The Hobbit
Release Date To Be Announced
EDITORS
LEAD EDITOR:
Rostron2
Send me news!
E-mail me!
ASSISTING:
No one yet!
(Wanna help out?)
GOT INFO?
REGISTERIT'S FREE!
Register Now!
RECEIVE custom news
TRACK your favorites
BUILD your fan profile
POST messages
LOGIN | SIGN UP TODAY
THIS WEEK
The Twilight Saga: New Moon(11/20)
The Blind Side(11/20)
Planet 51(11/20)
MORE
NEXT WEEK
The Twilight Saga: New Moon(11/20)
The Blind Side(11/20)
Planet 51(11/20)
Ninja Assassin(11/25)
Nine(11/25)
Old Dogs(11/25)
MORE
The Hobbit
New Post Chat - Coming Soon! Submit Info Write Review Track This
BOARD
Home
  The Hobbit Forum
NEW POST
REPLY
Who's Here? None in this thread. 67 users total online. Moderators: Rostron2.
The 13 dwarves
Rostron2
Wizard

San Jose,CA
POSTS: 14614
MEMBER SINCE: 2000-09-06 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
POSTED Friday , February 17, 2006 11:25:04 AM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
One of the more difficult tasks PJ will have for making this film is what to do with the large number of dwarves in the story. There are 13 or them, and very few have much to make them "stand out" amongst the major ones.

This will be almost as difficult as making the 16 or so major characters of LOTR stand out, except that theese are all one group.

Now, Tolkien did give us easy names to remember, and each has their own particular color-coding. I know Mr. Jackson is very skilled at giving life even to small characters, but this task will be interesting.

What we know:

Thorin, Balin, Fili and Kili are sort of the major dwarves, and Bombur is easy to identify. But all we really know about the others is:

Dwalin: Balin's brother, also one of the elder dwarves that saw the dragon attack years before

Dori: A strong dwarf
Ori: Wrrites well and uses the Elvish script. He might be a good chronicler
Nori: Nothing really to distinguish him

Oin & Gloin: Brothers, good at making fire. Gloin of course is Gimli's father

Bifur, Bofur: Seem to have an affinity for the ponies, and turn out to be good climbers when pressed. Bombur is big, fat, and kind, so he's easy to pick out.

What do you think, what would you do?

Rostron

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
Edit Edit  Reply w/quote Reply w/quote
Chou_Zu
Elven King

Winchester, England, YOO-KAY,in
POSTS: 5008
MEMBER SINCE: 2002-09-04 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Saturday, February 18, 2006 08:21:01 AM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
PJ will have to make the effort to individualise each of them. In LotR a lot of the background Elves and Dwarves (the few that we saw) look very generic. Even most of the Men look the same. But if you look at the 13 Dwarves as you'd look at the Fellowship then you have to start thinking of individuals rather than just Dwarves. Real people are as varied as they come so there's no reason why Dwarves can't be.

At least there's the benefit of having different aged Dwarves with different coloured hair and beards. Costume differences can help too. They're from the Blue mountains which wasn't too prosperous at the time. Not all of these Dwarves would have the same backgrounds and be working the same jobs. And an even easier way to distinguish between them is their weaponry. They all used swords in the book, but since LotR you associate Dwarves with axes. If they mix and match, give bow and arrows to specific people then you're set. Who's Thorin? He has the sword that glows. Who's Balin? The one with the big double axe etc etc. Once you establish an association between a certain character and something, it's easy to identify them.

I mentioned it in another thread, but there's also the possibility that some of them may just be given bit parts. Some of them were near enough background characters in the book anyway, so maybe a few would just be given less dialogue and the focus brought to Thorin, Fili, Kili etc.

"Surprised to see your old nemesis, Optimus Primal? I believe we have some catching up to do. A few memory gaps to fill. Let's start with the Beast Wars. They are over. You lost."
- Megatron

edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Rostron2
Wizard

San Jose,CA
POSTS: 14614
MEMBER SINCE: 2000-09-06 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Wednesday, February 22, 2006 03:01:38 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
Good point about the weaponry. There certainly were some that used the bows (ineffectually), and they did seem to be more of the sword and knife variety of dwarf.

