The Other Movies

[DarkRose]

Other than the 2001 release of the new [and spectacular] Fellowship of the Ring film, there have been other LOTR movies in the past.<P>-In the 70's (or 80's..I forget) there was an <B>animated LOTR movie that covered FOTR and most of TTT.</B> It was incredibly cheesey and quite awful in quality, but I own it and watch it for a good laugh.<P>-I don't know when it was released, but an animated version of <B>The Hobbit</B> came out. I love it! I remember sitting, engulfed in the movie when I was a little kid. This movie is what got me interested in LOTR in the first place. The art is mostly done by Tolkien himself, and needless to say, its gorgeous. The whole thing, I think, is great.<P>-There was also, I believe, an animated version of ROTK out a while ago too. I have never seen it, but we own it. I am restraining myself from watching it until I am finished with the book. <P>What I want to know is: <BR>• If you have seen any of these movies.<BR>• Your opinions on these movies.<BR>• If you know of any more LOTR movies from the past.<BR>• Anything else you want to add that is related to this subject of other LOTR movies.<P>As for me, I think I'll go watch The Hobbit right now.

[Bill Ferny]

My kids and I really like the animated The Hobbit. The only thing that I didn't like was all the "John Denverish" music, but that was kind of the thing back then. The same thing was in The Last Unicorn.<P>However, the animated FotR... well... WHAT WAS WHATSHISNAME THINKING?! It was like all the characters in the movie were having an acid trip. I really don't remember his name, but he also did the animated movie, American Pop or something like that. I stopped the DVD player about 15 minutes into that sorry excuse for a movie too. But, hey that's just me, and my opinion.<P>The BBC radio feature is supposed to be really good, but I've yet to explore it.

[The Fifth]

The 70's animated Lord of the Rings film was made by Ralph Bakashi. I hated it. It was rather entertaining at the same time, but the voices! They were horrible!<P>The Hobbit was indeed a good movie. I remember watching it when I was quite young. After watching it, I read The Hobbit, thought that it was a good book. Then I forgot about it for a couple of years, then when the Lord of the Rings movie came out I read that as well, and, here I am!

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

The Hobbit cartoon was good, but not great.<BR>The cartoon of Lord of the Rings made me want to cut out my livers and feed them to the neighbors' dogs.

[Bill Ferny]

LMAO!<P>Did anyone at all like Ralph Bakashi's FotR? Thanks Fifth for giving the devil a name, but I will always think of him as the Butcher of Middle Earth.

[keverzwijn]

His name is Bakshi, and when I saw it i was very disappointed with his movie. I also was totally enraged when they ended the movie in the middle of the books.

[DarkRose]

I really hated that movie too. I just watch it to laugh my head off.<P>- First of all, the voices are simply dreadful. <BR>- They made Aragorn look like an Indian or something. Not that I have anything against Indians, but...gah, I dunno. It just didn't seem right.<BR>- Sam was SCARY! The gap between his two front teeth was ridiculous. It gave me nightmares. <BR>- The Nazgul were simply HILARIOUS. Especially when one of them makes this funny noise. Its like a half laugh, half moan. Me and my brother often immitate it. <BR>- The Balrog is to die for! It looks like a man with butterfly wings strapped to his back. <BR>- Boromir looks like a viking.<BR>- Gandalf is psycho and very mean. At the Council of Elrond, when Bilbo says something, he snaps at Bilbo to be quiet and sit down.<BR>- The hobbits are just downright idiotic. <BR>- The animation itself is primative and ugly.<BR>- The intro to the movie is...ugh. <BR>- At the Prancing Pony, its very weird and frightening. The people are kinda half-animated and half real. <BR>- At one point, when the Ring Wraiths are riding after Frodo, the background is all druggy and psychodelic. <P>There's so much more wrong with that movie! But its hilarious to make fun of. I recommend watching it if you're in a morose mood. On the other hand, it may make you even more depressed.

The animated version... was it just me or did Legolas have a pink horse or something? Can't really remember... supressing memories.

[Anastasia]

I was so looking foerard to seeing the animated fotr until i saw this thread....<P>Oh well i'll still rent it!

