S creen Rant interviewed the cast and creatives of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim at New York Comic-Con. They discuss what they are most excited for long-time Tolkien fans to get to see in the upcoming animated film, as well as what it means to them that this movie will be the introduction to the fandom for so many. The creatives talk about adapting just a handful of pages of text, while the cast teases if they would like to reprise their roles in live-action.

Gaia Wise Hopes The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim’s Hera Inspires Young Girls

“You can also still be incredibly powerful even if you’re scared.”

Gaia Wise Hopes The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim’s Hera Inspires Young Girls

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Screen Rant: What was your reaction when you first saw your character, Hera?

Gaia Wise: My aunt, who was one of my best friends, unfortunately has died. She had this massive ginger, beautiful, we called it blorange hair. I saw that and I went, okay. It felt, even without them knowing it, like this little nod, and that made me so happy. I mean, she just looks great. I just hope that I have an ounce of her bravery. But when I saw her properly come to life in the first, even four minutes of the film when she’s on Asherah, and she goes to the eagles, it just took my breath away.

Screen Rant: What do you hope that young girls take away from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim?

Gaia Wise: That bravery and vulnerability can coexist. That it’s okay to be scared. You can also still be incredibly powerful even if you’re scared.

Luke Pasqualino Says Family Both Bonds and Divides Wulf & Hera In The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

“It comes to fruition that they were probably not as strong as he once thought they were.”

Luke Pasqualino Says Family Both Bonds and Divides Wulf & Hera In The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

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Screen Rant: What can you tease about Wulf’s journey in this film?

Luke Pasqualin: He has a quite a tempestuous journey. I think his relationship with Hera is, it’s tested. It comes to fruition that they were probably not as strong as he once thought they were. They’re childhood friends. They’re probably bonded by the by the fact that they never really had that mother figure in their lives. I think that’s the one thing that bonds them is also that family connection that they both have. It’s the thing that kind of divides them in the end as well.

Writers Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou Say Tolkien’s Dense Writing Helped Them Create This Film Out Of A Handful Of Paragraphs

“You start understanding why there are trilogies upon trilogies.”

Writers Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou Say Tolkien’s Dense Writing Helped Them Create This Film Out Of A Handful Of Paragraphs

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Screen Rant: How difficult is it adapting two pages into a movie?

Phoebe Gittins: That’s his strength, it really, truly is, the world building. It’s so fun to revisit the text because I had read it as a child, I mean I grew up on the sets, I grew up with these films, but I hadn’t been back to the books in a long time. So to look at it with this lens and treat it almost like a piece of history, you forget, it feels real. You forget it’s fiction. That was really cool.

Arty Papageorgiou: It’s quite funny because a lot of the questions we get is like, how difficult is it to extend something short into something long like a whole movie, and it was actually the opposite problem.

Phoebe Gittins: We get it, we’re like, I see why it’s always three.

Arty Papageorgiou: You start understanding why there are trilogies upon trilogies. That starts to make sense because his writing’s so dense and so rich and just so full of life that it is difficult to wring yourself out.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Joseph Chou & Kenji Kamiyama Are Thrilled To Introduce The Lord Of The Rings To A Whole New Generation

“How do we expand that, and how do we expose it to the younger generation, and how do we create an entry point for them as well? I think that’s one of the reasons why this project was given its birth.”

Joseph Chou & Kenji Kamiyama Are Thrilled To Introduce The Lord Of The Rings To A Whole New Generation

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Screen Rant: What does it mean to both of you that this could very well be the introduction for a whole new generation to Lord of the Rings?

Joseph Chou: I think one of the reasons why this project was given a go, and I think that’s in a lot of people’s minds, why anime? We get that a lot. The reason for that is because children are growing up on steady exposure to manga and anime, unlike more adult generation who might be a fan, who might be a casual viewer, but not really from the background of the anime and manga, just not experiencing it in the background.

But Lord of the Rings being, there are fantastic films by Peter Jackson, but that was 30 years ago. So how do we bring this back, and how do we start this again? I think that was the big question that must have been in the minds of the studio. When we got this offer, I think the idea was to try and broaden the appeal because, yes, of course, the movies, yes. But it’ll have to come with certain built-in expectations of fans who have seen it before.

How do we expand that, and how do we expose it to the younger generation, and how do we create an entry point for them as well? I think that’s one of the reasons why this project was given its birth. That’s how I see it. And hopefully, you will enjoy it because we’ve done faithful work to the movies that you love and the Tolkien that you love, but also for your kids, it’s a good entry point for them to come in and then enjoy that universe with you all over again.

Kenji Kamiyama: I think animation, by itself, as a medium, it’s got its own set of fans, and it’s got its own set of visual expression, and people will love it. One of the things I think that’s constantly being discussed is how do we introduce this wonderful thing to a new audience? Part of that is not just generational thing, but for people who love animation and who are interested in the Tolkien universe being expressed in this way. I mean, that’s a new frontier. So I think, for this film, that’s the new possibility that we’re introducing. Look, we can open this to a new way of visually expressing the wonderful world of Tolkien. That’s how I see it.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Philippa Boyens Explains Why Anime Was The Perfect Medium For The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

“You need that solidity underneath the storytelling where this feels, OK, yeah, it’s fantastical, but it’s real.”

Philippa Boyens Explains Why Anime Was The Perfect Medium For The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

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Screen Rant: What do you think it was about this story that not only made it perfect for adapting, but adapting into an anime?

Philippa Boyens: I think there’s a tradition in Japanese filmmaking. There’s a kind of a truthfulness to it, which is kind of interesting when you actually think, oh, wait, truthfulness? We’re dealing with fantasy. But actually, you need that. You need that solidity underneath the storytelling where this feels, OK, yeah, it’s fantastical, but it’s real.

On some level, it’s got to be real. The performances all have to come from a very real place. Even if it’s an orc. And so, yeah, part of it was that, I think, was that sort of feeling that, OK, we’re not dealing with dark lords. We’re not dealing with rings of power. We’re dealing with the world of men. We’re dealing with a story in which people are basically tearing themselves apart. I find that really intensely dramatic. Within that conflict, there are nested layers of loyalty, honor, all of these things that speak to, again, the great tradition of Japanese storytelling.

And then when Kenji Kamiyama said he was interested in doing it, it was like, OK, it’s a done deal. We’ve got to do it now. I want to see this movie.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

As A Life Long Tolkien Fan, Jason DeMarco’s Decision To Be A Part Of The War Of The Rohirrim Was Easy

“I feel like it’s a full circle moment for me.”

As A Life Long Tolkien Fan, Jason DeMarco’s Decision To Be A Part Of The War Of The Rohirrim Was Easy

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Screen Rant: What was it that drew you to want to be a part of this project?

Jason DeMarco: Just being a Tolkien nerd who started with the Hobbit film, the 70s Hobbit film, I feel like it’s a full circle moment for me.

Screen Rant: What does it mean to you that this movie could very well be the introduction for a new generation?

Jason DeMarco: It makes me so happy. Honestly, that Hobbit film got me into Tolkien and is part of who I am today. And the idea that we could maybe do that for other people is why you get into this for a living. It’s why you start doing this. It’s the hope that you can inspire some people the way you were inspired.

Source: Screen Rant Plus

About The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan.

A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg–a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim comes to theaters December 13.