Our anime-insider has brought us this exclusive report from the Warner Bros. panel at Annecy in France that presented an exciting “first look” at The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
Be warned: depending on your knowledge of the Helm Hammerhand story and what you’ve been reading of our coverage so far, there may be spoilers below!
Source: WB SVP Jason DeMarco.
Panel members:
Kenji Kamiyama – Japanese director
Philippa Boyens – writer/producer (Philippa shared shoutouts from Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Andy Serkis.)
Joseph Chou – producer and owner of Sola Studios
Jason DeMarco – studio creative exec with WB. (Described as being “made in a lab to make this movie” because he’s an anime and Lord of the Rings nerd.)
Making of the film:
WB raised the idea of an animated film. Philippa felt the question was “Do we want to see familiar characters from the live action films animated?” Her kids love anime, which is her connection to the medium.
She talked about the need for a level of realism, to bridge the gap between live action and animation.
They wanted to tell a complete story that was separate from either of the trilogies, and a story without the direct influence of the Ring or the shadow of Sauron.
Wanted to find a story in Middle-earth that “fit with anime, culturally.”
Kenji Kamiyama is also a writer, so Philippa found it was an easy collaboration — he’s really good at keeping the story together, understanding place and scale, and keeping Philippa on track when she went down rabbit holes.
The writing process began with Will Matthews and Jeffrey Addiss [Editor’s note: they recently won an Emmy for their Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance] who have comedy chops but were not versed in the lore of Middle-earth. And Philippa didn’t want to write it: “I felt too old, honestly.” So she brought in her daughter Phoebe and her partner Arty Papageorgiou. Phoebe literally grew up on the sets and most importantly, she understands the rhythm of Tolkien’s language. Kenji was so excited to have a young female writer onboard.
They collaborated with many people from the live action film. We saw concept art from John Howe, Alan Lee, Richard Taylor, and Mark Wilshire were also involved. They also worked with WETA closely, and literally used their models of Edoras. It fully takes place in the world of the film trilogies and many of the images will look very familiar to fans!
When Kenji was approached with this idea, he thought it was “impossible”.
Adapting the world to animation was a struggle. They worked with Daniel Falkner (sp? Editor’s note: Dan Falconer, I think!) who was an art director on the live action films and “knew where the bodies were buried” — [he] could help them find old assets and consult about the history. They talked about the number of horses — so many! — and how hard horses are to animate. But that’s a huge part of the story. Kenji said they needed to use all their tricks to pull this off. They sent the animation crew to horse barns to film, ride, and “be scared”.
Animation process: they used detailed CG models of the characters and layouts, some from WETA, and assembled a layout in Unreal. They would choose shots and cuts from this and assemble a rough cut. This served as a base for the mocap director who would film actors. Then it all went to the animators, who used that to do the animation. Kenji stressed that this is NOT ROTOSCOPE — it’s an interpretation/translation.
Kenji said that usually, a character animator will take a lot of time to learn a character. They really need to understand them. But this movie had a tight timeline, hence the motion capture.
I don’t think Howard Shore is composing the music, but they are using his score — so cool to hear it!
Philippa said it’s been “a joy” to work on an animated project. She also talked about working with Jason DeMarco, and how he made sure to get some “monster vs. monster” moments in the film.
I talked with Philippa later and she wanted me to share a detail: in Carpenter’s Tolkien biography, when Tolkien first had a room in college he decorated it with Japanese prints. She found that really cool to now be doing this distinctly Japanese take on animation.
While they mostly seem done, Kenji and Joseph have a lot more to do, they’re still deep in the production process. Kenji seemed stressed! “Probably the biggest film he’s ever worked on”. Kenji kept talking about the challenge of it, and was clearly still thinking deeply about “how he’s gonna finish this film.”
Joseph described it as “a huge privilege” to work on this. They want to do Japanese animation proud, and they are very aware of all the fans who are watching and want this to be done right. Also this is the first time he and Kenji met Philippa in person! This was started during Covid.
Joseph jokes about how the crew is going to have to work nights and weekends to finish this movie, which really bummed me out. Can we not normalize the brutal working hours in animation? I expect better tbh.
