Under the direction of award-winning filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, New Line Cinema’s original anime feature “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” returns audiences to the epic world brought to life in “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy, based on the revered books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Though not the first time the Tolkien world has been animated, this is the first time it has been rendered in beautiful anime style. It is also the first story from the Tolkien realm with a heroine leading the charge.
HÉRA voiced by GAIA WISE in “THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM.” Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Kamiyama says, “In Japanese animation, it’s not uncommon for a female protagonist to be the main character, but it’s more rare in the live-action films made from The Lord of the Rings. Our film has a strong female lead in Héra, and our story is narrated by the noble Tolkien figure Éowyn, so women are very well represented. I think there are a lot of fans who really like Tolkien’s original work, so I hope those people will enjoy it. Making this movie has been a fun challenge.”
Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg—a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.
(L-r) HÉRA Voiced by GAIA WISE, HELM HAMMERHAND voiced by BRIAN COX, HALETH voiced by BENJAMIN WAINWRIGHT and HAMA voiced by YAZDAN QAFOURI in “THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM.” Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Kamiyama’s producing team, beginning with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Philippa Boyens, who crafted the screenplays for the Peter Jackson live-action films, offers, “‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ works for anime because it is character-driven and contained within its own world, two things that work beautifully with Japanese storytelling, and there’s no better storyteller in this medium than Kenji Kamiyama.”
HÉRA voiced by GAIA WISE in “THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM.” Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
In agreement is producer Jason DeMarco, who adds, “Kamiyama is a veteran, an expert – not just a genius creator, but somebody that’s a steady hand who’s been doing it for a long time, a great collaborator who’s done all kinds of productions, who can quickly pull a team together and really understand, in their bones, what it’s going to take to make this great.”
Producer Joseph Chou notes that the director provided the creative teams, including the animators, who utilized classic hand-drawn techniques for the film, with inspiration to push the animation further. “Working with Kamiyama, we asked ourselves, ‘What can we do in terms of animation, from the hands of artists; how can we express something that’s unique to the anime genre? Is it that certain amount of texture? Is that the design? Or is it the type of movements that that the live action actors might not be able to do?”
WULF voiced by LUKE PASQUALINO in “THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM.” Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Anime fans and movie audiences everywhere will be able to discover for themselves when “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” opens in cinemas everywhere in December, from Warner Bros. Pictures.