The Tolkien family is pissed at getting worked over financially by New Line and are using their franchise rights as bargaining chips. Meaning they are putting out this whole charade about how they hate what PJ did with the movies and withholding future rights because of it.
So how do I know it's all a charade, you ask?
Pick up a copy of the 1977 Rankin Bass "The Hobbit" and the 1978, Ralph Bakshi directed, "The Lord of the Rings" full feature film for comparison. Both of those were pretty awful, though the kids enjoyed them. The Goblins looked like giant bloated toads and the elves looked like goblins. In talking about his adaptation, Ralph Bakshi even mentions, ""It's not that important to me how a hobbit looks".
I would contend if there was any time for the Tolkien family to be righteously indigent over the adaptation of JRR's work, it would have been in 1978 - however they were not only perfectly fine with what happened, they gave rights for the final movie to Bakshi and worked on making a TV serial with him.
Oh, I see. Does make sense, the animated adaptions for them 70s were indeed pretty awful. IIRC some of the songs in the movie aren't even in the book (hobbit), they're just made up on the spot. I did like the VAs for some characters, though. Anyway, thanks for correcting me. I got linked some site with some article about how the Tolkien family didn't like PJ's adaption, and being quite gullible I thought it was the truth.
Cave Cave Deus Videt
=) I like it. As a matter of fact I still watch it, though my kids roll their eyes at me when I ask them now if they'll watch it with me. It's a fun kids movie (thought very dated). My point was not the fact that people didn't enjoy it - The LotR cartoon even won hollywood accolade - the point was to draw the comparison between PJs work and how the Tolkien family is now bashing his stuff as unfaithful and ruining JRRT's legacy, while completely ignoring the fact that you could say the same things and more about the previous movie-cartoons and again, they don't seem to mind those at all. (which I think is fine, I just wish they would lay off PJ)
Hmm. I'd never thought of it that way before, but what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I'd never quite managed to grok why the Estate was so opposed to letting the Silmarillion and other movie rights go, but "we don't want to be screwed by Hollywood accounting again" is certainly a believable one. And, "we hated your adaptation" certainly sounds better than "we're greedy". (Not that I don't sympathize with anyone who's been screwed by Hollywood accounting.)
You know i was listening too Into the west by annie lennox and now i think of it just hearing that song and picture it with The lord of the rings makes the it so hard for the hobbit too beat it for me because that song sums up the whole trilogy for me.
- Vanilla was legitimately bad; we just didn't know any better at the time - SirCowDog
Finally saw the movie. Not quite sure what to think about it. It has a rather boring ending if you ask me..
imo its similar to the way fellowship of the ring ended. its planned to be a trilogy i think right? so naturally the ending would be sort of a cliff hanger and somewhat confusing ending as there are going to be more movies after it.
overall i thought it was a good movie and picked it up on dvd the other day
Fellowship of the Ring had a far better ending and climax.
The dragon teaser was also a massive turn off. All I saw was the part of a badly computer generated dragon head. Just the way they did the ending made it feel like a Disney movie production. I wish they had just ended it when they looked out into the distance where Lonely Mountain lays.
---------- Post added 2013-03-31 at 06:27 PM ----------
I was wondering.. What does Dol Guldur have anything to do with Erebor?
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Dol_Guldur
Scroll down to the "Sauron Discoverd" and "Sauron Flees to Mordor" and you'll see how they are related. Short answer is they are only really related in terms of Gandalf's plans to ensure Smaug and Sauron can't ally together.
Modern gaming apologist: I once tasted diarrhea so shit is fine.
"People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an excercise of power, are barbarians" - George Lucas 1988
"There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy shows you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. And the rules of the game are what you can do to him and what you can stop him from doing to you." -Mazer Rackham - Ender's Game Orson Scott Card
I don't know, it could work. Would make everyone whine about how the whole Necromancer thing was completely filler to make three movies if he wasn't tied into the third movie. Especially when he in the first movie is little more than foreshadowing. Sauron would have an interest in establishing his armies within Erebor.