One of the 2024 movies that truly felt like a holiday gift, at least to me, is The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. It’s a sweeping anime saga that I think should please the most hardcore admirers, especially when devoted fans like actor Gaia Wise are part of the cast. Her love of The Lord of the Rings movies inspired me to ask her a question that revealed what her ultimate keepsake from the experience would be.
I spoke with Ms. Wise and her co-star Laurence Ubong Wiliams for The War of the Rohirrim's virtual press day. It was the perfect time to talk some horse sense, inspired by the story of Viggo Mortensen trying to adopt his LOTR horse once production had wrapped. While The War of the Rohirrim wasn’t a live-action production, that doesn’t mean Gais Wise should have walked home empty handed. But she kind of did, as when I asked if the animation team had tried to gift her art of this “tearaway child” on her noble steed, she sadly confirmed no offer was made. At the same time, Wise did share with CinemaBlend this interesting story about what she would want to hang on her walls:
...actually the person I need to talk to is Paris Paloma, who did the amazing [song] ‘The Rider’. She's an incredible illustrator, and she doodled me riding [the horse], when they were recording. So I'm gonna go and find her and get her to give that to me as my keepsake. … She was just sort of humming to herself, hitting perfect notes and doodling and I just went, ‘Leave.’
If there was ever a time for another Lord of the Rings related F-bomb to drop, I think this would be it. Also, Ms. Paloma’s name should sound familiar, as her single “Labour” has been a viral sensation on TikTok, perfect notes and all. So after hearing this story, I could identify with Gaia Wise and Laurence Ubong Wiliams’ joking sentiment of Paris Paloma being “annoyingly perfect.”
Keepsake or not, Gaia Wise's story is another example of how the DNA of The Lord of the Rings franchise is well served by The War of the Rohirrim. In addition to decisions like the inclusion of Christopher Lee’s posthumous cameo as Saruman, the tradition of renowned musical artists providing a stand out single for the adventure at hand also connects the past to the present.
Paris Paloma now joins the ranks of Enya, Annie Lennox and Ed Sheeran in that respect. And in case you haven’t heard the results for yourself, please enjoy “The Rider” in all its ridiculously perfect glory:
Thanks to Gaia Wise’s story, I think we should all hope to see that art in the wild at some point, especially if it’s not too late to somehow commission it for the eventual Steelbook release of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. As seen through Paris Paloma's wardrobe choices in the music video above, the woman is clearly a fan.
At this point, it feels like two things need to happen: Ms. Wise needs to gets her own copy of Ms. Paloma's art, and then she needs to deliberate about whether or not it should really be released to the public. Something tells me this piece would be perfect for a Steelbook home entertainment release.
I'll try not to get too ahead of myself here, especially because you can read my review of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, in a bit to convince you to see it on the big screen. And after catching this rousing adventure for yourself, you should totally head to your nearest Max subscription portal and stream The Hobbit and/or The Lord of the Rings trilogies. Admit it: December was made for journeys to Middle-Earth.
