John Howe

The making of Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's classic work.

A documentary about the influences on Tolkien, covering in brief his childhood and how he detested the onslaught of industry through the idyllic countryside, moving on to describe his fighting experience from WWI, and closing with a look at the Finnish inspiration for the scholar's self-invented languages of Elfish. In between are interviews with the cast of the films and some clips, by far the most from "The Fellowship of the Ring", but a few glimpses of Rohan riders (from "The Two Towers") are provided. Also, there are interviews with a range of the filmmakers.

Peter Jackson, Jude Fisher, Philippa Boyens, a few Tolkien experts (such as Tom Shippey), and others tell the narrative of J.R.R. Tolkien's friendship with C.S. Lewis, their experience in World War I, Tolkien's inspirations from the war, the creative process and composition of The Lord of the Rings, its impact and reception when published, conflicting worldviews represented in The Two Towers, and the relationship between Frodo and Sam.

"Lord of the Brush" details the artist John Howe's history and passion for J.R.R. Tolkien's works. John's story is brought to life with over 100 of his beautiful illustrations, which have had a major impact on the fans and readers of the world about how J.R.R. Tolkien's work is envisioned in images.

À la recherche du Hobbit (French for Looking for the Hobbit) is an exploratory documentary series directed by Olivier Simonnet in 2014, in which illustrator John Howe, story-teller Nicolas Mezzalira, and Professor Leo Carruthers of the University of Paris-Sorbonne explore real-world settings and famous myths that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology. The documentary explores many locations of Medieval significance.