Spawn by Todd McFarlane. Recently at the san Diego Comic-Con we had a brief chat with famed cartoonist Todd McFarlane and asked him whether he thought Tolkien’s work would work in comic book form.
Here’s what Todd had to say:
It’s an interesting question now… and here would be my answer: I think that Peter Jackson has now spoiled us. Right? So up until we actually got to see the movies — I thought in brilliant fashion — that we were just sort of imagining …
I mean there’d been hints … but nothing that had stuck globally. So we [only] had our imagination, and now that Peter’s put that imagination into a sort of footprint, that if you put into comic book [then] to some extent a lot of people would be measuring back up [against the films].
Check out the video below for the complete interview!
Have you ever wondered how Peter Jackson’s film-making style has evolved over the last 15 or so years?
The short, retrospective video below offers a few tantalizing glimpses into Jackson’s thoughts on his works as he’s built his career across that period — something that, perhaps, could one day lead to a cinematic production involving The Silmarillion. Continue reading “Is PJ inching towards making The Silmarillion?”
Time for our live webcast TORnTUESDAY! Every week we bring all the news and rumors from within (and without) Ringer fandom — this week we have dissent among the ranks. Better to say we have *many* different opinions on the leaked photo of Beorn, the shape-shifter who was given a not-so-convincing posterior thumbnail image on the back of a 2014 wall calendar that will soon hit store shelves….
Our reactions within the ranks of the TORn Staff have been across the board (both cold and hot). Watching how fans react on the Message Boards and on our Facebook timeline is fascinating!
We launch TORn TUESDAY every week at 5:00PM Pacific: brought to you by host Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway and producer Justin “That There is a Bear” Sewell — Our innovative live show includes worldwide fans who join us on the Live Event page with a built-in IRC chat (affectionately known as Barliman’s Chat room). Be part of the fun and mischief every week as we broadcast *live* from Meltdown Comics in the heart of Hollywood, U.S.A.!
And yes our YouTube channel will have this archived later. You can find us on www.youtube.com/the1nering
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This new story caught my eye because of its parallel with the original situation that got THE HOBBIT published in 1937 — all because of a child’s honesty in reviewing the book! Over at The Guardian website their Children’s Book section features all-kid reviews. Rather smart to provide children a proper voice in a marketplace directed at them. Young writer Krazy Kesh turns in a delightful review of THE HOBBIT after experiencing the thrill of the first movie in the “Hobbit” film trilogy [click here to read]. Continue reading “DEJA VU: 12 Year-old Writes Delightful Review of THE HOBBIT”
In my internet wanderings, I sometime stumble on cool Tolkien things. Not necessarily news, but interesting — like this transcript of a live chat with renowned Tolkien scholar Professor Tom Shippey (author of the acclaimed J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century) over on Tolkien Library to celebrate the release of The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun back in 2009.
Yes, we can all agree that’s fairly old.
However, if you’re interested in Norse myth, Shippey’s thoughts on Tolkien’s parallels with other early fantasists such as William Morris, Lord Dunsany and E.R. Eddison, as well as what he thought of meeting Tolkien himself, then you’ll find (like I did) this a worthwhile read. Continue reading “Tom Shippey talks Tolkien and Norse myth”
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
Peter Jackson stands in front of a set as photographed by DGAQuarterly / Louise Hatton. Currently in print at the best magazine racks and by subscription, DGAQuarterly (Directors Guild of Amercia’s print magazine) features a lengthy interview with director Peter Jackson. There aren’t any real “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug,” spoilers but the lead image does show Jackson in front of a wet set that could be Laketown. If you click the link to the full article, you will see images that must be from Jackson’s personal collection of his early work including a shot with Kate Winslet on “Heavenly Creatures.”
We call it a kitchen sink interview because it contains so much depth and covers a wide array of topics, touching on many of Jackson’s most important films while keeping in focus that his work on Middle-earth movies is so far, his greatest triumph and what he is most likely to be known for.
The Q&A with writer Jeffrey Ressner ranges over the Kiwi’s whole career with fascinating bits on his earliest days:
My first movie, Bad Taste, was really made up as we went along over four years, and it didn’t even have a script. Not having actors or a script tends to be somewhat limiting. [Laughs]
Jackson adds to the lore that surrounds the making of the “Lord of the Rings,” films with an amazing story about how his shooting studio in New Zealand came to be:
We thought, ‘Well, if The Lord of the Rings happens, this is exactly the sort of place we’d need. This is absolutely incredible.’ But it was very expensive. At the time it was just Fran and I, and if we committed to it and for some reason the film didn’t happen, we’d be in big, big trouble. I mean, we were mortgaging our house just to make the down payment on the place. One day the real estate agent was showing us around; the paint factory had been closed for six months, so it was mothballed and covered in dust. The cafeteria was dull and gray, and there were a lot of old Formica tables with chairs stuck up on top of them. Just before we left, I saw a paperback book sitting on one of the cafeteria tables—it was a copy of The Lord of the Rings. I called Fran over and pointed to it, and we looked at each other and then said to the guy, ‘OK, we’ll take it.’ And that became Stone Street Studios.
He also drops this gem that almost sent me back to my Blu-ray player:
I have to say, I saw a bit of my Kong about a year ago, and I actually think the last half-hour—those scenes in New York through the end of the Empire State Building sequence—is probably the piece of filmmaking of which I’m the proudest.
There is a lot more to this interview if you follow the link above. It may be one of the best Jackson interviews in print. We at TheOneRing have a good one in our pocket we hope to share before we see Smaug again in theaters, but this DGA piece is highly recommended.
In my internet wanderings, I sometime stumble on cool Tolkien things. Not necessarily news, but interesting — like this transcript of a live chat with renowned Tolkien scholar Professor Tom Shippey (author of the acclaimed J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century) over on Tolkien Library to celebrate the release of The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun back in 2009.