The Animated Lord of the Rings - Nostalgia Critic 

It's BAKSHI time! Support this week's charity - preemptivelove.org/ Watch more Nostalgia Critic here - bit.ly/NCPlaylist13 Follow us on Twitch - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome

So, my wife and I have been saying "Oh Hooray!" for like 5 years now. I completely forgot it was from the animated LOTR. Awesome.

You know what's creepy? Gandalf's hand completely stopping for a second while his head continues to move behind it.

I like how Gandalf just twirls and points at people throughout this movie

So a Silmarillion thing. Arwyn's fate being tied to the ring is metaphorical. Elves are like sentient plants, they aren't just tall humans, they live forever, but can die if they despair, or are corrupted, or experience too much darkness. So, when he said Arwyn's fate is tied to the ring, he means, if middle earth falls to darkness, so too will she die. This is why the elves are leaving middle earth, because their time there is over, the magic is all gone from the world so they are returning to what is essentially the Mt. Olympus of Arda (The planet)

Even if it wasn't rotoscoped, hand drawn animation is a very time-intensive craft, the fact that anyone would call that lazy is infuriating.

The moment when the Innkeeper says "Save us!", he's not asking Aragorn. It's more of an exclaimation like "Lord!" or "God help us!". But it is delivered rather clumsy, making it sound like he's pleading Aragorn for help and then suddenly distrust him few seconds later.

Glorfindel is definitely such a missed goldmine of awesomeness that you don't really get to see in the books, but has a lot of super important considerations for the world. Dude 1v1'd a balrog, then was sent back by the valar, who didn't want the elves to leave to begin with, to middle earth to help the battle against Sauron. He was also considered for going on the quest, but he told them that it's a stealth mission and he's a warrior, also the light of his spirit was so strong that Sauron would have detected him. But just imagine if instead of the sterotypical elf being an archer, it was a glorious warrior in shining armor because Glorfindel went along instead of Legolas.

I had trouble telling Merry and Pippin apart at first, but then I figured it out by realizing Merry looks like how Sam looks in the Jackson films

Producer: Audiences are pissed that you didn’t finish telling the story. Bakshi: Well can I finish telling the story then? Producer: No, I can’t let you do that because the audience got pissed. This will never not be infurating for me. I saw Bakshi’s version before the Jackson films came out, and we’ll never get to see his version of the ending.

Bakshi: There's something on your face! *PUNCH* It was PAIN!

"Save us!" He wasn't begging Aragorn to save them. He was cursing. "Save us!" is the same thing as "Saints preserve us!" or "Jesus Christ!"

I adore Jackson’s trilogy but I must admit when I read the books, the Frodo and Aragorn from this film actually feel a lot closer to what I’m reading

Ralph Bakshi + The Lords of the rings = Absolute madness.

I met the actor who played Gollum in the Bakshi version and watched him do a one man version of Lord of the Rings. Now that was something to watch.

The Orcs at Helm's Deep were awesome. They looked terrifying. I especially loved it when they sang their war songs - that was eerie as hell.

I have realized that Gandalf always does everything off camera, and when he appears he must tell you how he did it. - I returned to the Shire because I discovered that this ring was Sauron's - I escaped from Saruman's tower with an eagle - Well I defeated the Balrog and now I'm white - Here I come with the cavalry I recruited!

Given how crazy Bakshi’s movies are, why not do a whole month on them? It’s time for Bakshiuary!

Fun Tolkien trivia, but the people that Aragorn is talking about before Weathertop, Lúthien and Beren, are ancestors of both him and Arwen. They’re Arwen’s great-great grandparents, and Aragorn’s great x50-or-so grandparents.

Looking at Legolas in this movie, I've finally understood where TES IV: Oblivion developers found inspiration for the face creator module.

“Use your words Frank! He’s always like this when he doesn’t get his Apple Jacks..What the Hell?!”

When Sean Astin auditioned for the role of Sam, he had never read the books, so he knew nothing about his character. When he got the role, instead of reading the books he took the easiest path and watched this animation. It's funny to think how he must have felt when he saw this portrait of Samwise Gamgee. I have no idea how Bakshi would make the climax at the slopes of Mt Doom work with this character.

