Ralph Bakshi directed the 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings based on Tolkien’s work.
Released in 1978, Bakshi’s film adapts much of The Fellowship of the Ring and portions of The Two Towers. It uses traditional animation alongside rotoscoping, a process in which artists trace over filmed live-action movement. The technique gives the movie its distinctive visual appearance.
The film was produced before Peter Jackson’s live-action trilogy. It was intended as part of a larger adaptation, but the planned continuation was not completed by Bakshi. The movie ends before Tolkien’s entire story is resolved, which is one reason it is sometimes mistakenly treated as a complete adaptation.
Bakshi’s version remains important in the history of Tolkien screen adaptations. Peter Jackson later directed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy released from 2001 to 2003, but he did not direct the 1978 animated film. That earlier movie was a separate production with its own cast and visual style.