Suite101 article: If I only had a Bombadil...

[Michael Martinez]

A discussion of Tom Bombadil and his importance to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Should fans hope to see Bombadil in a Fellowship of the Ring Dvd?

www.suite101.com/article....kien/52486 (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tolkien/52486)

www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/tolkien (http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/tolkien)

[Film Hobbit]

And why would fans think they'd see a character that was NEVER included in the movie on a DVD? Its not like they cut him out, he was never there to start with.

[Michael Martinez]

One should perhaps allow for the fact that it was Peter Jackson himself who originally suggested the idea.

[Film Hobbit]

Right... but again, I ask, how can a scene which was never shot be included in the movie?

Has it been indicated that PJ will be shooting extra footage just for the heck of it? Seriously, I'm curious as to where you think they will get it.

[arynetrek]

it seems to be "The Thing" with DVD releases of popular movies to include "Bonus Footage" - interviews with actors, directors, etc. or add new scenes (like in the new releases of Jurassic Park & Lost World) so i don't think it's farfetched to think that PJ&co. MIGHT do it, but i doubt they will. for the Old Forest alone, they'd have to

- hire extra actors to play Bombadil, Goldberry, & the Wights
- do new special effects for Old Man Willow & the Wights
- prepare or build 2+ new sets (Old Forest, Barrow-Downs, inside the barrow)
- get new props, costumes...
- hire the ponies & their trainers for extra scenes
- get the hobbit actors to spend another 2 weeks or so working
- get crews, cameras, lights, etc. & get them to teh sets (if they're filming on location)
- set aside extra days for filming
this all could get very expensive. but this movie is turning out to be such a spectacular, you never know...

personally i'd love to see Bombadil & the Barrow-downs in the movie (or DVD). especially if they do a great job on the rest of the movie.

aryne *

[Film Hobbit]

Exactly, it would take a massive amount of work and money just
to add an extra scene onto a dvd... I don't see how it could
be possible.

[Thoric]

It seem that the Old Forest including Tom Bombadil and everything else in there gets left out of every movie/television/radio version of LotR.

Why is that? Just because one producer cut it out means that everyone else gets to?

The BBC radio version of LotR leaves it out completely, so did the animated movie of The Fellowship of the Ring... and now when we think someone is going to do it right... it's still left out.

What's really odd is that a little book I have at home entitled, "Bored of the Rings" -- a parody of LotR includes a parody of the whole Tom Bombadil section... as small as this book is, they did not cut it out.

In my opinion (and many others), a perfect rendition of LotR would not cut out a single line of dialogue from the book.

Unfortunately (for some) this would end up making each movie five hours long... BUT... if each part was split into two ... as the book is (The Fellowship of the Ring = Book 1 & 2, The Two Towers = Book 3 & 4, The Return of the King = Book 5 & 6), then each "book" would be 2 1/2 hour long ... Perfect... six parts instead of three.

[arynetrek]

in a similar debate earlier in the fall, Gilthalion was talking about how the chapter "the council of elrond" took about an hour to read aloud. that is the longest chapter & most exposition in the book, & so they SHOULD spend a lot of time on it in the movie, but because of this the movie for Book II will be at least 3-4 hours long, & the other 5 will probably a similar length. just a thought.

Thoric -
i noticed the abscence of Tom before, but forgot about it until you mentioned that. good point. hm hoom...

aryne *

[Michael Martinez]

I have to apologize to everyone for not responding to these threads. I've been working on two massive projects for Xenite.Org, including the complete reformatting of well over 25,000 messages for our forums, and I have had to ignore many discussions across the Internet.

Anyway, Bombadil was included in the FIRST BBC radio adaptation, and he was also included in the first screenplay (the Morton Grady Zimmerman script that Tolkien ripped to shreds).

People who insist that Bombadil adds nothing dramatically to the story are simply wrong. It requires considerable effort to take him out, as you have to change the story in several other places in order to eliminate him.

The inclusion or exclusion of Bombadil is purely a matter of personal preference, and there are no dramatic requirements which force the cutting of Bombadil from the story. Nor is he expendable.

Out of three radio adaptations, 1 kept him in, 2 got rid of him. Out of three movie treatments, 1 kept him in, 2 got rid of him.

So, Bombadil is 2 for 6.

[Film Hobbit]

Yes, but Michael, you still haven't answered the question about where the heck they would get the footage? Most directors aren't in the habit of constructing massive sets, hiring tons of actors and support, and spending massive amounts of money on special effects for things they NEVER plan to include in their movie only to put a scene on a dvd.

Most extra DVD footage is footage of things that were originally filmed for the movie but was cut out in editing. This is not the case with Bombadil because he was never intended to be included in the film to begin with... this whole discussion just seems a bit pointless since we are talking about something we all already know can't happen.

[Gilthalion]

Actually, it took me TWO hours to read THE COUNCIL OF ELROND.

Unfortunately, Bombadil CAN be cut without TOO much damage to the entire story. It is much better with Bombadil, in my opinion, and if they film extra scenes for a DVD, or a future cinematic re-release, etc., I'm more than certain they could still turn a profit.

I don't think discussions of this sort are entirely pointless.

It might encourage Peter Jackson to actually do something of the sort!

Longshots sometimes hit their mark!

[Michael Martinez]

Filming will continue for several months (location filming is ending, but studio filming continues). And then there is all the CGI work that remains to be done.

Could they do it if they wanted to? I don't know. But it's never too late for Bombadil.

And if he doesn't appear in these movies, in any version, there will always be the next time someone adapts the story. And the time after that.