'The Lord of the Rings' Reimagined in Anime Style
No elves, no dwarves, and not a hobbit in sight: "The Lord of the Rings" returns to the big screen this month with a new Japanese anime-style movie about the warring men of J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional universe.
A Human-Centric Approach
But unlike the first "Lord of the Rings" movies — or the disappointing "The Hobbit" films that followed — there are no magical rings or all-powerful Dark Lords this time around.
A Shift in Focus
"You look at the original trilogy, you're talking hobbits and elves and dwarves and monsters," director Kenji Kamiyama told a recent press conference.
An Exploration of Human Emotions
The new film is instead "rooted in human drama and emotion... greed and power," said the Japanese artist, who has previously worked on animated versions of "Star Wars" and "Blade Runner."
Embracing Anime Aesthetics
Hollywood studio Warner Bros. announced in 2021 that the next "Rings" film would be an anime, a distinctively Japanese visual style and genre that has exploded in popularity in the West in recent years.
Delving into Tolkien's Unwritten Stories
Filmmakers scoured the vast, invented histories that Tolkien wrote as footnotes for his beloved novels.
Uncovering a Tale of Civil War
They soon homed in on a brief description of a civil war between a king and a rebellious nobleman.
Setting the Stage
"The War of the Rohirrim" is set in Rohan, the kingdom of horse-riding, Viking-looking warriors that featured prominently in Jackson's 2002 movie "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."
Returning to Familiar Locations
The animated movie revisits key locations from that film such as the epic battleground fortress of Helm's Deep and is narrated by Miranda Otto, who played a heroic female Rohan warrior, Eowyn, in Jackson's trilogy.
An Anime Interpretation with Jackson's Blessing
Jackson himself served as an executive producer for the new film, but "stepped back" from day-to-day involvement, encouraging Kamiyama to put his own anime stamp on the film, according to Boyens.
Staying True to the Tolkien Universe
"Storywise, we obviously wanted to stay true to the Tolkien universe... but at the same time staying true to what we do best which was just to make anime," agreed Kamiyama.
