The Return of the King

• Also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits
• Directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr.
• May 11, 1980
• ABC
• Based on The Hobbit and The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien

Voice Cast

• Bilbo, Frodo-Orson Bean
• Éowyn-Nellie Bellflower
• Aragorn-Theodore Bikel
• Denethor-William Conrad
• Elrond, Orc, Uruk-hai-Paul Frees
• Gandalf-John Huston
• Merry-Casey Kasem
• Sam-Roddy McDowall
• Pippin-Sonny Melendrez
• The Mouth of Sauron, Théoden, Easterling-Don Messick
• Lord of the Nazgul, Gondorian Guard-John Stephenson
• Gollum-Brother Theodore
• The Minstrel-Glenn Yarbrough

A pair of Hobbits journey to destroy the One Ring in Mount Doom while their friends and allies fight Sauron’s forces in a last stand. This is missing so much story.

This version of The Return of the King (also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits) is a direct sequel to the animated The Hobbit. And it drops the audience right in the middle of EVERYTHING. It starts out much darker than many other animated films of the time and then descends into the usual Rankin/Bass production type stuff. It’s quite a wild swing.

There is a huge swath of material that gets skipped over or watered down to either make it much more acceptable to family audiences or to make it possible to tell an LOTR-esque story in 90 minutes or so. This covers largely the end of the LOTR series with much of the material between this and The Hobbit getting covered by song and narration. They were trying to compress a very significant narrative into a very small amount of time. So much is lost or obscured such as the importance of the titular ring until it is necessary to close the film out. I cannot even recall a clear understanding being in the film of why everybody was fighting.

Because of the compression well known elements that take time to develop feel like contrivance or convenience when introduced. That is what harms what could have otherwise been a fine film. We know next to nothing about the characters or the reasons certain events happen. Like where exactly was this returning king? It is Aragorn but I will be d****d if I can find that easily explained in this movie.

Sauron is a factor, but The Mouth of Sauron (essentially his spokesman) is much more important than Sauron is. Sam gets much more play than Frodo to the point despite being tasked with taking care of the Ring is a minor character. And so much happens offscreen but gets mentioned in a fleeting line. I could go on but I only have so much time.

The Frodo issue. Despite being the ringbearer, Frodo is not a significant character in this. And he is missing from much of the story. Sam takes up a lot more of the film than Frodo does. And his encounter with the Ring is quickly overcome. We have no idea how Frodo is tainted by the Ring even though we know he is tainted by the Ring other than it being put in his care. The Ring’s power to influence others and complete its mission comes and goes as the writers recall it exists.

The voice work is fantastic. These were either talented actors or talented voice actors of the time. These were people who knew how to perform and they brought the material to life. Orson Bean, Nellie Bellflower, William Conrad, Paul Frees, John Huston, Casey Kasem, Roddy McDowall, Don Messick, and John Stephenson were either talented actors or voice performers. Not that this level of talent could fix the issues.

Much like the live action films, this is one of those things that should’ve been broken into a trilogy of films. At the minimum a second movie. You can’t do three books in a 90 minute film well. Or even one book as weighty as the final arc of the LOTR series.

I did not feel like I wasted my time, but The Return of the King missed more than it hit. I was entertained but was also left wanting more.