From The Silmarillion to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings is full of stories that would make an amazing anime. The franchise is based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, who masterminded the fantasy genre. Plenty of the fantasy archetypes that exist today, such as the Halfling or Balrog, are based on Tolkien’s work. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim movie demonstrates how anime movies, in particular, work well for Tolkien’s works. This kind of high fantasy lends itself particularly well to animation, as animation can incorporate outlandish magic without expensive visual or practical effects.
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Released in December 2024, Warner Bros.’ War of the Rohirrim explores the Lord of the Rings timeline and dives into Rohan’s history for its subject matter, diving into the war between the Rohirrim and the neighboring Dunlendings. It examines fantasy monsters across land, air, and sea. Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, this sweeping movie shows how the Japanese style of animation is uniquely suited to Middle-earth. Creeping tentacles and traditional sword fights are the preserve of this old art form, bringing grace and magic to a scary and wonderful world. Many more Middle-earth stories deserve the anime treatment.
10 The Fall Of Gondolin
First Age
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The Fall of Gondolin would make an incredible anime movie because it encompasses the fantasy genre from sweeping landscapes and Elves to great battles. This story is told in The Silmarillion but also has its own book, released in 2018. The Fall of Gondolin brings together Tolkien’s varying versions and stories around the secret city, creating a bigger picture. The Dark Elf Eöl took Aredhel as his wife, although this wasn’t wholly consensual. Eöl’s foul deeds resulted in a dark destiny for the family, with their son, Maeglin, bringing about the ruin of them all and of Gondolin to boot.
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When Aredhel and Maeglin finally escaped Eöl and went back to Aredhel’s home, Gondolin, they ultimately betrayed its location to Morgoth. The beautiful city on a hill, encircled by mountains, fell to the army of Lord of the Rings’ Vala Morgoth when he promised Maeglin control of the city and his Elf crush in return for details of its whereabouts. This story is one of majesty and tragedy, with a betrayal at its heart, making it an ideal story to reimagine for film and a good way to expand the lore on-screen.
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9 The Hobbit
Third Age
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Peter Jackson’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies were both set in the Third Age, which is full of fantastical tales, but The Hobbit may be uniquely suited to an anime movie. This children’s book was released in 1937 and was Tolkien’s first Middle-earth release, focusing on Thorin and his company of Dwarves alongside the unlikely hero Bilbo Baggins. Hobbits, Dwarves, Wizards, Wargs, and dragons populated this incredible book, bringing together a colorful cast that might be better suited for an anime than a live-action film trilogy.
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|
Tolkienian Age |
Event Marking The Start |
Years |
Total Length In Solar Years |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Before time |
Indeterminate |
Indeterminate |
Indeterminate |
|
Days before Days |
Ainur entered Eä |
1 – 3,500 Valian Years |
33,537 |
|
Pre-First Age Years of the Trees (Y.T.) |
Yavanna created the Two Trees |
Y.T. 1 – 1050 |
10,061 |
|
First Age (F.A.) |
Elves awoke in Cuiviénen |
Y.T. 1050 – Y.T. 1500, F.A. 1 – 590 |
4,902 |
|
Second Age (S.A.) |
War of Wrath ended |
S.A. 1 – 3441 |
3,441 |
|
Third Age (T.A.) |
Last Alliance defeated Sauron |
T.A. 1 – 3021 |
3,021 |
|
Fourth Age (Fo.A) |
Elven-rings left Middle-earth |
Fo.A 1 – unknown |
Unknown |
These creatures would be fantastic reinvented in a Japanese-style animation. An anime movie would be the perfect way to reexamine the complex and beautiful themes in this story, which is simple on the surface with many layers underneath. One movie, in anime style, would go a long way and could tell the straightforward narrative with creative imagery. This would be a perfect contrast to the Jackson-directed trilogy, which stretches the relatively short story out for too long.
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8 The Ainulindalë
Before Time Began
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The Ainulindalë, or the Music of the Ainur, is J.R.R. Tolkien’s cosmic creation story for Lord of the Rings’ Middle-earth and its surrounding world. Middle-earth is a continent on Arda, which is a world in a universe called Eä. All of it sprung from Middle-earth’s God, Eru Ilúvatar. This creation myth would make an incredible anime fantasy movie. Eru didn’t just snap his fingers so that the world appeared ready-made. Rather, he created a species called the Ainur which created the world, bit by bit.
Tolkien described the Ainulindalë at the start of
The Silmarillion.
