The Cartoons

[Michael Baggins]

I've had decided today to rent The Hobbit cartoon and relive some childhood memories. I remember it being a great cartoon, we'll see if my memory is correct. I also found that there are two cartoons which span the whole lord of the rings trilogy, so I rented them too. I heard that they aren't good, but I wanted to see them anyway. Has anyone else seen them? I'll let everyone know after the weekend what I think of them.

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

I have not, but I know a lot of people here have. Apparently they are a good laugh, from what I've read. But I too plan on renting these just to see what they are like. I can never pass up a cartoon (I'll never grow up I suppose).

[Kalimac]

Heh heh heh. You have no idea of the treat that is in store for you, Tigerlily and Michael . Just a suggestion; before you watch them, get some friends together (preferibly people who've read the books, but if you're like me and know exactly one non-related person who knows what "The Last Homely House" means, any good group will do), get a few bottles of beer if you drink, soda if you don't, and have an MST3K evening . Lots of immature fun will be had by all.

[KingCarlton]

Whoa..there's a cartoon on LOTR...<P>CHEERS !<P>Where do I get them from...<P>Know Peace<P><BR>

[Michael Baggins]

Hollywood Video seems to rent them, and blockbuster not. I watched The Hobbit and TLTR. I thought The Hobbit was entertaining, but it was extremely rushed. They cut out way to much,and I didn't like the look of the characters, but the overall feel was entertaining. TLTR was great. The characters were perfect (the animated ones). I don't know why they used real actors in other parts. I didn't like that at all, and I thought the orcs, trolls, balgrog, basically anything they didn't animate sucked. This one was also really rushed, and they cut out a lot of great scenes. I was hoping that the cartoon version would have Tom Bombadil, but to no avail. I am going to watch TRTK tonight, but from the cover it looks like they revert to the animation of the Hobbit for that one, if so I have low expectations because the Dwarfs were weird looking, and so were the Hobbits. At least it's 1.5 hours, a more proper allotment of time than the 1 hour each the other books got. We'll see. If anyone else has seen any of the cartoons tell me what you thought of them.

[Michael Baggins]

Ok, I am watching the return of the king cartoon right now, and it's HORRIBLE. The person who made this movie barely skimmed the book. There are so many inaccuracies. It's the same director as The Hobbit. I don't understand why the director who made TLTR didn't make TROTK too. Oh, I hope that I can even make it to the end. This movie is so stupid. ARG.

[Haldir]

I rented today the LOTR cartoon, but since<BR>where live (Israel), blockbuster got it JUST<BR>on dvd, I had to watch it over a friend, and<BR>he didn't read the Hobbit (yet), so we rented<BR>JUST the LOTR, and just the first one, it's<BR>FOTR and half of TT, blockbuster didn't have<BR>the ROTK for rent (or buy)... <P>anyway, it was kind of nice, funny mostly,<BR>after watching the FOTR real movie... <P>worth the 5 dollars it costed...

Hehee... I liked the cartoons . In.. my own strange way. I watched them with a friend, and she kept hitting me because I wouldn't stop laughing at them.

[Daecuiel the Elf]

The cartoons are BAD!!!!! They are funny, Legolas looks bad, Aragorn's an Indian, Boromir's a Viking guy, the Hobbits have Mushroom-like hair, not Hobbit hair..... It's pretty bad, but Anthony Daniels, the voice of C-3PO in Star Wars, did the voice of Legolas... Creeeeepyyyyy........

[Aragorn Husband of Arwen]

I have only seen The Hobbit in Cartoon form. I've seen it hundreds of times, I really like it, though I'd like Peter Jackson to make a live action version with the same actors and such.

[mordor136]

the lotr cartoon is a disgrage to tolkien but useful if you cant get to sleep!

[Arwen Imladris]

Just watched the Hobbit, it was cool when I was 5 but now... they cut out so much and the animation is from 77.. before I was born...

[Michael Baggins]

So I watched them all now. I thought the LOTR was good, I liked how they portrayed the people, but yes they cut out a lot. I thought the ROTK stank, but I thought that the voice for Gollum in that cartoon was perfect. I don't know why the maker of the LOTR would make the first two and not the third, that was odd. Did anyone else notice that the orcs looked like one of the bad guys from Silver Hawks in ROTK and The Hobbit? I'm a cartoon buff, so maybe no one else remembers it that detailed. Also, I thought some of the voice sounded the same, maybe it was the same animator.

