The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 animated epic fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi from a screenplay by Chris Conkling and Peter S. Beagle. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, adapting from the volumes The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Set in Middle-earth, the film follows a group of fantasy races—Hobbits, Men, an Elf, a Dwarf and a Wizard—who form a fellowship to destroy a magical Ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, the titular main antagonist.
Bakshi encountered Tolkien's writing early in his career. He had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before producer Saul Zaentz and distributor United Artists provided funding. 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 Lord of the Rings was released in the United States on November 15, 1978, and in the United Kingdom on July 5, 1979. Although the film received mixed reviews from critics, and hostility from disappointed viewers who felt that it was incomplete, it was a financial success. There was no official sequel to cover the remainder of the story. However, the film has retained a cult following and was a major inspiration for New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson’s adaptation of the story.
Plot
Early in the Second Age of Middle-earth, Elven smiths forge nine Rings of Power for mortal Men, seven for the Dwarves, and three for the Elves. Soon after, the Dark Lord Sauron makes the One Ring to control them and uses it to attempt to conquer Middle-earth. After defeating Sauron, Prince Isildur takes the Ring, but after he is eventually killed by Orcs, the Ring lies at the bottom of the river Anduin for over 2,500 years. Over time, Sauron captures the Nine Rings and transforms their owners into the Ringwraiths. The One Ring is discovered by Déagol, whose kinsman, Sméagol, kills him and takes the Ring for himself. The Ring twists his body and mind, and he becomes the creature Gollum, who takes it with him into the Misty Mountains. Hundreds of years later, the Ring finds Hobbit Bilbo Baggins in Gollum's cave, and he takes it home to the Shire.
Decades later, during Bilbo's birthday celebration, the Wizard Gandalf tells him to leave the Ring for his nephew Frodo. Bilbo reluctantly agrees, and departs for Rivendell. Seventeen years pass, during which Gandalf learns that evil forces have discovered that the Ring is in the possession of a Baggins. Gandalf meets Frodo to explain the Ring's history and the danger it poses, and Frodo leaves his home, taking the Ring with him and accompanied by his cousins, Pippin and Merry, and his gardener Sam. After a narrow escape from the Ringwraiths, the Hobbits arrive at Bree, from which Aragorn, Isildur's rightful heir, leads them to Rivendell. Frodo is stabbed atop Weathertop mountain by the chief of the Ringwraiths, and sickens as the journey progresses. Shortly after they meet the Elf Legolas, the Ringwraiths catch up with them at the ford of Rivendell, and are swept away by the river.
At Rivendell, Frodo is healed by half-Elf Elrond. Gandalf rejoins him, having escaped the corrupt wizard Saruman, who plans to ally with Sauron but also wants the Ring for himself. Frodo volunteers to go to Mordor and destroy the Ring in the volcano Mount Doom. The Hobbits depart for Mordor with Gandalf; Aragorn; Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor; Legolas; and Gimli the Dwarf.
The Fellowship of the Ring's attempt to cross the Misty Mountains is foiled by heavy snow, and they are forced into the underground Moria. There, they battle Orcs, and Gandalf falls into an abyss while fighting a Balrog. The remaining Fellowship continues through the Elf-haven Lothlórien, where they meet the Elf queen Galadriel. Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo, who decides to continue his quest alone; but Sam insists on accompanying him. Boromir is killed by Orcs while trying to defend Merry and Pippin. Merry and Pippin are captured by the Orcs, who intend to take them to Isengard through the land of Rohan. The captured Hobbits escape and flee into Fangorn Forest, where they meet the Ent Treebeard. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas track Merry and Pippin into the forest, where they are reunited with Gandalf, who was reborn after destroying the Balrog.
The four then ride to Rohan's capital, Edoras, where Gandalf persuades King Théoden that his people are in danger. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas then travel to Helm's Deep, where Théoden's forces resist the Orcs sent by Saruman until Gandalf arrives with the Riders of Rohan, destroying the Orc army. Frodo and Sam discover Gollum stalking them in an attempt to reclaim the Ring, and capture him; but spare his life in return for guidance to Mount Doom. The conflicted Gollum later breaks his word and begins plotting against them, wondering if "she" might help.
Cast
Christopher Guard as Frodo William Squire as Gandalf Michael Scholes as Sam John Hurt as Aragorn Simon Chandler as Merry Dominic Guard as Pippin Norman Bird as Bilbo Michael Graham Cox as Boromir Anthony Daniels as Legolas David Buck as Gimli Peter Woodthorpe as Gollum Fraser Kerr as Saruman Philip Stone as Théoden Michael Deacon as Wormtongue André Morell as Elrond Alan Tilvern as Innkeeper Annette Crosbie as Galadriel John Westbrook as Treebeard / Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien
This primary cast was supported by a large cast of animation doubles, who were not credited on screen; the matter went to guild arbitration.
Production
Development Director Ralph Bakshi was introduced to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien during the mid-1950s while working as an animator for Terrytoons. In 1957, the young animator started trying to convince people that the story could be told in animation.
