The Letter of the Law

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

Ralph Bashkis Balrog is pretty close to be honest.

Errr...no. As much as I like (in some ways) Bakshi's film, I agree with this classic website's take on the matter:

The Balrog.(still: a really silly-looking Balrog)
- It has big red-and-black wings, kind of like a Monarch butterfly.
- It has the head of a big stuffed lion.
- It has big silly-looking feet. In fact, the Balrog is clearly wearing oversized fluffy bedroom-slippers.
...It's also noisy as hell, and makes a lot of big roaring Balrog-style noises. Obviously Bakshi had no access to Tolkien's Letters, particularly #210 to Forrest Ackerman:
"The Balrog never speaks or makes any vocal sound at all... [he] may think he knows more about Balrogs than I do, but he cannot expect me to agree with him."