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Today on Fable and the Verbivore, we’re continuing our summer of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series with a conversation comparing and contrasting the book series and the film.

Throughout this conversation, we talk about our thoughts on some of the choices that were made between the book and the screenplay. These include:

• Consolidating the timeline of the story

• Excluding the character Tom Bombadil

• Dialing the characters up, so that they contrasting more with each other

• Cutting lengthy moments of the journey or moments not integral to the main plot to streamline the narrative

• Keeping the threat of the riders present from when they leave the Shire all the way to Rivendell

• The visual translation of the internal conflict between Smeagol and Gollum

• The (somewhat) controversial choice to have Treebeard, Théoden, and Faramir all make the wrong decision first in The Two Towers

• Enhancing Eowyn’s journey and adding additional dimension to her story (especially her scenes with Théodred, Grima Wormtongue, Théoden, and Aragorn)

• Expanding Arwen’s role and making Galadrial the narrator for the past at the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring

Towards the end of this episode, we talk a little about The Hobbit trilogy and how they appear to have done the opposite that they did with The Lord of the Rings - expanding instead of contracting the story.

Next week, we’ll be sharing another episode digging further into the LOTR series and the characters.

We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

The Verbivore at one point says the name Wormwood, but she meant Wormtongue.

Here is an interesting series of video essays on the topic of why the Hobbit trilogy was so rough from a story perspective:

• YouTube “Why The Hobbit Sucks Part One: The Dwarves” Video by Just Write

• YouTube “Why The Hobbit Sucks Part Two: Tensionless Action” Video by Just Write

• YouTube “Why The Hobbit Sucks Part Three: Unresolved Plotlines” Video by Just Write

• YouTube “Why The Hobbit Sucks Part Four: Bad Romance” Video by Just Write

• YouTube “Why The Hobbit Sucks Part Five: Philosophy of Adaptation” Video by Just Write

Books and Movies Mentioned:

• The Lord of the Rings Book Set by J. R. R. Tolkien

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Directed by Peter Jackson

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Directed by Peter Jackson

• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Directed by Peter Jackson

• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien

• The Hobbit trilogy - Directed by Peter Jackson

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)