Tolkien's Son Fights To Shut Down The Hobbit

[GreenScar]

I know there are a lot of people that are probably interested in this.

When asked during his web chat this weekend if J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher Tolkien was going to give the upcoming movie version of The Hobbit his blessing, Peter Jackson diplomatically replied: “Christopher Tolkien did not wish to be involved in the LOTR movies and I would assume his feelings are the same with these two films.” Well it’s a lot more than assumption. In fact, not only does he not wish to be involved, he’s now doing everything in his power to stop The Hobbit movie from being made… again.

You see, Christopher Tolkien has been against his father's books being made into movies since the very beginning. He hates the idea of them being made into movies in general, and he’s been fighting Peter Jackson and the half-dozen other people who own pieces and parts of the movie rights every single step of the way. Not because he doesn’t like what Jackson is doing, he simply hates Hollywood. Ironically, he doesn’t hate making cash-in sequels to his father's books, using pieces of his notes which were never intended to be published. Funny how that works.

But Christopher Tolkien is 83, frequently described as cranky, and presumably he remembers a time when movies didn’t exist. He seems to have preferred it better that way because the TimesOnline reports that he’ll try to get a judge to halt the production of The Hobbit next week. At issue is the same thing that always seems to be at issue whenever the Lord of the Rings franchise goes to court. He says New Line Cinema owes him money. Judging by New Line’s track record, that may indeed be true. Judging from Christopher Tolkien’s track record, that’s probably not the reason he’s doing this. He doesn’t care about the money as much as he simply hates movies. Oddly enough, the TimesOnline article mentions that he’s likely never even seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies. You’d think even if he was totally against them, he’d at least peek at the back of one of the DVD covers. He is a Tolkien after all. However wrongheaded he may be, his motives are pure… in their own way.

At the end of the day the guy is just trying to protect his father’s work. Unfortunately, in this case it doesn’t need his protecting. The way things stand now, Peter Jackson is probably better suited to protect it than he is. Can we hand the Tolkien Estate over to him? After all, he is an honorary hobbit.

Luckily this isn’t the first time the Lord of the Rings franchise has gone through one of these legal snags, and so far it hasn’t slowed things down. There’s no reason to believe it will this time either. We hope.

[Heart&Soul]

I can understand that he wants to protect what his father wrote, but Jackson did a great job with the LOTR series and I would imagine he'll do the same with The Hobbit. If this is just about money, then shame on Christopher Tolkien.

[Mxr5150]

I can't blame his son for hating hollywood, there is a lot about it that I hate myself. However, he should be happy that his dad's work is getting even more praise because of these movies.

[mewantyblu]

Get my gun ma......were goin to england.

[Blu Titan]

The books will always be there to represent the original work of the author. Movies are an adaptation that is all.

[dgator783]

i wonder how many more books the movies sold and how much money he made from that????hhhmmmm......hes stupid to halt the film as it would sell millions of copies of the Hobbit....which would equal more coin for him....

[Lord_Stewie]

this somewhat in this same category with Dr. Seuss, his first family never wanted his stories to turn into movies, but thanks to his second wife who sold the rights to several studios, there have been ongoing lawsuits to retrieve them. in a sense i do see their point of this whole debacle, it is this mentality of it is okay for me to profit, from my father's/husband's/son's etc..., work than see hollywood ruining a classic.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by dgator783

i wonder how many more books the movies sold and how much money he made from that????hhhmmmm......hes stupid to halt the film as it would sell millions of copies of the Hobbit....which would equal more coin for him....

i am thinking it is the principle of the argument in the back of his mind. not how much profit he will be making.

[dgator783]

Originally Posted by shadblz

i am thinking it is the principle of the argument in the back of his mind. not how much profit he will be making.

does he even really have principles?

[cajmoyper]

I can't see how he would think after LOTR, that this guy figures to have disrespect brought on his father's name.

