History of Lotr

Legend has it that Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien of the University of Oxford was at his desk one summer's day in 1930 wearily correcting examination papers when he came upon a page in an answer-book that was left blank..

"In a hole in the ground," he wrote on the page, "there lived a hobbit."

At the time, he had no idea what a hobbit was, much less why it would live in a hole in the ground- but he had to find out. So, during his free time, always at the same desk, he developed a story about a funny creature named Bilbo who was befriended by dwarfs and faced various adventures with them in a quest to steal a dragon's gold.

When he finished writing the story, he let some of his students read it. Little did he know that one of his pupils was an employee for Stanley Unwin of the publishing firm Allen and Unwin. She introduced the book to Mr. Unwin and in 1937 Allen and Unwin published The Hobbit. Professor Tolkien was suddenly an author.

The book was an instant sensation, popular with critics and the public alike. It very quickly became a classic. Soon, readers and his publisher asked the professor for a sequel. For many years, none was ever presented. Then, in 1954, Professor Tolkien stunned the world with The Lord of the Rings. Nearly fifteen years in the making, LOTR was the polar opposite of "The Hobbit," despite being its sequel.

As professor Paul H. Kocher wrote in Master of Middle-Earth "The Hobbit is a story for children about the stealing of a dragon's hoard by some dwarves with the reluctant aid of a little hobbit. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, stretches the adult imagination with its account of a world in peril. Each work has virtues proper to its kind, but they had better be read independently of each other as contrasting, if related, specimens of the fantasy's writers art... The Hobbit was never meant to be a wholly serious tale, nor his young audience to listen without laughing often. In contradistinction, The Lord of the Rings does on occasion evoke smiles, but most of the time its issues go too deep for laughter."

It was ultimately decided by the publisher that The Lord of the Rings would be told through three separately released books due to a post World War II paper shortage. (This also had the added advantage of making more money for Allen and Unwin, though I'm sure that went completely unnoticed.)

It took a while for the public to understand LOTR, but in the 60's the popularity of the books exploded- sparked by the college students of the United States. With Tolkien's characters becoming household names, two interesting situations developed: Firstly, Tolkien found violations of LOTR's copyright increasingly present. Secondly, movie studios found LOTR increasingly intriguing. In 1969, the professor sold the movie rights to United Artists. Tolkien was happy because UA then had the responsibility of defending the property. United Artists was happy, because they felt they had made a good investment for the future.

In 1973, Tolkien died. He was 81. At about the same time, United Artists paid a director John Boorman $3 million to write a screenplay. Unfortunately, this didn't leave them enough money to make the movie. Director Ralph Bakshi, a big fan of Tolkien, told United Artists the screenplay was a disaster waiting to happen anyway. At that the time the idea was to cover the story in one live action film. Ralph argued that they should make three animated films. UA said, "Great idea. You do it." For funding, Bakshi went to Saul Zaentz, an old friend, and the two agreed to work together again.

But, because of studio pressure, the three movies soon became two. And then the two movies became one. In the end, only half the story was completed when the project was called to a halt.

The film did okay at the box office