The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)

The Lord of the Rings
Information
Director	Ralph Bakshi
Writer	J.R.R. Tolkien (original novel) Peter S. Beagle (screenplay) Chris Conkling (screenplay)
Producer	Saul Zaentz
Starring	Christopher Guard John Hurt Michael Scholes William Squire
Cinematography	Timothy Galfas
Editing	Donald W. Ernst Peter Kirby
Music	Leonard Rosenman Paul Kont
Distributor	United Artists (theatrical release) Warner Bros. (home video)
Released	November 15, 1978
Runtime	132 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$4 million
Website	Official website
IMDb	Profile

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One man cast a lingering spell of awe and wonder, of magical innocence overcoming evil, of simple courage conquering fear — he gave us the legend that will live forever in our minds. J.R.R. Tolkien triumphed with the perception that a single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities. Come to Middle-earth, a world beyond the further reaches of your imagination.

Tagline

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is an animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi, and released to theaters in 1978. It was an adaptation of the first half of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Bakshi's most ambitious effort (and his most famous after his animated adaptation of the underground comic Fritz the Cat), the film was produced by Saul Zaentz's Fantasy Films, and distributed to theaters by United Artists.

Synopsis

Long ago, in the early years of the Second Age, the great Elven-smiths forged Rings of Power — Nine for mortal Men, Seven for the Dwarf-lords, and three for the fair Elf-rulers. But then, the Dark Lord Sauron learned the craft of ring-making and made the Master Ring — The One Ring to rule them all. With the One Ring, Middle-earth is his and he cannot be overcome. As the last alliance of Men and Elves fell beneath his power, the Ring fell into the hands of Prince Isildur of the mighty kings from across the sea. However, he did not destroy the ring, and, because of this, the spirit of Sauron lived on and began to take shape and grow again.

The Ring had a will of its own, and had a way of slipping from hand to hand, so that it might at last get back to its master. The Ring lay in the bottom of a lake for thousands of years. During those years, Sauron captured the nine Rings that were made for Men and turned their owners into the Ringwraiths - terrible shadows under his great shadow who roamed the world searching for the One Ring.

The Ring, meanwhile, was found by two friends. One of them, Sméagol, was so enticed by the Ring's power that he killed his friend Déagol to get it. Sméagol possessed the Ring for hundreds of years, during which it warped him into a twisted, gurgling wretch known only as Gollum, until his "Precious" was discovered (some might say stolen) by the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

Several years later, in a land called the Shire, Bilbo is celebrating his 111th (or eleventy-first, as it is called) birthday, on the same day that his nephew Frodo celebrates his 33rd birthday (his "coming of age"). During his speech, Bilbo slips the Ring on, and confusion arises as the party notices that their host has suddenly disappeared into thin air!

Gandalf the wizard, however, knows the truth behind this act. In Bilbo's hobbit hole, Gandalf tells him to leave the Ring for Frodo, but Bilbo seems unwilling to give it up. He does, finally, agree to do so, and leaves the Shire.

Gandalf realises that the "magic" ring is in fact the One Ring forged by Sauron, the evil lord. He knows the Shire is in danger - soon Sauron will learn that the Ring is in the possession of a Baggins and send his "wraiths" after him. Heeding Gandalf's advice, Frodo leaves his home, taking the Ring with him. He hopes to reach Rivendell, where he will be safe from Sauron, and where those wiser than him can decide what to do about the Ring. In his journey, he is accompanied by three hobbit friends, Pippin, Merry, and Sam. From the start, they are pursued by Black Riders (Sauron's Ringwraiths or Nazgûl). Narrowly escaping these and other dangers and meeting other interesting characters en route, they eventually come to Bree, where they meet Strider (who ultimately reveals himself to be Aragorn, heir to the Throne of Gondor), another friend of Gandalf who leads them the rest of the way to Rivendell through further hardships. Frodo is stabbed upon the mountain of Weathertop by the chief of the Nazgûl, with a "Morgul blade" — as part of the knife stays inside him, he gets sicker on the rest of the journey. Meanwhile, Gandalf rides to Isengard to consult with the head of his order of Wizards, Saruman. Saruman wants the Ring for himself and Gandalf refuses. For this, Saruman imprisons him on the top of Orthanc, his tall tower. Gandalf sends out a call for help and the great eagle Gwaihir bears him away to Rivendell.

