I have often stated on the board that in my opinion the best aspect of Peter Jackson's adaptations of LotR is that they make the books more accessable to new fans. The films are, if you like, a very successful recruitment device - and many people have read and enjoyed the books for the first time, having enjoyed the films.
What struck me about that (out of the blue, for some reason) is that in many ways he resembles Bastian, from "The Neverending Story"!
Skip this paragraph if you know the above film!
If you are unfamiliar with that story, it concerns a boy called Bastian who starts to read an old book. In the book, the world ("Fantasia" I think) is being comsummed by what is called "The Nothing". This, shown as a lightning filled swirling fog, is gradually covering all the world - destroying everything it encounters (even the world itself, it doesn't leave devastation behind - it leaves absolutely nothing, blackness). Fantasia is described as the place where everybodies fantasies are (steady - not those ones), and The Nothing is encroaching essentially because kids just weren't believing fairy stories or reading any more (pesky computers). Anyway, characters in this book seem aware of him and he gets more directly involved in the story and only he can save Fantasia from The Nothing.
This is where I see the parallel with Peter Jackson - although many others do it, in many ways, the way he has drawn the attention to possibly 100,000's of new people to Middle-Earth can only be an important victory in it's own battle against it's own Nothing.
NB - Yup, I know Tolkien is read all over the world by millions would not be likely to vanish from bookshelves any time soon (or at all), but you get my point.
"Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot."- Charles Chaplin
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Well, Tolkien being read all over the world is beside your point...before the films if I walked into any Barnes & Noble or Borders, there might or might not be a bunch of Tolkien, and it would be just tucked away in Fantasy and SciFi without any kind of distinguishing oomph. You know, I'd want to replace my worn and frayed copy of ROTK and find that they had three copies of The Hobbit, one of The Two Towers and five copies of Farmer Giles of Ham. Oh, and in the calendar section they'd have a Tolkien monthly calendar with art from Alan Lee, John Howe and others.
Around the release of the last film, our local Borders had a huge display of not only the LOTR books (in several styles) but all kinds of supplemental reading. Other books on Middle Earth, biographies, books of maps, books on the making of the film, The Annotated Hobbit, books of artwork, books on photography from the sets, critical essays...the works.
As far as being Bastian, well, I never saw the film, but I could see Peter Jackson sitting on that flying beastie from the commercials. I can't see Fran there, though.
Don't get me started on the title of The Neverending Story. 
Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.
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Indeed, yes - it has been far easier to buy more obscure Tolkien books since the films started coming out.
You would not believe how posh an edition of The Hobbit I managed to get my paws on. Good on ya Pete, mate.
"Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot."- Charles Chaplin
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As far as being Bastian, well, I never saw the film, but I could see Peter Jackson sitting on that flying beastie from the commercials.
Don't get me any photoshop ideas.
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LOL, go for it, Gosh! That would be cool!
Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.
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I like that connection. Tolkien wasn't exactly in danger of fading out of sight, but the sales of the books jumped about 130% after the release of the first movie. And like others have said, when going into a bookstore before the movies to find copies of the books, or others by Tolkien, there was a tendency to leave empty-handed because they just weren't there. And now he's everywhere--and I heartily approve.
What I love about The Neverending Story is how the movie embraces the imagination and sees it as a vital part of life and growing-up. There is often such a emphasis in every-day life to be practical and grounded and to make kids mini adults, instead of allowing them time to be kids.
I would like to step out of my heart and go walking beneath the enormous sky.
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Hey Lianachan,
How are you doing.... you weren't watching the "Neverending Story" on channel 5 yesterday were you? Anyway I can certainly see where you are coming from I remember when I got my first copy of "Unfinished Tales" I had to actually order it from the bookshop as they only had the "Hobbit" and "LOTR" tucked away in the back so PJ has certainly through the medium of the movies made the books more available to the masses. I also think that what he has succeded in doing is making the books atractive to the people that when they saw "LOTR" instantly switched off because they classed it as just another SF & Fantasy novel. As for protecting the book from the nothing perhaps it is not the book that he is protecting from the nothing perhaps it is the minds of those that he has managed to open to reading the trilogy and opening thier minds and imagination to a whole knew world, so in a way I suppose I would see PJ as rather than the being "Bastian" more a representation of the book that "Bastian" reads in the "Neverending Story" as in the film that is the instrument of liberation of "Bastian's" mind.
Don't know if that made any sense at all but let me know.
BTW I'm now going to have to  you as I cant get that blasted theme tune out of my head.....
The Neverending Stoorrrryyy, nanananananananana. The Neverending Stoorrrryyy, nanananananananana
Aaarrrghh make the pain go away please even the nothing is preferable than having that go through my head all day  
www.oxfam.org Lets give peace a chance  !
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Lianachan
(Mon Jul 14 00:34:09)
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 UPDATED Mon Jul 14 00:41:36 |
That must be why it popped into my head! Thanks! I didn't watch it, but I noticed it when I was searching through the listings.
Apologies for implanting the theme. Why don't you think of the theme from Roobarb and Custard instead?
INFECTIOUS MUSIC ALERT - DO NOT FOLLOW THIS LINK http://www.roobarbandcustard.co.uk/preview.html
"Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot."- Charles Chaplin
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"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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sinaes
(Tue Aug 5 01:48:36)
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I'm like a good haines t-shirt: tagless 
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 Oog make mission statement.
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Wow. Yea, never ending story is awesome. Hmm... ever seen The Pirates Of Black Water? Its a cartoon set in colonial days and 'the nothing' is this mysterious 'black water' that just consumes everything. Pretty good for a kids cartoon.
Oh, and I guess Pointer Wars too... a guy parodied Star Wars in C++ code. Everything was being thrust into the 'void' by darth, ahh, something, by assigning object to point to null. Its, umm, pretty fantastic really. Theres a scene where they try to save objects (ie: people from star wars) by copying their addresses and copying them to the HDD. Its geek humor/writing to the max. Anyway. :)
When you download MP3's, you're downloading COMMUNISM!!!
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