Check out these scans from ‘My Generation’ Magazine. Take a look!
Category: Old Special Reports
From: Paul
A summary of an article called “Hollywood Hype has not effect” from the same journo in “The Australian”. It talks about Planet of the Apes and so on and how Hollywood Hype is no longer as effective as it used to be. This is one section in the article that I have summarised.
A survey conducted by distributors in Australia shows that more than 60% of Australians, whilst having heard of Lord of the Rings, do not know what it is about, do not know that it is a trilogy and do not regard it as a must see film.
The only good news to this is that 57% said Harry Potter is not a must see as well and that Star Wars has a whopping 80% opinion that it is not a must see.
The distributors remain confident however that a media campaign being hyped up by the companies producing each film will change these opinions.
Lord of the Rings still remains the film attracting the highest number of inquiries with regards to dates, trailers etc in the distributors history.
From: John
Talking Tolkein
Hobbits, orcs, wizards and elves will come to ‘life’ in December this year with the first of Peter Jackson’s and alumna Fran Walsh’s much anticipated film trilogy The Lord of the Rings scheduled for release.
Directed and produced in Wellington, the trilogy is providing a major boost for the New Zealand film industry, and creating enormous interest nationally and internationally.
But what was it that inspired Tolkein to write The Lord of the Rings? And how is his work, one of the most widely read and influential of twentieth century romances, being portrayed in the film medium? These are the themes of a new evening lecture series being offered by the Centre for Continuing
Education Te Whare Pukenga in November, immediately prior to the film’s release. Robert Easting and Christine Franzen, Reader and Senior Lecturer in English Language and Literature, will present the first three lectures. They explore the ways in which Tolkein’s narrative invention was influenced by medieval literature and mythology, taking particular motifs such as ‘quests’ and ‘monsters’. The fourth and final session, with Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop, is devoted to the visualising and filming of The Lord of the Rings. Weta Workshop is responsible for the special effects, costumes, make-up, minature sets and propos for the film. The series is being held on the Kelburn Campus on Wednesday evenings, 7 to 28 November.
Ringer Spy John sends along this great article from ‘The NZ Sunday Times’. Take a look!
From: Ryan
I thought you’d be interested in this finding. The magazine Parabola: Myth, Tradition, and the Search for Meaning has an article on Hobbits in its Fall 2001 (Volume 26, No. 3) issue. The issue’s theme is “The Fool: Isn’t it foolish to ponder our own foolishness?”
The article, by Shanti Fader, is titled “A Fool’s Hope,” and compares the “fools” of Tolkien’s works–the Hobbits–to his “classical” heroes like Aragorn. The subtitle reads “Hobbits rush in where heroes fear to tread.”
Accompanying the article are several nice B&W photos from our favorite upcoming film: Aragorn, the four hobbits (probably on Weathertop), and Bilbo at his birthday party. The quote beneath the four hobbits reads “A fool’s strength lies in the very qualities that separate him from the conventional image of the heroic: humility (humus–earth) and the willingness to support others rather than seeking power or glory directly.”
October 4th, USA Today
Susan Wloszczyna
The wee hero
Hobbits, those hairy-footed homebodies who inhabit the bucolic Shire, travel far to join in a war against oppressive evil in The Fellowship of the Ring (Dec. 19).
The first of three epic episodes of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings features a band of these mythical creatures led by Frodo (Elijah Wood). But they boast traits that are very human indeed.
Says Sean Astin, who plays Frodo’s protector, Sam: “The hobbits suddenly seem like the perfect heroes. They love their comfortable life and would rather eat and drink than be bothered by life’s nuisances. But when called upon, despite their size, they rise to the occasion. They represent the best of what we can accomplish.”
No hobbit is more human than Sam, a simple gardener. “I don’t think he understands what’s at stake,” Astin says. “He just has a general feeling of badness and doesn’t like it. He’s all about loyalty, decency, goodness and faith, all qualities that always been there in the American psychology.”
Thanks to Erin and Lindulan