The Hobbits and Aragorn travel with the gravely injured Frodo toward Rivendell. On the road, they meet Legolas, an Elven friend of Aragorn's, who puts Frodo on his horse. They travel together for a while, until the Ringwraiths close in on them. Alone, Frodo rides to the Ford of Bruinen. He crosses the stream and defies the Wraiths, refusing their temptation to come with them to Mordor. Elrond, lord of Rivendell, uses his magic to summon a huge wave in the shape of horses right as the Wraiths cross the stream, washing them away.

At Rivendell, Frodo recovers from his wound. Gandalf explains why he could not meet with them at Bree and Frodo reunites with his uncle Bilbo whom he had not seen since he left Hobbiton years before. Bilbo seems much older and weaker, and, for a terrible moment, is once again held in sway of the Ring. Together, they attend the Council of Elrond. Bilbo, Gandalf, and others argue about what should be done with the One Ring. Finally, Frodo stands up, and wilfully volunteers to go to Mordor, where the Ring can be destroyed. Frodo sets forth from Rivendell with eight companions: two Men, Aragorn and Boromir, son of the Steward of the land of Gondor; an Elven prince, Legolas; Frodo's old friend and powerful wizard, Gandalf; Gimli the Dwarf; and Frodo's original three hobbit companions. These Nine Walkers were chosen to represent all the free races of Middle-earth and as a balance to the Nine Riders.

Their attempt to cross the Misty Mountains is foiled by heavy snow, so they are forced to take a path under the mountains via Moria, an ancient Dwarf kingdom, now full of Orcs and other evil creatures, where Gandalf falls into the abyss after battling a Balrog.

The remaining eight members of the Fellowship then spend some time in the Elf-haven of Lothlórien. They leave Lórien by the river Anduin, and Frodo begins to realise the Ring is having a malevolent effect on some members of the party - especially Boromir, who tries to take the Ring from Frodo. In the process, Frodo puts it on to escape him. The Fellowship reunite before splitting up to look for Frodo. Aragorn orders Boromir to go with Merry and Pippin. Sam and Frodo leave together for Mordor, ending the Fellowship of the Ring. Boromir is killed by Orcs while trying to defend Merry and Pippin, whom the Orcs capture. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas send Boromir over the Rauros-falls in a funeral boat. Rather than following Sam and Frodo, the Three decide to track Merry and Pippin and rescue them from the Orcs.

Sam and Frodo discover that Gollum is stalking them. They attack him and, while he is at their mercy, he swears to serve them. He tells them he knows a way across the Dead Marshes and they set off.

Merry and Pippin are led towards Isengard by the Orcs, who are commanded by the Uruk Uglúk. While they stop to rest, the Orcs are assailed by Éored of Rohan, led by King Théoden's nephew, Éomer. The Orcs hold their position. Grishnákh, a Mordor-orc, tries to kill Merry and Pippin, believing them to have the One Ring. An Éored slays Grishnákh and Merry and Pippin flee into Fangorn Forest. There, they encounter Treebeard, a treelike giant known as an Ent. Ents generally keep to themselves, but Treebeard is opposed to the menace posed to the trees by the wizard Saruman.

The Three Hunters track Merry and Pippin into Fangorn. There, they meet a white wizard who they at first believe to be Saruman, but who turns out to be their wizard friend Gandalf, whom they believed had perished in the mines of Moria. He tells them of his fall into the abyss, his battle to the death with the Balrog and his reawakening.

Gandalf tells them that Merry and Pippin are safe and the four ride to Rohan's capital, Edoras. Meanwhile, Saruman, with his servant Wormtongue, rally the Uruk-hai to attack Rohan. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli try to persuade King Théoden that his people are in danger. Théoden's advisor, Gríma, staunchly denies these claims and defends Saruman. Gandalf realises that Saruman's advisor, Wormtongue, whom he saw at Orthanc, is Gríma, working against Théoden to keep had him subdued and weak for years. Wormtongue flees. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas, having convinced Théoden, travel to the defensive fortification Helm's Deep with Théoden and the Rohirrim while Gandalf goes north in search of Éomer's men in the north of Rohan to bring as reinforcements.