Bakshi's RIngwraiths were nightmare fuel for my childhood. The way they could just phase in and out of reality and appear inside buildings was unnerving. THeir slow, shuffling movements made them seem otherworldly, rather than having once been human. They truly seemed more twisted and evil as a result of the unnatural movements and sounds, and it's clear where Jackson got the influence for several scenes involving them, such as the forest road and Prancing Pony scenes.

Whatever you think about Bakshi's Lord of The Rings, everyone has to agree that it's one of the most unique animated films ever made. I consider it a timeless masterpiece.

"K"eleborn, not "S"eleborn. Yes. I'm going to be pendantic about this one. It's literally *the* main example used in literally every pronunciation guide.

"Why does a great actor like James Earl Jones always have to play black men?" Darth Vader: "Am I a joke to you?"

Ralph Bakshi is like the crazy uncle we don't understand, but cherish for his insane yet fun personality.

This movie was why I read Lord of the rings to find out how it ended.

I swear this film has some of the most beautiful backgrounds and sometimes alluringly creepy backgrounds, it's never able to settle in between. I love it for that

“Saruman flashes Gandalf” That’s something I didn’t think i’d learn today

It’s obvious Peter Jackson really loves this movie and took inspiration for some of the imagery in his LOTR films. So yeah the film really inspired the Jackson movies which are my three favourite films of all time, so I owe this film allot of thanks, and I think Jackson does too.

I’m still waiting for Nostalgia Critic’s “Dune” review.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this movie. I was born in 1993, so there was a time, not a very long time granted, but a time when if you wanted to watch LOTR? It was this or nothing.

"Glorfindel" "Who?!" "Exactly" I lost it pfffff--

Did a senior thesis on this film, comparing it to the Jackson trilogy and the source material. Jackson quite liked this film, and it was the impetus for him to read the books and becoming inspired to one day make the live action adaptations. My only problem about the Bakshi LOTR is that the studio demanded Bakshi cram all 3 books into one film and obviously there were some budget problems, and Bakshi was forced to end it after the Battle of Helms Deep. Would’ve liked to see Bakshi’s completed vision of the LOTR trilogy. But for the love of Samwise, please fix Sam’s iconically terrifying face, and Gandalf’s Tourettes syndrome

7:53 Gandalf's eyes in this scene are priceless.

I actually have fond childhood memories of this version, and I remember that this and the Rankin Bass version of THE HOBBIT got me really invested in Tolkien (much as watching the Peter Jackson versions got me invested in his own earlier films). In fact, I actually also remember watching this one in preparation for the first live-action LOTR film at age 16. Watching this video only brought back those pre-Peter Jackson memories.

Give Bakshi a higher budget, give him three movies to make, and encourage his artistic freedom (and also discourage ruining Samwise the Great), and he would have given perhaps the greatest animated films of an era.

Wait, people don't like the Bakshis LOTR? I mean I get that its not a masterpiece, but its a great time with some genuinely scary moments.

Okay 2 years is too long to be away from Bakshi’s craziness, time to speak his name 3 times and get him back in the studio!! 🥰

“Budget” had NOTHING TO DO with why THIS METHOD (rotoscoping) was used in this movie, as you erroneously assume. It was actually chosen for ATRISTIC reasons. Bakshi expressly chose it to achieve a certain weird, eerie, and surreal kind of quality and thought it would be effective at THAT. Oh, and Bakshi was not the ONLY animator of the seventies who was using this technique. It was actually quite popular with artists and animators, particularly the younger and hipper ones, of the late 60’s/early 70’s counter culture. Richard Williams, for example, was another animator of that era who’d famously utilized it.

Fun fact: this is the longest American animated film ever with a running time of 2 hours and 12 minutes. The longest animated film overall is the extended cut of the anime film “In This Corner Of The World” with its running times of 2 hours and 48 minutes. Edit After 4 Years: Across The Spiderverse Beat It By 8 Minutes.

So basically, Bakshi's film walked so the Jackson trilogy could run

imagine thinking a movie is bad because it's animated

I grew up on this film. It introduced me to lord of the rings. I love it, it’s apart of my childhood.

Lol, when the Innkeeper says “Save us!” he’s saying it as an exclamation. He’s not literally asking Aragorn to save them. You’ll see it if you read the book.

*AAEEUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHEEEE* "Use your words, Frank. He always gets like this when he doesn't get his applejack...WHAT THE HELL?!"

I finally got to listen to the radio dramatization of Lord of the Rings. I cried at the very end. It was so beautiful.

If Only Bakshi was able to complete the trilogy... alas.

