The Hobbit Movie Forum

[Beren]

Although I share your concern, Shane333, I really do believe that Del Toro can pull off the innocence of the story. In Pan's Labyrinth, he created a stark contrast between our world and the world that the girl belonged to. He was able to pull off the innocence of the girl, and he never let the cruelties of the world overwhelm that.

The hardest part is for him to keep focus and not lose the innocence.

P.S. Welcome to the forum! Feel free to introduce yourself in the New Members section!

[reflect]

In my opinion it should be more a faerie tale than LOTR was, BUT Del Toro shoudn't make it too much a faerie tale for children. So the film should be a little less serious than LOTR was, but PLEASE DON'T make a childish movie from it.

[Fingolfin]

Yeah I agree with Reflect. The Hobbit should be a little more lighthearted than LoTR but the last thing I want is for this to be a children's movie. It would be nice if children could enjoy it but that really should not be the goal. Do any of us really want to see Lord of the Rings: The Phantom Menace. No we want to see The Hobbit, an awesome adventure story.

The comment made earlier about the Wood-elves is interesting as we really are exposed to a side of the elves we don't really see in LoTR. However in The Silmarillion, the elves are far from perfect and often do indulge their greed and lust for treasure. I think showing the wood-elves as somewhat greedy and a bit impulsive at times will add greater depth to the elves as a race for the movie going audiences. If you look at PJ's movies the elves really aren't all that interesting to the average viewer because they are essentially perfect. Thranduil can be treasure hungry and still be a wise and noble Elvenking capable of great things.

[Eldorion]

I see nothing wrong with making TH as a children's story since that's what it is. It can still appeal to adults though; children's sgories are not always immature.

[Fingolfin]

What makes The Hobbit appealing as a story is the adventure and characters. If that sense of adventure is maintained, children will enjoy it. However, thinking of it in terms of a "children's movie" completely removes what makes The Hobbit great. Many elements of the book that are seen as appealing to children, the songs for instance, will not all work in the medium of film. The orcs singing like they did in the children's cartoon, would be a horrible idea and fail miserably in a movie. The Hobbit movie should be seen as a movie for adults that most children will enjoy. Not the other way around. This isn't Disney Pixar presents The Hobbit.

[Eldorion]

What makes The Hobbit appealing as a story is the adventure and characters. If that sense of adventure is maintained, children will enjoy it.

Not automatically; if The Hobbit is made notably darker it will likely not appeal to children as much even if it remains an adventure story. That is, if children are even allowed to see it.

However, thinking of it in terms of a "children's movie" completely removes what makes The Hobbit great.

So thinking of The Hobbit in terms of a movie telling a children's story (i.e., children's movie) removes what makes it great? Given that TH achieved fame and popularity as a children's story I don't think I need to point out why this makes no sense.

The Hobbit movie should be seen as a movie for adults that most children will enjoy. Not the other way around.

And this should happen ... because you say so?

[Fingolfin]

Well it really doesn't matter what I say, as I'm just a nerd on a message board, but yes that's my opinion. The label "Children's Movie" just freaks me out. I mean I like the movie Time Bandits, an example that's been thrown around on this page, but is that what I personally want done for The Hobbit movie? No, not all. I'd much rather it keep in step with the PJ movies while adding the more innocent and faerie elements of The Hobbit. The dragon slaying, the treasure, the giant spiders, and many others are all examples of the more romantic elements that The Hobbit has to make it unique from the LoTR. I'm not saying that my way is the only way to do it, I'm just saying that this approach is much more in tune with my taste in movies.

[Eldorion]

Okay, though I'd rather see The Hobbit reflect the original book than my own personal tastes.

[Fingolfin]

That's the difficulty of adapting a written text into film. What works in one medium doesn't always work in another, that's why changes need to be made. The book and the movie have to be viewed as two separate works because of this. I want the movie to be very close to the book as well, in terms of overall tone and story, but I also want it to be a good movie, I don't want to see a live action version of the 1978 cartoon that was for children. The Lord of the Rings movie franchise is already an established brand and so these two hobbit movies are going to be fairly consistent with the original trilogy in terms of visual aesthetic. They can and should be different in their own ways but consistency is important.
The book works well for children because the adventure is up to their imaginations, they get to decide how scary the spiders look or how violent the goblins are. That audience participation is removed though when the material is put into a visual medium. To have the events of The Hobbit toned down to where it is widely accepted as a children's movie betrays the original source material. The movie Batman and Robin was close to the campy comics of the 50's and 60's and look how well that came out. Some things just get completely lost in translation between text and film.

[Eldorion]

That's the difficulty of adapting a written text into film. What works in one medium doesn't always work in another, that's why changes need to be made.

You probably wouldn't believe how many times people have told me this. While it is true (and really it's fairly self-evident) it doesn't require changing the story - or making it a different kind of story. If PJ or GDT don't like the kind of story The Hobbit is they should adapt something else, or better yet make their own original story.

I want the movie to be very close to the book as well, in terms of overall tone and story, but I also want it to be a good movie

You seem to think these to some degree exclude each other, but I disagree (see below).

The book works well for children because the adventure is up to their imaginations, they get to decide how scary the spiders look or how violent the goblins are.

No, the story works well for children because it's a fun adventure story: dangerous yet overall relatively lighthearted, a developed story yet still easy enough to understand for a young child. Incidentally, that's probably why it appeals to many adults too.

To have the events of The Hobbit toned down to where it is widely accepted as a children's movie betrays the original source material.

The events of The Hobbit don't require toning down to be a children's movie; they would require active darkening to not count as one. You seem to think that all children's movies are goofy and with as much darkness (or maturity) as the average Saturday morning cartoon. This is not the case. A children's movie doesn't have to be camp or immature.