They ended with saying that they are currently recruiting talent for the film. Presumably in Japan. (Editor’s note: I wonder if that means additional animators … or Japanese voice talent?)
Finally, the movie will be out 4/12/24 in theaters only!
Spoilers below – you have been warned!
Story details:
There may be “a character or two we recognize” from the live action films. (Editor’s note: Saruman, Saruman, Saruman and Saruman.)
It’s about the failure of Helm Hammerhand, the war that results from it, and the characters who stepped up in the wreckage. Edoras is destroyed at the end of act 1 — we saw some beautiful art of a burned Meduseld — and the rest of the movie as about “the wreckage of war”.
Discussion of the Rohirrim culture as being based by JRRT on the Mercians — a warrior culture with a code. Family-based power structures and struggles, with honor and loyalty being more important than wealth and riches.
Alluded to a “ghost story” and a “surreal story” within this movie — all suited to the medium of animation.
We saw concept art images of Oliphants and orcs (I think — maybe they were wildmen) surrounding Edoras. We saw a rider with long yellow hair and a horn riding in front of an Oliphant. The art style reminds me of some 90s anime. We saw art of Isengard on its own, and surrounded by tents and wildfires. We saw a lot of background art of Meduseld — really beautiful translation in my opinion, and so familiar.
Lots of consultation with experts to figure out what Middle-earth would look like 260 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings.
The movie begins with a voiceover from Éowyn — Mirando Otto herself! She talks about Héra, how she is a rebellious child and how she is not named in the old tales. We got to see a rough cut of this beginning, with a combination of CG models and hand drawn animation. Héra rides across the plains, rides to the top of a bluff, and tosses a huge hunk of meat into the air, where it’s snatched by a giant eagle. She almost touches the eagle — but it flies away before she can.
We saw another scene in Meduseld, where a herald talks to Fréalaf about heraldry, and then Héra comes in to explain the shieldmaiden herald and what it means. She and Fréalaf are cousins i think? Reminiscent of Éomer and Éowyn. Helm comes in, commanding the attention at the room, and sits at the throne.
We saw a still image of Helm frozen in front of the Edoras gates, knee deep in enemies. Again I’m not sure if they’re orcs or Wildmen or both. (Editor’s note: maybe the concept art below? Which is more likely to be the gates of the Hornburg (then called Súthburg), not Edoras)
The Characters:
Héra(VA: Gaia Wise) – female main character. Not named by Tolkien, but Helm’s daughter is mentioned and she was the character they wanted to explore. Wanted to explore a female POV in Middle-earth, but she’s not a warrior princess per-se — she doesn’t become king. For her character, they they drew on the historical figure of Æthelflæd — the Lady of the Mercians, who defended her people.
We saw expression sheets and designs for Hera. She reads very 90s anime girl — kind of reminds me of the Rankin Bass Éowyn. She has red hair in a messy braid, leather armor, and a sword. We also see designs of her in formal dress. They describe her as “vulnerable and wild”, a tomboy type character. She has a growth in the film — maybe tied to needing to lead her people in a time of chaos. Philippa loves that her hair is never perfect.
Wulf(VA: Luke Pasqualino) – the other main character, the main antagonist. I think he’s from the Wildmen? He’s a big muscly dude with long hair, scruffy, an axe and furs and a ragged cloak. A scar over one eye. They solicited “lots of ideas from the female staff” in the studio. The note they got was “he does bad things, so make him beautiful”. And he is.
Helm Hammerhand (VA: Brian Cox) – daddy vibes. he’s got a big beard and a crown, we saw an expression sheet and a polished design. Red and blue clothing with beautiful intricate gold details.
Freca(VA: Shaun Dooley) – He’s the leader of the Wildmen, and he offers his son’s hand in marriage to Héra. That’s the inciting incident of the movie and leads to “Helm’s big mistake”. He’s wide with leather armor, a cloak, and some kind of bearpaw maul on a chain. He has facial tattoos. “Helm doesn’t take him seriously.” He’s trying to take over Rohan with this marriage. He’s strong and tragic, but also a comedic figure. Philippa quoted a line from the movie: “fat and prosperous is when men are at their most dangerous”.
Fréalaf (VA: Laurence Ubong Williams) – I think he’s Héra’s cousin, he “wins everything in the end” and becomes king.
