The Lord of the Rings Adaptation Face-Off
is a lengthy essay written by My Little Raptor. Its purpose is to attempt to definitively prove which of the filmmakers who adapted J. R. R. Tolkien legendary literary work to screen did it best. While the review is one part tongue-in-cheek and one part Caustic Critic with unhealthy doses of Accentuate the Negative, it has maintained itself by being a fairly enjoyable read. It is still a work-in-progress.
This project is not about telling people that all the adaptations suck or that anyone is stupid for liking any of them. This is all just My Little Raptor's opinion.
This work may contain examples of:
- Accentuate the Negative: While the author does admit to several things that Ralph Bakshi and Rannkin-Bass did well, he concentrates most of his energy on the negative aspects of their renditions of the book.
- Adaptation Decay: The review goes out of its way to discuss which is this and which is Adaptation Distillation, and why they do or don't work. Crosses with Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole at times, especially when discussing Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings Part One and Part Two: The Return of the King which give particularly notable examples.
- Author Appeal: It's made clear from the beginning that the author is a big fan of both J. R. R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson.
- Caustic Critic: My Little Raptor is quite harsh in some of his criticism of some of the creative choices made by Bakshi and others.
- Disneyfication: The author mentions that while it happens a lot in the Rankin-Bass version and even Bakshi makes a few decisions akin to this, such as reducing Sam to odious comic relief.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: Criticized. The overdone displays of magic in the Ralph Bakshi animated The Lord of the Rings-Part One are referred to as proof that illegal substances were used behind the scenes.
- Ho Yay: An In-Universe example includes an instance where the author implies that all heterosexual love interests (Arwen and Rosie) were cut from the film so that Bakshi could insert this.
- Inconsistent Dub: The review discusses the screening which let to the
Executive Meddling of changing Saruman's name to Aruman... only to have the characters refer to him as Saruman anyway half the time. - Jerkass: In the Bakshi version, My Little Raptor describes the manner in which members of the Fellowship treat each other as "abrasive, disrespect, and unfriendly".
- Lighterand Softer: Heavily criticizes the Bankin-Bass Return of the King for taking this approach.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Deconstructed heavily while discussing the Rankin Bass version when the orcs sadly sing
"Where There's a Whip, There's a Way" as the author points out that the orcs have a deeply rooted hatred for all other life and as such destroy and ruin all in their path, are masters of physical and psychological torture, and act with the upmost sadistic cruelty towards their enemies.
