3. Fantasy As A Serious Film Genre
"Gandalf? Gandalf... Oh, yes, I remember! Elderly chap, big gray beard, pointy hat." In tandem with the trend towards more books being made into movies is the tendency for fantasy stories to be taken more seriously as a genre. Again, in the past imaginative and colorful works were certainly made (Star Wars was released in the late 70s), however these were typically the exception, not the rule. Fantasy movies were typically seen as something for children, or worse were restricted solely to animation. The very idea of an elderly wizard with a giant pointy hat and a magic stick was cute at best and childish at worst. Fantasy movies were certainly able to thrive to an extent, as films like The Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, or The Neverending Story achieved huge levels of acclaim and fandom. However, most still only dealt with youth-friendly topics, or featured casts of mainly young actors and actresses. As we came out of the 90s where blockbusters like Jurassic Park or the Matrix had been setting the example for sci-fi, Lord of the Rings picked up the mantle for fantasy storytelling. Elves weren't treated as impish or cutesy, Dwarves and Hobbits had more character than just being the butt of short jokes and the magical and mystical characters were represented as though they deserved to be taken seriously. Given that one of the primary drivers of the first film is described as an almost perfect wizard stereotype (which makes a bit of sense, since the LotR books influenced many fantasy stereotypes as we know them today), getting people to take it seriously is a significant accomplishment and has paved the way for all manner of new stories.