Thank-you WB and Philippa Boyens for all your kindness and generosity. We look forward to seeing The War of the Rohirrim next April.
Join the discussion: If you’d like to weigh in with your thoughts, feel free to join our Discord server. Or join the currently active thread on our forum message boards.
The Annecy Film Festival “first look” at The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim has just concluded and reactions are starting to trickle out. While we wait for fuller reports from our own Crebain, here’s a selection of thoughts from the internet.
(It does seem quite positive and I am personally very excited by that.)
Just finished the work in progress talk for the new #LotR film #WaroftheRohirrim, and I have to say that the marriage between Lord of the Rings and #anime never looked so good! The world and characters looked very authentic. I can’t wait to see this in theaters next year.
Art-books, chara-design and extracts enriched this exclusive presentation of the future “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” in the company of his team, including Kenji Kamiyama (director) and Philippa Boyens (screenwriter of the LOTR saga ).
LordOfTheRings War of the Rohirrim is already shooting to the top of my most anticipated movies of 2024. The (very short and unfinished) footage shown at #Annecy2023 looks fantastic. This is 100% in line with the original trilogy while also very much an anime. Can’t wait.
I’m drying my wet eyes, I’m cleaning up all these pages of notes and I’m telling you, but #WarOfTheRohirrim is in very good hands.
This is beautiful 2D from new drawings by John Howe and Alan Lee. It’s full Rohan and the story, based on three paragraphs, is led by a young woman, Hera, the daughter of Helm Hammerhead [sic. i think that should be “Hammerhand”.]
Two scenes were shown (one of them, the opening, not finished) and the producers commented on the importance of trying to unite the world of Lord of the Rings movies with anime ones. And it really was an interesting combination. It reminded me a bit of Castlevania.
Castlevania! That’s interesting. I’ve not watched it (Netflix jail something something), but I understand it’s well-regarded. Two scenes is also interesting, and accords more or less with my expectations of what they’d reveal.
For #WaroftheRohirrim, a lot of Unreal and motion capture is being used to help figure out the shots. But no rotoscope is being used, it is only for reference. Then it is all getting the traditional anime treatment for the final look. It looks amazing! #LotR #AnnecyFestival
It is only for reference: right now, I’m interpreting that as meaning for fight scenes pending further clarification. I do think they are trying to not scare/alienate people who’ve seen Bakshi’s rotoscoped LOTR treatment with that clarification.
I saw the first images of the (Japanese) anime “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” To be honest, not particularly convinced for the moment, I was hoping for something else BUT we really find the style of PJ’s films and the sets seem successful.
The first fence-sitter! And more for the adherence to PJ-style than anything else? Interesting.
There was a really early layout of what looked Ike [sic] the opening sequence: starting from a map fly through to a sequence with Hera on a horse with some great eagles. Then a talk scene in I assume Edoras with Hera talking about the shield Maidens. #LofR #WaroftheRohirrim
A little bit more detailed information about the scenes that were shown.
Some work in progress footage, and then at the end a montage of completed shots. It really looks like a lot of care is being put into it.
Aaah, wish I’d been there to see!
KEY UPDATE
French publication Allocine comes in with the first extended report on the “first look”. I’ve used the googlemonster’s auto-translate to pull out some key details, but you should peruse the original article in French here.
This animated prequel set 260 years before the cult trilogy is inspired by the Appendices provided by JRR Tolkien at the end of The Return of the King (Appendix A, Chapter II: The House of Eorl).
This is a curious one since earlier publicity material has stated events occur 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films. Even factoring in the canonical delay between Bilbo’s party and Frodo setting out for Rivendell, something still seems wrong. It’s also … well… trivial, so I’ll return to this weirdness when I have time.
The film features a female character Hera, “neither a princess in distress nor a warrior” , the daughter of King Helm whose hand is coveted by Wulf, himself the son of Freca the leader of the clan of wild men.
I really like the neither/nor. It feels more complex and open to a nuanced presentation. By-the-by it also accords with the vibe I got from my discussion with Philippa Boyens last year.
