‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ producer Philippa Boyens.
Opening in theaters on December 13th is the new animated movie ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim‘, which was directed by Kenji Kamiyama (‘Blade Runner: Black Lotus’) and produced by ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy co-writer Philippa Boyens, who also helped develop the story. The voice cast includes Brian Cox (‘Succession’), Gaia Wise (‘Last Chance Harvey’), Luke Pasqualino (‘Snowpiercer’), and reprising her role as Éowyn from the Peter Jackson movies is Miranda Otto.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer and producer Philippa Boyens about ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’, returning to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, her vast knowledge of his work, the source material that inspired the movie, and the challenges of making an animated ‘Lord of the Rings’ film.
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A Scene from New Line Cinema’s and Warner Bros. Animation’s epic anime adventure ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Moviefone: To begin with, what was it like for you to return to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and how did your vast knowledge of his work help inform you while making this animated movie?
Philippa Boyens: It’s been a joy going back. It’s been kind of a gentler sort of dipping my foot back in the waters kind of moment than having to stare down the barrel of a big, huge epic trilogy. So that was nice. Also getting to work with Kenji Kamiyama, who I think is a genius visual master, has been lovely because he had such a sense of what he wanted to reach for, but he was also, at the same time, collaborative. He’s a writer himself, and so that made the process of finding these characters, the process of looking at the pace of the film and the storytelling feel natural. He had a natural facility with it. So that side of it was easy. In terms of coming back into the world and bringing what knowledge I had of it with me, it was a sort of a little bit of a mixed bag. Because, sure, I had a depth of knowledge of how Tolkien tends to work on film, that heightened language and how to kind of use it, and what felt authentic and what didn’t feel authentic. Then said against that, I had absolutely zero understanding of anime, except beyond what a normal person would have received as an audience member. So that was a big learning curve for me, but it was kind of wonderful to experience. I must be honest and say there were lots of times when I would look at the boards and I was like, “I don’t know what I’m looking at. What am I looking at? I don’t understand.” There’s a different rhythm to cutting things in anime, which I’ve now fallen in love with and understand that process. I was coming very much with a live action eye, and then you begin to understand, “Oh wait, anime doesn’t work that way,” and that it’s more of a dance. It’s a dance that requires you to truly understand the form that you’re working in and that the way in which, you’re not going to be able to push in on live expression or eyes. So, it’s how Kamiyama moves the camera, how he moves the characters in relation to each other. Then I became obsessed with it because I would see these boards come to life, and it was slightly miraculous, and it was all so beautifully hand drawn.
Hera voiced by Gaia Wise in New Line Cinema’s and Warner Bros. Animation’s epic anime adventure ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MF: Finally, can you talk about creating the story for ‘The War of the Rohirrim’ and specifically what source material you drew from?
PB: So, we went into the appendices. Once they had asked us what we think about anime, this story immediately popped up into my mind. I went back to the appendices where there’s about two pages with a little bit more spread in a couple of other places in the appendices of this story of Helm Hammerhand. At the heart of this story, or at the very beginning of the conflict of this story, is an unnamed female character and, of course, immediately your mind starts thinking, “Wow, what if we named her? What if we followed her? What if we explored what she was going through?” Because she is the beginning of the conflict of the story. She starts as this point of contention between these two great Rohirrim Lords. One is a king, one is a pretender, probably, to the throne, or at least would see his son on that throne, and she has no agency in this moment. So, it was immediately, “Well, what would she feel? What is she thinking?” Then our next approach was to go back into some of the histories of women in medieval times, women who would’ve reflected some of the Anglo-Saxon nature of the Rohirric people that Professor Tolkien would’ve drawn threads from. As soon as we did that, there was a wealth of characters and women that you could look at and draw upon, and it just started to grow. I think a great story does that. It grows in the telling. Professor Tolkien, literally, said that himself. It’s the tale that grew in the telling.
“Hope has yet to abandon these lands.”
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2 hr 14 minDec 13th, 2024
183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy, a sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of… Read the Plot
What’s the story of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’?
‘The War of the Rohirrim’ adapts a story from the history of the kingdom of Rohan, described by writer J.R.R. Tolkien in the appendices to ‘The Lord of the Rings’.
This movie is set around 200 years before the War of the Ring, a.k.a. the conflict against Sauron detailed in Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ films.
We’re introduced to the legendary king known as Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox). When Freca (Shaun Dooley), the chieftain of neighboring Dunland proposes that his son Wulf (Luke Pasqualino) wed Helm’s daughter Hèra (Gaia Wise), Helm reacts badly. He strikes Freca dead with a single punch and Wulf vows revenge.
A few years later, Wulf returns with an army of Dunlendings, and brings Rohan to its knees. Helm and his people seek refuge in the fortress that will one day be named Helm’s Deep in his honor.
Who is in the voice cast of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’?
New Line Cinema’s and Warner Bros. Animation’s epic anime adventure ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,’ a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright: © 2024 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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