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First, Eru led his Ainur in a great hymn called the Music of the Ainur, and although none of the Ainur knew it at the time, it visualized the world and its future. Morgoth was disobedient, singing discordantly, creating drama and conflict between himself, Ilúvatar, and the other Ainur. This would be amazing to see in an anime, with fantastical visions of multiple semi-divine beings steadily pulling apart and against one another. The creative options are limitless, as Ainur could choose to show themselves however they wished. There’s a lot of potential for beautiful animation in this tale.
7 The Halls Of Tevildo
First Age
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Long before Sauron was the Lord of the Rings, he was a cat called Tevildo in a story that would make a perfect anime movie. This story resides in Tolkien’s The Book of Lost Tales 2, which laid the creative groundwork for The Lord of the Rings. This book is the first in the The History of Middle-earth series that Tolkien’s son, Christopher, published to explain his editorial choices for The Silmarillion, which Tolkien had entrusted to him to complete and publish after his death. Tevildo is a vengeful and fearsome cat with a powerful golden collar.
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A mythopoeia is a fictional collection of myths and legends.
Due to the complex provenance of Tolkien’s stories published, the entirety of Middle-earth works are known as a mythopeia. The essays, short stories, and early drafts of later stories in The History of Middle-earth are all often considered a part of the Middle-earth canon, while they may not be in other bodies of work that are not a mythopoeia. This means a strong anime team could surprise audiences with little-seen story that could easily recall anime like Hiroyuki Morita’s The Cat Returns. An on-screen exploration of Sauron’s realm of evil cats would make an ideal basis for an anime.
6 The Awakening Of The Elves
First Age
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There are some epic stories around the awakening of the Elves that would make a good anime movie. Lord of the Rings’ Elves first awoke in the far east of Middle-earth in Cuiviénen, but this place was long lost by the Third Age, during which The Lord of the Rings was set. This anime movie could tell the origin story of the entire Elvish race, showing them waking up in a starlit paradise before the sun had even been made.
Virtually all dialogue would have to be invented for this hypothetical anime, but it would make a great story.
The Elves would be approached by two titanic semi-divine forces, Morgoth and Oromë. Oromë was one of Lord of the Rings’ 15 Valar and was trying to protect the Elves from Morgoth, who was stealing Elves away to twist and corrupt them into the very first Orcs. Eventually, Oromë would lead the Elves away from Cuiviénen on an epic adventure through the whole of Middle-earth and eventually to the Undying Lands. Virtually all dialogue would have to be invented for this hypothetical anime, but it would make a great story with plenty of room for beautiful visuals and landscapes.
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5 The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil
Third Age
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The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is a delightful poetry compilation published by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1962, and its eponymous poem would make a great anime. Although it is uncommon to adapt poems into movies, this poem wouldn’t require much more original material than most of Tolkien’s other works. Even Tolkien’s short stories from across the legendarium provide little clue for would-be-adapters about what to put on screens, giving the filmmakers plenty of room to add their own touches and tweaks to the story. If there’s any Tolkien character who invites fun invention, it’s Tom Bombadil.
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Tolkien wrote in an archaic style in The Silmarillion and many of the stories surrounding it, resulting in text with little dialogue, graphic imagery of character appearance, or psychological profiling. As such, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil is as good a source material as many other Tolkien works. Tom goes on rollicking adventures around his realm in this light-hearted poem, traveling through Middle-earth. Along the way he meets his beloved Goldberry and marries her, which would result in a whimsical rom-com of an anime movie.
4 The Notion Club Papers
Modern Day
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J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Notion Club Papers in the 1940s but never finished it, and it could be the basis of a totally ridiculous and intriguing anime movie. Unlike the rest of the legendarium, this novel is set in the real world in the modern day. It is set in college, as some students join a linguistic club and start going into trance-like states through a kind of lucid dreaming. These trances enable the students to travel to Middle-earth. This shares a basic with plenty of anime about real people pulled into a fantastical world, giving the anime format precedent.
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Sauron appears to be threatening Númenor in Middle-earth’s Second Age in The Notion Club Papers, and one of the college students is mysteriously tied to Elendil. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, between the real world and Elendil’s world, this anime could show a dreamlike haze of flashbacks. This hallucinatory world should be all about strong, creative, symbolic, and poetic imagery, visualizing Númenor like never before and creating strange parallels between both worlds.
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3 The War Of The Powers
The Days Before Days
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The War of the Powers was one of the earliest wars described in The Silmarillion and would create a supernatural, cosmic anime movie of epic proportions. This war was between Morgoth and the other Valar, who were trying to ensure Morgoth didn’t gain total control of Arda. While the Valar built the world atom by atom, from its very core, Morgoth tried to corrupt whatever he couldn’t take control of.
