The Lord of the Rings (1978)

Director:

Ralph Bakshi

Writers:

J.R.R. Tolkien (novels)
Chris Conkling (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 November 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

Come to Middle-earth, a world beyond the furthest reaches of your imagination.

Plot:

The Fellowship of the Ring embark on a journey to destroy the One Ring and end Sauron's reign over Middle Earth.

Plot Keywords:

Ring | Middle Earth | Journey | Hobbit | Warrior

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Christopher Guard	...	Frodo (voice)
William Squire	...	Gandalf (voice)
Michael Scholes	...	Sam (voice)
John Hurt	...	Aragorn (voice)
Simon Chandler	...	Merry (voice)
Dominic Guard	...	Pippin (voice)
Norman Bird	...	Bilbo (voice)
Michael Graham Cox	...	Boromir (voice) (as Michael Graham-Cox)
Anthony Daniels	...	Legolas (voice)
David Buck	...	Gimli (voice)
Peter Woodthorpe	...	Gollum (voice)
Fraser Kerr	...	Saruman (voice)
Philip Stone	...	Theoden (voice)
Michael Deacon	...	Wormtongue (voice)
André Morell	...	Elrond (voice) (as Andre Morell)
Alan Tilvern	...	Innkeeper (voice)
Annette Crosbie	...	Galadriel (voice)
John Westbrook	...	Treebeard (voice)
John A. Neris	...	Gandalf - Character Actor
Sharon Baird	...	Frodo - Character Actor
Michael Lee Gogin	...	Character Actor
Paul Gale	...	Character Actor
Patrick Sullivan Burke	...	Character Actor
Billy Barty	...	Bilbo / Sam - Character Actor
Donn Whyte	...	Character Actor
Trey Wilson	...	Character Actor
Albert Ash	...	Character Actor (as Albert Cirimele)
Patty Maloney	...	Character Actor
Jeri Lea Ray	...	Character Actor
Felix Silla	...	Character Actor
Mike Clifford	...	Character Actor
Larry Larsen	...	Character Actor
Art Hern	...	Character Actor
David Dotson	...	Character Actor
Tommy Madden	...	Character Actor
Gary Jensen	...	Character Actor
Aesop Aquarian	...	Character Actor
Santy Josol	...	Character Actor
Stan Barrett	...	Character Actor
John L.	...	Character Actor (as John L)
Herbie Braha	...	Character Actor (as Herb Braha)
Sam Laws	...	Character Actor
Hank Calia	...	Character Actor
Terry Leonard	...	Character Actor
Frank Delfino	...	Character Actor
Peter Looney	...	Character Actor
Russ Ernest	...	Character Actor (as Russ Earnest)
Dennis Madalone	...	Character Actor
Robert 'Big Buck' Maffei	...	Character Actor (as Buck Maffei)
Edoardo Faieta	...	Character Actor (as Eddy Fay)
Jerry Maren	...	Character Actor
Carmen Filpi	...	Character Actor
Harry Monty	...	Character Actor
Ruth Gay	...	Character Actor
Frank Morson	...	Character Actor
Leonard P. Geer	...	Character Actor (as Lenny Gear)
Walter Robles	...	Character Actor (as Walt Robles)
Harriet Gibson	...	Character Actor (as Harriett Gibson)
Mic Rodgers	...	Character Actor
Bob Haney	...	Character Actor
Angelo Rossitto	...	Character Actor
Chuck Hayward	...	Character Actor
Peter Risch	...	Character Actor (as Pete Risch)
Eddie Hice	...	Character Actor (as Eddy Hice)
Jack Verbois	...	Character Actor
Loren Janes	...	Character Actor
Greg Walker	...	Character Actor (as Gregg Walker)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louie Elias	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Ralph Bakshi

Writing credits
J.R.R. Tolkien		(novels "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers")
Chris Conkling		(screenplay) and
Peter S. Beagle		(screenplay)

Produced by
Saul Zaentz	....	producer

Original Music by
Leonard Rosenman

Cinematography by
Timothy Galfas		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Donald W. Ernst
Peter Kirby

Makeup Department
Patricia Messina	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Denise O'Dell	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Sparey	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Stephen Katz	....	consultant: Dolby
Carl Lewis	....	assistant sound editor (as Cari Lewis)
Bob Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bill Mumford	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dan Sharp	....	assistant sound editor (as Daniel Sharp)
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer
Cathy McKelvey	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)
John Post	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Curt Schulkey	....	adr editor (uncredited)
Curt Schulkey	....	dialogue editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
James W. Riley	....	visual effects producer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Phil Bray	....	set photographer

Animation Department
Marcia Adams	....	landscape painter
Christopher D. Andrews	....	animation effects (as Christopher Andrews)
Craig Armstrong	....	key animator
Dale Baer	....	key animator
Dale Baer	....	layout artist
Brenda Banks	....	key animator
Carl Bell	....	key animator
Nino Carbe	....	animation effects
Mary Jane Cole	....	ink and paint special effects
Jesus Cortes	....	key animator
Janet Cummings	....	color modeler
Janet Cummings	....	ink and paint supervisor
Retta Davidson	....	assistant animator
James A. Davis	....	key animator
Lillian Evans	....	key animator
Dotti Foell	....	animation checker
Frank Gonzales	....	key animator
Steven E. Gordon	....	key animator (as Steven Gordon)
Stan Green	....	animation effects
Edgar Gutierrez	....	cel reproductions
Vince Gutierrez	....	ink and paint supervisor
Lee Guttman	....	ink and paint supervisor
Ann Hamilton	....	ink and paint special effects
Kevin Hanna	....	layout artist
Edwin B. Hirth III	....	landscape painter
Mentor Huebner	....	layout artist
Charlotte Huffine	....	assistant animator
Barry E. Jackson	....	landscape painter (as Barry Jackson)
Sam Jaimes	....	animator
David Jonas	....	layout artist
Sean Joyce	....	key animator
Lisa Kahatriya	....	ink and paint supervisor (as Lisa Kshatriya)
Chrystal Klabunde	....	key animator (as Chrystal Russell)
Rob LaDuca	....	assistant animator (as Rob La Duca)
Terry Lennon	....	assistant animator (as Terrence Lennon)
Ed Newmann	....	assistant animator (as Edward Newmann)
Linda Pearce	....	ink and paint special effects
Manuel Perez	....	animator (as Manny Perez)
Daniel Pia	....	animation production supervisor
Michael G. Ploog	....	layout artist (as Mike Ploog)
Carol Kieffer Police	....	landscape painter (as Carol Kieffer)
Lou Police	....	background assistant
Gary Randall	....	animator
Sally Reymond	....	ink and paint supervisor
Nelda Ridley	....	ink and paint supervisor
Lenord Robinson	....	key animator
Joe Roman	....	animator
Phil Roman	....	animator
Emalene Seutter	....	ink and paint special effects (as Emaline Seutter)
Paul Smith	....	key animator
Irven Spence	....	key animator
J. Michael Spooner	....	background assistant
Karin Stover	....	ink and paint special effects
Martin Taras	....	animator
Barry Temple	....	assistant animator
Ruth Tompson	....	ink and paint supervisor
Hank Tucker	....	key animator
Ira Turek	....	background assistant
John Vita	....	landscape painter (as Johnnie Vita)
Ed Wexler	....	key animator (as Edward Wexler)
Bruce Woodside	....	key animator
Louise Zingarelli	....	layout artist
Micki Zurcher	....	ink and paint supervisor
Daryl Carstensen	....	xerox checker (uncredited)
Brad Frost	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Ray Harris	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Madlyn O'Neill	....	paint technician (uncredited)
Richard Raynis	....	background illustrator (uncredited)
Rusty Stoll	....	assistant animator (uncredited)
Tom Tataranowicz	....	animator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
William Barbe	....	special costume designer
Lynne Betner	....	special costume designer
Hollis Trainer	....	costume supervisor (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Jack Hooper	....	negative cutter
Tom Hooper	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Ralph Ferraro	....	orchestrator
Jim Henrikson	....	music editor
Leonard Rosenman	....	conductor

Other crew
Mark Bakshi	....	production staff
Leah Bernstein	....	assistant to director
Lynne Betner	....	assistant to director
Martin Cohen	....	production staff
Christine Danzo	....	production staff (as Christine L. Danzo)
Nancy Eichler	....	assistant to producer
Robert K. Feldmann	....	production assistant
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Jacquelyn Herst	....	production staff
Jacqueline Roettcher	....	studio production supervisor
Cathy Rose	....	production staff
Michael Takamoto	....	production staff

Production Companies

• Fantasy Films
• Saul Zaentz Production Company

Distributors

• United Artists (1978) (USA) (theatrical)
• Transmundo Films (1994) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• United Artists Pictures (1980) (Finland) (theatrical)
• United Pictures Finland (1980) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2001) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Aquarius TV (2005) (Greece) (TV)
• Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Connoisseur Video (????) (UK) (VHS)
• Connossieur Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (???) (USA) (VHS)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (????) (Finland) (VHS)
• Top Video (????) (Canada) (VHS)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (1994) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2001) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Symmetricon (special kaleidoscopic effects)

Other Companies

• Hogan-Lee Images  animation camera
• Image Transform  post-production facilities
• Nick Vasu  animation camera
• Optical House, The  optical effects
• R & B EFX & Animation  animation camera
• Sam Shaw Enterprises  sound effects

Also Known As:

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Sindarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:L | Finland:K-12/9 (1988) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 (1980) | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Belmonte, Cuenca, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Company:

Fantasy Films

Trivia:

Director John Boorman originally envisioned making the entire trilogy as a single 100 minute film. Ralph Bakshi heard that he was going to do this, and, as a fan of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and J.R.R. Tolkien, was horrified. When Boorman's plans to bring Tolkien's novels to the screen fell apart, Bakshi approached J.R.R. Tolkein's daughter to do the novels as a trilogy of animated films. Tolkein's daughter loved Bakshi's fantasy Wizards (1977), so she gave him the rights to The Lord of the Rings. Bakshi filmed "The Fellowship of the Rings" and "The Two Towers" (which were collapsed into a single two-and-a-half hour film), and had planned to film "The Return of the King", but the trilogy was never completed.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first shot of the orc attack in Moria, Legolas' bow is tall with spiral tips (which he uses throughout the movie). In the very next shot, two seconds later, it is much smaller, with the regular curved tips of a straight-limb longbow.

Quotes:

Sam: Straight stairs, winding stairs what comes after that?
Gollum: We shall see, oh yes... We shall see.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Marinara" (2004)

Soundtrack:

MITHRANDIR

Animated version of The Lord Of The Rings - quite good, but suffers because too many unfairly compare it to the new Peter Jackson version.

More than twenty years before Peter Jackson's visionary adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings, there was this 1978 animated effort from director Ralph Bakshi. An ambitious and reasonably faithful version of the story, this has sadly been rather over-shadowed by the Jackson trilogy. Indeed, many reviewers here on the IMDb (mainly those who saw the newer version first) seem to be fiercely unkind to this version.... but if one applies a little common sense, and takes into consideration the time when it was made and the technical possibilities that existed at that time, then they will realise that this is a pretty good film. Indeed, it was shortly after seeing this animated movie back in the early '80s that I sought out Tolkien's book and immediately became a lifelong fan of these richly detailed Middle Earth adventures. So, in some respects, I owe this film a degree of acknowledgement as the film which shaped my literary tastes forever.

Sauron, the Dark Lord of Middle Earth, forges an all-powerful ring that gives him incredible power. Following a great battle during which Sauron is defeated, the ring falls into possession of a king named Isildur…. but instead of destroying it he foolishly chooses to keep it. For centuries the ring passes from hand to hand, eventually coming into the possession of a hobbit named Frodo Baggins who lives in a peace-loving community known as The Shire. Frodo learns from a wizard named Gandalf that his ring is in fact The One Ring, the very same that was forged by Sauron all those centuries ago, and that its master is once again searching for it in order to restore his dark power over the entire land. Frodo embarks on a perilous journey to protect the ring with three other hobbit companions, but every step of the way they are hunted by Sauron's ring-wraiths, the Black Riders. There follow many adventures, during which a company of nine adventurers is formed to guide the ring to the only place where it can be "unmade" – Mount Doom, in the land of Mordor. The film concludes with Frodo and his best friend Sam on the borders of Mordor, closing ever nearer to their horrifying destination. Meanwhile Gandalf and the other members of the company fight off a huge army of orcs at the legendary fortress of Helm's Deep.

This version covers just over half of the original book. A second instalment was planned to bring the story to an end, but was sadly never completed. While the ending feels abrupt, it does at least end at a sensible point in the story. One has to feel a little frustration and regret that no sequel exists in which we might follow these animated heroes to their eventual goal. The animation is passable, with a nice variety of locales and characters presented in interesting detail. The music by Leonard Rosenman is suitably stirring and fits in appropriately with the epic narrative. The voice-overs are decent, too, especially John Hurt as Aragorn and Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum. On the other hand, Michael Scholes - who provides the voice for Sam - is rather campy and goofy, which is not well suited to the character. The Lord Of The Rings is a commendable attempt to visualise the staggering book on which it is based.