PJ will probably also add a measure of humor to the dwarves, maybe Bifur and Bofur are always confused for each other. (maybe by Bilbo)

"No, he's Bofur, I'm Bifur..."

At least that makes them interesting, mildly humorous, and makes them stand out a little.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
brentage5000
Elven King

Beneath the Opera Populaire,CT
POSTS: 6296
MEMBER SINCE: 2002-09-13 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Friday , February 24, 2006 07:11:41 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
Rostron2 said:

Good point about the weaponry. There certainly were some that used the bows (ineffectually), and they did seem to be more of the sword and knife variety of dwarf.

PJ will probably also add a measure of humor to the dwarves, maybe Bifur and Bofur are always confused for each other. (maybe by Bilbo)

"No, he's Bofur, I'm Bifur..."

At least that makes them interesting, mildly humorous, and makes them stand out a little.




Ah, that takes me back to the old days when I couldn't tell Merry and Pippin apart for the life of me.

If I weare a jet pilot, every time I was halfway through the flight, I'd do a nose-dive

My number? 333...only half-evil

Civilian #1: "Look, it's a bird!"
Civilian #2: "It's a plane!"
Civilian #3: "It's-"
Civilian #4: "MOVE IT, YA FREAKS, THE LIGHT AIN'T GETTIN' ANY GREENER!!"
--Amazing Spider-Man #46



This signature property of CDDA member 35

"I am not worried, Harry...I am with you."
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Rostron2
Wizard

San Jose,CA
POSTS: 14614
MEMBER SINCE: 2000-09-06 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Friday , February 24, 2006 07:38:02 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
They could certainly add a scene/flashback of when the dragon comes to the Mountain, to help distinguish some of the dwarves that were with Thorin. (Balin and Dwalin, I'm thinking)

They could also do a nice forshadowing for Balin when they are travelling to the Misty Mountains...he could look south to the Misty Mountains, and say something about Moria.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Rostron2
Wizard

San Jose,CA
POSTS: 14614
MEMBER SINCE: 2000-09-06 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Tuesday, February 03, 2009 01:11:48 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
In that web chat I posted, GDT and PJ confirmed that they are committed to the 13 dwarves. This is good news.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
dwalindeepdel
ve
Elf

Erebor,n/a
POSTS: 124
MEMBER SINCE: 2005-03-30 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Saturday, February 14, 2009 05:35:42 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
I'm glad they're going to use all of them. After all, the Fellowship had 9, and later they were meeting and having scenes with 4-5 more characters. I think they can be made different enough.

edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
JamieSage
Elf

broadway,CA
POSTS: 285
MEMBER SINCE: 2006-02-24 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Tuesday, October 06, 2009 02:29:25 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
The thing that always bothered me about the dwarves is that they were sort of incompetent and cowardly. Maybe that's because it was written as a children's book, but I think they'll need to be brought up to at least Gimli's level of skill to make them interesting.

Like Ros said in this thread, some of them are identifiable by their one trait used in the book: Strongest, Wisest, Fattest, etc.

Thorin is quite a complicated character. It's kind of like Boromir. really important to understanding the lure of treasure and dwarvish culture.

"The Taekwando X-Chick"

edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Darth Ravenous
Elf

Fort Collins,CO
POSTS: 217
MEMBER SINCE: 2007-07-10 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Tuesday, October 06, 2009 05:01:02 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
Having lots of characters is definatly a challenge, but I think they did a great job with LotR, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

"It's not the AGE it's the MILAGE." -----Indiana Jones

"My lust for power is RAVENOUS!!" ---Dak Olander

"Then that is who you shall be, rise Darth Ravenous." ------Darth Frost
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Rostron2
Wizard

San Jose,CA
POSTS: 14614
MEMBER SINCE: 2000-09-06 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Wednesday, October 07, 2009 07:53:50 AM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
Yes, but that's a good point about Thorin. He's defeinitely one of the pivotal roles in the movies. Like Boromir he's the flawed hero. A supposedly noble dwarf afflicted with the same weaknesses as his whole race.