“The attraction of this film was to tell a film that follows neither the story of the Ring nor that of Sauron” summarizes the New Zealand producer, who also hinted that some characters well known to fans of the trilogy could appear in this film.
The Helm story is a very human one, and on the face of it, remarkably unmagical. No elves, no dwarves, no wizards. Except Saruman at the very end. They really want to say Saruman, but they’re only willing to tease it.
To explore Tolkien’s universe using anime codes, several different animation techniques were employed, ranging from CGI to more traditional 2D animation as well as the employment of performance-capture techniques . For the sake of realism, the animators of the film were asked to study horses and practice horseback riding.
As I wrote yesterday (completely stealing the line from the incredibly smart anime art anaylsts over at Sakuga Blog), “horses populate the nightmares of animators”. It makes a lot of sense — Rohirrim as Tolkien outlined in Letter 144 is a Sindarin name meaning “the host of the Horse-lords”. Kyoto Animation had people on their staff who knew Kyudo (Japanese archery) for their series Tsurune. The results of that practical knowledge applied to their work speaks for itself.
Three non-finalized excerpts were broadcast in exclusive preview during this panel. The opening sequence, introducing the character of Hera, a dialogue scene in King Helm’s throne room, and finally a short teaser announcing the film’s main action scenes.
No Eowyn seemingly? Kinda surprsing, but I’ll take a cookie for guessing Edoras would feature. Hera and Helm suggests to me that the familial relationships will be critical. Hera may end up our viewpoint character. Why? She survives wheras all her close kin — Helm, Haleth and Hama — perish.
Big ups again to Allocine for the summary!
SLASHFILM also has a very nice report up now. Unfortunately, at time of writing, they appear to have confused Charlie Cox for Brian Cox, who is the real voice actor for Helm Hammerhand. we all make typos but hopefully the eds over there can fix that one soon.
ARROBA NERD has an even better and more detailed report. It’s getting late over here in Oz so I’ll leave it to others to break it down, but it has more details about character designs and dialogue that you can read about here.
IMPORTANT (because i know a lot of people will wonder): Producer Jason DeMarco clarified about the status of the footage shown to attendees — “We presented work in progress for attendees of the festival but it won’t be widely released.”
NOTE: I’ll keep updating this as more reactions come in (hopefully with more details), so be sure to check back!
The Annecy first look at The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is nearly here and I am vibrating with anticipation. So, to save myself from exploding with anticipation as we wait for reports to begin trickling out of France, I thought I might (self-indulgently) revisit some of the interesting highlights from my 45-minute chat with Philippa Boyens around this time last year.
I’ll also try to include a few snippets from our chat that never quite made the final article.
Saruman. Will he appear, or won’t he?
“I can neither confirm or deny the presence for Saruman. I saw your article about it. Very clever.”
Philippa Boyens.
It can be disconcerting when your interviewee tells you that they’ve been reading your thought-bubble waffle. Right now, I still maintain Saruman will appear somewhere near the conclusion of the film in a cameo and take up residence in Isengard. Put it on your bingo card.
Helm, Haleth, Hama … Héra
“Someone suggested another name and I went: ‘Nope, it’s gotta start with “H”, sorry’ And, actually, Fran Walsh named her. I told her we were stuck. It’s actually Héra [ed: pronounced more like hair] that’s why it has the accent. Not, not so much based on the Greek Hera, but a nod to the Anglo-saxon.”
Philippa Boyens.
For the record, Boyens told me that Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson have occasionally been serving as unofficial sounding boards for ideas, but are not actually involved with the project.
Héra and the Lady of Mercians
“Where we turn to [for an insight into Héra] … is to Aethelflaed, the lady of the Mercians. Alfred the Great’s daughter. She never ruled as a queen per se; she’s known as the Lady of Mercians. But she seems to step in when her people needed her. So it was a natural leadership role. It was a leadership role that: all the men were slain [so] she stepped up.”
Philippa Boyens.
Boyens says that their creation of Héra very much draws from historical sources fit the historical inspiration that Tolkien himself drew on for his stroytelling.
Legitimacy and Dunlending grievances
“One could almost say that Wulf taking Edoras was a legitimate challenge. If it had ended there, perhaps [history] would have been written in a different way. He would’ve been the victor, [and] maybe people would’ve seen that as legitimate. I mean, he did have a claim — a very tenuous claim – through Freca to one of the Kings of the first line of Rohan.”
