You are right, Otto's World. The Hobbit was a children's story, intended to be read to the little ones by the fireside when the day's activities were done. Tolkien had no idea what was coming after that. Even when he started LOTR, he intended it to be another children's story, just a sequel to The Hobbit. I suppose he just got carried away, and ended up with a huge volume which, eventually, was split into three parts.

Taking this to heart is important to the movie. It will be difficult to encapsulate this and at the same time meld the five together, making it a "five part series."

Following on that Beren was that Tolkien started LotR with Bilbo in the spotlight. This was supposed to be a sequal and therefor he just started with the same main character. But as his ideas came forward more and more the book became darker and darker. This just didn't fit with the fun loving Bilbo we met in Hobbit. Enter Frodo, who began his life as Bilbo's son. After a good thought about just where Bilbo's wife was all this time lead him to the creation of a nephew he would foster and make his heir.

very true, Show, very true. All of this shows how little Tolkien knew of LOTR until he "met it on the way." Awesome, isn't it?

It is pretty awsome!

Thanks guys for helping me out, with some images and info!
Its much appreciated.
I'm thinking 'laketown' or 'esgaroth' to be similar to the rohirrim but with the nature around them being more incorporated in their culture. I was thinking, lake creatures, fish, reeds, dragonflies and cranes that kind of thing. Any views??
Also i'v found out that lots of trading would go on there, so lots of barrels and nets? Boats and rafts?
And i was thinknig that they would be like anglo-saxon historically inspired?, maybe celtic?
There have been some findings of bridges on stilts and small burial sites in that sort of era?
If anyone can give me any feedback, i would be most interested
I would love to know what you all thought
Thanks again

Nienna, you are brilliant! Yes, you are right to think of all of the qualities that have to do with lake/water, including openness to trade and such. The director should check in on this website now and then to glean these ideas. This is a really fun creative exercise.

What about the orcs? Or Goblins as Bilbo called them. They were quite the scary creatures to be seen in Jackson's LotR. What will del toro do with them?
The obvious answer for continuity is nothing. But will The Hobbit still be a children's story with the grotesque monsters trying to kill our little friend with furry feet?
If he did try to make the orcs more kid friendly, what would he do? Or is this a moot point considering the other images young children are exposed to already?

Well, I think They will go with the Orcs that looked more "Gobliny" from LOTR--you know--the smaller ones with pointy ears. But if I know Del Toro he'll throw in a few twists as well.

Gandalf's Beard

I think you're right, GB. You know the orcs that were in Moria? That will probably be the basic design for the orcs (goblins) of the misty mountains. It seems to me that in the Hobbit, the goblins are pretty personal creatures. Or, at least, in personality, they are not the orcs of Moria. They have a king, and they have guards, etc. They aren't "every man for himself" as they seemed in Moria.

I think the look isn't gonna change too much from Moria orcs but the orcs/goblins in The Hobbit are more organized to say the least. As far as it making it no longer a children's story I don't think it will have much affect on that. I mean the orcs/goblins in the animated version were pretty scary and I still loved it when I was a kid. But then I was a wierd kid...