Maybe it's just me - but I really don't think Bakshi's version was anywhere near as bad as it's generally made out to be. I'll grant that Jackson's was better (and it
ought to be, considering its advantages in terms of money and technology); but honestly, I think there are some lessons Bakshi could have taught Jackson. For instance, Bakshi doesn't stray nearly as far from the book as Jackson does, and yet he manages to cover half the story in a little over two hours.
Of course, the cartoon's flaws are numerous and serious, and some of this reviewer's criticisms are quite incisive. Others are not. And there are two points that I'm afraid I can't allow to pass.
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The Black Riders. Actually, the Brown, Limping, Groaning and Snuffling Riders, but let's not split hairs.
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The Black Riders were
incredible in Bakshi's film. They were scary! And the mixture of pure animation and rotoscoping gave them a great feeling of otherworldliness.
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The movie opens with a blast of loud—and very dated—orchestral music. This is the sort of music they used in '60s Disney movies, only scratchier, cheesier, and a thousand times more lifeless.
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Were we listening to the same music? I think Rosenman's score was great. It's a shame, really, that current trends in Hollywood view this kind of music as 'dated'. I'd take Rosenman's 'dated' orchestra over any of the bland, cliched, factory-made pieces of muzak passing for film scores these days.