+Chris Westergaard An ancient before he even joined the dead, a voice as cold as the ring of steel, but a mind still as vital and present as the day (as a young King) that he accepted Sauron's gift.
Gondor solder: I think we're doomed! Jim: Nah. Unless they got any big, giant wolf's head hundred-foot long battering ram, I think we're OK. [The thud of the Mûmakil footsteps as they approach] Gondor solder: Ah, Jim, [points at the Grond] giant wolf's head hundred-foot long battering ram. XD
Ok, so the Witch-king sounds like Skeletor (which was surprisingly hilarious), but can we all appreciate just how closely this battle mirrors the description in the book? :D
@Red Wombat Tolkien wasn’t famous for good dialogue...what? "'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!' The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter. 'Old fool!' he said. 'Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!' And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade. Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.” ----Return of the King (J.R.R Tolkien)
"Hold on." a soldier says licking his finger and flipping open a book "I need to check what The Gondorian Manual Of Combat says to do about Orc Bards."
Dude. What is the thing drumming in the center at the 1:27 mark? Its not an orc, its drawn completely differently. It has the same skin tone as the film depicts for the trolls but it is not big enough to be a troll. The books mention " half troll men" but this film certainly wouldnt pick up on such a passing line as that was.
@@jakusers4724 ah, you think they are Uruks? I hadnt thought of that. I doubt the animators would be that knowledgeable on the original texts. But it is the only answer Ive gotten and thus the defacto best.
Check this out - tried to take the brilliance of John Huston reading Tolkien dialogue and match it with the visual of the Peter Jackson movie: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Epp1exlYTx8.html
I mean, I think in some aspects that it is, but at the same time, it lacked a lot of things Jackson's films did. Of course, this is partly because this was made in the 80's and animation wasn't as good as it was now, but it's because of this that the groundwork for the LotR films would be laid. Mistakes were made on both parts, but both brought valuable ideas unseen in the others. I think they can both be appreciated.
Some people don't seem to realize that this was made 4 years before The Transformers cartoon and 3 years before He-man and the Masters of the Universe. The Witch-King doesn't sound like Skeletor or Starscream. They sound like the Witch-King. This cartoon and the Hobbit laid the ground work for anime in America.
@@bendover9813 Right? It actually puts a smile on my face. I have headcanon that this particular orc just loves music and always has. He was exceptionally talented in beating the drums. He'd be the one to play the drum at campfires during the various wars against Erebor, Rohan and Gondor. To hell with actual fighting. That's all he enjoyed doing was playing the drum and maybe a song or two. Overtime, he taught other orcs and maybe a few trolls how to play and they got pretty good at it. Eventually, they became the battalion war drum division that helped boost morale and strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. Today, in one of the biggest battles that was supposed to be a surefire victory for Mordor, he just joined his comrades in beating their drums, having the time of his life. However, when Theoden and the Rohirim attacked, they were scattered and many of them killed. He survived and had no choice but to put his drum and sticks down to wield his axe and fight for his life. When the Rohirim were pushed back by the death of their king, he found a few of his remaining group and they once again beat their drums to try to reboost morale for their forces. The tides did turn for them for a split moment. Unfortunately, with the arrival of Aragorn and the Corsair fleet, the remaining orc army fled and returned to Mordor. This music loving orc and his fellow drummers either lived and returned to Mordor where they would eventually die at the final Battle of the Black Gate or they were killed by Aragorn's fleet. Either way, he died still holding his drum and sticks instead of a weapon. I probably put way too much time into this silly little orc's non canon fan story. But I still choose to live by it. Lol.
Right? It actually puts a smile on my face. I have headcanon that this particular orc just loves music and always has. He was exceptionally talented in beating the drums. He'd be the one to play the drum at campfires during the various wars against Erebor, Rohan and Gondor. To hell with actual fighting. That's all he enjoyed doing was playing the drum and maybe a song or two. Overtime, he taught other orcs and maybe a few trolls how to play and they got pretty good at it. Eventually, they became the battalion war drum division that helped boost morale and strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. Today, in one of the biggest battles that was supposed to be a surefire victory for Mordor, he just joined his comrades in beating their drums, having the time of his life. However, when Theoden and the Rohirim attacked, they were scattered and many of them killed. He survived and had no choice but to put his drum and sticks down to wield his axe and fight for his life. When the Rohirim were pushed back by the death of their king, he found a few of his remaining group and they once again beat their drums to try to reboost morale for their forces. The tides did turn for them for a split moment. Unfortunately, with the arrival of Aragorn and the Corsair fleet, the remaining orc army fled and returned to Mordor. This music loving orc and his fellow drummers either lived and returned to Mordor where they would eventually die at the final Battle of the Black Gate or they were killed by Aragorn's fleet. Either way, he died still holding his drum and sticks instead of a weapon. I probably put way too much time into this silly little orc's non canon fan story. But I still choose to live by it. Lol.
