The Lord of the Rings

1978 film

1978-11-15

Yes

United States

[b]J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings[/b] is a 1978 American animated high fantasy film directed by item:110348[Ralph Bakshi]. It is an adaptation of item:108956[J. R. R. Tolkien]'s high fantasy epic item:110583[The Lord of the Rings], comprising item:110580[The Fellowship of the Ring] and the first half of item:110581[The Two Towers]. Set in item:108256[Middle-earth], the film follows a group of hobbits, elves, men, dwarves, and wizards who form a fellowship. They embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, and ensure his destruction. Ralph Bakshi encountered Tolkien's writing early in his career, and had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before being given funding by producer Saul Zaentz and distributor United Artists. The film is notable for its extensive use of rotoscoping, a technique in which scenes are first shot in live-action, then traced onto animation cels. It uses a hybrid of traditional cel animation and rotoscoped live action footage. The film features the voices of William Squire, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox, and Anthony Daniels of item:109975[Star Wars] fame, and was one of the first animated films to be presented theatrically in the Dolby Stereo sound system. The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, based on an earlier draft by Chris Conkling. Although The Lord of the Rings was a financial success, there was no official sequel to cover the remainder of the story. Nonetheless, the film was an influence on item:108388[Peter Jackson], as was detailed in the 'extras' of the DVD to item:110592[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring].