[Diamond18]

I came across that book again (the one with illustraitions from the cartoon). I couldn't help but flip through it again, and found that the Elves were worse than I'd remembered. They weren't actually green, more like bluish-gray. Their bodies were squat but their legs were long. Their eyes were nothing short of evil and surly. They were balding, and the hair they had was wispy and stringly. Their hangs and feet were amphibian. They were butt-ugly.<P>In short, they were the exact opposite of what Elves should look like. In fact, they were rather close to how I have always pictured Gollum. The only way you could get me to watch this cartoon would be to tie me securely to a chair and pry my eyes open with clothespins.<P>But enough complaining (though I'll probably have nightmares tonight!). I'm posting because I'm wondering...does anyone know of a motivation for depicting the Elves this way? I mean, did the animators ever explain why the Elves were so unlike "real" Elves? Or were they, as others have suggested, just high?