[LadyElbereth]

I had seen The Hobbit a long time ago so i dont really remember what it was like. But I own ROTK! Its horrible! The singing *AACK*!! through the whole thing the same guy is singing a different song (he needs to take some singin lessons...badly). I remember having *Where there's a whip there's a way* stuck in my head for a week! The witch king is hilarious! He reminds me of an evil robot.<BR>I'd advise you NOT to watch this, but if you are anyways, don't say i didn't warn you.

[DarkRose]

<B>Anastasia</B>, don't let my or anyone else's poor opinions about the animated FOTR stop you from seeing it! You should go on and rent it and watch it. I just warn you, its close to pathetic. But hey, to each his own! You may find some good out of it, like I have found that it cheers me up with its horrid quality. By all means, watch away!

[hobbitlass]

I am a pathetic person that owns all three of the animated ones. I do like "The Hobbit". But yes, all those before me are right in thier opinions. One thing about LOTR, it is almost exactly like the book. Things have been removed but PJ has taken liberties with his own version. And as for ROFK, I hate how Legolas and Gimli aren't in it at all and Aragorn is just barely there.

[ArwenBaggins]

I also love the Animated Hobbit. The music sometimes got a 'wee annoying, but I withstand it.

[Arwen Imladris]

I've seen that hobbit, you can get it at our library. It used to be amazing (when I was like, 5) but now it is a little bit bad. I like some of the songs (ho ho my lad, crack the dishes smash the plates, what funny little birds, they have no wings...) but overall, it is a bit sad. I mean what can you expect? it was made in what? 1978? They didn't know how to do the things that we can do now. Even so, I still watch it sometimes. I have not seen the other version of LOTR.

[Taure Leafsilver]

I remember seeing "The Hobbit" it gave me nightmares because i was 4 and the hobbits were scary.

[hobbitlass]

Taure, you were scared of the hobbits!<BR>Abooga-booga-booga<BR>ha-ha just kidding. I saw that you were only four, but what in the heck were you scared of about them. and mind you there was only one hobbit in the Hobbit. <p>[ September 29, 2002: Message edited by: hobbitlass ]

[LePetitChoux]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> And as for ROFK, I hate how Legolas and Gimli aren't in it at all and Aragorn is just barely there. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>HUH? I thought that the "KING" in Return of the KING was referring to Aragorn. Or am I missing something?

[TolkienGurl]

I have seen the animated version of both the Hobbit and LOTR. I presently own the latter and my uncle owns the former. Let me just ask this one question: what battle did the LOTR movie end with? I was so confused! Aragorn looked really old and ugly, Sam was just plain scary , and Frodo sounded like a girl! Not to be whiny or anything... Pippin was cute though! (in an animated sort of way)<P>BTW I love the music! <p>[ October 29, 2002: Message edited by: TolkienGurl ]

[DarkRose]

Well, <B>TolkienGurl</B>, the battle that that awful LOTR animated movie ended with was, I believe, the Battle of Helm's Deep.<P>They ran out of money and had to stop there.

[Birdland]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>They ran out of money and had to stop there.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Welllll...not exactly. (Historical prospective from one who was there.) It was always intended for the animated LoTR to be released in two parts. Also, the animated film in 1978 was eagerly anticipated by Tolkien fans everywhere, and Ralph Bakshi was considered to be a genius, cutting-edge animated film maker, the first American animator to be considered an actual <I>autuer</I>. Everyone was heaving a sigh of relief that Disney had not gotten his hands on the book. And the screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, a fantasy writer who was equally loved back then. (And still is, thankfully.)<P>And then the film came out.<P>We tried to like it. We really did. Every Tolkien fan really wanted the film to succeed. But it was awful, awful, awful!<P>And so the second part wasn't made; not because they "ran out of money", but because the first film was such a total flop that the studio refused to finance the filming of the second part.<P>The failure of the animated LoTR also destroyed Bakshi's credibility and his career. He eventually stopped making films altogether, and is, I understand, a very bitter old man now.<P>Makes you wonder if Peter Jackson wasn't sweating it a little bit; wondering if the "Curse of the Ring" would follow his own attempt to film Tolkien's master work. <P>Ah, the vagaries of the film making art.

