Thus the project was turned down.
Tolkien criticized the script for divergence to the tone of the book (such as a "fairy-tale" depiction of Lothlórien, as well as elements cut "upon which [the book's] characteristic and peculiar tone principally depends") and character representation (such as Sam leaving Frodo to Shelob and going on to Mount Doom
Mount Doom
Mount Doom is a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. It is located in the heart of the black land of Mordor and close to Barad-dûr, it is approximately high. Alternative names, in Tolkien's invented language of Sindarin, include Orodruin and Amon Amarth...
alone). He also took issue with dialogue changes as regards to the "style and sentiment" of characters, and with intercutting between the storylines of Frodo and Aragorn. He suggested eliminating the battle of Helm's Deep
Helm's Deep
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings, Helm's Deep was a large valley in the north-western Ered Nimrais .The valley was described as being blocked over its entire width by the natural series of hills called Helm's Dike and behind that lay the fortress of Aglarond or the Hornburg, at the...
to better emphasize the defense of Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
, as well as cutting characters out instead of diminishing their roles. Tolkien protested against added "incantations, blue lights, and some irrelevant magic" and "a preference for fights".
Contrary to widespread belief, the film rights to The Lord of the Rings were never held by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
In fact, Tolkien deeply disliked Disney's adaptations of fairy tales. The film rights were sold by Tolkien to United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
in 1969. The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
planned to do a live-action version with Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
as Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
as Sam Gamgee, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
as Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
, and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
as Gollum
Gollum
Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings....
. The group approached Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
to direct the film. Even though he briefly considered directing the film, Kubrick turned the offer down, as he felt the trilogy was unfilmable due to its immensity. Soon the plans for the film came to nothing shortly after Kubrick declined the offer.
In the 1970s John Boorman
John Boorman
John Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...
was contracted by United Artists to direct an adaptation that would have collapsed the entire story into a single film. Boorman corresponded with Tolkien about the project. In the script by Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg
Rospo Pallenberg
Rospo Pallenberg is a screenwriter. He was involved in the writing of the John Boorman films Exorcist II: The Heretic, Excalibur, and The Emerald Forest.-External links:...
, many new elements have been inserted or modified. Among other things, Gimli
Gimli (Middle-earth)
Gimli is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured in The Lord of the Rings. A Dwarf warrior, he is the son of Glóin ....
is put in a hole and beaten so he can retrieve the password to Moria from his ancestral memory, Frodo and Galadriel
Galadriel
Galadriel is a character created by J.R.R. Tolkien, appearing in his Middle-earth legendarium. She appears in The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales....
have sexual intercourse, Arwen
Arwen
Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. She appears in his novel, The Lord of the Rings, usually published in three volumes. Arwen is one of the Half-elven who lived during the Third Age.-Literature:...
is made into a teenaged spiritual guide with her role as Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
's love interest wholly transferred to Éowyn
Éowyn
Éowyn is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, who appears in his most famous work, The Lord of the Rings. She is a noblewoman of Rohan who describes herself as a "shieldmaiden".-Literature:...
, and Aragorn’s healing of Éowyn takes place on the battlefield and given sexual overtones. The project ultimately proved too expensive to finance at that time. Again collaborating with Pallenberg, Boorman later made the Arthurian
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
epic Excalibur
Excalibur (film)
Excalibur is a 1981 dramatic fantasy film directed, produced and co-written by John Boorman that retells the legend of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Adapted from the 15th century Arthurian romance, Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, Excalibur features the music of Richard Wagner...
where he used special effects techniques and locations intended for the Tolkien project.
Materials pertaining to Ackerman/Zimmerman/Brodax and Boorman's treatments, as well as Ralph Bakshi's (below) are stored in the Tolkien papers collection of Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
.
Animated films
Filmmaker Ralph BakshiRalph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi is an Israeli-American director of animated and live-action films. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatrically released feature films, five of which he wrote...
was introduced to the work of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
by a director at Terrytoons in 1956. In 1957, he started trying to obtain the rights by convincing producers that the books could be animated. Following John Boorman's attempt to adapt the books, Bakshi proposed that United Artists produce the story as three animated films. Bakshi and Dan Melnick, then-president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, made a deal with United Artists to purchase the film rights to the story for $3 million, but the deal fell through when Melnick was fired from MGM. Bakshi contacted Saul Zaentz
Saul Zaentz
Saul Zaentz is an American film producer and former record company executive. He has won the Academy Award for Best Picture three times and in 1996 was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award....
