The Return of the King Deluxe Edition

This is the sequel to the Hobbit DVD which I have also reviewed. An excellent movie with outstanding animation and it tells the story exceptionally well. It is very high quality.

A wonderful trip back in time when cartoons were still an art form. Pair this with the 1977 Hobbit cartoon and the 1978 Lord of the Rings movie cartoon and you’ve got the best entertainment money can buy!!! Absolutely the best. Enjoy!

A trip back in time, for me, a few cartoons in the special features.

Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass’s 1979 “The Return of the King” follows their 1977 version of “The Hobbit” and, following United Artists’ decision not to produce a sequel to Ralph Bakshi’s “The Lord of the Rings,” it also serves as an unofficial conclusion to that story. Since Rankin and Bass frame this film primarily as a sequel to “The Hobbit,” it uses Bilbo’s 129th birthday as a framing device, with Frodo telling the third volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” to him at the party. The film leaves off the scenes in Shelob’s lair while also omitting Gimli, Legolas, Arwen, and Saruman. While Aragorn appears, the titular king who’s doing the returning does not speak much. The film does include the Mouth of Sauron, however, while the character did not appear in Peter Jackson’s 2003 film. Though this story does feature some more intense scenes than “The Hobbit,” including Denethor’s madness and death, it appears unable to determine if it’s a children’s film or a more adult adaptation. As such, it doesn’t work as well as the Rankin/Bass “Hobbit.” John Huston reprises his role as Gandalf with Orson Bean also returning as Bilbo and portraying Frodo. Paul Frees is also back providing various voices. William Conrad joins the cast as Denethor. Don Messick, who voiced several characters for Hanna-Barbera cartoons, voices Théoden, Easterling, and The Mouth of Sauron. Casey Kasem voices Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck and his voice is instantly recognizable, sometimes pulling the viewer out of the story. Finally, Glenn Yarbrough, who sang most of the songs in “The Hobbit,” here portrays the Minstrel of Gondor, contributing new songs to the picture. Where the songs in “The Hobbit” were mostly based on those Tolkien himself wrote and included in the book, nearly all the songs in this film are original and further contribute to the disjointed tone. The color palette, however, closely resembles Alan Lee’s paintings. The bonus features on this disc replicate most of those on the DVD of Rankin/Bass’s “The Hobbit,” with a summary of Tolkien’s work along with that of Rankin & Bass and biographies of the cast & crew. Also like Rankin/Bass’s “The Hobbit,” this disc includes two WB cartoons: “Good Knight Droopy” and “Jerry Hood and His Merry Meeces.” Similarly the only connection these seem to have with “The Return of the King” is that Warner Brothers owns the rights to both and the stories in the cartoons take their inspiration from medieval fantasy.

tres bien

My family recently went on a LOTR binge and after finishing the LOTR movies, we had to go back to the classics. The Hobbit is available for streaming, but for some reason this one isn’t! This movie is meant to be owned anyway, especially if you have kids. This is the same team that brought us Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, A Year Without a Santa Clause and every other Christmas cartoon, and this is their rendition of Lord of the Rings, I mean what’s not to like? Disk in perfect condition, animation is even crisper than I remember it. 10/10 would recommend

It was a very good movie.

This is a great film with catchy tunes and nice animation. The way they both pretended the previous Bakshi movie didn't exist while bringing us up to speed to the point it ended is masterful. They were absolutely in the right, although I wish they had just remade LOTR from the beginning. They take some liberties with the plot and add a little extra flair, but I can forgive them for it and understand the need for brevity and avoiding more complicated explanations and plot points. This is supposed to be for children and that's ok, especially since we have a masterpiece in Peter Jackson's trilogy. Just sit down and enjoy this delightful movie.

Lecture incompatible sur mon lecteur ou ma PSP. Problème de Zone de lecture. Je suis en Belgique.

Waited a long time to see this movie. Thankfully one of my son in law has an all region DVD player. The movie is terrific. A PAL format version may sell well as this animated version is suitable for younger children.

Good movie; too many songs.

Hab mir diesen Film gekauft weil der erste Teil Der Herr der Ringe zeichentrick nicht weiter gedreht wurde. Und dieser schließt an den Film an auch wenn er von anderen Machern ist. (die Macher die auch das letzte Einhorn gedreht haben) leider ist der Film nur auf englisch und ich konnte ihn nur am PC anschauen aber er war gut

Fast shipping, item as described