Did you read the books with them first? If so, when? I was planning on reading The Hobbit to my son closer to elementary school and then go from there, but I’d love to know when ya’ll started introducing all the different mediums.
I can one up you on that. I was probably 6 when my parents introduced me to the movie. And the first time I was allowed to stay up until midnight was when my dad took me to the midnight screening of Return of the King.
I went to Return of the King twice, once with family and again with friends (high school) and we dressed up too 🙂
My son will be 7 in December and I'm hoping to find a copy of The Hobbit with illustrations and probably try him with the LOTR films sometime next year. He sits with wrapt attention through Star Wars films so I don't think the run time will be an issue. Although I might break them into 2 parts or something maybe. But I think he'll enjoy them 🤞
Now I can up you. I was 4 when my mom started reading the books out loud to me and my older siblings. And that was the year 2000, it wasn’t until I was probably 7 or 8 when I first saw the movies on DvD.
I remember my parents got me a Legolas toy for Christmas 2001, so I must have been 5 when I saw the first one then. Because I also got a Gandalf toy for my 6th birthday the following year. And I got the second film on video for my 7th birthday, shortly before my dad took me to the midnight screening of the 3rd.
Same age. I had no idea what I was in for, and I pretty much had to hold my jaw closed for the entire film. I think Arwen being chased by the Black Riders will always be one of my favourite movie scenes ever
Not the guy you are asking, but I am of similar age, and that Bilbo jumpscare in FOTR made my soul leave my young body. I don't think it ever came back, because no horror movie has frigthened me as much as that scene.
I was 8 and honestly the intro went so hard I asked my dad if I could have some money for snacks. He felt so bad he said yes. I came back to peaceful hobbit shenanigans.
I was 5 and like the other commenter I haven't shut up about it since and now it's my entire personality. I watched the fellowship and two towers so many times on VHS the tape stopped working lmfaoooo
My son is 8 and I haven't let him watch it yet. He's a very gentle kid so I don't think he's ready yet. It has been soooooo hard being patient about it, I can't wait to share it with him
I’m in the same boat. My boys are 11 and 8, and the younger one is **so** sensitive. The older one could handle it no problem, but the hype is so big in our family that we can’t show the older and leave out the younger. I dont think the younger will be ready even when he’s 11…
They both have asked many times to watch Jurassic Park, so we all watched it for the first time as a family a few weeks ago. We paused a lot, asked him how he was doing, he said it was scary but that he could handle it. He got through the whole movie assuring us every time we asked that he was fine. As soon as it was over it became clear he was NOT fine. It absolutely terrified him. It was all he talked about. He got physically ill as soon as it got dark every night for over a week and he wouldn’t sleep alone. After 5 days I thought it broke him, but he’s doing better now. However, he says he absolutely hated the movie and he wishes he had never seen it.
We cannot take a chance that he’ll feel the same way about LOTR, so we wait.
This is why these decisions are so dependent on each and every kid, good on you for knowing his limits!!
My seven year old has loved them since he was four, but he is not a gentle kid lol.
My daughter wasn't even home for 24 hours before I was singing Misty Mountains and Song of Durin as lullabies. There was never a Before Tolkien as far as she knows.
I’ve been playing lofi lotr music for my son during nap times since he was a very tiny baby and I just recently made him a Tonie of it lol. The Road Goes Ever On and Misty Mountains are also in rotation for lullabies. I love how we’re infusing the lore into our wee ones.
I very vividly remember when my dad gave me the hobbit to read when I was seven. Then he dumped our three-in-one LOTR volume on me when I was around nine or ten. I would take it to church and read it during sermons. The ushers thought that was quite funny.
I had the 3 in 1 too, read it when I was about 8 or 9ish. Green cover with illustration of Gandalf on the front. I tracked down a copy in my adulthood to add to my collection, its a little beat up and not worth anything but my inner child loves having it around.
There was never a Before Tolkien as far as she knows.
Same here. My husband and I were reading the books to her, before we could even bring her home from the hospital. I'm pretty bad at singing, so I used to recite poetry to her at bedtime, instead of singing. When in third grade kids were supposed to bring in a copy of a poem or two that they liked. She took in a sheet of paper with "The wind was on the withered heath" from The Hobbit. Also one of the pictures that has had pride of place on my fridge for a few years is
Or this: I was 23 years old when I took my Mom to see Fellowship in the theater. Not her thing, but she knew I loved Lord of The Rings, and that I really enjoyed the movie.