, who had helped finance Fritz the Cat, and persuaded him to produce The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It contains both animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a more consistent look throughout the length of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of the high fantasy...
. United Artists agreed to produce the story as two films. Voice actors included Christopher Guard
Christopher Guard
Christopher Guard is an English actor.Educated at Latymer Upper School, Guard was a member of the National Theatre aged 20. He has appeared in Vienna 1900 , Memoirs of a Survivor and Return to Treasure Island...
, William Squire
William Squire
William Squire was a Welsh actor of stage, film and television, born in Neath, South Wales.As a stage actor, Squire performed at Stratford-upon-Avon and at the Old Vic, and notably replaced his fellow-countryman Richard Burton as King Arthur in Camelot at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway.His...
, Michael Scholes and John Hurt
John Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
. The film incorporated the use of rotoscoping, brief snippets of cel animation, and live-action footage mixed with animation. Bakshi later regretted his use of the rotoscoping technique, stating that he made a mistake by tracing the source footage rather than using it as a guide. Once the film was completed, Bakshi was told that audiences would not pay to see an incomplete film, and The Lord of the Rings was released without any indication that a second part would follow, in spite of Bakshi's objections. The film cost $4 million to produce and grossed $30.5 million at the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
. Film critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
said that it was one of only two major commercial successes in Bakshi's career, the other being Fritz the Cat. Despite this, the studio refused to fund the sequel, which would have picked up half-way through the story and adapted the remainder of the book. The Lord of the Rings won the Golden Gryphon at the 1980 Giffoni Film Festival.
In 1980, Rankin/Bass more or less completed what Bakshi had started with their own animated adaptation of The Return of the King
The Return of the King (1980 film)
The Return of the King, also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits, is a 1980 animated television special created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. The film is an adaptation of the third volume in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R...
, based on their own concepts previously applied to their earlier animated adaptation of The Hobbit.
New Line Cinema films
Miramax Films developed a full-fledged live actionLive action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, with Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
as director. Eventually, with Miramax owner Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
becoming increasingly uneasy with the sheer scope of the proposed project, Jackson was given the opportunity to find another studio to take over. In 1999, New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
assumed production responsibility (while Miramax executives Bob Weinstein
Bob Weinstein
Robert "Bob" Weinstein is an American film and theatre producer, the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films, and current head, with his brother Harvey Weinstein, of The Weinstein Company.-Career:...
and Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
retained on-screen credits as executive producers). The three films were shot simultaneously. They featured extensive computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
, including major battle scenes utilizing the "Massive" software program. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring was released on December 19, 2001, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on December 18, 2002 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
worldwide on December 17, 2003. All three won the Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best (Long-form) Dramatic Presentation in their respective years.
The films were met with both critical and commercial success. Jackson's adaptations garnered seventeen Oscars, four for The Fellowship of the Ring, two for The Two Towers, and eleven for The Return of the King; these covered many of the award categories.
The Return of the King in fact won all of the eleven awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture. With a total of 30 nominations, the trilogy also became the most-nominated in the Academy's history, surpassing the Godfather
The Godfather
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
series' 28. Its 11 Oscars at the 2004 Academy Awards
76th Academy Awards
The 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 . The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.The...
tied it for most awards won for one film with Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
six years earlier and the 1959 version of Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur (1959 film)
Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The score was composed by...
. It also broke the previous "sweep" record, beating Gigi
Gigi (1958 film)
Gigi is a 1958 musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is based on the 1944 novella of the same name by Colette...
and The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor
The Last Emperor is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures...
(which each took 9 out of 9). The Return of the King also made movie history as the highest grossing film opening on a Wednesday and was the second film after Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
to earn over US$1 billion worldwide.
The Lord of the Rings film trilogy is widely and currently considered to be the most popular and is verified to be the currently highest grossing motion picture trilogy worldwide of all time, evidenced by its earning close to $3-billion (US), besting other notable franchises such as the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series. The film trilogy also set a record for the total number of Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
won, tallying a total of seventeen Oscars. Critical acclaim has commonly hailed the trilogy as "the greatest films of our era," and "the trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal."
