What do you think of the Bakshi cartoon?

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Mugwump

but our vision of elves today is largely formed by Lord of the Rings, in which Tolkien restored the original ideas of how the "elves of faerie" were portrayed in myth.

Or so he claimed. For an interesting discussion of the differences between Tolkien's Elves and the elves/fairies of traditional folk mythology, see this thread (one of my personal all-times favourites).
Horrible as the Rankin/Bass elves are as depictions of Tolkien's Quendi, their look somehow suggests a glimpse of the dark and malicious side (if not the dangerous beauty) of traditional fairies.