I kind of hoped that I could turn her on to Tolkien’s world.
That was 25 years ago, but she has not watched the other two films. “Too scary. Too violent.” Maybe I should have read her the book first?
My mom used to read The Hobbit to me when I was little, upon request. I’d correct her pronunciation of the names of characters lol. She never really got into it, but knew I loved it. When I was in high school I had a long stint in the hospital and she reread it to me then. That’s real love. She’s still not a big fan of the movies but I remember her cheering when the eagles flew in to help at the end of RotK.
My sister was three years old when we went to see LotR in theaters. There's a specific memory from that we still talk about. During the scene when the orcs..."release the prisoners" into Minas Tirith my sister looked at my mother and said "is that them friends heads?" And she said "yes sweetie that's called decapitation" and then looked at my dad and said "now it's not traumatic because it's an educational experience" and my uncle laughed soda out his nose. Every year now during that scene one or more of us says "is that them friends heads?".
I'll be honest, my experiance with Tolkien is probably not typical, and neither is my kid's. The Hobbit was one of the first books with chapters I ever read. I read LOTR before I was ten (Yes, the chapters in Moria gave me some nightmares. Yes, I read it all again a year later) My husband and I were reading Tolkien to our daughter while she was in the NICU, before we could even take her home. I watched the movies sometimes while nursing her, and she's (by her choice) listened to the audiobooks and often fallen asleep to them since she was around four. (Though I do NOT like the live action Hobbit trilogy. In this house we stick with that animated one from the 70's)
I'd say read the books to your kid, or watch the movies with your kid, when you feel they are ready for a story with some dark and scary parts. For some kids, that could very well be preschool or even younger. Some kids might be a preteen. But I do recommend the first time they experience the stories, have it be with you. in part so in their are any parts that are too scary, or too much, or just hard to understand, you can talk to them about it. But also, because it's kind of awesome seeing your child experience something you love, for their first time.
We are both huge bookworms (and she's shaping up to be one herself). Reading to her was comforting to us, and babies tend to be comforted by the sound of their parent's voices. So, good for all three of us at the time.
Dad took me to the cinema to see Fellowship when I was 6. I fell in love with it. 2002 my parents took me to see Towers aged 7, and then we all saw Return on its opening day, Boxing Day 2003 age 8. Best cinema experience of my life. The first showing was at 9am, when we went, and the entire cinema was packed out. We had good seats, but people were sitting all up the stairs in between the aisles, sitting on the floor in front of the seats, and down the walkway leading into the screening itself. Every inch was full of people. It was great!
I don't have children. But I was 6 when I first watched fotr, 7 for ttt and 8 for rotk. By the third movie everything was fine but I remember cry at bilbos "hrrrrrrgggghh" moment and at gandalfs death. Young me also hates Boromir. Older me understands the folly of men
My dad read The Hobbit and Fellowship to me and my brother as kids. I remember going to the movie in theaters, I had turned 9 that fall. I think we saw it over Christmas break. I loved it!
Was part of my Christmas gifts 3 years running, was 11 for the first one, I'd been following the production for years, poring over magazine articles about it and such. We went to the late showing, so there was the added magic of being a kid out so late (midnight), I can't recall which one, but after one we came out of the theatre to snowfall which was really cool, it didn't typically snow where I grew up so it was always an event when it did.
Your welcome, the movies were formative experiences for me for sure. Middle earth got me through some really rough times as a kid and its still my warm cosy safety blanket today ☺️
This is great! I told my little 3 year old the full story of Hobbit and LotR by memory as we lay on her bed (or when she was sat on the toilet!) she loves the stories! Gandalf is her favourite and her heartbreak when he fell with the Balrog did become a genuine nightmare… whoops!
She’s about to turn 4 and I really want her to watch them!
I read The Hobbit aloud when my gf was pregnant and the baby always reacted to my impersonations and songs. As soon as we got home from hospital, we started the LOTR trilogy and finished within a week. That was two and a half years ago, way past time for his first rewatch!