On the other hand, some readers of the book decried certain changes made in the adaptation, including changes in tone, various changes made to characters such as Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
, Arwen
Arwen
Arwen Undómiel is a fictional character in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. She appears in his novel, The Lord of the Rings, usually published in three volumes. Arwen is one of the Half-elven who lived during the Third Age.-Literature:...
, Denethor
Denethor
Denethor II of the House of Húrin is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Return of the King, which is the third and final part of his novel The Lord of the Rings. In the novel, he is the 26th and penultimate ruling Steward of Gondor....
and Faramir
Faramir
In J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, Faramir is a fictional character appearing in The Lord of the Rings. He is introduced as the younger brother of Boromir of the Fellowship of the Ring and second son of Denethor II, the Steward of the realm of Gondor...
, as well as to the main protagonist Frodo
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
himself, and the deletion of the next to the last chapter of Tolkien's work, "The Scouring of the Shire
The Scouring of the Shire
"The Scouring of the Shire" is a chapter from the epic fantasy novel The Return of the King, part of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien...
", a part he himself felt thematically necessary.
The trilogy's defenders assert that it is a worthy interpretation of the book, most changes stemming from the filmmakers putting the book into a modern context, rearranging the events into a chronologically linear narrative (as opposed to Tolkien separating the two main story threads into two separate parts for The Two Towers and most of The Return of the King), and their perceived need for developing characters further or for sheer timing issues. In any case, the films proved popular with general audiences (i.e. non-readers) and readers alike.
Fan films
The Hunt for GollumThe Hunt for Gollum
The Hunt for Gollum is a 2009 British fantasy fan film directed by Chris Bouchard and based on the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The plot of the film is set in Middle-earth, when the wizard Gandalf the Grey fears that Gollum may reveal information about the One Ring to...
, a fan film
Fan film
A fan film is a film or video inspired by a film, television program, comic book or a similar source, created by fans rather than by the source's copyright holders or creators. Fan filmmakers have traditionally been amateurs, but some of the more notable films have actually been produced by...
based on elements of the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, was released on the internet in May 2009. It is set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, and depicts Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
's quest to find Gollum
Gollum
Gollum is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He was introduced in the author's fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became an important supporting character in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings....
. The film's visual style is based on that of the Jackson films. Although it is completely unofficial, it has received coverage in major media.
Another fan made feature film, Born of Hope
Born of Hope
Born of Hope: The Ring of Barahir is a 2009 fantasy-adventure fan film directed by Kate Madison and written by Paula DiSante that is based on the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
, produced and directed by Kate Madison, was released online on December 1, 2009 on Daily Motion and later on Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. It takes place before the events of The Hobbit. The film can be streamed freely on its main website. Like The Hunt for Gollum, this film triggered reviews in various media.
Television
A Finnish live action television miniseries HobititHobitit
Hobitit is a Finnish live action fantasy television miniseries originally broadcast in 1993. It is based on the events of the books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings....
was broadcast in 1993 based on the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Stage
Several musical theatreMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
adaptations have been made based on The Lord of the Rings.
Full-length productions of each of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) were staged in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
http://www.clearstagecincinnati.com/rotk/index.html.
Lifeline Theatre
Lifeline Theatre
- Mission :Lifeline Theatre specializes in original literary adaptations. Its ensemble of artists uses imaginative, unconventional staging to portray sprawling stories in an intimate space. Lifeline is committed to promoting the arts in its Rogers Park neighborhood and is an anchor of the Glenwood...
in Chicago, Illinois, produced individual plays of each of the three books over various years in the 1990s.
In 2006, a very large-scale three-and-a-half-hour musical was produced in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. The expensive production lost money and closed six months later and, after some cutting and rewriting, began performances in London on 9 May 2007, but closed on 19 July 2008, due to bad reviews.
A musical parody of The Fellowship of the Ring, titled "Fellowship!" ran in LA for a stint at two separate occasions, coming back 3 years after its debut for a number of shows in the summer of 2009.