Philippa Boyens.
Anyone who’s read beyond the main text of The Lord of the Rings will get the sense that the Dunlendings of southern Eriador were treated badly by the Dunedain. First Numenoreans denuded southern Eriador in a quest for lumber and drove out or oppressed the Dunlending’s ancestors. Then, later, Gondorians granted the Rohirrim the lands of Calenardhon which effectively pushed the Dunlendings out of the Gap of Rohan. I’d be aggrieved, too, but I also wonder if Wulf may end up using the Dunlendings (and their anger) for his own ends.
Edoras besieged
“You get to go and visit things that you know [from the books]. Fans of the film will get to see, you know, Edoras besieged. It’s quite a shocking moment. Cause you know, we didn’t see that in [Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings].”
Philippa Boyens.
Per book, one of Helm Hammerhand’s sons meets a grim end at Edoras, and I think it’s likely this will prove a pivotal moment for Helm himself. He’s hard man for sure and becomes even harder by the end of his life, but why is he like that? It seems Kamiyama is intent on exploring this.
We like it darker
“There’s a moment in the film, which is incredibly gut-wrenching and powerful where Wulf commits himself to a course of action he cannot turn away from. And once he does that, the story darkens.”
Philippa Boyens.
I … I still can’t think what this moment might be. Bringing in the Corsairs of Umbar? Some underhanded deal with the mysterious Lord Frygt character who we’ve heard (so little) about?
A ghost story
“It begins with these quite large-scale battles, but it actually becomes more intense and more claustrophobic almost. And the nature of the film changes almost into a ghost story.”
Philippa Boyens.
This is a purely personal opinion, based partially on what Philippa said and on what I know of the tale. I think Helm is the ghost in question. Both haunted by his inability to protect his land as king, and haunting (terrorising) his enemies with his nightly ventures out from the Hornburg.
The Mumakilat Edoras
“Was it you who wrote the article on TORn about the Mumakil? A lot of your supposition was right in that article from our viewpoint. It was why Gondor was not coming [even though they were Rohan’s] ally. [So], yes, because of the reasons you suppose. The only other, the only other hint, I think, in terms of the Mumakil is the notion that, of course these were in the south. And, also, the notion of mercenaries. I’ll just say that.”
Philippa Boyens.
Oh dear. Now I kinda know how it feels to be on the other side of the fence.
About the author: Staffer Demosthenes has been involved with TheOneRing.net since 2001, serving first as an Associate News Editor, then as Chief News Editor during the making of the Hobbit films. Now he focuses on features and analysis.The opinions in this article are his own and do not necessarily represent those of TheOneRing.net and other staff.
The Annecy Film Festival — which is hosting a “first look” at The War of the Rohirrim on June 13 — has updated its site listing to reveal that the length of Warner Bros. Animation’s (WBA) forthcoming feature anime will be 130 minutes.
That’s actually substantial for an animated film and will place it among the top 50 longest animated films of all time. Length is no indication of quality, but good animation is time and resource intensive. WBA’s committment to a long feature indicates confidence in the story they have to tell.
It also helps explain the long development — the project was first announced in June 2021, and will not premiere until April 2024. For comparison, the newest Makoto Shinkai anime Suzume, began production in March 2020 and only debuted in cinemas earlier this year.
WOTR’s director, Kenji Kamiyama, has also been busy directing other projects: Ultraman, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, and Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045.
Animation techniques: 2D/3D blending
The other thing of note in Annecy’s overview of the presentation is the animation techniques listed.
Much, of course, has been made that The War of the Rohirrim is being animated in 2D — because everyone panics mightily as soon as the words “3D animation” are even whispered. But 2D/3D blending — typically for effects or backgrounds — has become a staple in even some of themost popularanime, and can look non-intrusive and seamless when executed with skill. Apparently even Hayao Miyazaki’s Mononoke Hime contained a small amount of 3D CG rendering — something I was not aware of until I began looking into just how prevalent the use of CG effects has become in modern anime productions.
Just so long as they avoid horrors such as Golden Kamuy’s notorious CGI bear.
