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The Return of the King
(animated movie)

Year Released: 1980
Starring: Orson Bean, Theodore, John Huston, Roddy McDowall, Paul Frees, Glenn Yarbrough, Nellie Bellflower, Casey Kasem, Sonny Melendrez
Directors: Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.

Reviewed by Chris Ching

My first introduction to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth wasn't the books. Hell, I couldn't even read books. In 1978, I was only 4 and my literary picks at the time were confined to pretty much anything with pictures.

But when I first watched the animated tv movie of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit, my eyes were opened wider than the massive orbs Bilbo Baggin was drawn with. The intricate, lyrical lines and lush backgrounds enhanced the story's richness. Goblins, Spiders (my favorite!), Wizards, battle, the coolest looking Dragon I'd ever seen (and still), some weird thing called a Gollum. This was just as good as Star Wars!

Fast forward two years to the television debut of The Return of the King. I now had The Hobbit book though reading it still wasnt't so easy (luckily it had a wealth of images form the tv movie), but I had no clue that the story went further encompasing an epic trilogy of close to 1000 pages. In fact, sitting down to watch The Return of the King, I didnt even know it had anything to do with The Hobbit! My parents simply told me a cartoon was on. Talk about shock when I discovered my hero Bilbo was now firmly in his Hobbit Geritol years and his cool magic ring was the instrument of Middle Earth's destruction. This was deep stuff for a kindergartener. Even more disturbing, was the much darker tone of The Return of the King. Where the Hobbit was a light hearted adventure, this story had Bilbo's nephew and his pal Samwise go through the ringer trying to destroy the ring. And Frodo gets his finger bitten off by Gollum! Yuck! It tapped into the same horror I felt that year when Luke Skywalker had his arm lobbed off by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. Still, I watched mesmerized.

Fast forward 23 years (Thats one nifty remote.) Peter Jackson has created the once thought unfilmable Lord of the Rings Trilogy to the delight of moviegoers and New Line Executives. With the release of The Return of the King, the final act, how does its animated predessor hold up? Extremely Well.

The animation is just as strong as The Hobbit. One can detect the influence of Japanese anime which makes sense as both it and Tolkien combine harsh reality within a fantasy world. Just check out when Eowyn speaks for the first time; you half expect her to be speaking Japanese. One of the many drawbacks to Ralf Bashk's animated "Lord of the Rings" was the weak character design. Hobbits and dwarves seemed almost as big as men. Boromir looked like some strange cross between a Viking and Grizzly Adams. Here, the character design is spot on. In fact, they are every bit as precise as the wonderful costumes and casting choices of the live movies. In the case of the Lord of the Nazgul, I'd say they trump Peter Jackson entirely.

Much acclaim has been lauded upon Andy Serkis' voice as Gollum as well as his physical acting that served as the basis for the CGI creature. Not to trod on Any's great performance, but the animated ROTK equals it. I mean what can you expect but utter strangeness from an actor who goes only by the name Theodore. While Serkis plays Gollum as a pitiful ring junkie, Theodore's more stylized performance (if that's possible) is from another planet.

Orson Bean who played Bilbo in The Hobbit returns to not only play the elderly version of his character but performs Frodo as well with soulful intensity. Even better is Roddy McDowell as Samwise. Like Sean Astin, this is one gardner you wouldn't want to mess with.

Most people might run screaming for the Grey Havens during the movie's musical interludes, but like The Hobbit, they work well and have the kind of children song melodies that will stick in your noggin for a while. The best is the battalion of Orcs singing "Where there's a whip there's a way". Marylin Manson would be wise to cover this on his next album.

The downside is with a 98-minute animated movie one can't cover everything in the book. Even Peter Jackson with three hours can't do that. A Rankin-Bass designesd Shelob is missed. Also, the packaging is a bit misleading. Images from The Hobbit not The Return of the King appear all over the box.. Shoddy, Warner Borthers. Shoddy.

But its what's inside that counts. So once you've emerged from your multiplex after watching Peter Jackson's wrapping up of The Lord of the Rings, treat yourself to this animated classic.

Rating:(3 out of 4 stars)

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