Hey, it's me. said:

I maybe wrong, but wasnt the Hobbit more a children's story than LOTR? LOTR dealt with more 'adult' issues such as power, corruption and greed albeit in a fantasy setting. Star Wars was unique because you loved it as a kid in a very one dimensional kind of way, and grew to understand the deeper tones of it as you got older. I don't know many (if any) 5-10 year olds that fell in love with LOTR the first time they saw it.

The parents of my godchildren were read the books when they were kids and passed this on to their children.

So when they saw it they already knew the characters and the story and were miffed about some of the changes just like the adults.

As a boy I used to love Biblical epics and historical dramas and they are pretty much more weird and unworldly than anything in LOTR.