— Ch. 1 · Animated Adaptation Genesis —
The Lord of the Rings (1978 film).
~9 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Ralph Bakshi first encountered J.R.R. Tolkien's writing in the mid-1950s while working as an animator for Terrytoons. He began trying to convince people that the story could be told in animation by 1957. United Artists eventually passed the rights to them in 1969, but early attempts failed. John Boorman was commissioned to write a script in late 1969, yet it was deemed too expensive in 1970. Bakshi approached United Artists after learning from a 1974 issue of Variety that Boorman's script had been abandoned. He believed making all three parts as a single film was madness and lacked character. Bakshi made yearly treks to United Artists to pitch his own version. His recent film Coonskin had tanked, so he thought The Lord of the Rings could make money to save his studio. In 1975, Bakshi convinced United Artists executive Mike Medavoy to produce two or three animated films plus a prequel to The Hobbit. Medavoy offered him Boorman's script, which Bakshi refused because he felt Boorman did not understand the source material. Bakshi proposed using Tolkien's exact dialogue and scenes to stay true to the books. Dan Melnick, then President of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, supported the project until he was fired in 1976. By then, Bakshi's studio had spent between $200,000 and $600,000. New executive Dick Shepherd asked if The Lord of the Rings was about a wedding. Bakshi contacted Saul Zaentz, who agreed to produce the film. Before production started, Bakshi met with Tolkien's daughter Priscilla to discuss how the film would be made.
Rotoscoping Technique Analysis
The film utilized live-action footage that was traced onto animation cels to create its unique visual style. This technique saved production costs while giving characters a more realistic look than traditional cel animation. Animation historian Jerry Beck noted that up to that point, animated films had not depicted extensive battle scenes with hundreds of characters. Bakshi could trace highly complex scenes from live-action footage without incurring the exorbitant costs of producing a full live-action film. He rejected the Disney approach which he thought too cartoony. His method created a feeling of realism involving up to a thousand characters in a single scene. Bakshi went to England to recruit a voice cast from the BBC Drama Repertory Company. For the live-action portion, the cast and crew traveled to Spain where rotoscope models acted out their parts in costume. Additional photography took place in Death Valley. Bakshi directed horse scenes from inside his caravan because he was terrified of the animals used. During a large shoot, union bosses called for a lunch break. Bakshi secretly shot footage of actors in Orc costumes moving toward the craft service table and used it in the final cut. The actions of Bilbo Baggins were performed by Billy Barty, while Sharon Baird served as the performance model for Frodo Baggins. Other performers included John A. Neris as Gandalf and Walt Robles as Aragorn. Each frame of the live footage was printed out and placed behind an animation cel. Details were copied and painted onto the cel. Some sequences were solarized to produce a more three-dimensional look.