There are few fictional worlds as expansive and popular as that of Middle-Earth from The Lord of the Rings. The stories of J.R.R. Tolkien changed the landscape of modern fiction in the 20th century, and they continue to be some of the most beloved of all time. There have been numerous adaptations of the author’s works over the years, ranging from the Hobbit animated TV special to Peter Jackson’s live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy from the early 2000s and, most recently, Amazon Prime Video’s The Rings of Power series. The desire for new Lord of the Rings materials has been consistent over the years, and fans are likely going to get a lot of it in the coming years.
Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO announced WBD’s intentions to evolve The Lord of the Rings into a cornerstone franchise, similar to what Disney has done with Star Wars. This means that fans can likely expect a lot more films, series and other content set within the world of Middle-Earth to come down the pipe sooner than later.
Interestingly, this will all be independent of the Rings of Power series, which Amazon is producing separately, and WBD will likely set these new expansions within the same continuity as Jackson’s trilogy. Throughout all of this new Lord of the Rings material that will be produced, WBD should take note of the approaches of other franchises and find some room to include an animated Lord of the Rings series. Here’s why:
Middle-Earth in Animation
This wouldn’t be the first time that the world of Middle-Earth would be brought to life through animation. In fact, it would be pretty far from it. There have previously been three major animated adaptations of Tolkien’s work, and there’s another already set for release soon.
In addition to the aforementioned 1977 animated TV special based on The Hobbit (which is currently streaming on Max, if you’re interested), there was also the theatrically-released Lord of the Rings animated movie from cult filmmaker Ralph Bakshi as well as another animated TV special that adapted The Return of the King. Looking to the future, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an anime-style prequel film that will debut at the Annecy Film Festival this summer before receiving a wide theatrical release in April 2024.
While it has been a while since the last three Middle-Earth animated features were released, all three of them proved that the characters and world that Tolkien created can thrive in animation. The medium allows for a complete embracing of the fantastical and grand-scale elements of the story and universe. Based on the concept art that has been released for The War of the Rohirrim, it seems like that film will be doing the same, while also taking a lot of visual inspiration from Jackson’s films.
It’s always a joy to enter the world of Tolkien’s works, and an animated series would allow for a much more consistent method of doing so, while also bringing along much of the awe-inspiring visuals without having to be the most expensive show ever created.
Expanding the Franchise
If WBD is really looking to build The Lord of the Rings into a wide-ranging on-screen franchise that can compete with the other major series of today, then an animated series is a small but important step to take. Star Wars, specifically, has found a lot of success with its various animated shows. Whether it be Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, or Visions, some of the best material from the galaxy far, far away has been brought to life through animation. A show like Visions has also allowed for a lot of new, original, and creative stories to be told by artists from around the world.
The animated Star Wars shows may not receive as much viewership as, say, The Mandalorian, but they have done a lot to build and maintain a passionate fan base and keep the franchise up and running during the extended periods between live-action projects.
Star Wars isn’t the only major franchise that has embraced animation, though. Star Trek has also developed several animated shows throughout its long history, ranging from Star Trek: The Animated Series from the ‘70s to newer series like Lower Decks. Beyond that, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has also recently jumped into animation for the first time with shows like What If…? and the upcoming Spider-Man: Freshman Year and X-Men ’97, and there are several animated shows set within the world of Game of Thrones in development at WBD as well.
The benefits of developing these animated shows are clear; they are cheaper to produce than the big-budget live-action series, they allow for more creative experimentation, and they can expand the franchise’s reach to new audiences that may not already be on board.
More Stories to Tell
Finally, one of the biggest reasons why we would love to see an animated series set within the world of The Lord of the Rings is simply because there are so many stories within Middle-Earth that have not gotten their due yet. Tolkien’s writing expands much further than just The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings books. The lore of Middle-Earth and Arda is some of the deepest and most expansive in modern fiction, and the films and series so far have just scratched the surface of it.
Books like The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, and The Book of Lost Tales have been largely untouched by the on-screen adaptations of Tolkien’s work. An animated series could take on any number of untold stories, ranging from the wars of the First Age to the travels of Aragorn, the arrival of the Wizards to Middle-Earth, or even the world’s creation myth as it is told in The Silmarillion.
Even beyond that, there are also a lot of loose ends and unexplored areas of Tolkien’s writing that could be worth exploring in new animated shows. One such idea is a series that follows the journeys of the two Blue Wizards, who travel into the East of Middle-Earth in order to resist the rise of Sauron from there.
Very little is actually known about what adventures the Blue Wizards had, so that gives a writer and creative team a lot of freedom with telling whatever type of story they would like. Stories like this are obscure enough within the overall Middle-Earth mythos that they likely would never receive a full live-action film or series on their own, but they could thrive in animation.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
