[Daewen]

I believe that since Tom Bombadil's role consisted mainly of singing rather repitious songs with the words "derry dol" and "merry dol" in them for a few chapters he didn't need to be in the movie. I know that he saved the Hobbits from the Barrow Wight, but since Frodo began his journey instantly in the movie, rather than constructing a well thought out plan and leaving months later as he did in the book, it gave a sense to the veiwer that he was in a great hurry to get to Bree, and would obviously not cut through a woods...a "haunted" woods at that. Besides, as some of you may recall, Gandalf, in the movie, instructed Frodo to stick to the roads, so again going through the woods would not only take longer but now would also be disobeying Gandalf...which was not a wise thing to do in both the book and the movie. Some of you may be thinking that Tom should be in the movie just because he supplied the Hobbits with their swords and all, but Peter Jackson was able to work that into the movie anyway. Although it may have been interesting to see how Tom was portrayed in the movies, it would have made it <I>much</I> longer and it would have brushed off the sense of urgency and impending doom that Frodo's rushed departure had created.