Interesting fact: The scene where the Black Riders storm the inn and slash the beds (which was also copied in the Jackson film) wasn't in the original novel. The assailants that raid the inn are described to be agents of the Nazgul rather then the Black Riders themselves. However this is one of the few changes to the novel I think is an improvement. It shows the brutal determination of the Nazgul in their quest to recover their master's ring. The laws and rules of others be damned in their quest to recover the Ruling Ring.

The rotoscoping terrified me as a kid, I couldn't get through the movie no matter what and never went back to try again.

Ralph Bakshi is certainly, at least, the bigger pioneer and innovator over frigging Peter Jackson. For example, creators and fans of things like Heavy Metal, Ren and Stimpy, South Park, and Futurama all owe Bakshi a debt. Now, do tell us, WHAT exactly has Jackson influenced? .. . zilch!

Bakshi: alright if I'm upside down Me: sounds like a standard Wednesday for me

Just putting it out there: the Balrog fight was supposed to go on a long time; 8 entire days. When Gandalf says "from the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought the Balrog of Morgoth" in the Jackson version, he means it quite literally. They fought all the way from the bottom of where they fell all the way back up to the peak of one of the moutains before Gandalf won.

29:50 ok so fun fact time-- In this time period, they did not have the familial terms we're familiar with now. So instead of saying "my neice" you'd say "my sister daughter" in the place of "my sister's daughter", or for the sake of another example, "my brother daughter" instead of "my brother's daughter", etc. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember coming across this in Hamlet, where he refers to his uncle as "my father brother."

I’d love to see a stylized animated trilogy, something that really delves into the fantasy look and takes full advantage of being animated

Can you imagine if they tried to make another animated Lord of the Rings nowadays? Ralph Bakshi made the movie at a time effort could be put into it.

This is the only notable credit on Anthony Daniel’s IMDb that’s not C-3PO

"Raves to Where There's a Whip, There's a Way" like the Notalsgia Critic did in the King and I review*

14:57 "Use your WORDS, Frank!" I don't know why that joke got me but god I laughed so hard.

"Who are terrified and... maybe a little stoned" - come on, this is a Bakshi movie, of course they're all a little stoned.

“Bonjour amigos as the Brits say”. As a Brit I’d like to sincerely thank Doug for accurately representing how we speak

"That doesn't make sense and therefor is bad" "BOOM your a dogs head now" "So I am"

31:05 Okay, NOW I want to watch this whole scene again to see if I can tell the difference between the actors ACTUALLY acting, and them just marching to the break room for their lunch break.

32:05 this whole sequence is honestly the best sketch in the video, funny as fuck

Gandalf: "Have you left the Rrrring forr Frrrrodo, as we agrrrreed? Also, don't you love how I rrrroll my Rrrrrs?"

"I am Gandalf The-Phuhufphh! Well that moment passed." DEAD xD

Critic, really think you should have a *Tolkien Month.* Would love to see you review the LOTR trilogy.

Bakshi is one of those few oddball creatives that you can’t help but admire. Kudos to him for taking a story that (for the time) Seemed unfilmable, and trying his damned hardest in his field.

Fun Fact: I knew the guy who played Frodo in this film (Christopher Guard) He worked in my primary school when I was young I never knew it was him until I watch your old video “Old VS New: Lord Of The Ring” I was curious to find out who played the old version of Frodo and once I find out it was him, I was shocked. He lives kinda near to me now

God Aragorn looks like someone’s dad trying out Larping for the first time

This movie will always hold a special place in my heart. I was introduced to this when my parents rented The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and Return of the King from Blockbuster video when I was a wee one (probably around 5 or so, as I was shown Willow around the same time.) and was entranced by it. I think we bought all three on VHS once the rental period expired, because my brother and I were so upset. I remember playing pretend as Frodo and the Fellowship, sword fighting orcs, acting out scenes, and singing the song from Return of the King: Where there's a whip there's a way, with a metal bowl helmet and a toy sword. I was a high schooler when the Jackson movies came out, and got to see the first movie in theaters. When I tried to talk to people later on about scenes that matched this movie, no one knew what I was talking about. I spent years asking if anyone knew about this version, but no one did. Same as the Rankin & Bass films, especially The Hobbit. It always made me sad that no one knew about, or liked these movies. Seeing NC do a video about this makes me so happy, and was a huge nostalgia trip. The Ring Wraiths still creep me out to this day, and Frodo is so much cooler than he is in Jackson's renditions. Awesome job Doug, can't wait to see you react to the rest of the movies, and The Hobbit as well.

