The White Council

Re: 1978 film

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : :snip

: : : The review ranged from mediocre to downright outrage at the movie. This stemmed from a lot of things, the use of live actors who were then painted over to give an animated feel (I don't know if this was ever used before or since) and the sudden finish at the end of the Battle of Helm's Deep (it's a dialogue ending that simply states "And so Gandalf and Frodo with the help of their friends destroyed the One Ring and saved Middle Earth.") Also, Bakshi made some interesting choices regarding dialogue, character depiction and scene shots (while in Lorien Boromir uses a random rock to sharpen his sword as opposed to having the fine elf smiths do it!). But it did have some good revues. Reviewers who liked it said it was nice to have the story on the screen. They also said that while Bakshi did do some negative things he did take a chance on his direction, and even releasing the film. : : :snip : : : The Hobbit animated film is far worse, painting the dwarves as cowards and Bilbo as a "brave little hobbit". At one point Bilbo seems to be the equal of even Elrond of Glorfindel, at least in manner and arrogance. However, the BBC did an excellent radio program of both LOTR and The Hobbit that pretty much kept the entire works intact. They are available on CD and tape.

: : : -RobRoy

: : Bakshi first used roto-scoping, painting over live action, combined with traditional animation in his film Wizards, which pre-dates the LOTR film. In my opinion, Wizards is a better film.Well, at least he didn't change a character's name mid-way thought the film, like he did with the Saruman/Aruman bit. If you want a good laugh, watch for the scene where fleet-footed Aragorn trips over his scabbard while running and falls.

: : If memory serves, Bakshi began work on the LOTR film before he aquired the rights to Return of the King. When he failed to get the rights, Rankin & Bass ended up with them, he was faced with the decision to finish the film as is, or to cancel it.

: : I found Rankin & Bass's animated Hobbit interesting, frustrating and annoying. Memories of those never ending lame songs still cause my hairs to stand on end. I do think they did a good job with Smaug.

: : I also have the BBC versions of LOTR and Hobbit. Both are excellent.

: Well, I may not have agreed with many of the points displayed in RB's Hobbit, but if I hadn't seen it I never would have read the book, and I would never have gotten here.

The Rankin-Bass Hobbit images were the first ones I ever saw, as I was given the Rankin Bass Illustrated Hobbit at about 7 years old. It has since earned its keep as the source for several of my drawings, the source for an amazing statuette of Gandalf I was given one year and several costumes, one of which earned me a 1st place in a costume contest (Gandalf).