[galacticlord]

Since I'm sure no one would rank the animated versions of Tolkien's stories above Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy, I'm curious to see what you all think of the animated stuff. Which one do you like better? The Rankin Bass version of the Hobbit? The Lord of the Rings animated film? Or the Rankin Bass Return of the King?

[Evil Agent]

Definitely the Bakshi animated film of Lord of the Rings, from 1978. Though incredibly flawed, the first half in particular is quite faithful to the books... and there are quite a few cool scenes that were re-created later in Jackson's movie. This animated film was also what made me go read the books for the first time, about 12 years ago. Since the movie only goes as far as Helm's Deep (and a sequel was never created) I wanted to know how the story ended.

[Pais Charos]

Since I'm sure no one would rank the animated versions of Tolkien's stories above Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy, I'm curious to see what you all think of the animated stuff. Which one do you like better? The Rankin Bass version of the Hobbit? The Lord of the Rings animated film? Or the Rankin Bass Return of the King?

Um...*hides from GO* I didn't like any of it...:p

Well, ok, I take that back. I've really only seen The Hobbit, not the LOTR one. So ... I can't say anything about the animated LOTR. The Hobbit was boring, though...very much so.

[Wayne Batson]

I really liked the Baski version. It was weird and full of that 60's disco lava lamp FX, but there were many elements that I thought were very good. The Balrog was awesome! Strider had a more kingly (if not homely) bent. But my favorite was the portrayal of Galadriel. She was every bit the mysterious beauty I imagined from the book. That was my only real pet peeve with Jackson and the movies. I respect Cate Blanchett immensely. She is a breathtaking actress.

But, even with clever lighting and post-production enhancement, she does not possess the ethereal, queenly, superiority that Galadriel should have had. And that whole segment where she turned sinister and her voice lowered--that was way overdone. On the other hand, I thought Baski's rendering of Galadriel was Spot On.

[The_Sandman]

Personally I really liked the Return of the King, although the Lord of The Ring version was pretty cool!