The Lord of the Rings is viewed as the grandfather of all fantasy literature, so trying to fit such a work into a 2 hour animated piece was always going to be a mighty struggle. If anyone could do it then controversial animator Ralph Bakshi was probably the most able. As a big fan of the original stories I can see that this film has some strong good and bad points. What we get is a film that has its heart in its right place and captures the folklore aspect of the books, but rushes through many important scenes and doesn't have enough time to develop all of the characters.The plot follows Fellowship and the first half of Two Towers quite closely. Hobbit Frodo Baggins receives the one ring that could rule Middle-Earth and sets off on a quest to destroy it before the powers of darkness can claim it. As a result of the films length many important parts of the book are condensed or done away with completely. While it is done with good intentions and to keep the core structure in place, we learn little about the characters and that keeps you at arm's length for most of the film. In the Jackson films I cared about the characters despite the epic story, but here I couldn't care less what happens to most of them.The animation is a mixed bag. The traditional animation looks pretty good and captures the tone of the books almost perfectly. However a lot of the other animation, especially in the action scenes, is rotoscoped which is very odd looking. Its live-action with animation over the top of it and it results in everything looking extremely grainy even though it allows for more fluidity. Throughout the film they both overlap each other and it is extremely obvious when that happens which is distracting. The background paintings are all excellent and expand the world well, whilst many of the places look like you would have imagined them to which is nice.As I alluded to the characters are very much a mixed bag. On one hand I do like Frodo, they make him very charming and thoughtful which makes it easy to sympathise with him. Aragorn is excellently done, even though he looks like a Native American, he has a commanding presence and John Hurt does a wonderful job voicing him. Merry and Pippin are much subtler here which I like compared to Jackson's jokey take. Boromir is also interestingly done and is conflicted character is played up smartly here. Gollum is done fine too and they get the split personality down well, whilst Legolas and Gimli are both good even though they aren't give much time to get an insight into their characters.However Sam is terrible in this. He is just a bumbling idiot and there is no way he'd be allowed to go with the fellowship. Gandalf is also a bit over-the-top too, his powers aren't really looked into and they play up his confused side more than needed. Saruman is very dull and again we don't get an insight into his abilities. The other supporting characters aren't very interesting either and though it is entirely understandable that time be spent on the main characters it is a shame seeing as a lot of the side characters are very enjoyable.The action sequences are where the film truly shines. Every sword or arrow that connects looks and sounds like it hurts, taking a more traditionally brutal approach which works perfectly. The top notch sound effects and the occasional splatter of blood give a real weight to many of the violent moments in the film. The many battles with the Orcs are always given a strong feeling of tension and intensity which draws you in. The climactic battle at Helms Depp drags on a little bit yet it fits as the positive ending the film wants and the battles with in Moria do have a real sense of danger to them, even if the Balrog looks very daft. Tension is one of the films strongest aspects. There is a real sense that danger is around every corner and this crafted brilliantly throughout. Any encounter with the Rings Wraiths is fantastic given their creepy design and scenes involving them always carry an eerie atmosphere. The score by Leonard Rosenman is very good. It has the mysterious and epic mixture that fits the fantasy genre well. The main theme is incredibly catchy and is pretty much guaranteed to be stuck in your head. The more atmospheric pieces are great and add a great deal of tension when they are used.On the whole this is an enjoyable and very ambitious attempt at the great fantasy stories. Given the limited time and lack of budget the film was never going to be great or stick that closely to the books, but it is easy to admire it for what it is. The story is condensed well all things considered and there are some enjoyable characters, not to mention the fierce action scenes and score are great as well. Yet some really interesting parts are skipped over, there is very little character development and the animation is varies from good to very poor. If you are a fan then this is a good version to check out and has a more grounded feel that will appeal to some. It would have been interesting to see Ralph Bakshi do The Return of the Kings and it's a shame we never did.

It's J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books 'The Fellowship of the Rings' and 'The Two Towers'. Hobbit Frodo Baggins must guard the one most powerful ring against powerful dark forces with the help of Gandalf, Samwise and others.Ralph Bakshi directed Wizard. Using the same rotoscoping of live-action footage, it has that fascinating 70s animation style. It's actually very effective for the material especially since the needed special effects haven't been perfected yet. The style is definitely a very interesting vision and gives an adult sensibility in the animation. However there are limitations with the compressed nature of the film and it also doesn't help that this movie never got the needed sequel. It ends in an unsatisfying cliffhanger. It's a fascinating cinematic oddity but not much more.

Ralph Bakshi's 1978 LOTR adaptation is one of the most divisive entries in his filmography. Some see it as a bastardization of its source due to having to condense so much into little screen time. Others praise it as a bold work of art. I can understand both views, but after watching this twice, I am sorry to say I cannot come to the conclusion that this is a good movie. And it has nothing to do with how close it is or isn't to the books.To start with the positive side of things, the score is magnificent. In fact, I like it more than the music from the much-loved Peter Jackson LOTR trilogy, probably because it's less gloomy and bombastic. It just exudes fantasy and adventure. The animation is mostly solid and I enjoyed how Bakshi employed rotorscoping with the more sinister characters.However, even though the animation and rotorscoping are good on their own, I do not think they blend well. The mix of realistic characters, more cartoony characters, and the rotorscoped characters make for a messy, rushed aesthetic that feels more annoying than cutting edge. I think the rotorscoping worked much better in Bakshi's previous fantasy film, Wizards (1977), since it was only a mix of non-realistic characters with rotorscoped demons and monsters.The editing is sometimes awkward and the characterization choices are sometimes borderline strange (in Sam's case, it was downright abominable; "OH HOO-RAYYYY!!"). Some of Gandalf's antics are unintentionally funny. The pacing is atrocious and there are stretches where you find yourself groaning and checking your watch every other minute.In conclusion, the film just feels unfinished. Bakshi often had to work with low budgets and one could accuse him of being an undisciplined artist, but he was certainly capable of better than this if Heavy Traffic (1972) and Wizards are anything to go by.

*Spoiler/plot- The Lord of the Rings, 1978. Totally animated version of the first two books of J.R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle Earth.*Special Stars- Voice and character Movement: Billy Barty, Anthony Daniels, John Hurt, Felix Silva.*Theme- Friends working together towards a common goal can achieve anything.*Trivia/location/goofs- A totally rotoscoped animated film. Listen for many famous actors voicing lead and supporting roles. Locations: Spain.*Emotion- I saw this in the theaters when it came out in the 70's and it was the center of a J. R. Tolkien mini-fad. There were belt buckles, maps, and other marketing blitz items rolled out for the public. Even Star Trek's 'Spock', L. Nimoy included a silly Hobbit song on his record he released in that year. That is when I read the trilogy books and enjoyed my introduction to Middle Earth. I found this film unique, strange and interesting because of Ralph Bakshi's use of odd animation and rotoscoping and actor movements. The film and the film's music themes were heroic and strong, too. I bought the record from the film. However, I was disappointed that the quest of little Frodo never got to finish in a sequel, but this film introduced me to all things Hobbit. I would say see this film for it's Hobbit beginnings that Peter Jackson took to incredible heights, first.