The Return of the King (1980 film)

The Return of the King
Information
Director	Arthur Rankin, Jr. Jules Bass
Writer	J.R.R. Tolkien (original novel) Romeo Muller (screenplay)
Producer	Arthur Rankin, Jr. Jules Bass
Starring	Orson Bean Theodore Bikel John Huston Roddy McDowall
Music	Maury Laws (music) Jules Bass (lyrics)
Distributor	ABC (original transmission) Warner Bros. (home video)
Released	May 11, 1980
Runtime	98 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
IMDb	Profile

The Return of the King (subtitled A Story of the Hobbits) is an animated adaptation of the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien which was produced by Rankin/Bass as a TV special which originally aired on ABC in the U.S. on May 11, 1980. It has since been released on VHS and DVD.

The film was created by the same team which had worked on the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit.

Cast

Actor	Role(s)
Orson Bean	Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins
Theodore Bikel	Aragorn
William Conrad	Lord Denethor
John Huston	Gandalf
Roddy McDowall	Samwise Gamgee
Theodore	Gollum/Sméagol
Paul Frees	Orc, Goblin, Uruk-Hai, Captain Shagrat, Lieutenant Snaga, Orc Sergeant, Lord Elrond
Don Messick	King Théoden, Easterling, The Mouth of Sauron
John Stephenson	Gondorian Guard, Dwimmerlaik - The Witch-King of Angmar
Casey Kasem	Meriadoc 'Merry' Brandybuck
Sonny Melendrez	Peregrin 'Pippin' Took
Nellie Bellflower	Éowyn/Dernhelm
Glenn Yarbrough	The Minstrel
Thurl Ravenscroft (uncredited)	Ensemble

NOTE: Due to the fact that Cyril Ritchard, who originally voiced Elrond in The Hobbit, had died not long after completing his voice work for that movie, Paul Frees replaces him in that role this time around.

Synopsis

Because Rankin/Bass had begun production on this movie even before Ralph Bakshi's theatrical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings had been released,^[1] they present The Return of the King as a sequel to their 1977 adaptation of The Hobbit — giving the audience a brief recap of the events, and adapting a few story events from The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers while leaving out some major details and literally beginning the movie where its literary counterpart does (apart from its use of a framing device to bookend the movie). The movie's visual style is largely shared with the 1977 The Hobbit. Its plot unfolds as follows:

During the 129th birthday celebration for Bilbo Baggins in Rivendell, Frodo, Bilbo's nephew, tells the story of his quest to destroy the One Ring. Frodo begins his story with Samwise (Sam) Gamgee, his friend and companion, treading through Mordor as Ring-bearer in Frodo's absence, as he is being held captive there by orcs. During his journey, Sam begins to question his thoughts about claiming the Ring himself, but being humble, he never gives in to the treacherous temptations. In due course, he progresses back to Cirith Ungol to rescue Frodo.

Meanwhile, the wizard Gandalf the White and the hobbit Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith, the capital of the country of Gondor to warn Denethor, the Steward of the Throne, about the upcoming war—only to discover that the Steward has lost his mind by believing the war will be the end of mankind.

Back at Cirith Ungol, Sam rescues Frodo and returns the Ring. The two then continue on to finish their quest at Mount Doom, only to be attacked by their past guide, Gollum. As Sam holds Gollum off, Frodo makes it to the Crack of Doom. But at the Crack, Frodo is finally unable to resist the power of the Ring any longer and claims it for his own. At the same time, Gondor's neighboring country, Rohan, helps it claim victory in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

After searching for some time for Frodo in Mount Doom, Sam discovers Gollum and an invisible Frodo fighting over the Ring, which results in Gollum biting off Frodo's finger to claim it. While dancing with joy at the retrieval of his "Precious," Gollum loses his footing and falls into the fire, taking the Ring with him. With the destruction of the Ring, Sauron is defeated. Months later, Frodo's friend, Aragorn, is crowned King of Gondor. The film concludes back in the present with Frodo agreeing to accompany Bilbo, Gandalf and Elrond in leaving Middle-Earth. Sam, Merry and Pippin bid them all farewell as they depart across the sea.