[TolkienGurl]

I <I>thought</I> it was the Battle of Helm's Deep! That's why I was so confused! It just kind of ended, drifting off into nothingness, if you know what I mean. grrr... Why'd it have to be a flop? <p>[ October 30, 2002: Message edited by: TolkienGurl ]

[Kalimac]

Mwahahahaha! I will always be a staunch defender of the movies, if only for the hours of entertainment they provided for me and my various Tolkienphile MST3K-oriented friends during our various spells (in college) of being broke and bereft of entertainment in a 3,000 person town in the middle of nowhere. For $10 (video rentals were 3 for $3, and liquid refreshment and snacks not much more) we were set. <P>The Hobbit cartoon isn't bad, comparatively, and so is actually the dullest of the three to watch. Except for the wizened little blue Elves who look like they just escaped from Smurf High-Security Prison, they actually play it pretty straight. Bilbo is lamentably cute and they inevitably cut the best lines, but the only truly humourous thing was the way the continuity sort of went on and then off again; for example, the scene where Bilbo and Dwarves are fleeing the spiders and Bilbo tells them "Quick, over there, to the Wood-Elves' clearing" Considering that neither the viewer nor Bilbo has been given even a ghost of an inkling that Wood-Elves even exist, this was rather...prescient of him. Smaug is OK, even if his eyes do look like lasers. Alas, they cut the Sackville-Bagginses at the end.<P>Bakshi's LOTR is - well, everyone's pretty much said it, and I've teed off on that one on other threads before. (S)Aruman the Red! The scene on Orthanc looking like a bad disco! Gandalf the Naysayer! Sam the Vicious Moron! ("There's that Mt. Doom again, Mr. Frodo" in a tone of voice that implies that that dratted Mt. Doom has been following them for the last hundred miles). Legolas the fey Elf! Aragorn the Indian! Boromir of the Horned Helm! (Where WERE their pants, anyway?) Elrond in a T-shirt! Gimli who says so little that you can't figure out why he's there! Galadriel, as played by Daphne from "Scooby-Doo" and who can't even pronounce "Celeborn" correctly! Ah, the list goes on. And let's not forget those Orcs. Who could?<P>In a sick way, I sort of wish that Bakshi had made his sequel. If nothing else, it would have been interesting to see what he did with Shelob.<P>Rankin-Bass ROTK. Worse than Bakshi, in some ways, and in that way even more entertaining. The minstrel singing "Frodo of the Nine Fingers" for some reason is weirdly reminiscent of the minstrel from "Holy Grail" ("They were forced to eat the minstrel...and there was much rejoicing."). He sounded very...seventies...and had a way of singing background music at highly inappropriate moments, for example when Sam is standing with the Ring, trying to figure out whether to claim it or not, suddenly he has a vision of a perfect life after the Ring is destroyed, with the minstrel's voice in the background singing about how happy they were in the old days, like "Mindless butterflies." Undoubtedly the most memorable line in the thing, along with "If you never have to say hello/Then you'll never have to say goodbye." This means we should never talk to anyone, or what?<P>Another major problem with ROTK (besides the fact that poor old Sam, as usual, gets drawn as a moron yet again) is the fact that during the scenes where Sam is trying to rescue Frodo from Cirith Ungol, there really isn't a lot of talking, it's mostly going on his head. They solve this by lifting verbatim huge chunks of Tolkien's text and having Sam speak them as soliloquies. While normally sticking to the text is a good thing, having Sam say out loud to himself "A plot of earth is all my need and due, my hands to use, not others to command," and then go back to the Happy Moron routine they've foisted on him is rather incongruous. <P>Final ROTK moments: Elrond looking like a Tinky Winky who has grown up and really gone off the deep end (he has Christmas lights around his head for some reason) Merry and Pippin looking like even bigger dolts than Sam, Gandalf telling them that hobbits will one day become men, Faramir, Gimli and Legolas just DISAPPEARING from the story (which makes the Denethor scene go something like, "I will burn, everything will burn!" "No, Denethor, you must not do this." "Well, I'm going to anyway! Servants, come here!" "Well, OK." Gandalf basically shrugs and walks away). Gollum the Frog.<P>Eesh, sorry, didn't mean to go on so long. To sum up; if you've read the books, the movies are entertaining as all heck, if you haven't...they're probably not. I think of it as "Plan 9 From Outer Space" only for the Tolkien crowd. And there's redeeming virtue even in that.

