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The Return of the King (1980)

The Return of the King (1980)
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The second of Rankin/Bass' animated TV specials based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Return of the King plots the quest to defeat the evil wizard Sauron. Frodo, nephew of The Hobbit protagonist Bilbo Baggins, vows to destroy the Ring, even if it costs him his own life. He carries the Ring to the volcanic innards of Mount Doom. All this he does on behalf of good-guy Aragon, who will never be able to escape the dreaded land of Sauron so long as the Ring retains its evil powers. Orson Bean, who'd been the voice of Bilbo Baggins in the 1977 Hobbit cartoon special, returns to portray Frodo. Return of the King originally aired May 11, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Director(s):
Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr., (more)
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of The Return of the King

The second of Rankin/Bass' animated TV specials based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Return of the King plots the quest to defeat the evil wizard Sauron. Frodo, nephew of The Hobbit protagonist Bilbo Baggins, vows to destroy the Ring, even if it costs him his own life. He carries the Ring to the volcanic innards of Mount Doom. All this he does on behalf of good-guy Aragon, who will never be able to escape the dreaded land of Sauron so long as the Ring retains its evil powers. Orson Bean, who'd been the voice of Bilbo Baggins in the 1977 Hobbit cartoon special, returns to portray Frodo. Return of the King originally aired May 11, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
97 mins

Complete Cast of The Return of the King


Director(s):
Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Categories:
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Animation
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    Richard G.

    The animation was classic, and the voice actiong in line with the story as it was being told... but the plot omissions and just plain ridiculous plot changes made this hard to watch for any1 who is a fan of the books... it might be acceptable for a young child who might not have read the books or ever know about the weakness of this version of the story. On the other hand children who are used to modern bright colored, fast moving cartoons very likely would find this movie flat and tedious. I said the acting was in line with the story as told.... the actors did well enough, but the characters were scripted to act very far outside the personalities as Tolkien portrayed.

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    Jody S.

    This is a very weak adaptation of a very strong detailed story. Unfortunately, the adaptation doesn't even resemble the original story told by Tolkein - but in the writers defense the movie is subtitled "A Hobbit's Story" so they did take more than their fair share of license with the story. The voice acting is weak at best. And very offensive to the Tolkein purists out there. Most of the names and locations are absolutely butchered by the actors, and let's face it: John Huston gave up acting and took up directing for a reason - his rendition of Gandalf is very flat. The story is very brooding and the soundtrack terribly depressing. If you want to see animation at it's lowest point (well, just slightly over the levels of the old early 70' Marvel superhero cartoons), or you have kids who love animationand want to introduce them to Tolkein, this may be okay. Although I wouldn't really recommend it to very many people.

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    Fred B.

    "Lord of the Rings" is not a children's book and more mature fans of the story will probably dislike this watered-down adaptation.

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