5:49 How on earth do THOSE hands look anything like Wreck-It Ralph's hands???

Good points: Frodo and Aragorn. Bad points: Samwise. Jesus Christ, Samwise...

🎵"Where there's a whip, there's a way."🎵

I had been reading LOTR annually since 1972. I loved the Bakshi version for standing up and taking a swing at this incredible material. Granted it was far less than perfect, but it was there! Someone actually tried! That meant a lot! Also, "Wizards" had been one of my favorite pieces of weirdness for a couple of years.

I was so in need of a good video, something with good humor to help me pass some troubles. Thanks from all my heart

This movie is so atmospheric....for a kid this was the darkest experience ever. a forgotten mastepiece. The barlog haunted me for years. I'm sorry that nowadays it's seen almost like a joke. Give it a chance

'Boromir...' 'Tis but a scratch...' 'Just a scratch? You've got half a dozen arrows in you!' 'I've had worse.'

When I was a kid this was my "Dark Toon" that, every time I watched it, I felt a little tougher.

7:33 I just realized that "bakshi" sounds like "batshit"

Pfft. Real Tolkien snobs sneered at the Peter Jackson films. He didn't even include Tom Bombadil, the cad!

“Better?” “Stranger...” “THAT MEANS IT’S BETTER!”

I always believed the voice yelling 'Go back!' was an Elf, since they were so close to Rivendell.

The big problem with LotR as a movie project is that you can't really hide how inept the bad guys are. All of them together were able to stab one midget without killing him, kill one old guy who had just finished his character arc, one other guy who had also just finished his character arc, one other old guy was just got resurrected again immediately anyway and one highly peripheral elf. They also slightly wounded some miscellaneous people and broke a couple of doors. It's really pathetic. But you didn't really think much about it in the novel. It only becomes a problem when you start filming it and all the utterly useless Orcs and Nazguls actually have to be on screen.

All these years later and I still sometimes find myself singing.... Where there's a whip, there's a way. Where there's a whip, there's a way. Where there's a whip...[continues in second voice] We don't wanna go to war today But the Lord of the Lash says: "nay, nay, nay!" We're gonna march all day, all day, all day! Where there's a whip there's a way! Anyone else? No? Just me? Okay

Doug: [talks about rings] Me: [realizes my own ring is missing and freak out like live action Bilbo] [finds ring in pocket and reacts with relief, also like Bilbo] This is why I can't wear rings around this franchise.

I noticed the moment Gandalf pointed at frodo his hand literally pauses in place for a second while the rest of his body moves........Wtf?

The Black Rider was the freaking creepiest part of the whole part!!!! When he began limping towards them, I got chills like you wouldn't believe

Anyone else think of Disney’s The Black Cauldron when they see this movie? Almost the same art style and atmosphere.

Noooo, Tolkien was very specific about that: It's Keleborn, not Seleborn.

33:40 Technically they were told indirectly. In the trailer, it says “Based on the books Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien”. So if anyone paid attention to that detail, they knew going in what they were going to get.

Stanley Kubrick fans should note that King Theodon was voiced by actor, Philip Stone who played Alex's father in A Clockwork Orange and also Delbert Grady in The Shining!

I'd like to see the critic cover Bakshi's cult classic, Wizards.

I use "Wheres a Whip there's a Way" as a ringtone for when work calls.

They do explain how Gandalf and the balrog ended up on a mountain in the book. They fell into a subterranean lake, and the balrog fled when it's flame was extinguished, but Gandalf pursued it until they ended up on a mountain where it's flames were restored

@13:50 You can better see Viggo Mortensen as a king in the extended Peter Jackson films

"And they're coming with him, whether they like or not." That kind of sums up Gandalf to Bilbo, in _The Hobbit._ I mean, the title of _The Hobbit_ could easily be expanded into _The Hobbit Who Was Given PTSD By a Wizard He Only Thought Was Coming For Tea._

Boromir looks less like "I'm from a city where roads are paved and houses are made of concrete", and more like "I come from the eastern steppe, where people ride horses and make our homes from mud and dirt"

I honestly never mind the changing styles of the background. They were easily connected to for example the threat the Hobbits were in, or the Nazgul's ghost world.