# Lord of the Rings cartoon 1978



## Mr.Underhill (Jul 18, 2022)

I for example think its a massive shame that LOTR cartoon didnt get to include Return of the King (which got delivered to another company and failed completely to capture what the Bakshi cartoon did with it) Because the Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers was very striking and almost Diablo level of interesting movie!

It was also my first introduction to LOTR universe. Though 2001 movie is where i became a massive fan of the series!


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## d4rk3lf (Jul 18, 2022)

I think Bakshi did several mistakes in visual department. 
First of all, that experimenting with rotoscope and live action sequence didn't turned well at all. I wonder why these ideas didn't discarded after few tests, and after it was clear it just looks ugly and weitd. 
I wish all the cartoon is just regular drawing and painting. 

Secondly, some of the design choices was also very weird. Elrond like Ceasar, Aragorn like some Indian, Boromir like viking.... 

I really hope that in the future, we will get some nice, polished lotr cartoon.


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## wonderings (Jul 21, 2022)

I grew up with the 3 animated movies for The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King. The more serious of the bunch was the Bakshi, I loved the style, look and tone of it. On the other hand I loved the The Hobbit and Return of the King, completely different in style and tone, but beautifully done and maybe I am in the minority here but I loved the music in those 2. I even downloaded them back in the heyday of napster. Part of it is nostalgia I am sure, listening and watching as a kid. I have watched them in the last couple of years with with a friends kids and have to say I think they hold up in story telling and just being enjoyable to watch. No politics, no agendas pushed into the movies, just relatively accurate adaptations of the beloved stories by Tolkien.


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## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 21, 2022)

I've never seen this version -- (as you may have gathered, I am certainly more of a book-fan than a movie-watcher)

Is it good? From what @Squint-eyed Southerner told me on a different thread, it didn't sound worth the watch.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jul 21, 2022)

d4rk3lf said:


> I really hope that in the future, we will get some nice, polished lotr cartoon


You may well get your wish. I have fairly high hopes for the Rohirrim movie -- at least for the animation. Here's a thread:









The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim


What the heck? I don't even know what to think. https://variety.com/2021/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-anime-the-war-of-the-rohirrim-new-line-cinema-warner-bros-animation-1234993740/




www.thetolkienforum.com


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## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 21, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> You may well get your wish. I have fairly high hopes for the Rohirrim movie -- at least for the animation. Here's a thread:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've seen threads about this. It sounds interesting.


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## Squint-eyed Southerner (Jul 21, 2022)

Elbereth Vala Varda said:


> From what @Squint-eyed Southerner told me on a different thread, it didn't sound worth the watch.


I can certainly see how someone who watched them as a kid could have enjoyed-- or even loved them, just as I sympathize with those who came to Tolkien through the PJ movies.

But from the standpoint of someone who read the books over and over as a "youth", they were disappointing, to say the least -- though I agree on the Bakshi being the best of the three. I particularly recall my brother and me howling with laughter, watching The Hobbit, when it was originally shown on TV.


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## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 21, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I can certainly see how someone who watched them as a kid could have enjoyed-- or even loved them, just as I sympathize with those who came to Tolkien through the PJ movies.
> 
> But from the standpoint of someone who read the books over and over as a "youth", they were disappointing, to say the least -- though I agree on the Bakshi being the best of the three. I particularly recall my brother and me howling with laughter, watching The Hobbit, when it was originally shown on TV.


I think every film is a disappointment for people who had discovered the books as youth and enjoyed them, reading them over and over. Nothing can compare with what Tolkien created, leastways a film.


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## wonderings (Jul 21, 2022)

Squint-eyed Southerner said:


> I can certainly see how someone who watched them as a kid could have enjoyed-- or even loved them, just as I sympathize with those who came to Tolkien through the PJ movies.
> 
> But from the standpoint of someone who read the books over and over as a "youth", they were disappointing, to say the least -- though I agree on the Bakshi being the best of the three. I particularly recall my brother and me howling with laughter, watching The Hobbit, when it was originally shown on TV.


