[Kalimac]

Wow, I didn't know there was that much of a backstory to it - I was born in 1979 and didn't even know of the Bakshi version's existence until I got to college and started hanging out with MST3K fans; Bakshi's movie was a favorite for our own, ah, amateur emulations. And very good for that it was, too. I'd just thought the movie was product of simple incompetence, didn't realize that Gandalf going Jack the Ripper in the end there was a gesture. In a way it's comforting because otherwise you're left with the prospec that the filmmaker didn't know any *better* than to make Gandalf into a slasher. <P>OTOH Bakshi should probably just be gracefully silent on this issue. No matter what his intentions or how much the studio screwed up, it takes more than that to produce characters as awful as Sam and Saruman (or Aruman ) or Galadriel, AKA Daphne from "Scooby-Doo." I mean, that was *bad*. I'm sorry, Mr. Bakshi. Please, concentrate on your cinematic successes (and there were plenty) and leave LOTR to Peter Jackson. And, of course, MST3K fans.