Canon: what ARE we babbling about?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by davem

If a movie of TH is made what style do you think it would be made in? Would it be made in the 'adult', epic style of LotR (book & movies) or in the style of the book? If it was made in the style of the book what do you think the reaction of those who only knew the movies would be? I've lost count of the number of people who have said that leaving out Tom Bombadil was right because of the 'tweeness' of the episode (which is an opinion I've never agreed with btw) but can anyone really see the cockney Trolls & the Tra-la-la-lallying Elves producing and don't give me the old 'film is a different medium - we're not talking about presentation but about content.

Now then, davem, you know as well as anyone else that if/when PJ makes a film of The Hobbit he will do as he pleases in what he puts on screen. There are already Cockney Orcs in his LotR films so Cockney trolls won't be any problem. And I can easily see him turn the 'Tra-la-la-lallying' into a more sinister, dark form of Elvish humour.

Now from what I've heard people said it was OK to leave out Tom because the episode wasn't necessary to the story. And then I've heard so many people say 'but it took the magic away!' - films have a great deal of concern with plot and action (at least the LotR films did, I'm not including Mike Leigh films in that statement ) so they will tend to be like that. And how many of us have gripes with the films for dropping magic in favour of action? That's what would happen if we dropped The Hobbit from the Legendarium and just relied on the bare facts about the story.

If PJ made the film and had to change the 'tone' to fit in with the tone of the LotR films then it isn't the fault of The Hobbit. Those who have read The Hobbit before the films will retain their original impressions, and I daresay there are very few people who found any difficulty in making the transition from The Hobbit to LotR.

I wasn't going to argue any further...Next birthday davem's presentses will be a nice set of wooden spoons.