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J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings'', set in Middle-earth, have been the subject of various film adaptations. There were many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life in screen, some even rejected by the author himself. The first depictions of Middle-earth on film were realized in 1966 as a short cartoon film. In 1978 the first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in ''The Lord of the Rings''. The story was more or less completed with the animated television special ''The Return of the King''. In 1985, Middle-earth was depicted in a live-action film for the first time by an adaptation produced in the Soviet Union. In 1993, a live-action television miniseries titled ''Hobitit'' was aired by the Finnish broadcaster Yle. New Line Cinema released the first part of director Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series in 2001 as part of a trilogy and several actors and roles were introduced once again in a trilogy in ''The Hobbit'' film series. There have also been fan films of Middle-earth such as ''The Hunt for Gollum'' and ''Born of Hope'', which were uploaded to YouTube on May 8, 2009 and December 11, 2009 respectively. Collectively, the franchise has received a record 38 Academy Award nominations, winning 17, and one special award, also a record. Along with ''The Godfather'' trilogy, it is one of two film series to date to have received three Best Picture nominations. The third film in Peter Jackson's trilogy, ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', was the first and, as of 2014, only fantasy film to win Best Picture, as well as the second sequel to do so after ''The Godfather Part II''. Furthermore, it is currently the only threequel to win the award. Along with ''Titanic'' and ''Ben-Hur'', ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' holds the record for Academy Awards won by a single film and is the only one of the three films to win every category for which it was nominated. ==Early attempts== In 1957, Tolkien received a film proposal from Forrest J. Ackerman, Morton Grady Zimmerman, and Al Brodax. The proposed film, a mix of animation, miniature work, and live action, was to be three hours long with two intermissions. Tolkien was enthusiastic about the film's concept art, described as akin to Arthur Rackham rather than Walt Disney whose works Tolkien intensely disliked. However, Tolkien was dissatisfied with the script and the financial arrangements which would have brought him little profit. Thus the project was turned down.〔Croft, Janet B. (【引用サイトリンク】title=Three Rings for Hollywood: Scripts for The Lord of the Rings by Zimmerman, Boorman, and Beagle )〕 Tolkien criticized the script for divergence to the tone of the book (such as a "fairy-tale" depiction of Lothlórien, as well as elements cut "upon which (book's ) characteristic and peculiar tone principally depends") and character representation (such as Sam leaving Frodo to Shelob and going on to Mount Doom alone). He also took issue with dialogue changes as regards to the "style and sentiment" of characters, and with intercutting between the storylines of Frodo and Aragorn. He suggested eliminating the battle of Helm's Deep to better emphasize the defense of Minas Tirith, as well as cutting characters out instead of diminishing their roles. Tolkien protested against added "incantations, blue lights, and some irrelevant magic" and "a preference for fights".〔 In 1966 William L. Snyder commissioned a 12-minutes film of cartoon stills from Gene Deitch, as related by Deitch himself. This film was created in the Czech Republic and publicly screened in New York City.〔 Contrary to widespread belief, the film rights to ''The Lord of the Rings'' were never held by Walt Disney.〔http://www.2719hyperion.com/2009/02/myth-of-walt-disneys-lord-of-rings.html〕 In fact, Tolkien deeply disliked Disney's adaptations of fairy tales. The film rights were sold by Tolkien to United Artists in 1969. The Beatles planned to do a live-action version with Paul McCartney as Frodo Baggins, Ringo Starr as Sam Gamgee, George Harrison as Gandalf, and John Lennon as Gollum. The group approached Stanley Kubrick to direct the film. Even though he briefly considered directing the film, Kubrick turned the offer down, as he felt the trilogy was unfilmable due to its immensity.〔Interview in "Show" magazine vol. 1, No. 1, 1970.〕 Soon the plans for the film came to nothing because Tolkien didn't want the Beatles in the film. In the 1970s John Boorman was contracted by United Artists to direct an adaptation that would have collapsed the entire story into a single film. Boorman corresponded with Tolkien about the project.〔〔OUTRE: The World Of Ultramedia, issue #26〕 In the script by Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg, many new elements have been inserted or modified. Among other things, Gimli is put in a hole and beaten so he can retrieve the password to Moria from his ancestral memory, Frodo and Galadriel have sexual intercourse, Arwen is made into a teenaged spiritual guide with her role as Aragorn's love interest wholly transferred to Éowyn, and Aragorn’s healing of Éowyn takes place on the battlefield and given sexual overtones.〔〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title="The One Ring" forum thread "John Boorman's LOTR Screenplay" )〕 The project ultimately proved too expensive to finance at that time. Again collaborating with Pallenberg, Boorman later made the Arthurian epic ''Excalibur'' where he used special effects techniques and locations intended for the Tolkien project.〔〔〔 Materials pertaining to Ackerman/Zimmerman/Brodax and Boorman's treatments, as well as Ralph Bakshi's (below) are stored in the Tolkien papers collection of Marquette University.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Middle-earth in film」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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