This is the stupidest thing I have read in a long time…
http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,406712~7~~,00.html
Can someone smack this William Keck guy, please?
Truly pathetic. Especially when the reverse is the truth. How do editors allow writers to get away with publishing crap like this?
It’s a movie based on a BOOK that was written long before Harry Potter was written. If anyone is copying it is Harry Potter copying LOTR, NOT the other way around.
Yeah… and I hear the Beatles ripped off their whole act from the Monkees, too.
I, for one, completely agree with William Keck. JRR Tolkien obviously invented time travel and journeyed 40-odd years into the future to steal Rowling’s work in a dastardly scheme to make millions! I mean, look at the similarities – both books have wizards! Like that would ever happen by chance!
If you want to do an actual honest to God comparison between LOTR’s and another popular series, pick up the Chronicals of Thomas Covenant. There are so many comparisons between the Land created by Donaldson and the land created by Tolkien. Obviously the main characters aren’t parallel on the surface, but even they end up sharing similarities.
But if he had a time machine, why wouldn’t he just go into the future and get some good stock picks? This way he was sure to get caught, just as soon as Rowling’s books came out.
from the link:
Actually, juding from the lawsuit against TSR that resulted in the Ents in D&D becoming treents, I would say that Tolkien DID own the patent on talking trees.
Well, at least Astin’s comment in that article seems like he has his head screwed on straight–seems like he’s commenting that HP is copying LOTR, if any copying is going on, rather than the other way around.
I suppose you could say that HP had an influence on LOTR in the sense that Peter Jackson might have decided to move Shelob to ROTK because there were too many spiders in other movies and he wanted her to get her own 15 minutes of fame. But that’s hardly copying Rowling!
Well, if I’m whooshed, so be it.
Tolkien definitely owned the patent* on talking trees being called “ents”. He just didn’t own the whole concept of talking trees.
*[sub]or whatever the legal term for it is[/sub]
Yeah, well we all know that Harry Potter (and LOTR) just stole everything from Terry Brooks’ “Shannara” series, anyways. Right? Right? Who’s with me?
: ducking :
Ow, stop hitting me!!
Weren’t there talking trees in The Wizard of Oz before Tolkien even started to write LOTR?
…and, yes, I mean “had an influence on the LOTR movies” not the books. Dear old Professor Tolkien died before anyone had even thought of Harry Potter…
I think that would be “dibs.” Or maybe “trademark.” “Copyright”?
And what about that Jesus guy? Wandering in the desert, wearing robes, using magic… he totally stole that from Tolkien.
No Jesus is completly based on that Asland dude. I mean lion.
Geez, it doesn’t sound to me like anyone was accusing anyone of intentionally copying anything. It just sounded like an article about how Peter Jackson moved the Shelob scene to the next movie to avoid being too similar to the look of another movie that was about to hit the theaters.
Actually… what I think the article is kinda sorta trying to comment on is the fact that this past Christmas’s two big fantasy blockbusters had some similar elements, to wit: weirdo CGI geekuloid creatures, animated trees, magic, wizards, monsters, and (almost) giant killer spiders.
This is exactly the sort of criticism I’d expect from some dipshit magazine written by and for people who do not read actual books or text blocks longer than, oh, say, a couple hundred words (and not even that if thair ain’t no pitchurs to go with it. How yuh know whut yer readin’ about if thair ain’t no pitchurs?)
So take it with a grain’a salt, folks. These people aren’t like you. Don’t expect them to be.
Now, here’s whay I don’t understand.
Tolkien’s stories had creatures called “hobbits”. To avoid Copyright infringement, D&D called them “halflings.”
Tolkien’s stories had creatures called “ents”. To avoid Copyright infringement, D&D called them “treants.”
Tolkien’s stories had a precious metal called “mithril”. To avoid Copyright infringement, D&D called it “mithral.”
Tolkien’s stories had creatures called “orcs”. D&D HAS ORCS IN IT!!
How in the name of Yeenoghu did TSR get away with that last one?!
Frodo jumps on his broom stick as Gandalf makes it fly to Mt. Doom. Frodo throws the ring in the thick red Lava and sighed a relief. But whats this? Gandalf has lost controll as Frodo goes out of his range. The broomstick waivers and falls swiftly into the lava, as a confused Frodo followes behind.
“Oops.” Gandalf said as he pours another drink of tea in Bilbo’s old house.