Danica Davidson
October 29, 2024 
Kenji Kamiyama’s Tolkien anime movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will hit the big screen this December, and it will include voice work from renowned British actor Christopher Lee. It makes sense, seeing that Lee was Saruman in the live-action Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. But seeing that Lee passed away in 2015, how is this happening?
Philippa Boyens, one of the most important people involved in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, is also a consultant for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. She explained, “We went into his [Lee’s] record[ing]s . . . Not just doing the lines, but talking to us as we were recording them. . .We based it on a line from The Hobbit.”
She didn’t recall the exact wording of the line, but it’s something like “Are you in need of assistance, my lady?” and it is Lee’s own voice they’re using. Lee’s widow, Gitte Lee, also reportedly told Boyens, “Christopher would have wanted this.”
Boyens went on, “I’m so glad we used his own voice, and it’s fantastic.”
During his life, Lee was involved with some Japanese works. He provided voice work for the Kingdom Hearts franchise, as well as doing multiple voices for the Sanrio movie Nutcracker Fantasy. He played King Haggard in The Last Unicorn from the Japanese studio Topcraft — a studio with connections to Studio Ghibli.
New Line Cinema gave this description for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim:
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Plot
Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg—a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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