[Gorin Icearms]

Make sure you get the two by Arthur Rankin-Jules Bass. They are a couple of the best cartoons I've seen. It starts with The Hobbit <BR> <A HREF="http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/detailed.cgi?film=27844" TARGET=_blank>http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/detailed.cgi?film=27844</A> <P>but then jumps to The Return of the King<BR> <A HREF="http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/detailed.cgi?film=27851" TARGET=_blank>http://www.bcdb.com/bcdb/detailed.cgi?film=27851</A> <P>And there was this other one (which personally I think sucks, but it is more complete) <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MP5B/ref=pd_ser_asin_2/103-4588981-4298224" TARGET=_blank>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005MP5B/ref=pd_ser_asin_2/103-4588981-4298224</A> <P><BR>(About the Rankin-Bass cartoons)<BR>I would've liked to see the other two made into cartoons also, but you take what you can get. It's just like the movies, they can't include everything. And this is a 90 min cartoon. I think they did a great job considering the methods and budget they had. Anyway, you don't want to miss these.<p>[ April 07, 2002: Message edited by: Gorin Icearms ]

[Kalla]

Hehe, here, try this link after watching the cartoon...I think it pretty much sums up the whole experience. <A HREF="http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/bakshi/bakshi.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/bakshi/bakshi.htm</A>

[Raefindel]

I bought "the Hobbit" "The Lord of the Rings" and "the return of the King" at Costco together as a set for $45. RotK stunk.<P>But some of the LOTR I thought was better portrayed than PJ's film. I thought the way Gandalf fell in Moria in the film was not as accurate as it was in the cartoon.<P>In the cartoon, Gandalf was caught around the knees by the balrog's whip and shouted AS HE WAS FALLING "Fly you fools"<P>In the film, Gandalf's foot was caught and he clung to the stone and spoke quietly before he LET GO.<P>I really enjoyed the cartoon.

[cookie_crazy]

I watched the cartoon just out of curiosity and I realised that the hobbits kinda move too mechanically. In it, Gimli doesn't seem to play a large role when really he does.

[Brimstone Goldenwing]

I thought that the cartoons sorta suck. In the LOTR cartoon, the backrounds were waaaay too stiff and brought no life to the show. I guess that was the worst thing. You wanna see real cartoons? Watch japanese animations..those are the best cartoons around. After you watch some of those you'll see what I mean. Also they put real people in it..and it sucked. They should have made it all animation. Oh well, nothing isn't perfect I guess..<P>I have to agree with Michael Baggins tho, Gollum'd voice was really good <P>In a way I thought the cartoons were funny. The characters looked so bad, and I was cracking up!

Yes, good point about the backgrounds, goldenwing. They were not just vague, they were NON-EXISTANT! <P>But, most of the voices were well-cast.

[cookie_crazy]

Well voiced?Well voiced!? WELL VOICED!!!!! <faints>I really don't think so.<faints again>

[Brimstone Goldenwing]

Well I thought most of the voice actors were pretty bad..but Gollum's voice was great! <P>Sorry if I offended ya, Raefindel. Actually even nonexistent places could look detailed in cartoons..<P>But hey at least the makers of the cartoon tried!XD They should have added more shading to the backround tho **long pause** Wha? Why are you lookin at me like that? Ok I'll shutup about backrounds already!!<P>Yes I know I'm weird

[MYyyPreciousSS]

I've seen the first LotR movie. Yeah, it was pretty bad, I hated the way Sam looked all dumb and that Boromir looked like a viking. Oh well. I love the way they did Gollum though. It was nice for a laugh, but bugged me to much to see the second one.

[Michael Baggins]

Well, the second one wasn't done by the same person anyway. However, it was worse than the first, so I'm not pushing for you to see it :-P.

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

OK - I just watched The Lord of the Rings cartoon & I had to turn it off! I could not stand to watch it. My friends says that she wasted hours of her life by watching it...<BR>Here are some problems:<BR>1.) Aruman?!<BR>2.) What was up with Sam?!<BR>3.) The pronounciations were ALL WRONG (for the most part)!!!!<BR>4.) Treebeard was too scary!<BR>5.) Gandalf was mean!<BR>6.) The Nazgul were humorous, not scary!<BR>7.) The fight scenes were way too long to be so boring!<P>I am sorry if this offends anyone, but I could not take it. I was falling asleep. I am glad that Peter Jackson did the book justice, because the cartoon sure didn't

[cookie_crazy]

Yeah!! Sam looks like an idiot and I have to admit Treebeard just looks like a walking tree. I sooo bet the creators didn't even bother to read the books. Did you know that they had Legolas coming from Rivendell and "Elrond" so does not look wise.