In 1969, the rights were passed to United Artists, where an "elegant" Peter Shaffer script was abandoned. Film producer Denis O'Dell was interested in producing a film for the Beatles, and approached directors David Lean (busy with Ryan's Daughter), Stanley Kubrick (who deemed it "unfilmable"), and Michelangelo Antonioni. John Boorman was commissioned to write a script in late 1969, but it was deemed too expensive in 1970.
Bakshi approached United Artists when he learned (from a 1974 issue of Variety) that Boorman's script was abandoned. Learning that Boorman intended to produce all three parts of The Lord of the Rings as a single film, Bakshi commented, "I thought that was madness, certainly a lack of character on Boorman's part. Why would you want to tamper with anything Tolkien did?" Bakshi began making a "yearly trek" to United Artists. Bakshi had since achieved box office success producing adult-oriented animated films such as Fritz the Cat but his recent film, Coonskin, tanked, and he later clarified that he thought The Lord of the Rings could "make some money" so as to save his studio.
In 1975, Bakshi convinced United Artists executive Mike Medavoy to produce The Lord of the Rings as two or three animated films, and the prequel, The Hobbit. Medavoy offered him Boorman's script, which Bakshi refused, saying that Boorman "didn't understand it" and that his script would have made for a cheap film like "a Roger Corman film." Medavoy accepted Bakshi's proposal to "do the books as close as we can, using Tolkien's exact dialogue and scenes."
Although he was later keen to regroup with Boorman for his script (and his surrogate project, Excalibur), Bakshi claimed Medavoy did not want to produce his film at the time, but allowed him to shop it around if he could get another studio to pay for the expenses on Boorman's script. Bakshi attempted unsuccessfully to persuade Peter Bogdanovich to take on the project, but managed to gain the support of the then President of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Dan Melnick. Bakshi and Melnick made a deal with Mike Medavoy at United Artists to buy the Boorman script. Bakshi said later that "The Boorman script cost $3 million, so Boorman was happy by the pool, screaming and laughing and drinking, 'cause he got $3 million for his script to be thrown out." Boorman, however, was unhappy with the project going to animation after Tolkien once wrote to him, pleased that he was doing it in live-action. He never saw Bakshi's film, and after it was released, tried to relaunch his live-action version with Medavoy.
Work began on scripts and storyboards. When Melnick was fired from MGM in 1976, Bakshi's studio had spent between $200,000 and $600,000. The new executive Dick Shepherd had not read the books and, according to Bakshi, did not want to make the movie; Shepherd obliviously asked whether The Lord of the Rings was about a wedding. Bakshi then contacted Saul Zaentz (who had helped finance Fritz the Cat), asking him to produce The Lord of the Rings; Zaentz agreed.
Before production started, Bakshi met with Tolkien's daughter Priscilla to discuss how the film would be made. She showed him the room where her father did his writing and drawing. Bakshi says, "My promise to Tolkien's daughter was to be pure to the book. I wasn't going to say, 'Hey, throw out Gollum and change these two characters.' My job was to say, 'This is what the genius said.'"
Bakshi was approached by Mick Jagger, who wanted to play Frodo, but at the time the roles were already cast and recorded. David Carradine also approached Bakshi, offering to play Aragorn, and even suggested that Bakshi do it in live-action; while Bakshi's contract allowed this, he said it could not be done and that he had "always seen it as animation." He said it was impossible to make it in live-action without it being "tacky."
Screenwriting
Bakshi began developing the script himself. Learning of the project, Chris Conkling got an interview with Bakshi but was initially hired to "do research, to say what the costumes should look like or what the characters would be doing at any given time." Together, they first decided how to break the films down. When they started, they contemplated a three-film structure, but "we didn't know how that middle film would work" without a beginning and an end. Conkling even started writing a treatment for one long, three-and-a-half hour feature of the entire work, but eventually settled on scripts for two 150-minute films, the first of which was titled "The Lord of the Rings, Part One: The Fellowship."
The second draft of the screenplay, written by Conkling, told the bulk of the story in flashback, from Merry Brandybuck's point of view, so as to lead into the sequel. This version included Tom Bombadil, who rescues the Hobbits from the Barrow Downs, as well as Farmer Maggot, the Old Forest, Glorfindel, Arwen, and several songs. Bakshi felt it was "a much too drastic departure from Tolkien." Conkling began writing a draft that was "more straightforward and true to the source."
Still displeased, Bakshi and Zaentz called in fantasy author Peter S. Beagle for a rewrite. Beagle's first draft eliminated the framing device and told the story beginning with Bilbo's Farewell Party, climaxing with the Battle of Helm's Deep, and ending with the cliffhanger of Gollum leading Frodo and Sam to Shelob. The revised draft includes a brief prologue to reveal the history of the Ring. Fans threatened Bakshi that "he'd better get it right" and according to the artist Mike Ploog, Bakshi constantly revised the story to include certain beasts at the behest of such fans.
Differences from the book