Scenes

1. "Prologue: A Ring's Tale"
2. "Frodo of the Nine Fingers"
3. "Credits"
4. "Crossing Into Mordor"
5. "The Bearer of the Ring"
6. "Samwise the Strong"
7. "Less Can Be More"
8. "Under Siege"
9. "Denethor's Black Vision"
10. "The Two Watchers"
11. "Great Elf Warrior"
12. "Rescuing Frodo"
13. "The Power"
14. "Team Magic"
15. "Weary Fugitives"
16. "Vale of Gorgoroth"
17. "Where There's a Whip"
18. "Enemy at the Gates"
19. "Leave Tomorrow Till It Comes"
20. "Mount Doom"
21. "The Gollum"
22. "Théoden Falls"
23. "Claimed By the Ring"
24. "Éowyn Triumphs"
25. "Choice of Evils"
26. "End of the Ring"
27. "On Eagles' Wings"
28. "The Return of the King"
29. "Farewells"
30. "End Credits"

Differences from the book

• The story is framed as being told by the Minstrel of Gondor at Bilbo's 129th birthday party at Elrond's home in Rivendell. Elrond, Bilbo, Gandalf, Frodo, Samwise, Meriadoc and Peregrin are present. The Minstrel sings a ballad entitled "Frodo and the Nine Fingers", which initiates the story as the audience is left to wonder how Frodo lost his finger. The song plays again as Gollum bites off his finger later in the film.
• Gimli and Legolas are omitted.
• Éomer is omitted. The Man who flanks Théoden leading into the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, is later present during the Last Debate, and later flanks Aragorn during the march to the Black Gate could possibly be Éomer.
• Faramir is omitted. A man, possibly Faramir, exchanges looks with Éowyn during the coronation of Aragorn.
• Faramir's ommision means Denethor only attempts to kill himself. Denethor orders his guards to help him and is not seen again, presumably having succeeded in his suicide attempt.
• The Nazgûl ride winged horses rather than Fell beasts, except for the Witch-king who later mounts one to fight Éowyn.
• Rather than being struck by the Witch-king and falling, Snowmane is startled by a black cloud coming from Mordor and bucks Théoden off his back. Théoden dies from impact with the ground.
• The Oathbreakers are omitted.
• Sting's ability to glow when Orcs are present is not mentioned. It consistently glows throughout the whole movie, including when Samwise fights Gollum and no Orcs are nearby.
• The Battle of the Morannon does not take place. The Host of the West marches there and is stopped at the Black Gate and the Towers of the Teeth. The Orcs sing a taunting song, encouraging them to retreat and Aragorn demands Sauron come forth. Aragorn briefly speaks with the Mouth of Sauron, who retreats back past the gates. Before the battle is initiated, Gollum falls into the Cracks of Doom, destroying The One Ring, and Barad-dûr, the Tower of Cirith Ungol and the Towers of the Teeth crumble.
• The Eagles save the Army of the West as well as Sam and Frodo.
• The Scouring of the Shire is omitted.

Reception

Reception for the animated TV special is varied. Some commentators view it affectionately as an adaptation which children and parents can enjoy together.^[2] However, others regard it with disdain, comparing it unfavorably to Ralph Bakshi's earlier animated film and Peter Jackson's later live-action film.^[3][4] Glen Yarbrough's songs are widely derided, although some admit to a campy affection for the surprisingly tuneful Orc marching song "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way" or the ballad "Frodo of the Nine Fingers".^[5]

Marketing

In the absence of an official sequel to Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King has come to be marketed by Warner Bros. as the final part of a loose animated Tolkien trilogy, preceded by The Hobbit. The middle film is very different in tone and character design, however, and the final two films do not join up seamlessly, as both omit various segments from The Two Towers, most notably regarding the events in Shelob's lair and the Ents' march on Isengard. Other omissions in the Rankin/Bass version include the characters of Legolas, Gimli, Arwen, and Saruman entirely, while Éomer and Faramir may have only been given unidentified cameos (the former alongside Théoden in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and Aragorn during the march to the Black Gate; the latter as the man who accompanies Éowyn on horseback during Aragorn's coronation with whom she exchanges rather knowing looks—neither character has any lines of dialogue or are ever spoken to, so it cannot be fully confirmed whether or not they were actually even intended to be Éomer and Faramir at all). The entire Army of the Dead arc is cut as well; thus, even Aragorn doesn't have much dialogue or screentime despite being the 'King' of the movie's title.

The animated Return of the King has been released on home video (VHS, DVD and Blu-ray) from Warner Bros., both individually and as a "boxed trilogy" with the Rankin/Bass The Hobbit and Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings.

External links

• The Return of the King (1980 film) at Wikipedia
• The Return of the King at IMDb
• Arthur Rankin Jr. explains why he did not make a complete Lord of the Rings film