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Max is about to stream the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien fans should check it out
The Ralph Bakshi animated Lord of the Rings (streaming December 1 on Max) is absolutely unlike the Peter Jackson films, but it does feature the scariest orcs you'll ever see and two science-fiction icons in its cast
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Lord of the Rings fans are eating well this year. Not only did 2024 see the return of Prime Video's The Rings of Power, but it will also be the year J.R.R. Tolkien gets the anime treatment in The War of the Rohirrim, and the year Peter Jackson was announced to be returning as producer for at least two more live-action films set in Middle-Earth. With all this excitement, you may forget that we're hardly the first generation to see the Lord of the Rings novels turned into visual spectacles.
In fact, one of the first adaptations of The Lord of the Rings is about to be available for modern fans to view, potentially for the first time. That's because the 1978 Lord of the Rings animated adaptation is headed to Max on December 1, and since we've kind of made a habit of breaking down Tolkien adaptations along with you, we figured we might cover a few of the basics before you stream.
Enjoy.
Who made the 1978 animated Lord of the Rings?
The 1978 adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's seminal fantasy work was done by the Ralph Bakshi animation studio. Known for its adult fare such as Fritz the Cat, an x-Rated cartoon that to this day inspires controversy, the studio was famous for its use of rotoscoping, that is, taking live-action footage and animating over it. In The Lord of the Rings, live actors were used to film many of the orc battle scenes, and the combination of dusky live-action film with animated accents makes for a damn scary effect.
Who's in the animated Lord of The Rings voice cast?
Though Lord of the Rings is, of course, the cornerstone of modern fantasy, the 1978 animated film made use of two of science fiction's greatest icons at different points in their careers. Giving voice to Legolas, the character of made famous by Orlando Bloom, was Star Wars' own Anthony Daniels, who had made his first appearance on the big screen as C-3PO the year before. Then, in the role of Aragorn, who Viggo Mortensen so expertly portrayed in the Peter Jackson's films, was John Hurt, a year before a chestburster would make his death in Alien one of the most famous in cinematic history.
Which books does the animated Lord of the Rings cover?
The one downside to the Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings is that it doesn't cover the entirety of the story. Instead, it stops right about where the novel The Two Towers does. You can head over to Amazon and rent 1980's animated The Return of the King, however, you won't get that same Ralph Bakshi eeriness from the visuals. Just like 1977's The Hobbit, the animated Return of the King was done by the much more family-friendly Rankin/Bass, and is objectively less terrifying.
Except maybe for maybe their version of Gollum. Look at this freak:
1978's the Lord of the Rings streams on Max starting December 1.
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