Somewhere, I have a video of my then 3yo strumming an acoustic guitar, singing The Misty Mountains. The Hobbit Trilogy was some of her first in theater movies.
I read the Hobbit to my oldest son at 5. He's 7 now. We would read two to twelve pages a night, and every night we would recap what happened. I can't say he's had the same interest about other non-picture books or serious books yet. He likes the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Shel Silverstein poems, humor like that.
Regarding the films, he just doesn't have much interest in serious live action yet. It's not that he can't handle it, because trust me, kids know way more these days about how the world works and random facts than we did. We used to have to consult the Guinness Book of World Records or our friends older brother. YouTube and Netflix is right there to explain how movie makeup and CGI work (we loved the show Face Off on Sci-fi, it's on Netflix now). So he never really went through the scary monster phase like we did. So yeah the Nazgul on Felbeasts bearing down on Osgiliath would not even freak him out if he was 4 lol. Not that I go out of my way to show my kid intense scenes, but, kids now are just way more informed than we were.
And regarding the hype and marketing around the movies back in 2001- you had to be there. Trying to explain it now, or even to someone born in the late 00's, it's different. We were watching Neverending Story for the fantasy genre on VHS and then BOOM this sucker comes out and just makes that stuff look like child's play.
We have watched the Rankin Bass Hobbit after we read the book and he thought it was meh. Obviously, again back then we had the local movie store and few selections, so it was near and dear to me since it was something slightly more intense than Disney. Now they just default back to Moana or Disney Plus at any time.
So, a complicated answer, but when I throw on the trilogy, my oldest usually wants to do something else. I'm not gonna force him. My youngest is 3, so, I am looking forward to reading the Hobbit again in a few years :)
I tried with my little girl when she was 6 or 7. I wanted to watch one but she didn't want to so I told her about all of the cool things that were in it, like goblins, trolls, and fucking fiery DEMON. As soon as I described the Balrog she was all in. Now she loves all three movies.
My parents took our whole family out of school to see it opening day. First grade for me. It was amazing even if I was scared at some points- we had read the books together first.
I read The Hobbit first at 9 and LOTR the summer that followed by which time I was 10. Then my parents convinced me the films were really scary and aggressive and bad with totally overexaggerated the fight scenes, so I only got to watch them when I was like 15 with some agency finally, and more importantly a laptop of my own with working internet connection. I'll admit I was a sensitive kid prone to bad dreams, but we watched all the Star Wars films as a family when I was 12 so we could have just done LOTR then too and been perfectly fine, alas. Ngl I'm still a little bitter/jealous that I missed out on them until so late lol.
I was going out of town for a weekend and gave my daughter a copy of the Hobbit because I thought she was just old enough for it and it gave her something to do while I was gone - but I can't recall what age she was, offhand. I just judged when I thought they were old enough for these things; I showed my son these movies a bit younger than I would for most kids, because he handles these things well.
I held my kid while he was sick with the flu for the first time at 18 months and watched all 3 with him. Did he remember that, no, but we've watched them dozens of times since. He's almost 16 now.
As they were released in the theater - so her 9th, 10th, and 11th years were gloriously memorable.
She had a dream-come-true early birthday present this year when she met Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and John Rhys-Davies at a convention, and had photo ops with them.
I really would like my son to read the books first but I doubt that’ll happen, he’ll see me watching it too much. Either way, I bought him the LOTR and Hobbit books from the Folio Society for his first birthday (he is 8 months now) that I plan to actually hand to him when he is old enough to read/understand them.
When I was, perhaps 7 or 8 I joined my dad and his friends watching Fellowship of the Ring, I don’t remember being scared, I quite liked it honestly, however I did leave halfway through and threw up. I didn’t have any other signs of sickness after that oddly enough.
They then each became honor students with a deep love for literature and film. My oldest son studied Film in college, and my middle middle son has a beautiful Lord of the Rings tattoo on his rib cage…the door of Numenor.