[Diamond18]

Omigosh, I may die laughing. Maybe someday I <I>will</I> watch all that...after the live action RotK has come out. I want that to be my first "visualization" of the stories.

[TolkienGurl]

<P>Kalimac, you put a smile on my face! I still think Aragorn looked something like a decrepit old woman, though.

[Laivine]

Haha, that post made me giggle Kalimac!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Forgive me, all, but I truly feel the need to ressurect this thread. With all of the problems in the world today, I think that everyone could use a good laugh. To achieve this, I suggest watching The Return of the King. I lent it to a friend to watch, and she is soon going to die of shock from the travesty that is this flick. I am amazed every time, and I can NOT get "Where there's a Whip There's a Way!" out of my head. They actually sing the words "Hey, Hey!"! These are orcs! Save us All!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oddly, has anyone else watched these movies recently?

[DarkRose]

Ahh, I see someone ressurected my old thread! <P>Well, to answer your question, I just watched the old animated FOTR last night. It was HILARIOUS, as usual. I seriously recommend watching it, especially when you're in a sour mood. It'll either cheer you up by its stupidity or worsen your mood.<P>My brother sings the 'whip' song from ROTK all the time, and smacks me with shoelaces.

[mollecon]

I sorta liked the balrog in Bahshi's movie. It looked like something you could scare of with a 'BOOH'

[Elanor]

I remember going to see the Bakshi film when it first came out. I must have been about 7, and I'd just about read LotR for the first time. I remember being really shocked that characters looked so.... strange, and then when the film just ended I got really annoyed. I was considering buying the DVD the other day, just to see if it really was as bad as I remember, but then my father reminded me that I spent a week complaining about the film last time I saw it. I decided to give it a miss for now. <P>I can heartily recommend the BBC Radio version though. Some things are missed out, but I love it.

[Meela]

i absolutely loved the highly amusing animated LOTR. especially the overly short skirts and the fact that Eowyn looked like an 8 months pregnant version of Galadriel. also, the cross-eyed legolas was amusing. and grima looked like the witch from the old animated Sword In The Stone. and saruman was the chinese version of Santa Claus, and Theoden was Santa with a hangover.

[galadriel'smaiden]

I personally think the Hobbit is kinda sweet in a demented, twisted sorta way. They really modeled it after 70's culture. Hmmm. AND LOTR ANIMATED SUCKS!!! I'm talkin 'are the carachters on weed?' kinda sucks. Geez. I hated how they made Aragorn appear to be about to die he's so old, they made Legolas a pixie, and don't get me started on Viking Boromir. I nearly screamed when I popped in the DVD. Didn't even finish it. I should start breathing again. Inhale, Exhale...

[Naurwen_of_Lothlorien]

Ahh the animated LotR...it will always hold a special place in my heart...I was about four when I saw it and prior to that I had never even <I>heard</I> of The Lord of the Rings! The music is wonderful, probably as it holds such a feeling of nostalgia for me! And I happen to think Sam was adorable in that film! The ring wraiths were okay, although the noise is a bit...strange, but they must have been scary because when it was on at the cinema my mum had to walk out because of them!! They scared her so much she couldn't watch it anymore and, strangely enough, she can handle the new ones fine! I agree with Frodo's voice being girly...<P>One line in that film always makes me laugh. It is said by Merry or Pippin and they say it in such a way it never fails to bring a smile to my face.<P>"Good, I'm tired of looking at my cousins all day!"

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

No problem, DarkRose. I haven't laughed as hard as I did reading that one long post in ages. My ribs still hurt from laughing last night. And I laughed still harder when my brother threatened my life for ressurecting this. I was really kind of wondering a few things about ROTK: what were they smoking when they gave Elrond the Christmas lights, how did Sauron's power get that weird X-Filesish music, and why oh why did Pippen have to say: "Gandalf, Gandalf, come quick! Denathor's gone plum loony!"

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Oh yeah, and who's grand idea was it to make the Nazgul have that dial-tone sound even when they don't talk?

