Guillermo on the Rankin Bass Hobbit

Post by **Alatar** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:41 am

Guillermo just posted his thoughts on the merits of the RB Hobbit over on TORN. I thought it might be worth starting a separate thread to discuss the only previous attempt at filming The Hobbit. Guillermo has some good points to launch the discussion!

They attempted to animate a very corruscated graphic style which, in my opnion, tries to evoke Arthur Rackham- who never illustrated Tolkien to my knowledge but rather did THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG. Some of the Chromal and rendering choices are quite beautiful and endearing and I think another noticeable influence is that of PAUL COCKER JR (who was rather famous in MAD magazine) who was a brilliant designer of Trolls and Goblins and monsters.

The "feline" Smaug is, at lest original and has personality and Cocker's Gollum is sad and amphibian in a vaguely Lovecraftian way...

Trying to retain the fairy tale tone, the narrative follows a tight travelogue of incidents that seem to connect much more loosely than the book into the Battle of the 5 armies but that dramatically don't seem to build upon one another (the Rankin Bass animated feature reminds me, in an odd way of THE BLUES BROTHERS- a band of travellers on a quest pissing off random sorts of people until they all come together at the end to demand restitution) and that notably omits one of my favorite characters: Beorn.

On an odd, personal note- I find ALL the Dwarves disturbing and creepy in their design- which for me, as a kid, was a plus!!

Greetings

GDT

Post by **Dave_LF** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:21 pm

On an odd, personal note- I find ALL the Dwarves disturbing and creepy in their design- which for me, as a kid, was a plus!!

I second that. Practical constraints and/or lack of imagination mean most portrayals of dwarves are just burly guys made to look short (or actual genetic dwarves). R-B were more creative, giving them long noses and tall, narrow heads (and male-pattern baldness). And both Nori and Ori wore a scarves tied around their mouths bandit-style, giving them an extra creepy vibe.

Click me for pictures

Their animated hobbit was my first exposure to Tolkien, and to this day the above is still what I see in my head when I think about dwarves.

Post by **Siberian** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:46 pm

Please, GDT, don't make dwarves creepy. Fierce, yes, but not creepy.

Post by **axordil** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:03 pm

Reminds me of the crack a critic made about the movie FOTR: you can see the entire gamut of popular music hairstyles in it, from the Allman Brothers to grunge rockers to Peter Frampton c. 1974, and Gimli could have been a roadie for any of them.

Post by **yovargas** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:04 pm

I'd take creepy dwarves over PJ's Gimli.

Post by **Dave_LF** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 3:13 pm

Creepy or no, I think it would be cool if they did something to make them look at least a little non-human. Even TV scifi series at least give their alien species forehead prosthetics.

"So what makes your race different from humans, Thorin Oakenshield?"
"Well, you see....we're short".
Just need to watch out for that uncanny chasm.

Post by **axordil** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:08 pm

Short and grumpy. Well, at least one in seven dwarves are.

Post by **WampusCat** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:24 pm

Some are dopey or sneezy.

Post by **solicitr** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:14 pm

They're pretty much all grumpy. And Bilbo was the sneezy one.

Post by **Frelga** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:20 pm

But is there any indication that Dwarves should look alien compared to humans?

The Elf King made me

Legolas was clearly adopted.

Post by **ToshoftheWuffingas** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:29 pm

The Hobbit as Blues Brothers? I could live with that.

Post by **solicitr** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:31 pm

I'm a sho-o-o-rt man!
(dee dee da da dede dit dee)...

Post by **Dave_LF** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:40 pm

Frelga wrote:But is there any indication that Dwarves should look alien compared to humans?

The Elf King made me Legolas was clearly adopted.

I suppose it comes down to whether one feels one should assume the different races appear identical except where explicitly stated otherwise. I think it would be more interesting if there were subtle physical differences between the races. Nothing too major, otherwise we'd have to wonder why Tolkien never mentioned it, but just little things that might not come across in writing.

I do think "shorter and stockier than humans (and the women have beards)" is about the extent of their canonical description, though.

And by all means Guillermo, stay far away from RB's wood elves.

Post by **angel of arda** » Wed May 05, 2010 8:42 pm

I hope that he casts the right people for the main characters.

Post by **N.E. Brigand** » Wed Oct 06, 2010 11:07 pm

Dave_LF wrote:I suppose it comes down to whether one feels one should assume the different races appear identical except where explicitly stated otherwise. I think it would be more interesting if there were subtle physical differences between the races. Nothing too major, otherwise we'd have to wonder why Tolkien never mentioned it, but just little things that might not come across in writing.
I do think "shorter and stockier than humans (and the women have beards)" is about the extent of their canonical description, though.

Elsewhere, it has been noted that Frodo and friends are puzzled as to the nature of Tom Bombadil, who is bearded, taller than a Hobbit, and shorter than a Man -- but they never wonder if he is a Dwarf. So apparently for Tolkien there was some other difference.