Gollum in the house!

[mollyringle]

Steve and I have finally started watching The Lord of the Rings with the kids. I have only been waiting to do this with them since before they were born.

They haven't seen or read any of Tolkien, so they went into this without any background knowledge (other than a general feel of how fantasy stories work from other series and films, which does help), but they've followed it pretty well actually. Given their untrained status, though, we're starting with the theatrical releases. Extended editions are a bit much to spring on someone the first time through.

During Fellowship, they were totally not taken in by the fall of Gandalf. One was all, "He'll use his magic to come back," and the other was like, "Totally." Then our younger kid perkily said he'd like to be the Balrog next Halloween.

Last night we finished The Two Towers, and they agree that the Ents trashing Isengard is one of the most satisfying things to watch ever. It then occurred to us to wonder: what would happen if Treebeard took the One Ring? My first flippant thought was, "Moss and lichen on EVERYTHING," but actually (of course) it turns out there is a long and interesting fan discussion about this already.

Also, I managed not to break into song at "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!", but it took effort.

Bonus material: our younger son doing his Gollum impression.

Comments

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

That kid is one heck of a voice actor, and you can tell him I said so.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I will tell him! He is at least a ham, that's for sure. :D

[dean mayes (from livejournal.com)]

It's been quite a number of years since I watched the LOTR trilogy but my son, who is 9, has recently expressed an interest in them so I'm thinking I might have to work myself up to seeing them again.

You can probably detect a little reticence here. It's just that I don't do well with films that are over two and a half hours long anymore and I don’t know if my children are at that point just yet.

Although...they do happily sit through repeated viewings of The Sound Of Music which takes like, forrrrrrrrrrever.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hah, some of those old musicals really do take forever! In any case, yeah, our household isn't great at sitting through long movies either. We've been splitting each theatrical LOTR release into three nights; installments of 45 minutes to an hour each piece. That seems to be working, although now they holler, "Nooooo!" when we say it's time to stop. Which of course is the usual reaction to anything, so, that's normal. :)

Great family activity

[darlene foster (from livejournal.com)]

What a great thing to do with your children. I would love to listen in on some of your family discussions.

Re: Great family activity

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

It is proving pretty fun! They were delighted tonight to learn that I have a (cheap) replica of the One Ring. :)

[wandererrob.livejournal.com]

Your sons Gollum impression was fantastic! :D

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I'll tell him so! :D Everyone loves a Gollum impression.

[mikailborg.livejournal.com]

"I managed not to break into song at "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!", but it took effort."

You are a stronger person than me. :)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hah, it's almost irresistible! Complete with "Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him..."

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

My kids loved LotR, movie and books. Cool that your kids loved the movies. It's always wonderful to share a love with the kids.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

It is really cool to see them getting into it so much! I've gotten my household to watch a little of Merlin, but honestly, given how tragically it ends, I almost don't want to hook them on that one and put them through it. I'll just savor my fanfic-soothed angst by myself over here. :)

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

Yeah, completely understand. You could just show them season 1-2. After that, it's just sliding down to the end. Still not over it. :(

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I could curate a selection of the funny or uplifting episodes, but they become fewer and farther between in the final seasons. On the plus side, after watching the end of Merlin, the Grey Havens in LOTR didn't seem nearly as sad anymore! :)