[CobraComander]

well, he is 83, maybe he'll drop dead and problem solved.

[Charles3669]

Originally Posted by CobraComander

well, he is 83, maybe he'll drop dead and problem solved.

Yeah maybe LOL. To me he sounds like a bitter old man. LOTR trilogy has more nominations under its belt than any other movie or franchise. And more wins for that matter. No film has won more than 11 academy awards and ROTK is the 3rd to do so. I say if that doesn't please you, nothing will. So maybe all he has left to do is die, because it sure sounds like he isn't getting any joy out of his fathers work, money, awards, and praise from the millions upon millions of fans.

[Octavio]

Well I'd be VERY worried if Michael Bay or Brett Ratnner would direct The Hobbit, but considering it will be directed by one of the best directors in this business and a true artist (Guillermo del Toro) and produced by Peter Jackson himself. I shouldn't be worried at all.

But some people are really strange.

[Heart&Soul]

I know Jackson is busy, but I just don't understand why he wouldn't make this a priority and direct it himself.

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by Heart&Soul

I can understand that he wants to protect what his father wrote, but Jackson did a great job with the LOTR series and I would imagine he'll do the same with The Hobbit. If this is just about money, then shame on Christopher Tolkien.

The Tolkien Estate did force Iron Crown Enterprises into bankruptcy in order to wrest rights to the roleplaying game from them so I wouldn't be surprised if this is just another attempt at profiteering from them.

Of course having read the LotR and seen the movies and how grossly mishandled certain portions were handled by Jackson and company, maybe I could see a point to them wanting the rights back. The forming of the Fellowship scene felt like a bad LARP (live action role-playing) session, Gandalf's scene in Bilbo's house and then the scene at Galadriel's well were cheese, Merry and Pippin were played for juvenile laughs much of the time, having full-sized actors for the hobbits (and dwarves) created unnecessary distraction, important plot points were resequenced for no good reason (Gandalf's imprisonment by Saruman, Suraman's possession of the palantiri), unnecessary CGI sequences were introduced (Isengard's corruption and the birthing of the uruk-hai), vital themes were discarded (the potential dangers of industrialization), and the very ending was changed to be happier and more upbeat (and Gandalf's possession of the final elven Ring of Power was barely acknowledged).

I'm torn about Jackson's trilogy being the "definitive" movie interpretation of the book as it seems not much better than the rotoscope animated version that proceeded it in terms of being truly faithful to the source material.

I still haven't figured out how they plan on stretching out The Hobbit into two movies, especially if I remember correctly that the first movie is supposed to cover the actual book itself. What scraps are they going to throw into the second film?

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by dgator783

does he even really have principles?

i don't know i can't really speak for him. but i am confused as to why he is being such a hassle.

[The Lion King]

When asked during his web chat this weekend if J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher Tolkien was going to give the upcoming movie version of The Hobbit his blessing, Peter Jackson diplomatically replied: “Christopher Tolkien did not wish to be involved in the LOTR movies and I would assume his feelings are the same with these two films.” Well it’s a lot more than assumption. In fact, not only does he not wish to be involved, he’s now doing everything in his power to stop The Hobbit movie from being made… again.

You see, Christopher Tolkien has been against his father's books being made into movies since the very beginning. He hates the idea of them being made into movies in general, and he’s been fighting Peter Jackson and the half-dozen other people who own pieces and parts of the movie rights every single step of the way. Not because he doesn’t like what Jackson is doing, he simply hates Hollywood. Ironically, he doesn’t hate making cash-in sequels to his father's books, using pieces of his notes which were never intended to be published. Funny how that works.

