The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy story by J. R. R. Tolkien, a sequel to his earlier work, The Hobbit. It was published in three volumes in 1954 and 1955. Three movie productions have been made, the first, by animator Ralph Bakshi was released in 1978 (as part one of what was originally to be a two-part adaptation of the story), the second being a 1980 television special, and the third being director Peter Jackson's film trilogy released in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

The Lord of the Rings on film

Early efforts

There were plans for the Beatles to do a version of The Lord of the Rings but they came to nothing. It was even said that Stanley Kubrick had looked into the possibility of filming the story, but he abandoned the idea as too "immense" to be made into a movie. In the mid-1970s, renowned film director John Boorman collaborated with film rights holder and producer Saul Zaentz to do a live action picture, but the project proved too expensive to finance at that time.

Related Topics:
The Beatles - Stanley Kubrick - 1970s - John Boorman - Saul Zaentz

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In 1978, Rankin-Bass studios produced the first real film adaptation of any Lord of the Rings related material with an animated television version of The Hobbit, which was a precursor to The Lord of the Rings.

Related Topics:
1978 - Rankin-Bass - Film adaptation - The Hobbit

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Shortly after, Saul Zaentz picked up where Rankin-Bass left off by producing an animated adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring and part of The Two Towers in 1978.

Related Topics:
Animated - 1978

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The Lord of the Rings, originally released by United Artists was directed by Ralph Bakshi and used an animation technique called rotoscoping in which footage of live actors was filmed and then traced over.

Related Topics:
The Lord of the Rings - United Artists - Ralph Bakshi - Rotoscoping

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The film was part one of what was originally to be a two-part adaptation of Tolkien's story, Part I ending after the battle of Helm's Deep, but before Sam, Frodo and Gollum traverse the Dead Marshes, and Part II picking up from where the first film left off. Made for a minimal budget of $8 million dollars, the film earned $30 million dollars at the box office.

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United Artists viewed the film as a flop, and refused to fund a Part II (covering the rest of the story), leaving the door open for Rankin-Bass to do the work for him with the 1980 animated television version of The Return of the King.

Related Topics:
1980 - The Return of the King

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However, the Rankin-Bass film picked up from where the book began, and not from where Bakshi's film left off. Additionally, the change in style and character design was quite noticeable.

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Since this film was targeted to a younger audience, adult enthusiasts have complained that much of the depth and darkness of the book was discarded.

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The Peter Jackson films

Miramax Films developed a full-fledged live-action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, with Peter Jackson as director. Eventually, with Miramax becoming increasingly uneasy with the sheer scope of the proposed project, Peter Jackson was given the opportunity to find another studio to take over. In 1998, New Line Cinema assumed production responsibility (while Miramax executives Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein retained on-screen credits as executive producers on the films).

Related Topics:
Miramax - Peter Jackson - 1998 - New Line Cinema - Bob Weinstein - Harvey Weinstein

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The three live action films (supplemented with extensive computer-generated imagery, for example in the major battle scenes, using the "Massive" software) were filmed simultaneously. ' was released on December 19, 2001. ' was released on December 18, 2002 and ' was released worldwide on December 17, 2003. All three films won the Hugo Award for Best (Long-form) Dramatic Presentation in their respective years.

Related Topics:
Live action - Computer-generated imagery - Massive - December 19 - 2001 - December 18 - 2002 - December 17 - 2003 - Hugo Award

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Although some have criticized these films because they have altered the story somewhat and, arguably, have a noticeably different tone from Tolkien's original vision, others have hailed them as remarkable achievements.

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Peter Jackson's film adaptations garnered seventeen Oscars (four for The Fellowship of the Ring, two for The Two Towers, and eleven for The Return of the King); these cover many of the awards categories (in fact, The Return of the King won all of the eleven awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture). With 30 total nominations, the trilogy also became the most-nominated in the Academy's history, surpassing the Godfather series (28).

Related Topics:
Peter Jackson - Godfather

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The Return of the King's Oscar sweep is widely seen as a proxy award for the entire trilogy. The Return of the King's 11 Oscars at the 2004 Academy Awards tied it for most awards won for one film with Titanic six years earlier and the 1959 version of Ben-Hur. It also broke the previous "sweep" record, beating Gigi and The Last Emperor (which had gone 9 for 9).

Related Topics:
2004 Academy Awards - Titanic - 1959 - Ben-Hur - Gigi - The Last Emperor

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The visual-effects work has been groundbreaking, particularly the creation of the emotionally versatile digital character Gollum.

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The scale of the production alone — three films shot and edited back to back over a period of little more than three years — is unprecedented.

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The films have also proven to be substantial box office successes. The premiere of The Return of the King took place in Wellington, New Zealand, on December 1, 2003 and was surrounded by fan celebrations and official promotions (the production of the films having contributed significantly to the New Zealand economy). It has made movie history as the largest Wednesday opening ever. The Return of the King was also the second movie in history (after Titanic) to earn over 1 billion $US (worldwide). Note, however, that these numbers are all unadjusted for inflation, making their significance questionable. Adjusted for inflation, as of 24 March 2005, the three films rank (in order of release) as the 71st, 56th, and 48th highest-grossing films in the United States http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm.

Related Topics:
Wellington - New Zealand - December 1 - 2003 - Titanic - Billion - Inflation - 24 March - 2005

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Fanatics of the films have also flocked to the locations where the trilogy was filmed in New Zealand, with many tour companies being totally devoted to taking fans to and from the filming locations that Director Peter Jackson chose for his epic Trilogy.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_Of_The_Ring

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