"There and Back Again."

Long before Peter Jackson unleashed his cinematic behemoth, I was already familiar with the work of renowned author J.R.R. Tolkien. As a toddler, when it came time for bed, my mother would read The Hobbit to me. While other moms were probably reading simplistic little fairy tales involving men in tights and maidens fair, I was getting blasted in my infantile cortex with images of goblins, wizards, wargs, dragons, elves, giant spiders, trolls and of course… hobbits. I loved it!

A record.

Being a fan of the story herself, my mother had purchased a record version of the book as well. (A long time ago, before the cassette or 8-track and long before the MP3 or the CD, there were these things called records or LPs where people would get their music from.) It was a four-record set which told the amazing story in fantastic detail using talented voice actors and wondrous sound effects to bring the tale to life. It also came with a picture book that added a new level of detail to Middle-Earth. It was one of my favorite things. She had bought the album for herself but it soon became... mine. My own. My precious. I listened to it over and over till the vinyl scratched and warped. I knew every line by heart.

Years later, while cruising through a video store which my mother had recently become a member of, I saw something all too familiar. It was a picture of Bilbo Baggins! It was just like the one from my record set! “Holy poop!” I said. I was nine. I wasn’t allowed to say “shit” yet. “It’s a movie?... MOM!” It was exactly the same as the record! (Technically the album was a copy of the film.) Who cared?! I could see the story in motion! Gollum was creepier than ever and Smaug was epic! This… was… awesome…

As I grew older I took it upon myself to read the Lord of Rings. It wasn’t an easy read but by the time I was finished I knew I had just been part of something extraordinary.

While living in Connecticut, already a grown man with an actual job and stuff, I found myself reading a newspaper outside one of the local coffee shops. The entertainment section mentioned something about some guy named Peter Jackson who was going to direct the entire Ring trilogy. Wait… he’s the Frighteners director. Elijah Wood… from Flipper!? Viggo Whats-his-face and Ian Macwho? “Ah shit!” I belched. I was old enough to say it now.

See? Creepy.

Needless to say Peter Jackson shut me the hell up. Three times in a row.

He is now poised to direct The Hobbit itself. I would trust no other person to take on the daunting task of translating this childhood treasure of mine to film. Yet regardless of what he does or how he does it, that first little cartoon will remain one of my favorite films of all time while The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books continue to be some of the greatest stories ever told.