Or no Hobbits at all...

[zxcvbn]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

In any event, 'steering' was never a realistic option- PJ and/or New Line were *only* interested in being able to trumpet the Estate's 'seal of approval' for marketing purposes.

Yeesh. Why do the purists ALWAYS have to assume that the filmmakers have the worst possible attitude towards the source material and are only in it for the money?! If that's the case, then did PJ and New Line approach Alan Lee, John Howe and David Salo for the same reason: to get their endorsement of the films, being well respected in the Tolkien community? NOPE!! Maybe New Line had that kind of attitude, but there's no doubt PJ and the folks at Wingnut Films and WETA only wanted the Estate's assistance to help create a more accurate, painstaking vision of Middle-earth. Notes on Tolkien linguistics, advice on costumes, architecture etc.