Another San Diego Comic-con is water under the Brandywine Bridge, but the memory of many exciting Lord of the Rings events remains, such as TORN’s packed panel which focused on adaptations of Tolkien’s work.
Justin Sewell, host of TORN Tuesdays moderated the panel of guests which included Richard Taylor (WETA), Kellie Rice (Happy Hobbit; author), Clifford Broadway (TORN Tuesdays Host, Ringers: Lord of the Fans), Matt Graf (Nerd of the Rings), Cathy Udovch (TORN Special Events Coordinator), and Jim Wert (TORN Special Events Coordinator).
Justin first showed TORNs SDCC exclusive Prancing Pony wood tankard created in partnership with Middle-earth Enterprises and designed to make you feel like a Hobbit. Besides the tankard, other TORn items at the booth included an exclusive Tom Bombadil and Goldberry T-shirt and our now infamous Prancing Pony Club T-shirt. He also announced the new The Lord of the Rings Fan Club and told everyone to sign up.
Jim pointed out that the very first adaptation is when a reader first reads a book and they bring their own imagination to what the characters and landscapes look like. Kellie said that adaptation takes longer than writing one’s own stories because it has to be done in a respectful and nuanced way. Richard added that “we say…I love the movie, but it was not as good as the book.” He said the book is as big as the imagination of the reader, but the movie is only as big as the budget. “And the imagination of the reader is pretty bloody big, right?”
Matt said playing Magic the Gathering is a unique way to experience Tolkien’s world, and since the new Magic The Hobbit card set will soon be available, he gave away a beautiful slipcovered volume of The Hobbit to a young sister and brother in the audience who had never read it. What a treat they are in for!
Cliff talked about the first film adaptation of Tolkien’s work–the animated Rankin/Bass version of the The Hobbit. Matt asked Richard if WETA had ever considered putting Aragorn in a skirt like he wore in the animated feature of The Lord of the Rings. Richard laughed and then said since The Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed together, Peter Jackson shot a lot of scenes from the last film before the others because he wanted “to make sure that I don’t get in the same difficult jam that Ralph did, where we don’t get to make the second and third films.” (This happened with Bakshi’s animated The Lord of the Rings.)
The talk turned to the scarcity of action figures available when The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings animated films were released, and that Dark Horse has created vinyl figures to help make up for the lack.
Jim pointed out that “adaptations are not just in film or in cartoons, they’re in art, they’re in music, they’re in cosplay…So the world is endless.” Many well-known artists such as the Brothers Hildebrandt, Alan Lee, and John Howe have portrayed Tolkien’s world. Howe recently designed a new Tom Bombadil statue for Syzygy Forge which was on display at The Middle-earth Enterprises booth. There are also many other artists continuing to create new interpretations such artist, Jackson Robinson of Kings Wild Project, who as at the TORN booth signing his illustrated card decks and poster of Tom Bombadil.
Justin talked about a new crowdfunded deck-building game called Lord of the Rings: Ascension by Stone Blade Entertainment in which you play as a member of the Fellowship while trying to resist the power of The One Ring. He also previewed a tabletop figure from The Lord of the Rings version of the King’s Gambit 3D tabletop game, due for a 2027 release.
WETA Workshop’s environments are another form of adaptation that bring us into the world of Middle-earth. Richard thanked everyone who has ever purchased one of their sculpts for helping to keep the community of Middle-earth artists at WETA together and announced the creation of a Númenórean soldier which was selected to be made through fan input. He also talked about WETA’s new jewelry pieces. Arwen’s coronation crown, Galadriel’s ring, and the Ring of Barahir were originally designed for the movie trilogy by costume designer Ngila Dickson and created by jeweler Jasmine Watson who will be hand-making each new piece. I spoke with Josie Boakes, one of the WETA staff, who explained Jasmine’s process making the crown. Using “depletion,” which removes all the impurities from the silver, and “planishing,” which is done with a special hammer, the silver of the crown looks ethereal and very Elven.
The panel talked about the two feature film adaptations coming up: The Hunt for Gollum written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, and Arty Papageorgiouand, and the film Stephen Colbert is writing called Shadow of the Past. Not an adaptation but Tolkien-adjacent is the crowdsourced short film Society of the Lost and Found featuring Bruce Hopkins (Gamling) which starts filming this October. Cathy announced that Royd Tolkien’s film There’s A Hole in my Bucket will be showing at the Newport Beach Film Festival this fall. The film follows Royd as he completes the bucket list his brother who had ALS left for him.
Kellie and Jim told us about their joyful, immersive Middle-earth experience at the Brandywine Festival which is a full-out camping and LARP (Live Action Roll-Playing) event.
To cap off the panel, Kellie shared a note from Philippa Boyens who gave her best to everyone and asked if anyone had translated the runes in the teaser for The Hunt for Gollum. Of course someone had, but no spoilers, so you can try for yourself.
See you next year! And don’t forget to sign up for The Lord of the Rings Fan Club!
