The Tolkien Trust

Last updated
The Tolkien Trust
Named after J. R. R. Tolkien
Formation1977
TypeCharity
Company 8354834
Registration no.Charity 1150801
Legal statusActive
PurposeTo manage the Tolkien Estate
HeadquartersPrama House
Location
Coordinates 51°46′44″N1°15′57″W / 51.7788°N 1.2657°W / 51.7788; -1.2657 Coordinates: 51°46′44″N1°15′57″W / 51.7788°N 1.2657°W / 51.7788; -1.2657
Website tolkientrust.org

The Tolkien Trust is a British charity founded in 1977 [1] that manages J. R. R. Tolkien's estate (the Tolkien Estate). [2]

On 11 February 2008, together with J. R. R. Tolkien's publisher HarperCollins, it filed a suit against New Line Cinema over the profits of The Lord of the Rings film series. [2] On 8 September 2009, a settlement between the Trust and New Line was announced, clearing a potential obstacle to the making of a new film series based on The Hobbit . [3]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Shire</span> Fictional England-like home region of hobbits in J. R. R. Tolkiens Middle-earth

The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire is an inland area settled exclusively by hobbits, the Shire-folk, largely sheltered from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is in the northwest of the continent, in the region of Eriador and the Kingdom of Arnor.

J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), set in Middle-earth, have been the subject of various film adaptations, whether for cinema or for television. There were many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life in screen, some even rejected by the author himself, who was skeptical of the prospects of an adaptation. While animated and live-action shorts were made in 1967 and 1971, the first commercial depiction of the book onscreen was in an animated TV special in 1977. In 1978 the first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in the animated The Lord of the Rings.

Commentators have compared Peter Jackson's 2001–2003 The Lord of the Rings film trilogy with the book on which it was based, J. R. R. Tolkien's 1954–1955 The Lord of the Rings, remarking that while both have been extremely successful commercially, the film version does not necessarily capture the intended meaning of the book. They have admired Jackson's ability to film the long and complex work at all; the beauty of the cinematography, sets, and costumes; the quality of the music; and the epic scale of his version of Tolkien's story. They have however found the characters and the story greatly weakened by Jackson's emphasis on action and violence at the expense of psychological depth; the loss of Tolkien's emphasis on free will and individual responsibility; and the replacement of Frodo's inner journey by an American monomyth with Aragorn as the hero.

References

  1. "The Tolkien Trust - Extract from the Central Register of Charities maintained by the Charity Commission for England and Wales". Charity Commission. Archived from the original on 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2012-01-12.
  2. 1 2 "Tolkien heirs sue Lord of the Rings studio for $150m". The Guardian. 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-02-12. the Tolkien Trust ... manages the writer's estate
  3. Alex Dobuzinskis (2009-09-08). "Legal settlement clears way for "Hobbit" movie". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-09-08. The Hollywood studio behind a film based on 'The Hobbit' and trustees for author J.R.R. Tolkien's estate said on Tuesday they had settled a lawsuit that clears the way for what is expected to be a blockbuster movie based on the book.