Animiation techniques: rotoscoping
Rotoscoping is another surprise, although Staffer Justin tells me TORn Tuesday reported industry talk that that WETA was using the “Avatar mocap technology” for The War of the Rohirrim.
It seems that talk was on the mark.
When I saw that I instantly thought that it might be used for animating horses, because as people who know far more about the art of animating than me point out, “horses populate the nightmares of animators“. And I think it would be foolish to not expect a film about the Rohirrim to not feature a lot of horses.
I can already sense readers who have seen Ralph’s Bakshi’s animated The Lord of the Rings recoiling in terror. Yet it’s important to acknowledge the time- and money-pressures that Bakshi and his crew worked under: effectively filming then animating the same film twice in a two-year period with a budget of approximately $4 million. (That’s a touch over $18.5 million in 2023 dollars — much less than many modern Disney animations.)
By comparison, Kamiyama and his crew have three years for development and production, they won’t be rotoscoping everything, and they have the substantial benefit of digital animation methods. And, one guesses, they have a larger budget.
One of our Discord regulars also smartly suggested that rotoscoping could be employed for battles, and pointed out a rotoscoped fight sequence (warning: this clip is quite gory and not suitable for children) that popped up in a recent episode of the anime Vinland Saga. It’s impressively natural and I could see something like that in a story as grim as that of Helm.
Just to further illustrate that rotoscoping can look great in the right hands given sufficient resources, check this character acting scene from Attack on Titan. Or this stunning piece of sakugafrom Kaguya-sama: Love is War that gained both popular and critical acclaim back in 2019.
Anticipating Annecy: going behind-the-scenes for 75 minutes
Kamiyama will be joined at Annecy by executive producer Philippa Boyens and producer Joseph Chou for a 75-minute behind-the-scenes presentation into their adaptation of the Helm Hammerhand story that is found in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. The session will be moderated by fellow producer Jason DeMarco.
Right now, WBA is being very quiet about what they’ll be showcasing.
However, here’s a quick bit of speculation/guesswork that you’re free to take with a grain of salt.
I think the length of the presentation means those attending (not yours truly, sadly) will be treated to a slab of finished animation. I couldn’t see them filling a 75-minute session with just more concept art and character designs.
That animation might be a teaser, or it could be several small segments that the presenters then discuss. I recall that Peter Jackson did this for The Desolation of Smaug and, mostly due to the choice of clips focusing on Martin Freeman’s Bilbo, it was really quite effective at raising anticipation.
I’d expect dialogue and perhaps even music. Stephen Gallagher was revealed as the composer for the score back in February and must have been appointed to the role much earlier.
If it was me, I would choose scenes from places familiar to viewers of Peter Jackson’s films — both fans and casuals — to encourage the mental connection. That suggests Edoras or Helm’s Deep. But the latter might be a bit too far along in the story and reveal too much of the story, so I lean to Edoras. You could show some dramatic scenes with all the key cast — Helm, Wulf, Freca, Héra — that are root to establishing the conflict. The initial concept art that WBA put out showed Edoras being attacked so Kamiyama might tease some of that as well to show how much progress they’ve made.
Since we’re familiar with the location, it’s also possible that we could see Isengard (although, canonically, Freca’s seat of power seems to be another location at the surce of the River Adorn). This could also help set up that there are two sides to the conflict — something that Boyens emphasised was integral to the story they were telling when we spoke this time last year.
This is in addition to more concept art, and, I expect, our first look at some character designs.
Regardless, we’ll very soon know more. It’s been a long wait to get something tangible but it’s nearly over!
About the author: Staffer Demosthenes has been involved with TheOneRing.net since 2001, serving first as an Associate News Editor, then as Chief News Editor during the making of the Hobbit films. Now he focuses on features and analysis.The opinions in this article are his own and do not necessarily represent those of TheOneRing.net and other staff.
TORn staffer ImladrisRose was in attendance at Monday night’s performance: and it reminded her of all the very best things about the Tolkien fandom, and the joy it has brought us all. Here are her thoughts on the experience.
