first of all and let me say i be a big fan of the other rankin or bass tolkien film and the hobbit . not that hobbit be ideal in a lot of way either the story be truncate ( although not much change ) and the music be quite cute and date ( my girlfriend always say it like james taylor stunt half brother ) . but at least it have a complete story to tell and and even the annoying music at least preserve more of tolkien poetry than the more ambitious peter jackson film of lotr manage to . i can not really get behind this return of the king though . maybe it would have be different if ralph bakshi hadn not win the contract to do lotr and a job that he be clearly not equip to accomplish . i can understand why the people who control lord of the ring use bakshi instead of rankin or bass . rankin or bass be very decidedly kiddie orient and even if hobbit be more mature than their holiday special . that treatment be appropriate for the hobbit which be more of a child tale although of course it please to people of all age . however lord of the ring be a darker tale and deserve a more adult treatment . bakshi wizard be very impressive and melding documentary footage of nazi war machine with fantasy animation of faery and goblin . he be give the job of do lord of the ring basically on the strength of that film . with all of this in mind though and in retrospect it still might have be good if rankin or bass have do the whole thing . bakshi run out of money in the middle of make his movie and defeat by the demand of rotoscoping technology that have to be invent just to be use for the film . his version be perhaps too ambitious and and when the money run out they have to cut short the process and the resulting film be not what bakshi plan nor what fan want . it also fail to include this final chapter of the story bakshi have hop that if his first film make enough money there would be impetus to finish it . so rankin or bass be give the sloppy second and and they produce a sloppy film that probably doesn not really represent the scope of what they have hop to do with lord of the ring themselves in the first place . where bakshi attempt be sprawl and relatively faithful and this r or b version of the final chapter paint in very broad stroke . legolas and gimli be never even on screen and and aragorn appear less a a character than a a concept . consider the length of the movie and such truncation be perhaps necessary . but it very dishearten for example to hear frodo yell out of my way and you scum . to gollum and all the depth and nuance of their relationship totally go . this be not a case like with hobbit where leave out a particular story element like the arkenstone or beorn leave the whole still intact with a lot of thing miss and even the element that remain only appear in a warped and inappropriate form . worthy of praise be much of the voice work on this film and with john huston return to anchor the film a gandalf and narrator and roddy mcdowall lending nuance to sam and and theodore be priceless a gollum even if the character be here rob of the pathos that he deserve in the book and that he show in the rankin or bass hobbit . but some of the voice talent be questionable . perhaps it just a function of his fame and but it jar to hear casey kasem a merry . i think they should have avoid people who have do a lot of voice work in the past and would be recognizable even to child . much of the actual animation be very poor compare to hobbit and with only the close ups have the good quality japanese style that elevate that film . whenever character be see in a long shot in this film and they look like a child color book . the ringwraiths look comical and like scooby doo villain and except for the witch king who for whatever reason still resemble the scary wraith from the bakshi version . a lot of element that could have be very cool and like the army of the dead and be completely miss from this film and i have to assume it be because they would be too costly and difficult to animate . be leave with a very inadequate film and although it still good that they finish the trilogy . when i be very young and i have see these film and could enjoy tolkien story through them even though i be too young to appreciate the book . this film in particular be very sought after in the 1980s and because unlike the other two it be not widely available on video . i remember my brother and i have a copy that we have tap off tv which be miss the beginning of the film and and that be the version we have to live with for year . for those who might have spend year search for it and this version be certainly a disappointment . but it leave me wonder mostly what the rankin or bass effort would have be like if they have be able to do the entire trilogy . maybe they could have put more effort into some of the characterization and animation . and hopefully someday we will see the book adapt into a really excellent animate film .