@@greywillowgaming2366 That was wonderful! The best part of being the animal Human is getting to hear awesome stories like that! Thank you! His smile was very cute and I'm gonna stick to your story for him now too
1:25 Man that drum orc looks happy as fuck. As if he is believing he will be noticed by some music studio and start acarreer xD Also, can we talk about witch kings helium addiction
For many of us pre the PJ films the 2 animated series of Tolkien's works were all we had for visual representations of the books. Many of us were shown these in school. For some people like myself who were too young to read the books this was our introduction to Tolkein.
The kids version of this in book form was my introduction to Tolkien. About six to seven months later I read Two Towers as my first full length unabridged version of Tolkien (the story took some time to figure out that way.)
Loved this entire scene, untill the Witck-King took off his hood... What's up with that Dalek voice ? Why not keep that creepy dark voice he started with ?
"'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!' The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter. 'Old fool!' he said. 'Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!' And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade. Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last."
This isn’t anywhere on the level of Jackson’s film, but those watercolor backgrounds are able to capture a mood of doom that live action just never can. It’s beautiful work on the part of the artists here, throughout the whole feature really.
Each has its own merit; here I agree-half of the beauty is in the animation. The other half of the glorious and unforgettable pageantry here is in the spoken word!
@@Retrorevelations Yep. This is pure Romance: the supernatural saliva on Grond's third swing, the smash cut to Gandalf/Shadowfax standing calmly in a sea of fleeing men, etc. People can't see the solid dramatic foundation here because they get distracted by some of the dated stylistic elements (like the witch king's voice). Comparatively, most of PJ's Minas Tirith scenes are dramatically inert. That's not to say that RB is a better overall adaptation; in fact, it's not really an adaptation at all, but a kid's tv special that captures some of the highlights of ROTK through a series of vignettes and musical numbers. But the dramatic energy in a lot of these vignettes reminds us how much potential was left on the table in PJ's ROTK.
I love how musical the orcs are in this. They're delivering a sick beat! I imagine some Gondorian soldiers were bopping their heads along with the tune.
Maybe a dance off or battle of the DJ's would have saved so many lives and avoided so much destruction through out Middle Earth. Funny to see another TW channel here 😁
I love how Rankin Bass was able to keep in the lines from the book about the cock's crow announcing the dawn. It's symbolic of light pushing away the evil of night and darkness.
@@jlahuis yes they were good friends. Unlike Lewis Tolkein was less into allegorical stuff and more into what he called "applicability". The fact that the ring bearers 33 yrs old is a bit heavy on allegory though!
Gandalf is LotR's version of an angel: a direct messenger of the Valar (the gods of the setting). Nothing can really go toe-to-toe with him except for Sauron himself or the Balrog.
The feelings this still stirs in 56-year-old me hearing John Huston describe the arrival of the Rohirrim is like when I first saw this at 14. No, it isn't verbatim from the text, but very close. Watching the Rohirrim charging from the different angles while Gandalf tells that the power of good was rising once more. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't feel Tolkien's spirit in that. CGI and modern anime have made young watchers way too demanding in their imagery. This scene and the scene of Samwise the Strong when the ring tempts Sam are to me both legendary, timeless animated storytelling.
Rankin Bass hit it out of the park with this and especially the Hobbit. They didn't always get it right, but they knew tolkein. Huston as Gandalf was so, so good. I love McKellan, but R&B introduced me to Tolkein and got me to read all the books and become obsessed
While objectively, I can’t say this is better than the Peter Jackson films by any means, there is an extremely potent charm and love that the Rankin Bass Tolkien movies had with the animation, backgrounds, and soundtrack that was unmatched by anything
I dearly wish we had gotten this scene in the Jackson films, instead of Gandalf The White cowering and broken before the witch king. Sir Ian would have smashed this scene.
This was an awful movie. Incredibly disappointing which is why it didn’t get a major theatrical release. They got progressively worse. The Hobbit was decent, LOTR was not very good and this was terrible.
This shit was terrifying when I was a kid but I loved it. My mom got them for me on vhs thinking they would be kid friendly only to figure out it was the most violent, scary shit ever.
'You cannot enter here,' said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. 'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!' The Black Rider flung back his hood, and behold! he had a kingly crown; and yet upon no head visible was it set. The red fires shone between it and the mantled shoulders vast and dark. From a mouth unseen there came a deadly laughter. 'Old fool!' he said. 'Old fool! This is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!' And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade. Gandalf did not move. And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn. And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.
@@MrRenanHappy Its pretty close to exact - and the cartoon has a completely different look and style ; nothing in this was meant to be horrifying. That said I truly love this cartoon and it blew my mind when I saw it at age 12...
Generalfund 2018 problem is, book accuracy isn’t everything in media. What works in a book doesn’t always work in a film and this 100% didn’t capture the feeling Tolkien intended
@@matthewthenarniafan8074 thats your opinion. And if we are being realistic nothing is going to 100% capture the 'feeling' Tolkien intended. Whatever thats supposed to mean...
The Witch King removes his mask and reveals himself to be Skeletor! MARVELLOUS!!! It’s like Lord of the Rings, Scooby-Doo AND He-Man all rolled into one perfect clip! 😍
Fact: The Witch-King of Angmar in this film was voiced by the late legendary voice actor John Stephenson. He is best known for voicing Mr Slate from the original Flintstones cartoon and for voicing various characters from the original Transformers series.
