More concise, there is a style of fantasy fiction that Guillermo del Toro is not a fan of – the “heroic fantasy” style of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy by Peter Jackson. By a Digital Spy article which quotes a piece from Salon.com 2006, this is indeed a style that del Toro really does not dig into. “I’ve never been in heroic fantasy. Not at all,” he said. “I don’t like little guys and dragons, hairy feet, hobbits – I’ve never been into this at all. I don’t like sword and witchcraft, I hate it all.” Although del Toro did not specifically name Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, his mention of hobbits and hairy feet makes it pretty clear that he is referring to the world Jackson referred to in the pages of JRR Tolkieniconic fantasy novels.
These statements are all the more perplexing since at the time del Toro was still committed to directing the adaptation of Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”, a classic work of heroic fantasy fiction produced by Jackson himself. . From del Toro’s comments, it seems “The Hobbit” is the exception to his heroic fantasy rule, “It’s the only Tolkien book I’ve read,” he admitted. “I did my best to read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. I couldn’t. I couldn’t. They were very dense. And then one day I bought ‘The Hobbit.’ I read it and loved it. “
In the end, del Toro’s “The Hobbit” gig didn’t come to fruition. And given his stance on this style of fiction, one wonders if it wasn’t for the best.