In the Marshes, Sam, Frodo and Gollum evade a Ringwraith, riding a Fell beast. After leaving the Marshes Frodo walks slowly, feeling the weight of the Ring. Gollum tries to take it from him and Frodo orders him to never again attempt this, lest he put the Ring on and command Gollum to kill himself. At night, Gollum ponders how to kill the Hobbits and take it for himself. He thinks that "she" might help him.

At Helm's Deep, Théoden's forces resist an onslaught of Uruk-hai sent by Saruman. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam accept that they may not return from Mount Doom. The Rohirrim are driven back into the caves. They sit in silence, mulling over their losses. Théoden approaches Aragorn and proposes that they die in a noble way, one worthy of a song, rather than "taken like an old badger in a trap". Aragorn agrees and, at dawn, Théoden sounds Helm's horn and the Rohirrim ride forth from the caves, slaying Uruks. Eventually, they are cornered. When all hope seems lost, Gandalf returns with Éomer's forces and they beat back the Uruks, ending the first part of the history of the War of the Ring.

Cast

Voice Actor	Role
Christopher Guard	Frodo
William Squire	Gandalf
Michael Scholes	Sam
John Hurt	Aragorn
Simon Chandler	Merry
Dominic Guard	Pippin
Norman Bird	Bilbo
Michael Graham Cox	Boromir
Anthony Daniels	Legolas
David Buck	Gimli
Peter Woodthorpe	Gollum
Fraser Kerr	Saruman
Philip Stone	Théoden
Michael Deacon	Wormtongue
André Morell	Elrond
Alan Tilvern	Innkeeper
Annette Crosbie	Galadriel
John Westbrook	Treebeard

Character Actor	Role
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 (Albert Cirimele)	Character Actor
Patty Maloney	Character Actor
Jere Rae Mansfield (Jeri Lea Ray)	Galadriel (character actor)
Felix Silla	Gollum (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	Gimli (character actor)
Santy Josol	Character Actor
Stan Barrett	Character Actor
John L.	Character Actor
Herbie Braha (Herb Braha)	Character Actor
Sam Laws	Character Actor
Hank Calia	Character Actor
Terry Leonard	Character Actor
Frank Delfino	Character Actor
Peter Looney	Character Actor
Russ Earnest	Character Actor
Dennis Madalone	Character Actor
Louis Elias	Character Actor
Robert 'Big Buck' Maffei (Buck Maffei)	Character Actor
Edoardo Faieta (Eddy Fay)	Character Actor
Jerry Maren	Character Actor
Carmen Filpi	Character Actor
Harry Monty	Character Actor
Ruth Gay	Character Actor
Frank Morson	Character Actor
Leonard P. Geer (Lenny Gear)	Character Actor
Walter Robles (Walt Robles)	Aragorn (character actor)
Harriett Gibson	Character Actor
Mic Rodgers	Character Actor
Bob Haney	Character Actor
Angelo Rossitto	Character Actor
Chuck Hayward	Character Actor
Peter Risch (Pete Risch)	Character Actor
Eddie Hice (Eddy Hice)	Character Actor
Jack Verbois	Character Actor
Loren Janes	Character Actor
Gregg Walker	Character Actor
Lucille Bliss (uncredited)	Character Actor
Mel Smith (uncredited)	Character Actor

Scenes

1. "Credits" (0:40)
2. "Prologue: A Ring's Tale" (3:41)
3. "Bilbo's Farewell" (2:05)
4. "Frodo's Quest" (6:24)
5. "Saruman's Sorcery" (2:43)
6. "Sinister Horseman" (4:19)
7. "Inn at Bree" (3:52)
8. "Aragorn's Vow" (3:54)
9. "Black Riders Invade" (2:50)
10. "Rider Swordsman" (4:19)
11. "Cornered" (5:59)
12. "Wall of Water" (2:39)
13. "Gandalf's Update" (2:51)
14. "Council of Elrond" (4:39)
15. "Frodo's Quest Renewed" (2:19)
16. "Change in Route" (2:40)
17. "Grabbed at the Gateway" (2:44)
18. "Inside the Mine" (3:04)
19. "Under Siege" (3:51)
20. "Balrog Strikes" (0:39)
21. "Homage to Gandalf" (3:27)
22. "Galadriel's Test" (3:05)
23. "Borimir's Madness" (sic) (4:21)
24. "Borimir's Sacrifice" (sic) (0:49)
25. "Following the Orcs" (5:12)
26. "Whiteskins Attack" (4:55)
27. "The Gollum" (1:36)
28. "Escape in Mid-battle" (4:38)
29. "Treebeard" (3:24)
30. "Back from the Abyss" (1:55)
31. "Théoden of Rohan" (3:48)
32. "Gollum Gets Touchy" (4:57)
33. "The Orcs Advance" (4:42)
34. "Cave Retreat" (4:36)
35. "Two Weary Hobbits" (2:50)
36. "Outnumbered" (2:05)
37. "Gandalf Triumphant" (3:19)
38. "End Credits" (2:34)

