[Iris Alantiel]

To all those who have been questioning what Tolkien's family would think of the movies, I found a small article on that I clipped from the newspaper a while back (we're talking two years ago, before FotR came to theatres). It's from the Toronto Star (I think), from December 10th 2001.<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Breaking his slience over the movie <I>The Lord of the Rings</I>, the son of fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien says he is not critical of the way film has interpreted his father's classic books. REports suggested that Christopher Tolkien was so unhappy about how the films of the trilogy had been made that he had fallen out with family members. But in a statement issued in London, Tolkien said while he had doubts about the viability of the projects, these were personal opinions. Tolkien said on the weekend his position is that <I>The Lord of the Rings</I> is unsuitable for transformation into visual dramatic form. "On the other hand, I recognize that this is a debatable and complex question of artm and the suggestions that have been made that I 'disapprove' of the films, whatever thier cinematic quality, even to the extent of thinking ill of those with whom I may differ, are wholly without foundation," he said. J.R.R. Tolkien sold the film rights to his fantasy books in 1969, leaving his family and those in charge of his estate with no control over the movies. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>That was basically the whole article, but I thought any of you who are interested in what Tolkien's family has to say about the enterprise might enjoy reading it.<P>I was always very much in favour of the movies; from the moment I found out about them I thought they were a great idea. I still think that they bring LotR to lots of people who otherwise wouldn't really have ever discovered it. I have friends who never even considered picking up Tolkien who are now obsessed with it - with the *books*, not just the movies - because they were exposed to it through the films. <P>But then sometimes, like when I see the kind of shameless advertising we've been talking about on this thread, I think somebody really owes J.R.R. Tolkien an apology.