New AI-generated Lord of the Rings art reimagines all of the franchise’s major characters in the Pixar style, making the hobbits more adorable than ever. Based on the beloved novels by author J.R.R. Tolkien, the first installment in Peter Jackson’s acclaimed The Lord of the Rings trilogy brought characters like Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam (Sean Astin), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to life in live-action for the first time.
Now, AI-generated art shared by benmornin on Instagram takes these iconic The Lord of the Rings characters and imagines them as Pixar-style creations. Check out the art below:
The art features wide-eyed and smiling animated versions of Frodo, Sam, Gandalf, Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, and Arwen. The hobbits, especially, look like characters who would be right at home in a Pixar fantasy adventure.
A Lord Of The Rings Animated Movie Is A Great Idea
While Pixar may not necessarily be the best studio to bring an animated Lord of the Rings movie to life, the world that Tolkien created and Jackson subsequently imagined in live-action is ripe for further exploration in another medium. The sweeping landscapes and the array of fantasy races and otherworldly creatures like Balrogs, cave-trolls, and Orcs would all make for interesting friends and foes for the franchise’s heroes to encounter.
The core story at the center of The Lord of the Rings is also well-suited for animation, with Tolkien’s tale ultimately about the power that small folk with large hearts can have in the world. By telling the tale in an animated medium, Tolkien’s heartwarming and inspiring adventure could also potentially reach new, younger audiences who aren’t yet old enough to watch Jackson’s live-action movies.
Thankfully, Tolkien’s world is slated to be turned into an animated film with The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. The movie explores the story behind the stronghold of Helm’s Deep and its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan. It remains to be seen whether Tolkien’s original The Lord of the Rings tale will ever be re-imagined in animation, but the latest batch of AI art certainly suggests it could work.
Source: @benmornin/ Instagram
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
