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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 16, 2020 19:42:12 GMT -5
Christopher Tolkien has died at the age of 95.Without Christopher Tolkien the bulk of his father's work would have remained shrouded in mystery. Reportedly when he took on the task of curating his father work, he had a mountain of documents to go through and out of them he brought many things to light and published much of it, fleshing out the history of The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, giving us all a deep look into the creation of his father J.R.R Tolkien. Many of the wonderful maps we are familiar with were created by him out of that mountain of documents. He was a faithful son in honoring his father's work and protecting that legacy. He left behind a loving family and a loving fandom grateful for his years of work. 
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Post by hengest on Jan 17, 2020 11:43:05 GMT -5
Absolutely true. Everyone even somewhat connected to the legacy of JRRT owes Christopher Tolkien a huge debt. He did not have to do any of that.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 17, 2020 20:59:21 GMT -5
Absolutely true. Everyone even somewhat connected to the legacy of JRRT owes Christopher Tolkien a huge debt. He did not have to do any of that. Without him, we would not have seen a fraction of what we've seen and without him the treatment of Middle Earth would have been very poorly done. With him in the mix, I think there was more attempt at an honest portrayal in the movies. While I understand why he did not like the movies and have a great deal of sympathy for him on that point, there is only so much that can be done with a film. For the trilogy it would have been really difficult to do other than what was done without making more than 3 movies or making them really long with an intermission. The Hobbit on the other hand was stretched out of shape to make three movies and the tone was not as intended by the author. That said I really enjoyed them, although I thought the Trilogy was better done than the Hobbit. If they had all been done at the same time and the Hobbit released first as a single movie, it would have better IMO. I have not really read anything about anyone else in the Tolkien family, so I do not know if another family member is prepared to step up or was already working with him. One of the article said that he sent originals to a foundation or something of that nature to curate everything as he processed it. |
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Post by randyb on Jan 18, 2020 11:08:46 GMT -5
Absolutely true. Everyone even somewhat connected to the legacy of JRRT owes Christopher Tolkien a huge debt. He did not have to do any of that. Without him, we would not have seen a fraction of what we've seen and without him the treatment of Middle Earth would have been very poorly done. With him in the mix, I think there was more attempt at an honest portrayal in the movies. While I understand why he did not like the movies and have a great deal of sympathy for him on that point, there is only so much that can be done with a film. For the trilogy it would have been really difficult to do other than what was done without making more than 3 movies or making them really long with an intermission. The Hobbit on the other hand was stretched out of shape to make three movies and the tone was not as intended by the author. That said I really enjoyed them, although I thought the Trilogy was better done than the Hobbit. If they had all been done at the same time and the Hobbit released first as a single movie, it would have better IMO. I have not really read anything about anyone else in the Tolkien family, so I do not know if another family member is prepared to step up or was already working with him. One of the article said that he sent originals to a foundation or something of that nature to curate everything as he processed it. I differ on one point - the Hobbit would have been OK as two films with the added content from the Appendices to LotR. Three films was, as you observed, "stretched thin". Not unlike how Bilbo felt after holding the Ring all those years. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 18, 2020 13:56:42 GMT -5
randyb, I agree and I like your analogy! I had forgotten about the extra material that could have been used.
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Post by randyb on Jan 18, 2020 22:13:09 GMT -5
randyb , I agree and I like your analogy! I had forgotten about the extra material that could have been used. Jackson did use the material from the appendices - the sequence of Gandalf entering the Necromancer's stronghold, and Gandalf's interaction with Radagast (sp?) the Brown. Given that the appendices' material is far less narrative, he had a lot of room for "creative interpretation". Even so, the third movie was unnecessary, as it put an emphasis on the Battle of Five Armies that Tolkien never did. And the less said about Elf-Waifu, the better. |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Jan 18, 2020 23:04:12 GMT -5
randyb , I agree and I like your analogy! I had forgotten about the extra material that could have been used. Jackson did use the material from the appendices - the sequence of Gandalf entering the Necromancer's stronghold, and Gandalf's interaction with Radagast (sp?) the Brown. Given that the appendices' material is far less narrative, he had a lot of room for "creative interpretation". Even so, the third movie was unnecessary, as it put an emphasis on the Battle of Five Armies that Tolkien never did. And the less said about Elf-Waifu, the better. That emphasis was the "give them more action, sword fights and daring do! Armies clashing!" thing and it probably did help them sell more tickets. But as you say... they could have followed the text closely and I would been there. |
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Post by El Borak on Jan 19, 2020 17:57:02 GMT -5
A thoroughly honorable man and a long life well lived.
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Post by randyb on Jan 20, 2020 10:14:23 GMT -5
It is sadly rare to see a man so loyally and faithfully carry his father's legacy forward. In this, he was exemplary. Honorable in the highest degree.
In the quality of the work he did in keeping that legacy, he was excellent.
Rest in Peace, O thou good and faithful servant.
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