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Originally Posted by Sauron the White
davem ... and did he like the Marx Bros. movies?
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That was the implication - & why would he have such an interest in something he didn't like?
We have to get away from the idea that Tolkien was some old fogey who was opposed to cinema per se. Tolkien seems to have disliked the dramatisation of 'fantasy'/fairy story - in the main because he felt it couldn't be done convincingly (see OFS), & it seems that his opposition to his own work being dramatised was mainly down to it being altered - or 'improved' by a director/producer who thought they could do better.
CT, as I've pointed out previously, helped out the adaptors of the radio series, sending a tape of pronunciations (I've heard the first few minutes of it - entertaining in itself, as well as including some interesting asides) & was also in communication by post - according to Brian Sibley he was aware that some changes were necessary & was accepting of them. If he dislikes the Jackson movies its not because he dislikes movies, but because he dislikes
those movies. Listening to his prefaratory comments on the tape its clear he understands the necessity of adaptation for dramatic purposes, & reading Tolkien's comments on the Ackerman script its clear Tolkien himself did too.
So, if your purpose in this thread is to imply that Tolkien disapproved of film dramatisation of his work because he didn't like films its not going to work
He'd heard a(n apparently) dreadful BBC radio adaptation of LotR in the mid fifties & read Ackerman's film script, so he had good reason to take against the idea of dramatisation. Unfortunately, he didn't live to hear the Sibley/Bakewell adaptation, so we don't know his opinion of that. It would be interesting to know what CT thought of it though. As to the Bakshi movie - well apparently Priscilla liked it....