Great childhood memories for me. This helped me visualize the world of Tolkien. They aren't as awesome as the later PJ movies, but they are still fun. ROHAN!
Why didn't they hire John Hurt instead to voice the Witch-king here? He not only narrated for _Lord of the Rings_ audiobooks, but he also did wonders as the Horned King in _The Black Cauldron._
I think Jackson’s trilogy is far better, that said, it wouldn’t be as good as it is if it was not for the superb job done in the animated films, Jackson just took a great film and made it better
I always liked this movie growing up, mainly because it was an animated version of a movie/book I loved. It was appropriate for kids and not as overtly violent as the Peter Jackson. When I got older, I remember the fond memories I had and the enjoyment I got from the folk-like songs in it. Now I enjoy the Bakshi, Rankin-Bass, and Jackson all for different reasons, whether artistry, music, or acting
I love the Jackson Lord of the rings trilogy - they are absolute masterpieces - but their portrayal of the Witch King and this scene in particular at the gate - doesn't hold a candle to the Rankin - Bass version, imo Of course the charge at the battle of the Pelennor fields in the movies was, well its just un-matchable -
I can still remember watching this years before PJ's trilogy was a happy dream, and even if you had already read the books, watching Grond drooling fire as it struck home at the gates was chilling. Then Rohan rides in and all your short hairs stand on end... the fight was *on,* damn straight.
I have not seen Rankin Bass' "The Return of the King" yet, only his adaptation of the Hobbit, which I thought was alright. So my only impressions of this movie so far are these clips provided. When I saw this scene, I actually found it to be pretty neat, at first, for the most part. The atmosphere seems dark, Grond looks very intimidating, and the Witch King's design is pretty good. But then the Witch King starts talking and it instantly ruins the immersion this scene has for me, as well as many other fans. A long time afterwards, I saw Disney's "The Black Cauldron" and began thinking back, feeling that the Horned King had exactly the kind of charisma and menace that the Witch King's voice should have had. This finally led me to create a mashup yesterday, where I took audio clips of John Hurt voicing the Horned King (who also, fun fact, voiced Aragorn in Ralph Bakshi's "The Lord of the Rings") and dubbed it over the Witch King, to see if just changing the voice can make a huge difference for his scenes. If you or anyone else would like to check it out and maybe even give feedback, it is in my channel now and called "What If the Witch King Was Voiced By the Horned King?"
This is a great achievement in animation, and it is only logical that some (or a lot) of the story had tu suffer in order for this to be a 90-100 min feature.
Alright so what do we want the Witch King of Angmar to sound like? *The Director completely not paying attention to what was asked as the intrusive thoughts took over* "Hey... Has anyone ever wondered what Colonel Sanders would sound like with a Synthesizer?" "Say no more sir!"
Yeah, I absolutely consider this and The Hobbit a form of anime, even if a lot of people may disagree. These movies just had a different, unique art style than what modern anime fans are used to.
Rankin-Bass had so many good fantasy cartoons. This one is what got me into Fantasy when I was a kid. I recorded this off the Disney channel when I was a kid and watched it over and over. Great stuff
This was released through the old Rankin-Bass studio, which broke up at the end of the 80's. Before, they'd made the old "Rudolph" specials for Christmas, and later they would make "Thundercats" and its imitators: you can even hear some of the same voice actors in the movie.
The hobbit is a million times better than this trash. Don't be a hipster that dislikes any kind of remake ever. New stars wars is better than old star wars.
What is the thing drumming in the center at the 1:27 point? Its not an orc. It has the skin tone of a troll but its not big enough to be a troll. The books mention half troll men but this film certainly wouldnt have picked up such a passing mention as they are in the text.. ive pondered this since i was a kid.
What sucks is unfortunately, the full movie isn't available to stream on sites like RU-vid or Amazon. I don't know if it was available on either sites at some point but it isn't now.
Yeah, I doubt anyone could stand still in the face of that high powered scream they make. I don't think it was fear. More like suffering from having their ears blown out by all the noise.
I don't speak the black tongue of Mordor but If i had to imagine what the Witch-King was speaking as he spoke to his army it'd be this, (unless the book did have a translation): "By Sauron's will, The gates and city shall fall!"
I don't care what people say about the Witch-King in this, honestly, I love his design much more than in the movies. Though, he would've been 100/10 if he had the Film Witch-King's voice along with the design. But I think that would've scared kids. I don't know. Also, don't forget that Gandalf is a Maiar, and thus is much, MUCH older than the Witch-King, who was a human once before becoming a Wraith. As such, Gandalf has every right to treat him like a delinquent kid in need of spanking. lol 🤣 Also, those orcs be having the time of their life. I think their true calling is to be in the music industry. lol 🤣
Damn, the Witch king went from Darth Nihilous levels of terrifying to Skeletor levels of camp in record time. I swear the dude voiced one of the Dwarves in The Hobbit.
