{"id":68972,"date":"2013-02-08T21:40:22","date_gmt":"2013-02-09T02:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=68972"},"modified":"2013-02-08T21:40:22","modified_gmt":"2013-02-09T02:40:22","slug":"nine-mind-blowing-reasons-we-are-able-to-enjoy-the-hobbit-and-the-lord-of-the-rings-books-and-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2013\/02\/08\/68972-nine-mind-blowing-reasons-we-are-able-to-enjoy-the-hobbit-and-the-lord-of-the-rings-books-and-movies\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Mind-Blowing Reasons We Are Able to Enjoy The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Books and Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve probably heard of J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson. You might think they\u2019re the reason we can all enjoy The Hobbit<\/em> and Lord of the Rings<\/em> books and movies. Well\u2026 okay, they are. But you might not know how close you were to never being able to enjoy the adventures of Bilbo and Frodo in the way you know them, save for some other amazing factors. What am I talking about, you ask? Well hang on to your magic rings; it\u2019s time to look at nine mind-blowing reasons we are able to enjoy Tolkien\u2019s books and Jackson\u2019s movies.<\/p>\n

#1: A 10-Year-Old\u2019s Book Report<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today there are many different options for writers searching for a way to share their work with readers. You can self-publish, write an e-book, post something on a website, etc. (You could even be a dinosaur like me and actually go through a publisher<\/a>.) Back in the 1930s, however, Tolkien had only one real avenue to share The Hobbit<\/em> with a wide audience: George Allen & Unwin, a publishing firm. One of Tolkien\u2019s students had recommended the story to a friend who worked there, and the firm took a look at the manuscript. When I say they \u201ctook a look\u201d, you\u2019re probably thinking that some English literature expert carefully examined the work before reporting to a committee for a discussion and a decision. But actually what I mean is, \u201cOne of the guys gave the manuscript to his 10-year-old son and told him to write a book report on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. The Hobbit<\/em> – and by extension The Lord of the Rings<\/em>, all the movies, TheOneRing.net, and the distribution of billions dollars – ultimately had their fate decided by a 10-year-old (Rayner Unwin) and his pencil. Now, I don\u2019t know if you have children, but my wife\u2019s a schoolteacher, and according to some of her students\u2019 book reports, The Hobbit<\/em> is about \u201cBible the hobo who chases dragonflies.\u201d Thankfully, Rayner did a better job, although the heck of it is he wasn\u2019t overly impressed with Tolkien\u2019s work. The 10-year-old gave The Hobbit<\/em> a backhanded compliment, saying it \u201cshould appeal to all children between the ages of 5 to 9.\u201d His praise, however, was enough for his father, and the book was published.<\/p>\n

Rayner\u2019s importance doesn\u2019t end there. In 1951, he began working for Allen & Unwin as an adult, and one of his first tasks was deciding what to do with Tolkien\u2019s next manuscript, The Lord of the Rings<\/em>. Upon reading that one, he had two thoughts: first, it was a work of genius, and second, it was going to cost more to publish than the firm would ever make on its sales. He published anyway. (Aren\u2019t you glad he did?)<\/p>\n

#2: Fritz the Cat<\/em> (1972)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Based on the comic strip of the same name, Fritz the Cat<\/em> was an X rated animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi, When the film ran into financial trouble, Bakshi convinced a record producer named Saul Zaentz to invest in the project in exchange for the rights to distribute the soundtrack. The movie (released well before anime overexposed the idea of naughty cartoons) went on to become a box office sensation and made Zaentz a fortune.<\/p>\n

Flash forward a few years: Bakshi is working on a film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings<\/em> for MGM when there\u2019s a change in executives, and the new guy wants to kill the project. Who does Bakshi ask to help bail him out? Saul Zaentz, who had begun to dabble in films. At the invitation of Bakshi, Zaentz acquired most of the rights for The Hobbit<\/em> and The Lord of the Rings<\/em>, and produced Bakshi\u2019s animated Lord of the Rings<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I can hear it now. \u201cOkay, Bakshi and Zaentz made a crappy Lord of the Rings<\/em> film. Big deal! Maybe it would have better had there been no Fritz the Cat<\/em> then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calm down, Chief. There\u2019s more.<\/p>\n

