Animation ‘Lord of the Rings’ Anime Movie in the Works From New Line, Warner Bros. Animation

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[Pennywise]

 

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[Drizzle]

I saw this today. I enjoyed it a little but I can admit that it's strictly because I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan but for a movie called "War of the Rohirrim", there really aren't many battles in it. The Rohan setting, the characters of Helm and Hera, Brian Cox and a couple of the other lead voice actors as well as the score made it worth watching for me but I can't really see anyone who isn't a fan being into this much at all. The animation isn't good enough to sway anime fans and the story isn't anything special so I'd really only recommend it to Middle Earth fans.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Kane52630]

I actually dug it a lot, yeah it's an obvious cash grab to keep the rights, but what they did with it was pretty cool.

 

[The Big G]

Part me wonders if in addtion to trying to keep the rights, the reason they pushed for a theatrical release was to slip in for an easy nomination for best animated feature at the oscars.

 

[psylockolussus]

Part me wonders if in addtion to trying to keep the rights, the reason they pushed for a theatrical release was to slip in for an easy nomination for best animated feature at the oscars.

But the reviews are not even good for an animated film.

Today, after knowing its a cash grab to keep the rights, I'm no longer confused why this was made. I remember seeing the trailer in the cinemas for the first time and having a "what is this and why it looks so cheap" reaction.

 

[Boom]

Respectfully I think I'm going to skip this. Not giving money to a callous rights grab.

 

[DarkKnight88]

If this had been a live-action film it might’ve become an event. But as an anime it just doesn’t mix well with Tolkien.

 

[Drizzle]

Part me wonders if in addtion to trying to keep the rights, the reason they pushed for a theatrical release was to slip in for an easy nomination for best animated feature at the oscars.

It's not going to get a nomination. Maybe in a weaker year it would have had a better chance but it's competing against quite a few films in the category that all received a better reception (Inside Out 2, The Wild Robot, Memoir of a Snail, etc.).

 

[Kane52630]

But as an anime it just doesn’t mix well with Tolkien.

I thought it fit in well, also LOTR adaptations started with animation with Bakshi/Rankin/Bass. Telling these stories animated is pretty valid.

 

[DarkKnight88]

I thought it fit in well, also LOTR adaptations started with animation with Bakshi/Rankin/Bass. Telling these stories animated is pretty valid.

Bakshi’s LotR is a complete failure. The Hobbit Rankin/Bass has charm but the designs of everyone but Bilbo are pretty awful. There just has not been a successful animated Tolkien. His world just doesn’t lend itself successfully to animation IMO.

And I think it’s because there’s a verisimilitude to his fantasy that gets lost when translated to that.

 

[Mysteryman]

Respectfully I think I'm going to skip this. Not giving money to a callous rights grab.

If this is a callous rights grab, what the heck do you call, Kraven?

 

[Kane52630]

Bakshi’s LotR is a complete failure. The Hobbit Rankin/Bass has charm but the designs of everyone but Bilbo are pretty awful. There just has not been a successful animated Tolkien. His world just doesn’t lend itself successfully to animation IMO.

And I think it’s because there’s a verisimilitude to his fantasy that gets lost when translated to that.

 

[Still Wynning]

Bakshi’s LotR is a complete failure. The Hobbit Rankin/Bass has charm but the designs of everyone but Bilbo are pretty awful. There just has not been a successful animated Tolkien. His world just doesn’t lend itself successfully to animation IMO.

And I think it’s because there’s a verisimilitude to his fantasy that gets lost when translated to that.

For the longest time, video game adaptations we’re notorious for having a terrible track record and not being any good. There was a reason the term “videogame movie curse“ was coined. Then, in 2017, Castlevania, a Netflix series adaptation of the popular video game franchise, comes out to popular acclaim. 2019, Detective Pikachu. In 2020, Sonic the Hedgehog comes out, and in November 2021, we get Arcane, a very successful animated series adaptation of popular League of Legends characters and lore, and the curse was finally broken. Since then, with a few missteps here or these, there has been banger after banger of good to great videogame adaptations in movies and television, from two Sonic sequels, a second season of Arcane, Fallout (second season now in production and filming), Twisted Metal (with a second season on the way), The Last of Us, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and many more on the way and yet to come.

Just because Tolkien’s work hasn’t been adapted successfully thus far doesn’t mean that it can’t or ever won’t be. Just like with video game TV and film adaptations, it’s going to take a bit for the people in the film/animation industry who grew up with things like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to finally have a crack at making a successful adaptation.

I would say maybe the only hurdle is animation as a medium being looked down upon as lesser and not seen as a legitimate art form. If video games, for the longest time seen as only something for kids, can overcome that stigma, then, so can animation.

 

[DarkKnight88]

I would say maybe the only hurdle is animation as a medium being looked down upon as lesser and not seen as a legitimate art form. If video games, for the longest time seen as only something for kids, can overcome that stigma, then, so can animation.

But see, I’m not knocking animation in this case. Animation is a beautiful art form and can take on many genres and adaptations. Sometimes it’s a better art form to use.

But that doesn’t mean EVERYTHING is perfect for it. Just the same way not EVERYTHING can be adapted live-action. I’m specifically talking about Tolkien’s books don’t translate itself to it as well IMO.

 

[Drizzle]

We all hear too much about Viggo Mortensen breaking his toe when he kicked that helmet in The Two Towers but not enough about them animating Aragorn tripping over his own sword in the Bakshi LOTR.

 

[DarkKnight88]

I’m sure there was a lot of “good enough” with that production lol

 

[Boom]

If this is a callous rights grab, what the heck do you call, Kraven?

Worse.

 

[Link]

Not a big fan of this one. It was rushed, and because of that, the animation isn't consistent. The main character wasn't particularly interesting, especially compared to Brian Cox's Helm, who clearly should've been the lead. There's an incredible sequence involving him later in the film, really atmospheric. Overall this was a disappointment, and a part of that is how much the story is just a retelling of The Two Towers, the abridged Rohan tales. There's so much that could be done with LOTR in anime, but there probably won't be more after this.

If anything, this made me more appreciative of Rings of Power and the innovation it brings to the table, as flawed as that project also is.

 

[blueharvest]