Latest Hobbit hints from del Toro

November 4, 10:45 PMHobbits, Narnia & Spirituality ExaminerMark Sommer

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Guillermo del Toro photo from everystockphoto.com

Last week TotalFilm.com published an exclusive interview with Guillermo del Toro, the director of the upcoming Hobbit films. Although he refused to give any specific details, he did give a general impression of the direction the movies will take. Here are a few highlights.

• The movies will follow the same order of events as in the book, but will interlace scenes of Gandalf’s comings and goings, providing details that are only found in Tolkien’s other works.
• The creatures in The Hobbit are going to have, as del Toro has described it, “the same DNA” as the creatures in The Lord of the Rings, but will of necessity be a bit different in character. In the trilogy, most of the creatures were “brutish or inarticulate,” while in The Hobbit the Great Goblin and Smaug will need to be articulate. Del Toro also wants Smaug and the Wargs to have a certain majesty and beauty which will distinguish them from the creatures in the other movies. Smaug will also have a unique design features that “separate [him] from every other dragon ever made.”
• The spiders will be different than Shelob because they are tree dwellers instead of ground dwellers. “With Shelob, she was quite low to the ground so she moved like a tank. Our spiders have to feel massive but be very nimble.”
• One great problem was making the Battle of the Five Armies different from other battles which have been portrayed recently on film, including those in the Lord of the Rings. Del Toro believes they have come up with an idea that will separate this battle from others we have seen.
• In comparison to the trilogy, the two Hobbit movies will be “a bit more colourful. And a bit more operatic. And whimsical.” They will also make use of Tolkien’s awareness of the passing seasons. The Director sums it up in these words: “It has a little bit more flamboyance.”