It was announced earlier this week that Stephen Colbert, late night talk show host and well-known Tolkien expert, will be writing a new Lord of the Rings movie for Peter Jackson, this one based around several chapters of Fellowship of the Ring that were not included in Jackson’s 2001 film adaptation. Colbert said in theContinue reading “Scraping the Barrel of Authority”
Category Archives: Tolkien
A Hobbit You Didn’t Know
Here’s an animated Hobbit I didn’t know about. From the YouTube page: “In the early 1960’s, animation producer William L. Snyder (founder of Rembrandt Films) told his director and collaborator, Gene Deitch, that he had purchased the rights to an unknown 1937 children’s novel, THE HOBBIT. In order to hold his option, Snyder had toContinue reading “A Hobbit You Didn’t Know”
Mr Bilbo Blackadder
WETA Workshop, the effects studio behind the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, also produces a series of collectibles based on the films. This is the Bilbo Baggins Mini Epic Vinyl Figure, coming out in a few months. Ah, Bilbo Baggins, reviewing the Dwarves’ contract for his services… Wait. Bilbo Baggins? This figure doesn’tContinue reading “Mr Bilbo Blackadder”
Christmas in the Shire
Last night, for no particular reason, I watched the first of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (Thoughts on the trilogy as a whole here.) Watching it brought to mind a satirical video I’d seen years ago of the Rankin-Bass Hobbit Christmas special that should have been. Was it still online? AContinue reading “Christmas in the Shire”
On a Dream About The Hobbit
I had a dream last night that I saw an advance screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And I was blown away by it. Not because it returned me to Peter Jackson’s version of Middle-Earth is awesomely spectacular fashion, but because there was something about the film and its narrative style that Jackson hadContinue reading “On a Dream About The Hobbit”
On Galileo and Middle-Earth
This search phrase brought someone to my blog today — “in lord of the ring the fellowship of the ring what did galileo say to the elves.” Yes, I too would like to know what Galileo said to the Elves. The cosmology of Middle-Earth is fascinating. Did making the world round when Numenor fell alsoContinue reading “On Galileo and Middle-Earth”
On Kirill Yeskov’s The Last Ringbearer
A few months ago on a bulletin board I was drawn into a somewhat tedious argument over what, exactly, pipeweed is in The Lord of the Rings. My sparring partner argued that pipeweed was clearly tobacco, Tolkien said so, and that, clearly, was that. The problem with the identification of pipeweed with tobacco, I said,Continue reading “On Kirill Yeskov’s The Last Ringbearer”
On the Historical Frodo Baggins
This needs to be preserved forever, before it falls down Facebook’s memory hole. NPR posted a link on Facebook to a segment on All Things Considered in which Bart Ehrman discusses his new book, Did Jesus Exist? Here’s the comment I posted on the comment thread to the link: I’ve read several of Ehrman’s booksContinue reading “On the Historical Frodo Baggins”
On Rare Tolkien CDs
Last weekend at Farpoint this Tolkien fan found something that excited him — the soundtrack to the Rankin/Bass Hobbit on CD. It was pricey — $40.00 — but I knew I had to have it. It’s the Rankin/Bass Hobbit! I love the Rankin/Bass Hobbit! The vendor told me that he had the soundtrack to theContinue reading “On Rare Tolkien CDs”
On The Hobbit’s Casting Choices
Today I read an interesting criticism from Ben Child of Peter Jackson’s upcoming Hobbit films — the films will be an extended exercise in stunt casting: With the news that Billy Connolly is to take the role of dwarf king Dain Ironfoot in his adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s debut Middle-earth-set novel, Jackson appears to beContinue reading “On The Hobbit’s Casting Choices”