Without a doubt a movie or even TV show (better then a movie at least) cannot match a book, especially not Tolkien. Part of it is nostalgia for sure, on the other end I appreciate the artistic side compared to what comes from Disney and Pixar these days. There is something about it that stands apart, akin to the old Disney when you knew they were hand drawn, frame by frame. I would not want to start getting into Lord of the Rings with the movies for sure, and I was fortunate to have read and been read to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings before ever watching the cartoons. Albeit I was young when I read Lord of the Rings, I remember my 4th grade teacher being impressed. I certainly did not comprehend a fraction of what I was reading, but I knew the story, I got what was going on and the adventure that was unfolding page after page. My imagination did the initial work, the cartoons, Peter Jacksons adaptation did nothing to change my imagination, merely give me an interesting visual glimpse at someone else's vision.


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## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 21, 2022)

wonderings said:


> My imagination did the initial work, the cartoons, Peter Jacksons adaptation did nothing to change my imagination, merely give me an interesting visual glimpse at someone else's vision.


I can totally relate to this. No one changed my idea of how the characters looked, particularly the Elves. I had in my mind from reading the books a perfect idea of how they were both beauteous and full of light, and no adaption nor artist's rendition could change that. It was my mind indeed that shaped each of the characters, and continues to shape them.


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## wonderings (Jul 21, 2022)

Elbereth Vala Varda said:


> I can totally relate to this. No one changed my idea of how the characters looked, particularly the Elves. I had in my mind from reading the books a perfect idea of how they were both beauteous and full of light, and no adaption nor artist's rendition could change that. It was my mind indeed that shaped each of the characters, and continues to shape them.


It is a shame how many people do it the opposite way. They see the movies and then read the books... or are turned off by the movie so they have no interest in the books themselves. Along side with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, Narnia is in my favourite series of all time. I could go on and on about that masterpiece but I won't. The movies are just awful, and completely lose the magic and wonder of this simple yet deeply rich work of literature. So many people I know have sat their kids down in front of the movies without ever cracking open a book. It is almost painful to think that this is their introduction to Narnia.


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## Berzelmayr (Jul 28, 2022)




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## Elbereth Vala Varda (Jul 28, 2022)

wonderings said:


> It is a shame how many people do it the opposite way. They see the movies and then read the books... or are turned off by the movie so they have no interest in the books themselves. Along side with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, Narnia is in my favourite series of all time. I could go on and on about that masterpiece but I won't. The movies are just awful, and completely lose the magic and wonder of this simple yet deeply rich work of literature. So many people I know have sat their kids down in front of the movies without ever cracking open a book. It is almost painful to think that this is their introduction to Narnia.


While this can be the case, as I've stated before-- some people watch the movies (PJ films especially) and are immediately launched into a love for Tolkien and his works. I could see myself having done that, if I had not been fortunate enough to open the world of Middle-Earth through the books first. However as for the Bakshi, I have never watched it-- so I can't completely comment, but from what I've seen, it doesn't seem an enticing portrayal. I know for a fact however that many are led to love Tolkien by the PJ movies. 

I have read Narnia yet never watched the films, so I can't quite make a comment on this.


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## wonderings (Jul 29, 2022)

Elbereth Vala Varda said:


> While this can be the case, as I've stated before-- some people watch the movies (PJ films especially) and are immediately launched into a love for Tolkien and his works. I could see myself having done that, if I had not been fortunate enough to open the world of Middle-Earth through the books first. However as for the Bakshi, I have never watched it-- so I can't completely comment, but from what I've seen, it doesn't seem an enticing portrayal. I know for a fact however that many are led to love Tolkien by the PJ movies.
> 
> I have read Narnia yet never watched the films, so I can't quite make a comment on this.


There is no real right or wrong on how to do it. I do think movies sully our imagination in many ways, especially when it comes to adaptions of great works of literature. Movies cannot really capture the essence of a book. Even with the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings movies, they can't come close to the detail and writing in the books. If you enjoy it, great! If the movies lead you to reading great books and loving them more, even better! To me it is a bit backwards but the end result is good. I do think though that much of the work of your imagination has been done for you though by going from movie to book. If you had watched the movies first would you ever imagine Rivendell looking different? Or Frodo or Aragorn? I would think you would have Peter Jacksons vision in your head as you read the book. Again not bad, I just think there is so much more to our imaginations then can be captured on film.


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## Berzelmayr (Jul 29, 2022)

here's a little making of:


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## Berzelmayr (Jul 31, 2022)

#LOTRO is currently in the Twitter-Trends:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1553863390849671170


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## Berzelmayr (Aug 9, 2022)

Another recent tweet by direcor Ralph Bakshi:

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1556425309955637249


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## Berzelmayr (Oct 27, 2022)




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