[MLD-Grounds-Keeper-Willie]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Did anyone at all like Ralph Bakashi's FotR? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Well, not me. No, I don't like it I love it! I have to say that film is so great. I don't mind the thousands of things I could find wrong with it. That film did introduce me to LotR, and I'm very greatful for it. But I have to say I like the way it captured the aura or enchantment of some parts of the book. And for that, I can ignore the 'bad' stuff. That Balrog looked cool though. Oh yeah, I have to say that the music and some voices are magnificent. That also adds to the aura/enchantment.<P>Now, to The Hobbit, and RotK, how can some of you rip so much on the LotR, and not rip on The Hobbit or RotK even half as much. I have to say those two were horrible, and I do mean horrible.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I remember having *Where there's a whip there's a way* stuck in my head for a week! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>HAHA!!! Me too. But it actually lasted for about 3 weeks and it was that 'Frodo and the Nine Fingers' song too.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> The witch king is hilarious! He reminds me of an evil robot. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Yeah, his voice and those eyes. And did you see Gollum! He's supposed to be starving yet he has a pot-belly.<P>Well all in all, I hate The Hobbit and RotK, but love LotR.

[Liriodendron]

Blockbuster lets you rent two kids videos for free now, so I picked up The Hobbit one. I only got through the Gollum bit, the Glen Yarborough singing was too awful to endure!

[The Saucepan Man]

Well, I'm with Willie on this one. I'm glad to see someone sticking up for the Bakshi film - I was thinking when I read the thread that I might be alone in having fond memories of it.<P>I saw it when I was 10 or 11, having just read LotR for the first time. And I was terribly excited that a film was being made of a book that I had just enjoyed so much.<P>I must admit that it is probably about 25 years or so since I saw the film, so my memories of it are not exactly crystal clear. But I do recall enjoying it very much. I certainly was not disappointed with any of the cuts made. In fact, the beginning is very similar to the FotR film, with the four Hobbits setting out together and the Old Forest, Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Downs being cut. If I remember correctly, it was Legolas (rather than Arwen) who meets them on the road to Rivendell, so poor old Glorfindel didn't even get a look in there. Neither was I disappointed with any of the "characterisations". I do remember being terribly disappointed, however, that the film was cut short at Helm's Deep, and even more upset that there was never any sequel.<P>Ans while it may look rather dated now, its important to bear in mind that some of the techniques used in it were "state of the art" at the time. For example, the use of real footage overlaid with animation for the armies and horse riders. <P>Having said that, I do agree, looking back, that some of the characters look faintly ridiculous. Aragorn the Red Indian and Boromir the Viking, for example. And I'd forgotten about Legolas being cross-eyed . Also, Gimli had some strange felt hat with a pin in it or something and, with his red face and long grey beard, looked rather like some withered old yokel.<P>Overall, however, I have very fond memories of the film, although I'm sure that I would find it hilarious if I was to watch it again now (and so have refrained from doing so).

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Repeat after me: The Last of the Numenoreans, not the Last of the Mohicans! And can anybody say Amphibi-Gollum? Seriously though, I love these movies. They never fail to cheer me up. I'm off to watch ROTK again. Please don't ask why, because I'm at a loss for an answer! *Breaks into song* "Frodo, of the nine fingers, and the Ring of Doooooooooooooooooooooom!!!!!"

[balrogman]

Well well im glad to see someone mentioning the greatest movie of all time-The Hobbit!! However i was dissapointed that they left out Beorn, he was my favorite character in the book(after Bombur). I watched the animated LotR last night for the first time, and seriously laughed my a$$ off!! That was for the frist 15 mins, then i lost interest in the horrible animation, crappy voices, and bald Gimli. Never seen RotK, cause my video store doesnt have it! So after yelling at them for a couple of mins, they said they would ask the manager to look into it.

[BethoHOG]

Oh my goodness, The Animated Lord of the Rings is so hilariously lame! The first time I saw it (which was a few years back) was the last time for me to see it... so I don't really remember much from it. But I do remember that Sam sounded... *ahem* "retarded"... <I>especially</I> when he says, "I don't know, Mr. Frodo." That line is now one of me and my brothers in-jokes because it just sounds so hilarious!