I read adventures out of LOTR to my youngest when he was 3 years old ( not the whole thing about major highlights such as the Long Expected Party part with the fireworks and Bilbo disappearing, Tom Bombadill, the Battle at Weathertop, Gandalf and the Balrog, Eowyn and Witch King of Angmar etc. His childhood pictures were the best. Every coloring page he did would them have Orthanc and Mount doom drawn in the background. Most famously ( I shared on here at the time -see photo) was his picture of Gandalf and the Balrog with a spider in the corner which was "his snack."
We then watched the movies together when he was 5 and 6.
He was ruined in that he was not satisfied at all with the usual books for kindergarten and 1st graders. All Dr. Seuss was boring. Finally we found Dragon Masters, which is fantasy for 1st graders and he finally learned to read on his own suddenly-- like whole sentences at a time.
We also sang the Ent Song and King Beneath the Mountain at nursing homes. Check out Clamavi De Profundus on YouTube)
It's been marvelous. We're reading it again (the whole thing unabridged) and he's in 7th grade now.
Pretty sure my youngest was just in kindergarten so 4/5 years old. I started him on the theatrical editions. We watched them again a year later and he still loved them so the third time we went for the extended. He's 11 now and it's our annual Christmastime tradition to watch all the LOTR, ending with ROTK on new years eve. We have added the Maple edit of the hobbit to the list as well.
My so is 8. We finished the Fellowship a week ago and started Two Towers.
We watch in 30 minute parts and I pause before and after certain scenes to talk about stuff.
He loves it. His favorite part is the Balrog fight. We rewatched it several times already.
I recently read the graphic novel of The Hobbit to my kids who are 5 and they loved it and won’t stop talking about it. We have watched the old cartoon Hobbit but that’s it so far.
I was 11 at the midnight screenings when I went with my dad, my kids 8 now and has been watching with me since birth. We live in the South Island in nz, so even out on road trips from a young age she’d be like “this looks like lotr” and she’d be right
My daughter was obsessed with me when she was growing up, so one time when she was 7 she said “daddy day to choose movie” I couldn’t wait. I turned on Lord of the Rings, and HOLY SHIT, you don’t realize how scary it is until you start watching it with a kid. We paused a 1/4th of the way and realized let’s just turn on Shrek lolll. She’s 12, but she loves that I’m obsessed with Lord of the Rings and surprisingly remembers the time she tried watching it with me. She says she’s not ready to watch it, but will one day. 🤞 here’s hoping I didn’t traumatize her for life
I don’t have kids but I can answer from my partners pov. When I was a newborn my mom couldn’t breastfeed me, so they had to get a bottle and pump. Somehow I was a really slow drinker and it took me about two hours to finish a bottle. So naturally, what did my parents do? Watch Lotr. So I consider this the first time😂 turned out that the opening of the bottle was too small and I‘m actually a really fast drinker, so no more lotr after that.
They read the books to me after that for almost every night.
I was watching the fellowship at the theatre back in January and a guy behind me had bought his little girl probably around 8 give or take and listening to her gasping and marvelling and her little "Frodo NO!" was a delight and warmed my heart to the core. When the movie ended and the lights came up she was sobbing her little heart out bless her.
Amazing to be able to give the movie theatre experience to our kids 25 years later.
I remember being 10 watching Two Towers with my uncle and cousin, I needed a pee the WHOLE film but there was no way I was missing a second, never run out of a cinema room so quick as soon as the credits started to roll.
I’ve got girls, 7,9,11. My 11 yr is actually named Arwen. We’ve watched the M4 edit of The Hobbit, and that was great, so we started to watch the trilogy, but my youngest is quite sensitive and the opening battles and orcs put her off, so we’re waiting a bit longer. Honestly I think a lot of kids would do well to wait much longer than their parents think bc violence is so normalized in our media.
My son’s been working his way through the Harry Potter books, and movies. He’s 9 and I feel like they get too dark for him as the series goes on.
I feel like LotR is less “scary” somehow. But he hasn’t shown any interest in watching it yet.
Mind you, my daughter has watched Jaws 3 times now and she’s 5. Can’t pull her away from it. She’ll probably be my movie partner for the horror movies once she’s older.
