Just curious if this is how anyone else discovered Tolkien. I remember watching this trilogy (the library where I grew up had the whole set) when I was 8 or 9, and it sparked an interest in Tolkien when I was old enough to handle the books. I'm grateful to these movies for that, no matter how bad they may be.
I think I'm an optimist, because I see her c-cups as half full.
-Dr. Gregory House
Oh yeah. My father gave me the Hobbit VHS probably before I could even read! I eventually got the other movies and finally read all the books.
Don't you want to become one with me? To be of one mind and body?
Before I ever started school I was watching these at my Grandmother's house. I was thrilled to discover there wer books when I reached a literate age.
"Do the chickens have large talons?"
My father was always a fan of Tolkein's work and would play both the Rankin Bass and Batovsky films for myself and my brother. No matter how epic and loyal to the books the Jackson films are, there's always a place in my heart for the animated classics.
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I was already 17 when the animated Hobbit originally aired. I discovered Tolkien years earlier through the "Riddles in the Dark" chapter of The Hobbit included in a 4th Grade reading book.
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - Adam Savage
Yes, I sure did. While I was into Science Fiction, I wasn't much into fantasy. When I saw ROTK in I had my Mom pick up the books for me. I actually got The Two Towers first and read that, the ROTK before reading Fellowship. Then The Hobbit. It was many years later when I finally saw the RB Hobbit. I was such a Tolkien nerd, I brought one of these books to read on our high School senior trip!
shareMy grandparents had the vhs of The Hobbit and that's what got me into the world of Tolkien, as I got older I found Return of the King in the library and was later told that there was another film in between called Lord of the Rings and got that.
As I've gotten older I still generally love The Hobbit and think it's great, Lord of the Rings has just aged horribly for me and I don't much care for it now. Return of the King has aged somewhat and it's flaws are much more apparent but overall I still enjoy it.
I was about the same age as you when i found The Hobbit in the children's section of my local library ...that hooked me but the other books were in the adult section and at that time children were not allowed to take books from there..bummer :(
lucky for me though the librarian was a Tolkien fan and let me use the adult section ...yahhay :)
As an added bonus it also meant i now had access to the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs,Robert E Howard(also in adult section) and everything in the SF section of the library which i am eternally grateful for