The Lord of the Rings is one of the biggest series in fantasy, and soon, it will be exploring a new horizon. In 2024, Warner Bros. Pictures will bring Middle Earth to Japan with an anime feature that ties to Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will mark the IP’s first foray into anime, and now its director is speaking out on how it has felt tackling such a daunting project.
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The update comes courtesy of The One Ring as the popular LotR fan site heard straight from Kenji Kamiyama during a panel at Annecy Festival. It was there the Japanese director spoke at length about his role as director of the film, and Kamiyama says he first thought a Lord of the Rings anime was “impossible.”
According to Kamiyama, the biggest struggle his team faced was adapting the vast world of Middle Earth to animation. Details like the number of horses in an army’s calvary sent artists spiraling, so Kamiyama said his team had to use every trick in the book. When it came to references, the film sent out animators to observe horses and even ride them to learn how to best animate the motion.
Working with WETA, Kamiyama and his team assembled CG models for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim in the Unreal Engine. This tech was used to create rough cuts which actors would use as a reference while filming in mocap. From there, a team of animators went on to provide hybrid animation, and they used motion capture references to help streamline the animation process. After all, the actors dictated how the character moved and emoted, so animators had less guesswork to do at the drawing table.
As for where The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim stands now, Kamiyama says work is still being done. “This is probably the biggest film [I’ve] ever worked on,” the director revealed. Right now, production is still rolling ahead, so Lord of the Rings fans will have to wait a bit longer for any teaser trailers to go live!
What do you think about this update on the Lord of the Rings anime? Will you be watching? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!
