Oh, PJ courted the film press and the Tolkien fandom through all 3 LOTR films. Cuz even though the first one paid off, the other two still had to make their money back. (Also, he got reshoots due to the studio letting him add stuff to please fandom. Also, the bonus material/extended editions were basically thank yous to the fandom.)
Found this on IMDB in regards to changes made to Bilbo's character:
"The most egregious, probably, is how Bilbo, the main protagonist in the book, was all but sidelined in the film and his entire character arc shorted to a mere first-third of the story. In the book, Bilbo's big turning point came in Mirkwood when he was forced to deal with a big spider by himself (since the dwarves had all been captured), and it wasn't until after Mirkwood that Thorin finally accepted him as a worthy adventurer, because up to that point, Bilbo had been mostly useless to the company. In the movie, on the other hand, we see Bilbo willingly running out the door on an adventure (Gandalf had to literally shove him out the door in the book), he shrewdly keeps the trolls talking until the sun rises (in the book, Bilbo cowardly hid behind the nearest tree and let Gandalf deal with the trolls), he cleverly hides from the goblins and easily holds his own against a sword wielding imp (in the book, he gets separated from the company when he's dropped by the dwarf who is carrying him, and he never tussles with any of the goblins), and then he rushes in to save Thorin who is at Azog's mercy (neither this scene nor anything similar appears in the book). The Bilbo on screen is so unlike the Bilbo in the book that he may as well be a different character." (from this topic: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/board/thread/211324243?d=211324243&p=1#211324243, and there are many on that board)
So, I'm far from the only one to have noticed he's been fundamentally changed by Jackson.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-03-08 12:58 am (UTC)Found this on IMDB in regards to changes made to Bilbo's character:
"The most egregious, probably, is how Bilbo, the main protagonist in the book, was all but sidelined in the film and his entire character arc shorted to a mere first-third of the story. In the book, Bilbo's big turning point came in Mirkwood when he was forced to deal with a big spider by himself (since the dwarves had all been captured), and it wasn't until after Mirkwood that Thorin finally accepted him as a worthy adventurer, because up to that point, Bilbo had been mostly useless to the company. In the movie, on the other hand, we see Bilbo willingly running out the door on an adventure (Gandalf had to literally shove him out the door in the book), he shrewdly keeps the trolls talking until the sun rises (in the book, Bilbo cowardly hid behind the nearest tree and let Gandalf deal with the trolls), he cleverly hides from the goblins and easily holds his own against a sword wielding imp (in the book, he gets separated from the company when he's dropped by the dwarf who is carrying him, and he never tussles with any of the goblins), and then he rushes in to save Thorin who is at Azog's mercy (neither this scene nor anything similar appears in the book). The Bilbo on screen is so unlike the Bilbo in the book that he may as well be a different character." (from this topic: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/board/thread/211324243?d=211324243&p=1#211324243, and there are many on that board)
So, I'm far from the only one to have noticed he's been fundamentally changed by Jackson.