To begin with, the animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings<\/em> is significant for introducing a certain 17 year old Kiwi to the wonders of Middle-earth. Sitting in his seat at the Wellington Plaza, Peter Jackson was so fascinated by what he saw he ran out and bought the book with the movie\u2019s tie-in cover art. You can argue that even had he not seen the film, he might have read the books and become a fan anyway, but consider this: Jackson isn\u2019t one of those Tolkien-obsessed fans who grew up reading the books over and over. He saw the Bakshi film, read the books once, and that was it\u2026 until he became interested in making his own film adaptations.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also this: Zaentz never sold the rights and still holds them today \u2013 having recently celebrated his 157th birthday. This is an important point, because you have to understand that most people in the industry do not act like Zaentz (who is slightly looney and once sued John Fogerty for plagiarizing himself<\/a>.) For Zaentz, making movies has been more of a hobby than a business. Since 1972 he\u2019s produced ten of them – with three winning the Oscar for Best Picture. Had the rights to The Hobbit<\/em> and The Lord of the Rings<\/em> been in other hands, it\u2019s likely we would have seen a far different \u201cTolkien movie\u201d history. Would we still have Hobbit<\/em> and LOTR<\/em> films? Sure. We\u2019d probably have more of them, with some studio doing a reboot of the franchise every few years like The Incredible Hulk<\/em> or Star Trek<\/em>. We might even have some lousy TV movies mixed in there as well. (Maybe even a Saturday morning cartoon show called \u201cLOTR Kids\u201d about the nine fellowship members sharing adventures together as children and overcoming the bullying of kiddy Sauron.)<\/p>\n

I for one am happy that instead of countless crappy adaptations, we got nothing for twenty years and then were given three blockbuster Lord of the Rings<\/em> feature films. So let\u2019s give Fritz<\/em> some thanks, even if he gives us the finger in return. <\/p>\n

#3: The English Patient<\/em> (1996) <\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019re probably familiar with the movie The English Patient<\/em>. It\u2019s that 90s film starring Lord Voldemort that won a bunch of Oscars. What you might not know is that without the movie we probably wouldn\u2019t have The Lord of the Rings<\/em> movies (which did not star Lord Voldemort but did win a bunch of Oscars.)<\/p>\n

The English Patient<\/em> was produced by a guy named Saul Zaentz and was supposed to be made for Twentieth Century Fox, the studio footing the bill. Fox, however, backed out at the last minute, and Zaentz was left with a cast and crew in Italy and no money to shoot the movie. Almost immediately, however, Harvey Weinstein stepped in and acquired the project for his studio, Miramax (named after his parents, Mira and Max) and saved the day. Zaentz was grateful and promised to return the favor if ever an opportunity presented itself.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a pair of filmmakers named Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh were working on post production for The Frighteners<\/em> (1996). Jackson suggested the two might want to do a fantasy film next, and Walsh asked if it were possible to do The Lord of the Rings. Jackson assumed the rights were unavailable or tied up, but he figured it wouldn\u2019t hurt to ask \u2013 so he went to the studio he was working with and said, \u201cHey, do you think Fran and I could make The Lord of the Rings<\/em>?\u201d That studio was Miramax, and the guy he was talking to was Harvey Weinstein, who loved the idea. Weinstein contacted Zaentz and called in his favor to get an option to make the movies, and Jackson was on his way to making Middle-earth magic.<\/p>\n

#4: Ken Kamins\u2019s Ingenuity<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 1998. (It\u2019s not, but pretend it is.) Peter Jackson is summoned to a meeting with Miramax in New York. The studio has a great new idea: it\u2019s going to make The Lord of the Rings<\/em> as one film. They have a whole new approach to the story: The Mines of Moria? Skip them. Saruman? Gone. The Battle at Helm\u2019s Deep? Gone. Gondor and Rohan? Merge them and make Boromir and \u00c9owyn brother and sister. Maybe kill off some redundant hobbits.<\/p>\n

I do have to mention here that Miramax wasn\u2019t intentionally trying to be stupid. The problem was the budget. They had $75 million to spend on The Lord of the Rings<\/em> and that was it. Given the choice between two low budget films or one with a modest budget, they chose the latter under the premise that it was most likely to make money. (After all, there\u2019s a reason the film industry is called an industry and not \u201ccharitable contributions to the arts.”)<\/p>\n