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

Yeah - I saw an Elf riding up on a horse and I was like, "hey, it's Glorfindel", but NO, it was Legolas! The people in the film industry must have something against Glorfindel or something.<BR>I am thinking that they must have just skimmed the books, or made the movie off of someone's (who read the books years before) description of the books. I can't believe they missed the boat so much! I don't have any complaints for the live action film, but the cartoon takes the cake. Why did I buy it without watching it first

[The Half-Hobbit]

Tigerlilly, I did the exact same thing! Poor Glorfindel...nobody wants to put him in a movie <BR>I enjoyed the cartoons though they don't come close to the books or the new live-action movie. the animation of the hobbits in LotR was nice, it matched the hobbits I picture when I read. The way Merry and Pippin's hair kept changing was odd, though

[Luinsewiel]

Lol Glorfindel I don't see what they have against him he's awesome! We should get some people who are handy with a camcorder(sp.)and make our own movie FEATURING Glorfindel maybe <I>The War Of The Ring According To Glorfindel</I>or something like that.By the By Brimstone, whats your favorite anime? i absolutley LOVE Outlaw Star but the movie version of Utena scared me I did not understand it at all <p>[ April 17, 2002: Message edited by: Luinsewiel ]

[Nevfeniel]

I just rented LotR today, just finished watching it, haven't finished <I>laughing</I>! Oh, talk about comic relief! I don't remember when exactly, but there was this one part where Frodo looked so <I>proud</I> of himself! The film was altogether a little fruity, and they just forgot Merry and Pippen after they had been taken in by Treebeard, but I don't know if they show up again until RotK, but I felt so sorry for Sam! I could only find <I>3</I> teeth! How was Bakshi planning on him marrying Rosie and having 13 kids? The movie was good for a laugh, though.<P>Just remembered, Glorfindel only seems to exist in the books! Stop editing him out, directors! And where was Arwen? And Saruman, or should I say "Aruman" wasn't of many colors, he was of Technicolor! And after only a few lines, you could *really* tell that Boromir the Viking wanted the ring.<BR>My mom saw Gollum and said, "Who's the frozen guy?"<BR>Hehe, this is pretty random stuff I'm writing down.<BR>[ April 18, 2002: Message edited by: Nevfeniel ]<p>[ April 20, 2002: Message edited by: Nevfeniel ]

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

Hee hee...<BR>My favorite funny part was the Ringwraith/Thriller Dancer when the Hobbits were hiding under the tree roots. <BR>I am sorry, but he belonged in Michael Jackson's video!<BR>Another part that was funny was the random plucking of Sam from the bush & the way the Hobbits clap their hands together when they are happy.<BR>Ugh!<BR>Oh well, I guess it's amusing if anything (even though it'll be a while before I attempt watching it again - seeing as how I bought it without previewing it).

[Kalla]

I just have one thing to say about Boromir..."NI!"<P>As for the rest of the cartoon, you'd think he would have read or at least consulted with someone who had read the book...hehe

[eleniwilwarin]

ive just seen one of the cartoons and it is the one wich it ends with helms cliff (or something ) and that one was not very good but it was not that bad that i cant look at it again

[Gorothlammothiel]

I found the cartoon amusing although it was very wrong, but hey, it is a cartoon and it was made a few years ago. The characters didn't look what many here had imagined, but perhaps this is what the animators believed they looked like, after all, the movie actors don't look like what most had imagined them to when they had first read the book. <P>As for the voices, i think they are pretty accurate and the pronounciations? Well they were interpreted too. Not everyone has the same accent although i think the "s" on Sauruman was pretty obvious.<P>Don't be too harsh on the makers. It was a good attempt and without offending anyone, could you have done so much better to please all of us on here? We are all great fans but have different ideas.....can't expect to satisfy all.......

[Kalla]

Hmm...do you think the cartoon had any effect on how PJ envisioned the movies? or the characters?

[KingCarlton]

You're kidding, right?