The Lord of the Rings (1978)

The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 animated high fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi.

Directed by Ralph Bakshi. With Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt. The Fellowship of the Ring embark on a journey to destroy the One Ring and end Sauron's reign over Middle-earth.

Amazon.com: The Lord of the Rings: 1978 Animated Movie (Remastered Deluxe Edition): Christopher Guard, William Squire, John Hurt, Michael Sholes, Dominic Guard, Anthony Daniels, Ralph Bakshi, J.R.R. Tolkien, Saul Zaentz, Peter S. Beagle, Chris Conkling: Movies & TV

When word got out that Ralph Bakshi had signed to do the screen adaption of Lord of the Rings, more than one eyebrow was raised. Bakshi's reputation has been based as much on his lapses of taste ("Heavy Traffic" and "Coonskin"), (which was withdrawn from distribution when CORE [Congress of Racial Equality] labeled it racist) as on his innovative approach to animation, and there was fear that Bakshi would put his profane foot smack in the middle of J.R.R. Tolkien's fragile, much-beloved trilogy.

Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi's literal adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, is brought to the screen in a reverent, stilted way, with Bakshi forsaking his sharp-edged animated looniness for a rotoscoped dullness. Although the film's title encompasses the entire Tolkien trilogy, this longish Bakshi feature, in fact, covers only the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, and the first half of the second, The Two Towers. Given the complexity of the original story line, this unfortunately means that only those intimately familiar with the books will be able to understand what is happening in the movie. In brief, however, an evil sorcerer from a previous era created a magical ring which enables its users to call upon its tremendous powers to rule the world, but it inevitably warps them to evil. It was believed lost, but during a resurgence of magical evil in the world, Bilbo, a simple, plain-spoken hobbit, recovers it from its hiding place. The forces of good give his nephew Frodo the choice to bear the awful burden of the ring to a place where it may be destroyed.

Before Star Wars and Harry Potter, J. R. R. Tolkien's epic novel, The Lord of the Rings, defined the modern fantasy genre.

The Ralph Bakshi adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is a combination of the first book, and half of the second book.

http://thedukemitchell.uk/ for more weird videos plus strange film nights in London. VHS trailer for the 1978 animated version of The Lord Of The Rings, dire...