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| Tom Bombadil, illustrated by Tim and Greg Hildebrandt |
Although Tom Bombadil does not appear in Peter Jackson's or Ralph Bakshi's movie adaptions, he is a widely known character among fans. A lot of people who have never read the books still know who he is, and a lot of those who have read the books like to point out that he should not have been cut out from the movie. Some even mean that it was the biggest mistake in the making of the script.
What I think about Tom's abcense is something I have been asked countless times and it seems like I am expected to hate Peter Jackson for it. Thing is, however, that I don't. I like the fact that Tom Bombadil is not in the movies, and there is good reason for it.
In The Fellowship of the Ring (both the book and the movie) the Nazgûl are the greatest and most recurring threat to the hobbits on their journey to Rivendell. Tom is obviously a powerful being and of great help to the hobbits but their fear of the riders is still there, though the riders never show up when Tom is around. They do face other dangers, but it sort of disrupts the flow of the greater story and would probably do so even more in the movie. One have to remember that books and movies do not work in the same way and in the process of turning a book into a script it is inevitable that some things will be left out. Don't get me wrong, the Barrow-downs is probably my favorite part of FotR, but it does not mind me that I don't get to see it visualized.
Tolkien's universe is home to hundreds of characters but the most mysterious of them is no doubt Tom Bombadil. Tolkien never really tells us much about him and there are lots of theories about who or what he is. Some people say he is God, some say he is Tolkien himself. That being said he would probably raise a lot of questions for anyone watching the movie if he was in it. There could also be a risk that he might would have been somewhat modified by the filmmakers theories and thereby disappointing a lot of fans who do not share those theories.
In The Fellowship of the Ring (both the book and the movie) the Nazgûl are the greatest and most recurring threat to the hobbits on their journey to Rivendell. Tom is obviously a powerful being and of great help to the hobbits but their fear of the riders is still there, though the riders never show up when Tom is around. They do face other dangers, but it sort of disrupts the flow of the greater story and would probably do so even more in the movie. One have to remember that books and movies do not work in the same way and in the process of turning a book into a script it is inevitable that some things will be left out. Don't get me wrong, the Barrow-downs is probably my favorite part of FotR, but it does not mind me that I don't get to see it visualized.
Tolkien's universe is home to hundreds of characters but the most mysterious of them is no doubt Tom Bombadil. Tolkien never really tells us much about him and there are lots of theories about who or what he is. Some people say he is God, some say he is Tolkien himself. That being said he would probably raise a lot of questions for anyone watching the movie if he was in it. There could also be a risk that he might would have been somewhat modified by the filmmakers theories and thereby disappointing a lot of fans who do not share those theories.
Tom Bombadil is in many ways a special character and it would probably not be easy for anyone to portray him. I have thought about it for quite a while and I still can't think of a single actor who would do the character justice. And as much as I love Tom Bombadil as a book character I still think he could be quite annoying as a movie character. If he would have been in the movie it would probably have felt awkward if he was singing all the time, as there is not much singing in the rest of the movie. If he was not singing it would probably not feel like the Tom Bombadil we get to know in the book.
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