Photograph by Ashlee Rose Scott
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 21st Anniversary Concert at Radio City Music Hall in NYC
The Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine was at the helm, bringing Howard Shore’s incredible score to the packed house in Manhattan. Led by conductor Ludwig Wicki, Shore’s sweeping pieces, expertly performed by the Ukrainian ensemble, filled the concert chamber with pure magic as we were watching the film play out before us. Soloist Kaitlyn Lusk had quite the feat before her, but performed her piece with grace and ease. The Mastervoices Adult Choir sent chills through the theatre on multiple occasions, whether it be in the halls of Khazad-dum or the Departure of Boromir. The Brooklyn Youth Chorus and their shining stars brought us a deeply haunting experience through the fall of Gandalf, and with every moment they were given to shine.
The concert was a euphoric experience, one that will not soon be forgotten by anyone in attendance. Nothing compares to a live performance like this, seeing your favorite piece played out before you, feeling the synergy of the room. Uniting under one roof for a love of the arts and The Lord of the Rings…
I’ve been a part of this fandom since my mom “dragged” me to see Fellowship opening night. I was a ride or die Harry Potter fan and wasn’t willing to consider anything could impress me more. Let’s just say that I remember audibly gasping as the Fellowship rose over that mountain peak, the Fellowship theme triumphantly booming, and by that point in my first screening, I was obsessed (thanks mom!).
Twenty-one years later, my love of all things LOTR has taken me around the globe, launched my film career, given me an immense amount of opportunity and a community that I adore (looking at you, TORnSibs). I’ve seen the rise and fall, the ebb and flow of this fandom, and overall, Ringers are a group of excellent and admirable folks. With the recent release of a certain big Amazon show, I became disheartened by a lot of what I was seeing within our beloved fandom. As someone who spent many hours with my fellow staffers, moderating comments, it was causing me to lose that love and spark that I have felt for Ringers for 20 plus years. It shone a light on the underbelly of not just a fandom, but the world in general. LOTR has always been an escape from all of our societal nonsense, but this time period was a stark reminder that even within a community you love, there can be toxicity. I LOVE a good debate about anything and everything, but when things become about hate rather than discourse, your point is lost on me. In Middle-earth, all are welcome….
Monday night’s concert reminded me of why I love this fandom so much. It’s been probably ten years since I’ve been to a screening of Fellowship and this crowd was thrilled to be there! Not only would the audience erupt into cheers after hearing a favorite piece of the score performed (which, let’s be honest, is pretty much the entire score!) or after Lusk wrapped a solo, the crowd would literally go wild when a new character came onto the screen! So much so that at times you couldn’t hear the film or the orchestra!
A stand out for me was when members of the Fellowship arrived to the Council of Elrond. Aragorn received a 7/10 volume for cheers, Legolas 8/10, but Gimli received a full 10/10 in crowd reaction! My husband remarked that he was shocked Gimli got significantly more love than Legolas, to which I replied “Gimli has more substance and better dialogue!” To each their own. Fans next to my husband jumped at Bilbo lunging for the ring, and then commented that they had forgotten that part of the film. While next to me at the exact same point, a fan laughed and remarked that he always thought that part was funny. Two completely different reactions to a moment, but both existing in harmony with one another.
The majority of people there that night (I’m quite sure) have seen these films, read these books, countless times. Yet experiencing it together, as one unified group, made it seem somehow new again. The ambiance of the venue, the exquisitely performed film score, the fans reacting in utter joy and exuberance throughout… all of this made the evening a true night to remember… and I’m forever grateful.
Last September we brought you the exciting news of screenings of The Fellowship of the Ring, to be performed with live orchestra at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Time has flown by, and now those special performances are NEXT WEEK!
The good news is, two extra dates have been added; the shows are now Feb 6, 7, 8 and 9. It has also been announced that the orchestra for the performances will be the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine! AND there will be a post-concert talk, with conductor Maestro Wicki, each evening. For those of you lucky enough to be able to go, there are still some tickets available; click here to get yours!
AND – if you’re hoping to meet up with fellow fans, either before or after the concert, on Monday 6th Feb we have reserved the upstairs at McCarthy’s bar (46th and 6th). Go along before or after – the kitchen stays open until 2am! – head upstairs, and find your kindred spirits! (Or just spirits at a well stocked bar…) Have fun!
