The Walt Disney Company
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The Walt Disney Company, also known simply as Disney, is an American media and entertainment conglomerate, founded in 1923 by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney.
J.R.R. Tolkien about Disney
Throughout his life, J.R.R. Tolkien had a deep concern and strong opinions about adaptations of his legendarium. For Tolkien, the products of the Disney company were an especially prominent example of bad style.
In 1946, he rejected suggestions for illustrations by Horus Engels for the German edition of the Hobbit as "too Disnified",
- "Bilbo with a dribbling nose, and Gandalf as a figure of vulgar fun rather than the Odinic wanderer that I think of."
- ― The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, #107
Moreover, when certain producers became interested in movie adaptations of Tolkien's works, (he had sold the film, stage and merchandise rights of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to United Artists in 1968), he forbade Disney should ever be involved:
- "It might be advisable [...] to let the Americans do what seems good to them — as long as it was possible [...] to veto anything from or influenced by the Disney studios (for all whose works I have a heartfelt loathing)."
- ― The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, #13
Nevertheless, Disney's Disneyland and Buena Vista record labels were to release six audio products based on the Rankin/Bass The Hobbit and two based on Rankin/Bass The Return of the King in the 1970's and 1980's.
- 1977: The Hobbit: The Complete Original Soundtrack
- 1977: The Hobbit (Disneyland Read-Along)
- 1977: The Hobbit (Disneyland Storyteller)
- 1980: The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits
