The Lord Of The Rings: The Animated...

[Guest]

Ngh! Gnh! Naaahhh!

AAARRRGGHHHH!!!!!

Something I now wish I'd never talked myself into buying and subsequently watching.

Hated every minute of it.

Great chunks of story missed out, but that's a given. They tried to compress umpteen hours of storytelling into a couple of hours... but they still failed!

The plot is significantly different to the recent trilogy (well, first two parts, anyway), the acting doesn't seem to gel properly, and at times it hard to tell what you're meant to be following.

Basically, I'd say that this was a good indication of how LOTR and animation are at odds when it comes to pace, and as a result, characterisations suffer.

Still, I do think it was worth getting, if only to be reminded of how abysmal things can be.

Roll on the new TF film, eh?

[KingMob]

That old Bakshi thing with John Hurt and all that?
Hmm, it is crappy, but I'm quite fond of it as I got it VHS as a kid and must have watched it loadsandloadsandloadsandloads over the years.

I remember thinking the rotoscoping technique was awesome, when really it's a bit lame. And bits of it are quite dark and gory, which made a big impression. Some cool moments of voice acting too...and some not.

They made Boromir a viking. Wtf?

[Guest]

They made Boromir a viking. Wtf?

I know!

And Gimli turned into an old prospector from the American West? What could his lines have been upon seeing the fall of Moria? "I'll git those cursed orcs, dagnabbit!"

There's even a couple of places where I get the impression that Gandalf was actually Shockwave! "Yes, Frodo. I told Merry and Pippin to join you on your journey to Bree, and I made the white horses in the water that saved you from the black riders. I managed all this whilst being held prisonder by 'Aruman' at Isengard and therefore being in no position to do any of what I just said I did!"

And what's with the silent S in Saruman?

Y'know, I can almost blame the inconsistencies in the film's pronunciation as the sole reason for today's various pronunciations of the characters and places.

[KingMob]

And what's with the silent S in Saruman?

Think they did that to differentiate him from Sauron. Because, you know...uh, people were getting them confused for decades and uh...nah, I got nothing.
IIRC, someone forgets and pronounces it correctly at one point. I found that all horribly confusing when I was a kid.

However, the way the VA has Gollum/Smeagol snap out "Sneekin!" at Sam towards the end makes me forgive a lot...

Y'know, I can almost blame the inconsistencies in the film's pronunciation as the sole reason for today's various pronunciations of the characters and places.

Wouldn't surprise me.
Ah, I dunno. Head says it's a crap movie, heart says otherwise.

[saysadie]

Ah, I dunno. Head says it's a crap movie, heart says otherwise.

Yeah, I'm at the same place with it. Was my first introduction to anything LOTR actually, so it's got that going for it with me. I still think the rotoscoping thing is kinda neat, in an odd way...

Haven't watched it in ages, though. I have a feeling things may change if I popped it in and had a watch today... so I'm not too sure I want to do that.

[sprunkner]

I think it's a fun exercise, to watch it here and now. I loved it as a kid, too.

Has anyone else seen the Rankin/Bass Return of the King? I still think their Hobbit holds up well, and RotK, despite the musical numbers, still does better than the Bakshi Rings.

[jboyler]

I remember being thrilled with this movie when I was a kid. I thought the 'rotoscoping' effects were completely fantastic and I was terrified of the orcs and the Ringwraiths.

I'm sure if I re-watched it, I'd have a different opinion, but at the time I thought it was gold.

And as for Boromir being a viking, I always thought this was perfectly natural. The entirety of Middle-Earth, especially the riders of Rohan, are based on the mythos of Ancient Britain and Northern Teutonic Europe.

-J

[spiderfrommars]

When I was a kid I found it very intruiging, and several bits stuck in my memory for years: death of Boromir, the spooky rotoscoped armies, the blackriders stabbing the pillows (the latter of which the Jackson FOTR movie basically lifted didn't it?)

But I have to say, it would also send me to sleep. I don't think I ever got to the end despite several attempts!

[KingMob]

And as for Boromir being a viking, I always thought this was perfectly natural. The entirety of Middle-Earth, especially the riders of Rohan, are based on the mythos of Ancient Britain and Northern Teutonic Europe.
-J

Sorry, it always bothered me, as it's just lazy characterisation. Boromir and the Gondor-Men have prety much screw-all to do with vikings, and viking imagery doesn't seem to link in to any of his plot (well, what little of it is left..why is Boromir in this again, once his story arc is excised? Ah yes, Vikings are commonly viewed as rapacious and fond of stealing shiny things). It's just a shorthand way of visually placing him as a fighty/shouty bloke and differing him from the native American Ind-, oh, I mean Aragorn.

I understand why it was done, I just think it's daft. And it confused the hell out of me when I was a kid...you know, kid logic like 'Okay, Boromir isn't supposed to be wearing a helmet, but they've given him one, fine, but why does it have horns on it instead of wings?'.
And it gave rise to conversations like this
"He's my favourite character."
"Who, the viking?"
"Arrgh, he's not a viking."
"Looks like one."
"Well, he's not."
"Whatever."

Haven't seen the Rankin/Bass flick...would like to.

And yeah, Jackson lifted a couple of Black Rider shots from this cartoon, he's a fan of it I think.

This might be worth a read
http://pw1.netcom.com/~zmoq/pages/RBLOTR.htm

[Metal Vendetta]

News in the Metro today said that the guy who made the animated version (Saul somebody, I think) kept hold of the film rights and pocketed a cool $100m from the new movies - for essentially doing FA.

Nice work if you can get it.

[sprunkner]

Saul Zaentz.

Name is actually all over the new movies... "A Saul Zaentz Production."

[Kaylee]

I personally really like the movie- in terms of the story it butchers it, but it was too ambitious to begin with (the studio spent so much money on the animation it went bankrupt- hence why the movie ends where it does). The rotascope effect I find artistically spectacular, some of the artwork is beautiful and most of the characters I find acceptable- I like their interpretations of Aragorn, Gandalf, Sam and Frodo particularly.

imo the film suffers because doing any justice to LoTR (and getting a meaningful output in terms of story) is a truly monumental task, and even with millions spent on it and three films to do it over it still isn't perfect per se.

[Predabot]

I love this movie. It was indeed my first introduction of Lotr, damn good stuff methought, and think still today.

It always bothered me where it ended tho, it felt as if only half the movie was done. According to legend there exists an extra 20 minutes or so of it, that wasn't included in the VHS/version shown on TV..? And I was rather confused when all of a sudden the 2 hobbits are being carried around by a walking tree.

Then I read the books and it all made sence.

[BB Shockwave]

The first two parts which Bakshi directed are indeed a bit rubbish. However, "The Hobbit" and "return of the king" are made withJapanese animation (which is sometimes hilarious,see Gollum,. andsometimes great -see Witch king)

And, why I like it, well RTOTK cartoon stays true to the book, dammit, unlike the movie! And so does The Hobbit. I really like how they did draw Smaug.Too bad the Japanese thought wood elves are a totally different race then elves and, well, the result isn't pretty.