But Christopher Tolkien is 83, frequently described as cranky, and presumably he remembers a time when movies didn’t exist. He seems to have preferred it better that way because the TimesOnline reports that he’ll try to get a judge to halt the production of The Hobbit next week. At issue is the same thing that always seems to be at issue whenever the Lord of the Rings franchise goes to court. He says New Line Cinema owes him money. Judging by New Line’s track record, that may indeed be true. Judging from Christopher Tolkien’s track record, that’s probably not the reason he’s doing this. He doesn’t care about the money as much as he simply hates movies. Oddly enough, the TimesOnline article mentions that he’s likely never even seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies. You’d think even if he was totally against them, he’d at least peek at the back of one of the DVD covers. He is a Tolkien after all. However wrongheaded he may be, his motives are pure… in their own way.

At the end of the day the guy is just trying to protect his father’s work. Unfortunately, in this case it doesn’t need his protecting. The way things stand now, Peter Jackson is probably better suited to protect it than he is. Can we hand the Tolkien Estate over to him? After all, he is an honorary hobbit.

Luckily this isn’t the first time the Lord of the Rings franchise has gone through one of these legal snags, and so far it hasn’t slowed things down. There’s no reason to believe it will this time either. We hope.

He should be happy that his father's work is being appreciated as much as it can and if it wasn't for The Lord of the Rings movies, the whole Lord of the Rings concept wouldn't be anywhere near as well-known. That's really awful that he wants to sabotage the franchise. Sounds like a very negative, cold-hearted idiot.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by The Lion King

He should be happy that his father's work is being appreciated as much as it can and if it wasn't for The Lord of the Rings movies, the whole Lord of the Rings concept wouldn't be anywhere near as well-known. That's really awful that he wants to sabotage the franchise. Sounds like a very negative, cold-hearted idiot.

Actually, if my father created one of the greatest works of English literature of the 20th Century, and then, after he died, some people decided to make a movie out of it and I had to continue reading the works referred to as "Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings" or worse -- listen to commentary tracks where Phillippa Boyens insulted my father's technique and then boasted about how much she improved his work -- yeah, that might piss me off a little bit.

[WickyWoo]

The books will always be there to represent the original work of the author. Movies are an adaptation that is all.

Especially in modern culture, the movie is the version that will be the pervailing "community memory"

Ask 20 people how The Little Mermaid ends, and I'll be you 1 in 10 at best will cite the correct ending

That's the reason why we must be so careful to be verbatim when working with someone else's creativity, so that their story and ideas are not lost.

Except for a few bouts of unnecessary scene addition (Osgiliath, changing Faramir) Jackson did that

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Especially in modern culture, the movie is the version that will be the pervailing "community memory"

Ask 20 people how The Little Mermaid ends, and I'll be you 1 in 10 at best will cite the correct ending

That's the reason why we must be so careful to be verbatim when working with someone else's creativity, so that their story and ideas are not lost.

Except for a few bouts of unnecessary scene addition (Osgiliath, changing Faramir) Jackson did that

Did a lot more than that...

Sending Boromir to collect the Ring for Gondor lets Boromir off the hook a little bit. They made Faramir a person who is tempted by the Ring because they said it wasn't believable that everyone in the novel is tempted except Faramir and that Tolkien weakened the poer of the Ring by Faramir laughing it off and stating he wouldn't touch it even if he found it lying by the side of the road. But then they go and make Denethor the uber-bad-daddy of all time, sending Boromir to his doom to collect the Ring, and even make Denethor the source of Faramir's temptation.

Where's the redemption for Denethor? He gazed into the Palantir (like Pippin) and Sauron drove him mad with despair. Jackson, Boyens, and Walsh neglected to include it, and so their Denethor is not a tragic figure, he's just a lunatic who can apparently run for a mile or so while on fire.

Frodo sending Sam home? Frodo pulling his sword on Sam in Osgiliath? Frodo revealing the Ring to a Nazgul in Osgiliath?

Jackson's adaptation isn't problematic because of the omissions (Tom Bombadil, The Scouring of the Shire, etc.) -- its problematic because of the embellishments and additions. For all the 90% they got right, it's the 10% they got wrong that annoys the heck out of those who love and understand the books.