<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>They ran out of money and had to stop there.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Welllll...not exactly. (Historical prospective from one who was there.) It was always intended for the animated LoTR to be released in two parts. Also, the animated film in 1978 was eagerly anticipated by Tolkien fans everywhere, and Ralph Bakshi was considered to be a genius, cutting-edge animated film maker, the first American animator to be considered an actual <I>autuer</I>. Everyone was heaving a sigh of relief that Disney had not gotten his hands on the book. And the screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, a fantasy writer who was equally loved back then. (And still is, thankfully.)<P>And then the film came out.<P>We tried to like it. We really did. Every Tolkien fan really wanted the film to succeed. But it was awful, awful, awful!<P>And so the second part wasn't made; not because they "ran out of money", but because the first film was such a total flop that the studio refused to finance the filming of the second part.<P>The failure of the animated LoTR also destroyed Bakshi's credibility and his career. He eventually stopped making films altogether, and is, I understand, a very bitter old man now.<P>Makes you wonder if Peter Jackson wasn't sweating it a little bit; wondering if the "Curse of the Ring" would follow his own attempt to film Tolkien's master work. <P>Ah, the vagaries of the film making art.
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