How they play the conflict between the dwarves and the elves will be interesting.

The other part that will be tricky, but very interesting is the capture of the dwarves by the goblins. Obviously, the goblins never had any intention of allowing the dwarves to leave once captured, but that confrontation with the Great Goblin is interesting. he talks with them first before consigning them to death/slavery.

Was he reluctant to simply kill them out-of-hand because he knew something about them? Was he aware whom he had as a prisoner?

Granted Tolkien's ideas about goblins and orcs were still in the early stages. He hadn't written the full history of the dwarf and goblin wars yet, and the book was meant for children. However, it reads a little like the Isengard orcs when they captured the hobbits in Fellowship/Two Towers. They were under orders not to kill them.

I'll have to look in Tolkien's letter again, and see if anyone ever asked about the Misty Mountain goblins and any link with the Necromancer(Sauron)

Or I'm readin too much into this, and this was just a rather backwards tribe of mountain orcs that really wasn't up to speed on any world events. They only woke up to the importance of their prisoners when the sword was revealed.

Rostron

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
JamieSage
Elf

broadway,CA
POSTS: 285
MEMBER SINCE: 2006-02-24 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Friday , November 06, 2009 09:11:02 AM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
It would be interesting to see some background and history of the dwarves, like they did for the hobbits in FOTR prologue. "Miners and Craftsmen of the Mountain Halls"

I think that would help people understand why they are the only ones that woudl be considered able to take on a dragon. After all, they did that in the Silmarillion.

"The Taekwando X-Chick"

edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Chou_Zu
Elven King

Winchester, England, YOO-KAY,in
POSTS: 5008
MEMBER SINCE: 2002-09-04 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Saturday, November 07, 2009 01:38:21 PM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
It's not really that Dwarves were the only people capable, Turin Turambar slayed Glaurung and Earendil slayed Ancalagon the Black. Smaug I believe was a lesser Dragon compared to them.

It's more that these Dwarves would be the only ones with an invested enough history with Smaug who would actually be willing to take the quest. It was their home taken, their treasure stolen, their families slaughtered. It was their quest by right and that's what needs to be established.

"Surprised to see your old nemesis, Optimus Primal? I believe we have some catching up to do. A few memory gaps to fill. Let's start with the Beast Wars. They are over. You lost."
- Megatron

edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Rostron2
Wizard

San Jose,CA
POSTS: 14614
MEMBER SINCE: 2000-09-06 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Monday , November 09, 2009 08:23:46 AM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
The dwarves are an interesting race, and in this case, you won't have just one to be the comic relief. It will be interesting to see how they direct their characterizations, because they are now the majority of the characters in the story, and Bilbo is somewhat the comic relief from the serious-minded, secretive dwarves. It's easy to see why Gandalf thought highly of Bilbo and hobbits in general.

But yes, some of that backstory about the Lonely Mountain and the kingdom there (as well as Dale) will have to be brought into the story somewhere. My guess is that it will be shown as flashbacks at the Unexpected Party.

Rostron

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
Rostron2
Wizard

San Jose,CA
POSTS: 14614
MEMBER SINCE: 2000-09-06 		READ MY PROFILE
ADD TO FRIENDS
VOTE FOR ME
E-MAIL ME
REPLIED Monday , November 16, 2009 10:42:21 AM Delete post? (Moderator ONLY)
AICN is reporting that Brian Cox has been mentioned as a contender for one of the dwarves, presumably Thorin. We'll see if this proves true.

Cox is a gifted actor, and has the right combination of gruff persona and commanding presence.

Ron Perlman gets mentioned because he works with GDT a lot, but I don't see him as a dwarf

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
edit Edit reply w/quote Reply w/Quote
NEW POST REPLY
CountingDown.com © 1998-2006. All Rights Reserved.
BACK TO TOP Learn more about us. Read our terms & conditions, and our privacy policy.
Want to contact us? Click here. Lost? Try the site map.