Differences from the book

The movie makes a few deviations from the book, but overall follows Tolkien's narrative quite closely. Many parts of the novel explaining the transition from one part of the plot to another were omitted which makes the middle part of the movie somewhat difficult to follow, if the viewer is unfamiliar with the story.

• In the film's prologue it is suggested that the Elves created the 19 Rings of Power for their Kings, and for those of the Dwarves and Men. Sauron then learned the craft of ring-making after that. In the original story it is Sauron who teaches the Elven smiths this ability, and only after their defiance he distributed them to the Dwarves and Men.
• Another prologue deviation suggests that the Last Alliance of Men and Elves was losing the war, which contradicts the original story.
• As in Tolkien's novel, Saruman the White adopts the title "Saruman of Many Colours"; however, his robes are neither white nor multi-coloured, but red.
• Saruman is sometimes called "Aruman". It is believed that this name was derived to keep viewers from confusing the character with Sauron, but it is not done consistently.
• Gríma Wormtongue is seen giving Saruman his staff when Gandalf meets with him in Orthanc. In Meduseld, Gandalf knows for a fact that Gríma is an agent of Saruman, since he had already seen him in the Wizard's tower.
• The film greatly condenses Frodo's journey from Bag End to Bree; for example, Crickhollow, Brandy Hall, the Old Forest, and the Barrow-downs do not appear. Tom Bombadil also does not appear in the film.
• The scene where the Nazgûl arrive in the hobbits' room at The Prancing Pony and begin slashing at their beds only to find that they are not there, and pillows have been placed to form the figures of their bodies is not in the book. A passage does appear that states that hobbit beds wind up slashed during the night, but the townsfolk of Bree are the perpetrators, not the Nazgûl. This scene also appears in Jackson's version.
• Bill Ferny is omitted, though the travellers leave Bree with Bill the Pony.
• The first elf which the hobbits and Aragorn encounter on their journey is changed to Legolas.
• Arwen does not appear, nor is she mentioned.
• Aragorn carries a broken sword (presumably Narsil) up to the Rivendell section of the story, where he presents it at the Council of Elrond. However, the sword's reforging into Andúril is never shown (or mentioned) in the film, even though Aragorn carries an unbroken blade for the remainder of the film.
• Aragorn briefly tells the Hobbits the tale of Beren and Lúthien, but does recite the song. Instead, Bilbo recites it with the Elves in Rivendell, in place of the Eärendillinwë.
• Gimli appears to be about the same height as the rest of the non-hobbits in the Fellowship.
• Bill the Pony is killed by the Watcher in the Water.
• The orc-chieftain is not accompanied by a group of Orcs, instead attacking alone.
• The Gifts of Galadriel are omitted.
• The term Uruk-hai is not used, though the rivalry between the Orcs of Mordor and Isengard remains.
• Éowyn makes only a brief appearance and has no spoken dialogue.
• While Éomer is mentioned, he is never officially identified (thus, he also has no spoken dialogue). Also, as in the Jackson films, it is he and his forces with whom Gandalf arrives near the end of the Battle of Helm's Deep instead of Erkenbrand's.
• Faramir does not appear, nor is he mentioned.
• The Fire of Orthanc is renamed the "Fire of Isengard" and they appear as magical projectiles.

