Del Toro Wants Puppets to Invade “The Hobbit”; Plus, Andy Whitman on Great Christian Rock Albums

Last updated on: March 16, 2013 at 11:05 am by Jeffrey Overstreet

Del Toro Wants Puppets to Invade “The Hobbit”; Plus, Andy Whitman on Great Christian Rock Albums 2013-03-16T11:05:57-06:00 Jeffrey Overstreet

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

At Arts and Faith, Peter Chattaway comes up with two interesting links on The Hobbit.

The first one is an interview, in which Del Toro says things that make me want to cheer.

The only thing I will be pushing for more in these films that the other three are full animatronics and animatronic creatures enhanced with CGI, as opposed to CGI creatures themselves. We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap ten years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for virtual reality.

Fantastic. The Dark Crystal remains a wonder two decades after its arrival, but no movie since then has taken puppets and animatronics much farther than that. CGI is wonderful, but I think it has cheated us out of some of the magic that Jim Henson’s workshop does so well. CGI Yoda never had the magic of Empire Strikes Back Yoda. I can’t wait to see what Del Toro does with this.

He also says:

Another thing people will notice, at the beginning of the film will be the palette, that will be slightly different, the world will be the same but it will be a more ‚Äògolden‚Äô world, a more wide-eyed world. But by no means will we depart from the canon, we will take the three previous films as canon. When I become part of a world that I love, such as this, I really come with a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, and we know we are recreating and creating a world that is part of the mythos of millions of people and we will approach it as passionately and respectfully as it needs to be taken.

And then:

Do you have any roles cast?

… I had the most charming meeting with Sir Ian, and all bureaucracy pending, he‚Äôs on board, as is Andy Serkis.

Good. The Hobbit is a children’s story. It shouldn’t have the fierce, dark tone of The Lord of the Rings. It should be lighter, more inclined to moments of wonder than terror. And, as Greg Wright has so rightfully insisted, the goblins that attack Bilbo and company are *not* the Uruk-hai.

Then, Chattaway offers up Andrew O’Hehir’s commentary, in which he expresses why he’s really worried about Del Toro’s massive two-film deal. I find myself in full agreement.

‚20 more great Christian rock records

Andy Whitman submits 20 of his own favorite albums to demonstrate that there are indeed some great Christian rock records.

Blog

Andy Whitman

Contemporary Christian Music

Previous Post

April 25, 2008

Stephen Lamb wraps up Calvin-fest coverage

Next Post

April 28, 2008 End of "The Road" (in Pittsburgh, Anyway)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Bloggers on "Through a Screen Darkly" Browser Coming Soon Endorsements Fiction Books Film Forum Film Reviews Inspirations Interviews Journal Kindlings Muse Movie buzz Music Reviews Non-Fiction Books radio Reviewers on "Through a Screen Darkly" The Auralia Thread Through a Screen Darkly Through a Screen Darkly - Bonus Materials Top 10 (or 20 or 100) lists Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 July 2003 May 2003 March 2003 September 1999

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Elisha heal by throwing salt into it?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A spring of water River Jordan A fig tree A pot of stew