Library of Congress recordings
Generally, Library of Congress recordings are only available to the blind and physically handicapped.1967 (Livingston Gilbert)
The Library of Congress recorded an unabridged version of The Lord of the Rings in 1967, narrated by Livingston Gilbert, on vinyl media. This version was taken out of circulation at the time of the recording of the 1978 version and is no longer offered for checkout to Library of Congress patrons. Reference numbers were TB 03367 (The Fellowship of the Ring), TB 03369 (The Two Towers), and TB 03368 (The Return of the King).
1978 (Norman Barrs)
The Library of Congress recorded a second unabridged version of The Lord of the Rings in 1978, narrated by Norman Barrs, on 4-track tape media. This version was taken out of circulation at the time of the recording of the 1999 version and is no longer offered for checkout to Library of Congress patrons. Reference numbers were RC 10975 (The Fellowship of the Ring), RC 10976 (The Two Towers), and RC 10977 (The Return of the King).
1999 (David Palmer)
The Library of Congress recorded a third unabridged version of The Lord of the Rings in 1999, narrated by David Palmer, on 4-track tape media. This version is also available on the new digital players provided for Library of Congress patrons. Reference numbers are RC 47486 / DB 47486 (The Fellowship of the Ring), RC 47487 / DB 47487 (The Two Towers), and RC 47488 / DB 47488 (The Return of the King).
1990 unabridged reading (Rob Inglis)
In 1990 British actor Rob Inglis read/performed an unabridged version for Recorded Books. While not strictly a dramatization, Inglis created voices for all of the characters. And along with project producer Claudia Howard, he created music for all of the songs, which he performed. The project took six weeks to record, plus preparation time. A year later he recorded an audio version of The HobbitThe Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
.
1955-1956 BBC radio play
In 1955 and 1956, the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
broadcast The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings (1955 radio series)
During 1955 and 1956, a condensed radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings was broadcast in twelve episodes on BBC Radio's the Third Programme. These radio broadcasts were among the first dramatisations of The Lord of the Rings, a book by J. R. R. Tolkien, the final volume of which, The Return...
, a 12-part radio adaptation of the story. Tolkien disparaged this dramatization, referring to the portrayal of Tom Bombadil as "dreadful" and complaining bitterly about several other aspects. No recordings of it are known to survive.
WBAI radio adaptation
In the early 1960s radio station WBAI-FM, New York, broadcast a short adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, with music. This version, which had not been authorized by Tolkien, was later suppressed by his legal representatives.1979 The Mind's Eye radio play
A 1979 dramatization of The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings (1979 radio series)
In 1979 the US National Public Radio broadcast a radio dramatization of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It was produced by The Mind's Eye and has since been made available by several different companies....
was broadcast in the USA. The series was produced by The Mind's Eye
The Mind's Eye (radio company)
The Mind's Eye was a theater company which produced dramatized radio adaptations of various written works, most notably the 1979 National Public Radio broadcast of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and in 1980, The Hobbit. Its works have been distributed by , Soundelux, and Highbridge Audio...
, a small theater company that specialized in audio adaptations of popular works, and which also produced a six-hour adaptation of The Hobbit. The Mind's Eye version has since been reproduced and sold in many different cassette tape, CD and MP3 editions.
1981 BBC radio play
In 1981 the BBC broadcast The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)
In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereo instalments...
, a new, ambitious dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments. It starred Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
as Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
, the protagonist; he would play Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins
Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist and titular character of The Hobbit and a supporting character in The Lord of the Rings, two of the most well-known of J. R. R...
, his character's cousin/uncle, in the live-action trilogy.
External links
Official sitesNews and fan sites
- The One Ring.net - Fan and news site relating to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and books.
- The One Ring.com - Fan and news site relating to Tolkien's works, the New Line films and related matters; not to be confused with the above.
- Tolkien Gateway - An encyclopedia for anything related to Tolkien and his works.
- Tolkien News - News relating to The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other works.
- Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza - online Tolkien fan community with role-playing games, lore discussions, debates, and much more
- Ringbearer.org - Tolkien fan community with all the latest Tolkien related news, book and movie discussions, and an active fan community.
- Council of Elrond - a fan site for the Jackson movies and books featuring news and scholarship
Informational