Production

Animation

Much of the film used live-action footage which was then rotoscoped to produce an animated look [1] [2]. This saved production costs and arguably gave the animated characters a more realistic look. For the live-action portion of the production, Bakshi and his cast and crew arrived in Spain where the rotoscope models acted out their parts in costume. The actions of Bilbo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee were performed by Billy Barty. Sharon Baird performed the part of Frodo and John A. Neris was Gandalf. [3]

Of the rotoscoping, Bakshi said "I didn't start thinking about shooting the film totally in live action until I saw it really start to work so well. I learned lots of things about the process, like rippling. One scene, some figures were standing on a hill and a big gust of wind came up and the shadows moved back and forth on the clothes and it was unbelievable in animation. I don't think I could get the feeling of cold on the screen without showing snow or an icicle on some guy's nose. The characters have weight and they move correctly."

"Making two pictures (the live action reference and the actual animated feature) in two years is crazy. Most directors when they finish editing, they are finished; we were just starting. I got more than I expected. The crew is young. The crew loves it. If the crew loves it, it's usually a great sign. They aren't older animators trying to snow me for jobs next year."[4]

Following the live-action shoot, each frame of the live footage was then broken down into individual frames, and then printed out, and placed behind animation cels. The details of each frame were copied and painted onto cels. Both the live-action and animated sequences were storyboarded. [5] [6] [7]

Voice cast

After finishing in Spain, Bakshi went to the BBC's recording studios in London. He cast several stars - William Squire, John Hurt - and used several of the BBC Repertory Company's stock actors, like Peter Woodthorpe, Anthony Daniels, Norman Bird and Michael Graham Cox. The actors recorded the lines with each other, but were required to pause for two seconds after each line, to smoothen the recording. This caused some stilted dialogue in the finished product [8].

Reception

The film was originally intended to be distributed as The Lord of the Rings, Part One, but United Artists dropped the "Part One" from the title, believing moviegoers would not pay full ticket prices to see half a movie. Says Ralph Bakshi: "United Artists at that time was terrified to say 'Part One.' I remember sitting in meetings screaming my head off saying, 'You can't do this!' Had it said 'Part One,' I think everyone would have respected it. But because it didn't say 'Part One,' everyone came in expecting to see the entire three books, and that's where the confusion comes in" [9]. In interviews, Bakshi sometimes referred to the film as The Lord of the Rings, Part One.

Critics were generally mixed in their responses to the film. Roger Ebert called Bakshi's effort a "mixed blessing" and "an entirely respectable, occasionally impressive job ... [which] still falls far short of the charm and sweep of the original story." Vincent Canby of the New York Times called the film "both numbing and impressive". Film website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide range of critics, gives the film a score of 50.

Despite criticism, the film grossed $30,471,420 at the box office [10] (the budget was $8 million), but United Artists, who believed the film to be a flop, refused to fund a sequel which would have completed Tolkien's story on film.

Follow-up

In light of the theatrical The Lord of the Rings, Part Two adaptation being scrapped, a means of "finishing" Tolkien's story and making it more complete for audiences then inadvertently fell on the Rankin/Bass animation studio (fresh on the heels of the success of its previous TV adaptation of The Hobbit) in producing an animated TV special based on the final part of The Lord of the Rings. Their adaptation of The Return of the King finished the story and answered most of the questions raised by Bakshi's animated film. Despite this, several unresolved story developments between the ending of The Lord of the Rings and the beginning of The Return of the King were left unexplained, especially the Ents' march on Isengard (along with Merry eventually taking up with the Army of Rohan, and Gandalf and Pippin's subsequent journey to Gondor), the betrayal of Frodo by Gollum, and the attack of Shelob the monster spider-creature on Frodo and Sam. It should be noted, however, that production for this Rankin/Bass follow-up had begun even before their version of The Hobbit had originally aired (let alone before Bakshi's theatrical film had premiered)[11], so Rankin/Bass can't be entirely blamed for this flaw in continuity.

Warner Bros. (the rights holder to the post-1974 Rankin/Bass library and most of the Saul Zaentz theatrical backlog) has released The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Return of the King on home video (VHS, DVD and Blu-ray). Both of these films are packaged separately and they are placed as a boxed-set "trilogy" of films.

External links

• The Lord of the Rings (1978 film) at Wikipedia
• The Lord of the Rings at IMDb
• The Lord of the Rings on Ralph Bakshi's website
• An Exhaustive History of Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings by Dan Olson
• Screen captures from the laserdisc edition
• Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, Part One: A Critique - a humorous critique of the film