Fan Made: Walt Disney's 'Lord of the Rings'
Filed under: Fandom, Images, Fan Made
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If Walt Disney ever got around to churning out his own version of Lord of the Rings, perhaps it would've been close to this fan-made version featuring some of Disney's iconic characters in the roles of Frodo, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf. (But where's Aragorn?) Funnily enough, there's all sorts of stories and urban legends online that tell of Walt Disney's attempts or non-attempts to adapt Lord of the Rings. Some indicate that Disney held the film rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece for 10 years before giving up and selling them over to United Artists. Others argue that Disney wanted to animate The Hobbit at one time, but couldn't get past the fact that the story didn't contain the ideal, humorous family-friendly vibe that Disney wanted for all his films.
None of these tall tales ever came with any hard proof, though, and the funny thing about it all is that Tolkien apparently despised Disney. In a letter discussing illustrations inside the American publication of The Hobbit, Tolkien noted that he would " . . .veto anything from or influenced by the Disney Studios (for all whose works I have a heartfelt loathing)." For much more on the Disney-Tolkien love (hate?) affair, check out this pretty detailed resource. View a larger version of the image above in the gallery below.
Gallery: Disney's Lord of the Rings
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2009 @ 11:54AM
Astin said...
While I doubt Disney would have brought in characters from other films, it's a cute bit of parody.
Disney had its dark moments in film - Sleeping Beauty, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lion King, Bambi, Snow White, and more all had some pretty dark and disturbing scenes. I'd almost be intrigued as to what Disney could have done with the work... it would have definitely been better than the Bakshi attempt
Reply
3-25-2009 @ 12:39PM
bill wenham said...
Considering Robin Hood, or even Tale Spin (or Duck Tales for that matter) I'm pretty sure they shouldn't be ruled out as bringing in characters from previous films.
;)
3-25-2009 @ 11:20AM
Lenore said...
Hilarious! I think the other poster is missing the joke here... I think perhaps you're missing Snow White as Arwen, and maybe Tinkerbell or The Blue Fairy as Galadriel...Maybe Aragorn may have to be Brom Bones from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow if we're going for the Golden Age of Disney.
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3-25-2009 @ 10:20PM
Team 2012 said...
The first LOTR film I remember was an animation by Ralph Bakshi.
So what's the big deal.
There's a lot of the story that is really pretty Walt-esque, actually.
Reply
3-26-2009 @ 12:06PM
Mané said...
Well Sir ,How do you do.?
I´m Mané the creator of the pic you just posted.
Great post by the way, full of interesting info,
the funny thing is that I didnt even know about the rumour.
I just came up with the joke.
Please reply to my email, and now that you have posted my image
Link my blog on your sites please, thanks.
Reply
3-26-2009 @ 12:29PM
Andrew said...
Who drew that cartoon? It's awesome.
Reply
3-28-2009 @ 3:47AM
MARgie said...
omg.....
did you even bother to ask permission to post this guys artwork? At least give cred. That's just manners. I agree, interesting information, but you can't just grab someone's art like that.
Reply