In the first of five special episodes to celebrate this podcast's 300th episode, focused on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, this episode summarises how Tolkien's life experiences, from childhood tragedies to the horrors of war, deeply influenced the themes of his stories. They reflected the complexity of human nature, shaped his creation of Elvish languages, and how Tolkien's love of linguistics led to Middle-Earth - the home of his beloved Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, but also the world he then extended from The Hobbit to create The Lord of the Rings.
With several failed attempts struggling to adapt the "unfilmable" material, including one which would have starred The Beatles, animator Ralph Bakshi had first expressed an interest in making a version of The Lord of the Rings in 1957. It would take twenty years for him to get his opportunity, but even then the Dark Lord's forces were against him.
Enter producer Saul Zaentz, who stumped up the cash to buy the rights to Tolkien's work, and allowed Bakshi control over his ambitious, passionate attempt to make an animated version of the books, in two parts.
Bakshi would choose to shoot an entire live-action film first to use as a visual reference to rotoscope the animation, which was a controversial, expensive and time-consuming choice, but it would lead to a young Peter Jackson becoming inspired to read the novels and find out more...
I would love to hear your thoughts on The history of The Lord of the Rings & The Lord of the Rings (1978) [Part 1 of 5] !
Verbal Diorama is now an award-winning podcast! Best Movie Podcast in the inaugural Ear Worthy Independent Podcast Awards and is also now nominated for the Earworm Award at the 2025 Golden Lobes.
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ABOUT VERBAL DIORAMA
Verbal Diorama is hosted, produced, edited, researched, recorded and marketed by me, Em | This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.
Theme Music: Verbal Diorama Theme Song. Music by Chloe Enticott - Compositions by Chloe. Lyrics by Chloe Enticott (and me!) Production by Ellis Powell-Bevan of Ewenique Studio
Patrons: Claudia, Simon, Laurel, Derek, Cat, Andy, Mike, Luke, Michael, Scott, Brendan, Lisa, Sam, Jack, Dave, Stuart, Nicholas, Zo, Kev, Pete, Heather, Danny, Aly, Stu, Brett, Philip M, Xenos, Sean, Ryno, Philip K, Adam, Elaine, Kyle & Aaron.
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