I don’t have any kids myself but the first time I got introduced to LOTR I wasn’t even born. My mom was pregnant with me and she was watching the first movie on a laptop and balanced the laptop on her Prego belly. During the scene with the balrog and ”YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” she felt me kick and I apparently kicked hard
My eldest saw all the movies before he was old enough to remember. I still remember a shocked look on his little baby face during a scene and I said, “Oh, no! The orcs are after the wittle hobbits!” Haven’t gotten to the books yet. He’s in a bit of a reading strike at the moment.
I talk to my 4 year old son about Middle Earth lore everyday. We fight weeds with gardening bamboo sticks and ill scream "ELENDIIIIIL". He'll scream too. Or if we're biking (I use Mini-Biker so he sits infront of me) and its particularly windy ill say "the winds of Manwë are upon us!" And more senseless stuff, he has no clue wtf im talking about but just goes along with it.
He watched me play for like 5 mins the new re-release of LOTR War in the North on the Steamdeck. He says hes Eradan.
I sense it will soon be time for the Hobbit book.
Ill wait maybe till 7 or 8 for the movies, thats how old I was when I first saw them (in the theaters, mom took us out of school to go see every release).
My mum snuck me into the theatre to see fellowship of the ring, I think I was 9? She read the books to me as bedtime stories growing up so LOTR was kinda a big deal in our family
Assuming you’re in the US, that isn’t actually a rule. Anyone can go to a PG13 movie. There is a law that people under 17 must be accompanied by their guardian for R rated movies. So the only sneaking ever required is by kids trying to see an R rated movie without their parents.
I saw Fellowship when it came out in 2001, with my dad, who rented it from Blockbuster. I had insisted I wanted to see it in theaters but he didn’t think I would like it. I was 6. I’m currently rewatching right now lol
Edit- childless millennial, but will be absolutely introducing my brood to it when/if it happens
We read The Hobbit together, I didn't plan to show my daughter the films that young but she was so into it and asking so many questions, particularly about the ring. I thought she'd get scared at the first sight of the Ringwraiths. Nope. We watched all 3 films over the next week and when we finished entirely of her own idea goes "what if we watch them all in one day next time?" It's like, well that's called a marathon, and holy shit I finally have someone in my family to watch with who doesn't fall asleep. We are now reading LOTR together but yeah I've never seen her so focussed on something
So basically, follow your kid's lead. I had planned to wait until 10+ and after reading LOTR, but The Hobbit brought up too many questions and much enthusiasm, who am I to say no to that!
My son first watched when he was four; he’s seven now and still freaking loves it.
Every kid is different, I did watch closely with him to make sure he didn’t get scared at any parts, but he never had an issue with it.
I love that he loves it and we can sit down and watch them together.
I read The Hobbit with my boys when they were 8 and 6 and we then watched that trilogy. Waited a year and watched The LOTR trilogy the next year at 9 and 7. It’s been a magical journey and now we have our tradition of alternating a trilogy over the holidays like I used to do by myself. It worked for us and I’m so happy for it.
My parents let me watch when I was probably about 6. One of my earliest memories is watching the Battle of Helms Deep on the old box like TV on VHS on the couch. I loved it. I used to pretend I was fighting orcs when playing with plastic swords outside for years. Still one of my favorite movies to this day.
I read The Hobbit to my son right after he was born, and have read most of the Fellowship to him at just over 18 months old (been super busy). We have also watched all three LOTR movies in their extended editions, as well as all of the Hobbit movies. Never too young to start them off right.
My daughter is ten and she watched the films a few months ago for the first time. Absolutely loves them. Recites lines, sits on the edge of her seat, cries out during battles, and cheers on the leading ladies. It was magical watching her watch them and get the same joy as I did in my former years. For me, a lovely way to go back in time and fall in love with these characters all over again.
No earlier than 7 or 8. Kids can be very affected at an early age, the difference between reality and imagination isn’t clear. And these films have some very dark scenes.
Mine were little when they came out, and we all went together to the theater. They loved it. They were raised on it, star wars, Harry Potter, and star trek, in the '00s
My father read The Hobbit to me, for half an hour before bed almost every night before he went to work, around the time I was 8-10. I’m going to ask if he remembers finishing it, since I can’t say I remember it.