With some structure added, forming a clear beginning, middle, and end, this story would fit the anime format.
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This resulted in lakes spilled, mountains crushed to be rebuilt in Morgoth’s image, and every part of the structure of the world itself distorted from the Valar’s original plan. This celestial fight that took part in the fabric of matter and nature itself was called the War of the Powers. During the war, Morgoth leached his very being into the world, with some of it penetrating deeper into certain materials, such as gold. With some added story structure, this story would be a perfect epic fit for the the anime format.
2 The Fall Of Númenor
Second Age
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J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the story of the Fall of Númenor into Akallabêth, one of the final parts of The Silmarillion, and it could be turned into a brilliant anime. This story was so important in the lore of Middle-earth that it got its own book in 2022, putting together the numerous versions of the story and related writings. This anime movie could even be a trilogy covering the start of Númenor, from the awarding of the island to the Edain from the Valar. However, the real bulk of the story is the rise and fall of the island kingdom.
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The island became a mighty nation of mariners and builders, sailing to Middle-earth and colonizing it in various parts. However, hearing of Sauron’s strength in Middle-earth, one of the island’s kings – Ar-Pharazôn – foolishly decided to take him on. Bringing Sauron to the island was a big mistake, as Sauron’s manipulations of Pharazôn sewed chaos in the kingdom. This resulted in the island’s gradual fall from grace, including temples, human sacrifices, civil strife, and a very large tidal wave. All of those themes would be perfect for a compelling and tragic expansion through anime.
1 Beren And Lúthien
First Age
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Beren and Lúthien is a First Age story that needs to be made into a movie or miniseries at some point, and anime would be a great format. This tale tells of the union of one of the great heroes from the realm of Men, Beren, and a half-Elf, Half-Maia princess. Together, this duo defeated both Sauron and Morgoth, so an anime could show both of Lord of the Rings’ worst villains. Beren took Galadriel’s brother, Finrod, on a mission to seek a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown.
This bright jewel was a Noldor relic, but the whole team that Beren had taken with him ended up perishing for it. This wasn’t before Finrod’s one-on-one duel with Sauron. Beren ended up locked in Sauron’s fortress on his Isle of Werewolves, so Lúthien traveled there to rescue him, and eventually, the two made it to Morgoth’s stronghold. With its long list of cameos from Middle-earth’s most famous characters and a story ranging from vampires to werewolves, this is one The Lord of the Rings anime just waiting to be made.
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The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
Movie(s) The Lord of the Rings (1978) , The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King , The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey , The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug , The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies , The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Created by J.R.R. Tolkien First Film The Lord of the Rings (1978) Cast Norman Bird , Anthony Daniels , Elijah Wood , Ian McKellen , Liv Tyler , Viggo Mortensen , Sean Astin , Cate Blanchett , John Rhys-Davies , Billy Boyd , Dominic Monaghan , Orlando Bloom , Christopher Lee , Hugo Weaving , Sean Bean , Ian Holm , Andy Serkis , Brad Dourif , Karl Urban , Martin Freeman , Richard Armitage , James Nesbitt , Ken Stott , Benedict Cumberbatch , Evangeline Lilly , Lee Pace , Luke Evans , Morfydd Clark , Mike Wood , Ismael Cruz Cordova , Charlie Vickers , Markella Kavenagh , Megan Richards , Sara Zwangobani , Daniel Weyman , Cynthia Addai-Robinson , Lenny Henry , Brian Cox , Shaun Dooley , Miranda Otto , Bilal Hasna , Benjamin Wainwright , Luke Pasqualino , Christopher Guard , William Squire , Michael Scholes , John Hurt TV Show(s) The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Character(s) Frodo Baggins , Gandalf , Legolas , Boromir , Sauron , Gollum , Samwise Gamgee , Pippin Took , Celeborn , Aragorn , Galadriel , Bilbo Baggins , Saruman , Aldor , Wormtongue , Thorin Oakenshield , Balin Dwalin , Bifur , Bofur , Bombur , Fili , Kili , Oin , Gloin , Nori , Dori , Ori , Tauriel , King Thranduil , Smaug , Radagast , Arondir , Nori Brandyfoot , Poppy Proudfellow , Marigold Brandyfoot , Queen Regent Míriel , Sadoc Burrows Video Game(s) The Lord of the Rings Online (dupe) , Middle-Earth: Shadow of War , The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum , The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria Expand