In the fantasy cartoon «The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirim» Saruman will speak in the voice of Christopher Lee — the actor who played the character in the Peter Jackson films.
According to the cartoon’s producer Philippa Boens, this decision was made based on a letter the actor sent before his death in 2015, as well as after negotiations with Lee’s wife Birgit Kronke (she died in early 2024). Attempts to find a new actor with a voice similar to Saruman’s original sound were unsuccessful.
«Kronke said that in fact Sir Christopher would have wanted it», — says Boens. «So we went into his recordings, listened to his voice — he wasn’t just recording lines, he was talking to us during the process».
According to Gizmodo In «The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirim» will use repetitions of some of Lee’s lines from «The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies» — including the one where Saruman asks Galadriel if she needs help during their encounter with the Necromancer in Dol Guldur.
«We decided to use a line from The Hobbit… and we saw how many takes he did. Can we use it? Can we change it a little bit? And our brilliant specialists did everything. But this is an authentic part of Christopher’s performance, based on his lines».
As for the other original characters, it is already known that Miranda Otto will also return to the role of Eowyn, as a «part of the» narrative mechanism.
The animated movie «The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirim» takes place 183 years before the events of «The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers» and tells the story of Helm the Hammerhead, the legendary King of Rohan, who is attacked by Wulf — the clever and ruthless ruler of Dunland, who seeks to avenge his father’s death.
«Wolfe forces Helm and his men to engage in a risky last stand in the ancient fortress of Hornburg, which will later become known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in a desperate situation, Hera, Helm’s daughter, must muster the courage to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy who wants them to be completely exterminated».
The Ukrainian premiere is scheduled for December 5.