Which 1978 animated film adapted J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?

The 1978 animated film that adapted J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was titled The Lord of the Rings.

Directed by Ralph Bakshi, the film was released in the United States on 15 November 1978. It used traditional animation together with rotoscoping, a process in which artists trace over filmed movement. The result gave the movie a distinctive visual style that differed sharply from later live-action adaptations.

The film covers much of the first part of Tolkien’s story, including the journey from the Shire, the encounter with the Nazgûl, the Mines of Moria, and the battle at Helm’s Deep. It ends before the complete conclusion of the book, despite its title.

A planned continuation was not produced as a direct second Bakshi film. Rankin/Bass later made The Return of the King as a separate animated television film in 1980. The 1978 movie is therefore important both as an early Tolkien adaptation and as a bridge between illustrated animation and later fantasy cinema.