This movie is unfairly maligned as a cheesy adaptation. It is much closer to Tolkien's book than the big-budget live-action movie. Rankin-Bass did an admirable job attempting to piece together the final third of The Lord of the Rings without the first 2/3 of the plot as a back story. The animation is actually quite good for a made-for-TV movie. Since the book was so thick with plot and action, the movie's limited time and treatment seems rushed, and sometimes makes little sense unless you had read the previous two Lord of the Rings books. As was mentioned before, this movie includes important scenes from the novel that were left out of Peter Jackson's movie, making the Rankin-Bass version a relatively faithful adaptation. Keep in mind it was made for TV by an animation studio known for making cheesy Christmas and Easter specials. Tolkien's novel, while intended for young readers, was much darker in tone than anything Rankin-Bass had done. This studio did one hell of job translating the themes and dark tones from the book into a made-for-TV cartoon movie.
I can tolerate the folksy songs. If you don't like sappy folk ballads, then this movie is not for you. This movie is full of 'em. I personally enjoyed "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way." Don't know why, but it's a catchy song. Rankin-Bass wants to explore the notion that the Orcs are not pure evil, which is fine by me, and that they have feelings too. It was done a little sappily, but at least it was an attempt at depth which I appreciated.
Oh, I must mention the voices. John Huston is divine as Gandalf the Wizard; he has a magisterial voice that lends credence to the role. Orson Bean and Roddy McDowall are decent as the hobbit heroes. Brother Theodore, the famed performance artist, is excellent as the villain Gollum. I actually preferred Theodore's demented, crazed voice to the hisses of Andy Serkis. The Lord of the Nazgul has a cheesy robot voice, as filtered through a voice changing machine, but for a little kid, that can be quite intimidating. The Mouth of Sauron is one creepy dude, drawn with the same kind of skill Rankin Bass brought to their fantasy cartoons. Some may think the animation sucks, but I dug it. If you actually enjoyed the animation here, watch another good Rankin-Bass movie, "Flight of Dragons."
I can tolerate the folksy songs. If you don't like sappy folk ballads, then this movie is not for you. This movie is full of 'em. I personally enjoyed "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way." Don't know why, but it's a catchy song. Rankin-Bass wants to explore the notion that the Orcs are not pure evil, which is fine by me, and that they have feelings too. It was done a little sappily, but at least it was an attempt at depth which I appreciated.
Oh, I must mention the voices. John Huston is divine as Gandalf the Wizard; he has a magisterial voice that lends credence to the role. Orson Bean and Roddy McDowall are decent as the hobbit heroes. Brother Theodore, the famed performance artist, is excellent as the villain Gollum. I actually preferred Theodore's demented, crazed voice to the hisses of Andy Serkis. The Lord of the Nazgul has a cheesy robot voice, as filtered through a voice changing machine, but for a little kid, that can be quite intimidating. The Mouth of Sauron is one creepy dude, drawn with the same kind of skill Rankin Bass brought to their fantasy cartoons. Some may think the animation sucks, but I dug it. If you actually enjoyed the animation here, watch another good Rankin-Bass movie, "Flight of Dragons."