Jackson, of course, was horrified and said he couldn\u2019t write and direct what they were proposing. Miramax, however, held firm and said, \u201cTake it or leave it.\u201d Jackson and Walsh talked about the ultimatum privately and then decided to say no and move on to other things. They asked their agent to tell Miramax they were out, and they figured that was that.<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s agent was Ken Kamins, and he did make the call, but with a wrinkle: he reminded them that this whole project began with Jackson and Walsh and asked if the two writers could find another studio to buyout the project and do it the right way. And that\u2019s exactly what happened. In fact, that leads us to\u2026<\/p>\n

#5: Jim Carrey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in the early 90s, Jim Carrey was known as that weird guy on “In Living Color.”<\/a><\/p>\n

That all changed in 1994 when he was transformed into a bankable Hollywood star thanks to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective<\/em>, Dumb and Dumber<\/em>, and The Mask<\/em>. The latter two were brought to us by New Line Cinema. This maverick studio was great at finding new stars and making and distributing hits; they just had trouble with sequels. Remember how funny Carrey was in \u201cDumb and Dumber 2\u201d and \u201cRevenge of the Mask\u201d? Of course you don\u2019t! Because he wouldn\u2019t do them. Instead he went on to make big money for other studios. So we got new actors in Dumb and Dumberer<\/em> and Son of the Mask<\/em> \u2013 which, quite frankly, were terrible. Back in 1998, New Line executives were concerned about this problem, and one of the execs joked that they should just start shooting sequels to their blockbusters before they were finished shooting the blockbusters.<\/p>\n

At just about this time, New Line was contacted by a guy named Peter Jackson. He said he had this Lord of the Rings<\/em> project he was working on and was wondering if New Line would be interested in acquiring it from Miramax. \u201cThey\u2019re only willing to make one film out of it,\u201d he explained, \u201cbut we feel the only way to do it right is to do two films at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Line: \u201cTwo? Just two? Why not three?\u201d
\nJackson: \u201cAs I was saying, three films. We feel the only way to do it is three films.\u201d
\nChristian Rivers: \u201cIsn\u2019t it a little late in the process to…\u201d
\nJackson: \u201cTo find myself a new Beacon keeper? No.\u201d
\nRivers: (silence)<\/p>\n

What New Line Cinema didn\u2019t know was had they turned Jackson down, Miramax was ready to fire Peter Jackson, replace him with John Madden<\/a>, and make the one film version described above.<\/p>\n

Thank you, Jim Carrey. Thank you.<\/p>\n

#6: Sean Connery\u2019s Confusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Think about all the scenes in The Lord of the Rings<\/em> and Hobbit<\/em> movies with Gandalf. Now think of all of them without Ian McKellen and with Sean Connery in his place.<\/p>\n

\u201cShauron is coming for the Ring, my boy. Keep it shecret, keep it shafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

(That\u2019s my Sean Connery impression. Thank you, I\u2019m here all week! Try the veal.)<\/p>\n

One of the big concerns New Line Cinema had about The Lord of the Rings<\/em> was whether or not the films would have the star power to get the casual filmgoers to buy a ticket. So they wanted Connery. And they wanted him badly. How badly? They would have ended up paying him about $450 million to play Gandalf.<\/a><\/p>\n

Connery turned down the part because he didn\u2019t understand the script. Years later, he reflected upon the story after reading the books and seeing the films: \u201c”I read the book. I saw the movie. I still don\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did add something that we can all agree upon: \u201cIan McKellen, I believe, is marvelous in it.”<\/p>\n

#7: Harry Knowles<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to sit at home on the couch and fantasy-cast movies. \u201cDude, they should make a movie out of that \u201cSmoking Cactus\u201d book and cast Sam Elliott as the Texas Fryfish.\u201d Heck, I\u2019ve fantasized about the girls from Happy Hobbit playing damsels in distress, whereupon I rescue them and they begin fighting over me. But perhaps that\u2019s taking the \u201cfantasy\u201d in fantasy-casting too literally. The point is, it\u2019s fun to match up actors and characters. But how many times have you approached the actor and told him about the character\u2026 and then approached the director and told him about the actor?<\/p>\n

