Jaido and I were having a conversation about Amazon possibly coming up with a new series or movie based on the Sil. I'm pasting our slightly edited conversation here:
Jaido
Oh! Here's a topic...I'll just leave this on the table here. What do you think about the Amazon production (in the talks) of the Silmarillion...pre LOTR coming out in the future? And I'd like to discuss (if you're willing) saving TF. There's still time.
LaurelinI don't know. So few Hollywood productions know how to remain faithful to the work.
Jaido
I feel amazon will mess it up big time. Too many hands in the pot, if you will
It's about money...not about the material
Funny how this happens after the Tolkien estate became lax
Laurelin
Yeah. It was the grandson that messed it up I think. He saw $$$$. I didn't even know they were doing it. Who is involved?
Jaido
A wealth of unknowns from what I've seen...which isn't much...Jackson came close. It was delightful to watch and experience though purists were still unimpressed though maybe sated by the production. The hobbit was a ruin. It saddened me to a degree though there were epic performances by iconic actors. I just felt gollum should have been inappropriately terrifying. Guillermo del Toro (who was slated to direct before Jackson pulled his plug) would have brought proper darkness to the Riddles in the Dark sequence. I have a ton of material on this.
Laurelin
I only saw the first Hobbit movie and was done. Even with the original films PJ did I was only meh about when thinking about how the books went. Especially Eowyn and Faramir characters. It's the same as I felt about the Narnia movies too. Honestly, I think cartoons are the best way to portray these books. I know JRRT was anti-movie for his stories and I can see why now. But, I feel like a cartoon might do a better job of remaining true to the characters and also they don't have to CGI in the effects. I wonder what would happen in Marvel did it? They seem pretty good about remaining true to characters at least.
Jaido Marvel did pretty well with the page-to-movie situation. But think about this: though these characters (comic book superheroes) are developed and written...they do not have the longevity that these other classics have (Lotr, Narnia). When I first read LOTR... I sat back and envisioned a world so huge. Marvel is set in our current world. To take an audience into another world takes a lot of effort. So my hat is off to set designers and location scouts for these adaptations. I am totally with you 100% about the cartoons as animated versions. Before your response I was thinking about how well Rankin/Bass did with the hobbit and LOTR. Say what you will about the animation but the characters were well voiced. Orson Bean (Bilbo), John Houston (Gandalf), Brother Theodore (gollum) and others were established stage actors and brought a depth to it all. The musical score is still thrilling to me. And if you meant Marvel (the directors and production crew) doing the Sil I would say they are more adept in doing so. Jon Favreau is a purist that had high accolades for being instrumental at directing the Marvel films but also the Mandalorian (a Star Wars based series by Disney). If a director can hit true fans in the feels then you know he is a fan himself. This is what I think will be lacking from Amazon. And it too will be Meh, in a large way.
Laurelin
I love the Rankin and Bass productions and the way they were able to incorporate the songs from the books into the movie. And what's his butt that did the Charlie Brown shows I think did the cartoon version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe which was well done too. I'd watch that a zillion times over before watching the Hollywood version. So true about comparing the superheroes to the classics. I think George Lucas' team did a great job "other-worlding" in the original Star Wars movies. It's possible to do. Especially since LOTR is supposed to be similar to our world. The Blessed Realm will be harder along with Thangorodrim and Beleriand and Numenor. I think creating Gondolin and such will be hard. Which is why animation might be the way to go. The problem is they won't have big actor names then to make people watch. And I think you are right about Favreau. He is a fan first. I think these other folks see money first. Makes all the difference.
Jaido
Imagine the battle of unnumbered tears, or when Melkor is almost killed by Ungoliant? It could be awesome or a flop.