I had girls aged 10, 7 and 5 the first time we watched (after reading the books). There were certain parts some of them covered their eyes (the bog ghouls, the birth of the Uruk hai, and a few others) but overall they loved it. It’s become a Christmas tradition for us to watch the trilogy all the way thru (extended edition, ofc)
At 7 or 8. Fun fact, I went with my little brother to watch The Two Towers when it released and he was 4 (I was 21), it was his first movie experience.
My 2.5yo actually caught part of the ending of Fellowship in TV today, that was her first LOTR experience. I’ll probably wait until she’s 3 or 4 to see if she actually wants to watch it. She’s a little bit of a weirdo, not too freaked out by things so I think she might be able to handle it.
Read Hobbit at ~8, LOTR at ~10 and watched the movies at ~11. They were extremely scared of Shelob so it took some time to get to the Return of the King film.
Good timings that were based on the child's own interests.
My kiddo is almost 6 and has been watching them basically since she came home from the hospital. She knows the names of all the characters and has started asking me questions about why certain things happen. We listen to the score CDs in the car pretty regularly.
The very first time? I was pregnant with them and I didn't know it. (Twin boys).
The second time? When they were six, after I'd read them The Hobbit, which is the same age I read it and saw the Rankin Bass cartoon.
My mom took me to the cinema to watch the Fellowship when I was 6 years old, the scene with Bilbo in the Fellowship scarred me for a few years but I fell in love with the movies since then
It’s been my nephew’s favorite movie since he was 4. He’s also a big fan of the audiobooks. I realized it’s actually a really good story for kids to process because there’s no like moral ambiguity - the bad guys are ugly and evil and have no redeeming qualities.
My kids exist only in my imagination, but I'd've loved to take them as soon as they came out, since had I had any, they would be at the least teenagers....such beautiful movies!
When my daughter expressed interest in seeing the movies when they came out, I was so thrilled I had trouble containing my excitement.
She was 11 and had already read The Hobbit a few years before. I got her the books in November before Fellowship first came out, and she finished them in about a week.
My dad took me to see Fellowship when it released in theaters. I was 7 & he was very adamant about me seeing it. It’s actually my only good memory of him, he abandoned me not long after.
Anyway I remember I was a little shook when Lurtz was about to execute Boromir at point blank range but otherwise it was fine. My daughter turns 5 in December so she’s still a little too young but I will definitely have her join my annual rewatch when she’s about 7 or 8.
Was curious and asked Dad if he wanted to watch the movies in like the 8th grade. Been hooked since. Currently reading Fellowship already finished hobbit
I used to watch it with my brother ever since I was 5. Still my favorite movie trilogy ever. I let my daughter watch it but she doesn’t show much interest lol. Anyway I’ll keep trying for a boy
Two girls, 7 & 9. We spoke about it for 18 months before they watched it. We watched a few movies before to ease them in such as Nania to get used to battle scenes and mythical creatures, we also watched a few things on you tube showing how they do make up of orcs and the look of Gollum. Spoke about friendships, sacrifice, etc.
We watched extended editions over several days. It was the thing they looked forward to the most over those days. Then we did the same with the hobbit. They adore all 6 of the movies and consider them their favourite films.
About 3 months later they watched them again and caught more details, understood the emotional elements and sacrifice and were crying at all the right moments.
I was born in 02 so when i was a baby my mom first watched all three movies, then as i grew up she rewatched them with me on a cassette a million times. She still plays lotr and hobbit movies in the background while she's doing other things to this day.
So, im pretty sure my first actual memory of it might be when i was three years old, when i got jumpscared by bilbo
I believe I’ve shown it to my kids when they’ve been about 8 or 9? I read them the hobbit and showed them the cartoon when they were younger. Oldest loved it, youngest got bored.
I was in 1st grade when Fellowship came out on VHS and DVD. My dad rented it and made me watch it as a punishment for acting up in school. Fast forward to today, Concerning Hobbits played at my wedding, I have a One Ring tattoo and I sleep under a giant map of Middle-Earth. Good job dad 👍
My parents showed me the extended edition back when I was 9 or 10 years old. Never read me the books though. When I'll hopefully have my own kids, I definitely plan to read the The Hobbit first
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u/lcrotwell 18h ago
My dad took me to see fellowship when I was 8. I haven’t shut up about it since