In 1998, supergeek Harry Knowles<\/a> had a cameo in the movie \u201cThe Faculty\u201d. Here\u2019s what happened in Harry\u2019s own words:<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember, I was sitting on the steps of THE FACULTY\u2019s set where Elijah [Wood] is going to be running from Robert Patrick. There was a break in shooting, because as Robert was running with the steadi-cam, he slipped and fell and they were checking all the equipment out. Elijah joined me on the steps and asked how things were going. It was mid-afternoon and I told him that I had spoken on the phone with Peter Jackson that day. That Peter was going to try and make THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Elijah had never read that book, but he had read the Hobbit, and loved that. That\u2019s when I looked at him and told him he would be perfect to play Frodo.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Wood, of course, then went on to make his own audition tape in his own makeshift Hobbit costume.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Harry went on to have more discussions with Peter Jackson, including Q&A\u2019s which he shared on his website. Jackson told Harry about his plans: he was going to cast an unknown British actor as Frodo. Harry had an idea of his own and said so: cast Elijah Wood!<\/p>\n

Maybe Wood would have been cast as Frodo without Harry\u2019s heads up or help. Either way, Harry\u2019s championing of Wood as Frodo \u2013 going all the way back to 1998 \u2013 gives him plenty of Geek-Cred in my eyes. (I actually had a shirt once that said, \u201cI have Geek-Cred.\u201d Unfortunately, my wife accidentally spilled something on it. The gasoline probably would have come out in the wash, but my wife also accidentally set it on fire. But I digress.) <\/p>\n

Then again, perhaps the real hero of the story is Robert Patrick\u2019s clumsiness. Who knows? Had he kept his footing, the butterfly effect might have led to Dustin Diamond<\/a> playing Frodo. And that\u2019s even scarier than being chased by a Terminator. <\/p>\n

#8: Jar Jar Binks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yousa probably wondering if mesa gone coo coo here. (Happened long ago.) Sure, on the list of \u201cReasons Star Wars<\/em> Rocks,\u201d Jar Jar ranks at roughly 4,285,433 \u2013 just ahead of Princess Leia\u2019s Life Day song<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: while the people working on The Lord of the Rings<\/em> were having all kinds of trouble with Gollum, George Lucas was busy making dozens of breakthroughs in CGI to bring Jar Jar to the screen. Jackson decided from the beginning that Gollum would be CGI, but by 1999 it was beginning to look like the impossible dream. Thankfully, Lucas was happy to help out Weta, and thanks to Jar Jar breaking new ground, Gollum did not end up as a man in a suit.<\/p>\n

#9: Gray Horsfield<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quick question: who defeated Sauron? Was it Frodo? Aragorn? Gandalf? No, it was Gray Horsfield, a real name that\u2019s so awesome, no fiction writer would have the cojones to use it.<\/p>\n

Back in the early part of the last decade when Weta was working on the final Lord of the Rings<\/em> film, they were in a jam: they needed to show the destruction of Sauron\u2019s tower (Barad-d\u00fbr) but it wasn\u2019t physically possible to blow up the model, and it probably wouldn\u2019t give them the look they were hoping for anyway. At this point most films would have gotten together a team of digital artists and given them a month to work on doing it CGI. Weta didn\u2019t need a team, however, because one guy did it himself. In two weeks. While everyone was on vacation. Gray Horsfield basically worked 20 hours a day everyday while everyone was on break blowing up Barad-d\u00fbr and blowing away everyone from Weta Digital when they returned to work. Frodo may have failed, but Gray sure didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

So there you go. From a ten year old\u2019s book report to Gray Horsfield\u2019s dedication, that’s nine pieces of the puzzle that fell into place to give us some great books and movies. Doesn\u2019t it make you feel like you won the lottery and didn\u2019t even know it?<\/p>\n

(I can’t believe you actually read this whole thing.)<\/p>\n

– J.W. Braun<\/p>\n

J.W. Braun is a Tolkien scholar and author of The Lord of the Films<\/a>, published by ECW Press in 2009. You can find out more about J.W. at jwbraun.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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