The Return of the King

1980

98 Min

Currently 2.1/5 Stars.
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DIR Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.

CAST William Conrad, Orson Bean, Paul Frees, John Huston, Casey Kasem, Roddy McDowall, Brother Theodore

Synopsis

Frodo the hobbit (voice of Orson Bean), hero of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, returns to battle the forces of Middle Earth with his faithful squire Samwise (Roddy McDowall) at his side in this feature-length animated adventure. The pair treks through the desolate land of Mordor to destroy the Ring in Mount Doom. Meanwhile, mighty wizard Gandalf (John Huston) goes toe-to-toe with Lord Sauron’s malevolent forces.

Director

Jules Bass

Jules Bass (born September 16, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American director, producer, composer, and author.

Educated at New York University, he first worked at an advertising agency in New York until the early 1960s, when he founded the film production company Videocraft International (now called Rankin/Bass) with Arthur Rankin, Jr. He is best known for his collaborations with Arthur Rankin, Jr., co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons. He composed the score for some of these films, collaborating with Maury Laws. Bass also served as lyricist for several songs. He has also solo directed some Rankin/Bass features, such as Mad Monster Party (1969) and The Daydreamer (1966).

Bass stopped directing and producing films in 1987, but most recently he has written a series of children’s books, based around the character of “Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon”. As of 2005, he splits his time between New York City, his home in… read more

Arthur Rankin, Jr.

Arthur Rankin, Jr. (born July 19, 1924) is an American-born, Bermudian director, producer and writer, mostly working in animation.

The son of actor Arthur Rankin, in the early 1960s he founded the film production company Videocraft International (now called Rankin/Bass) with Jules Bass. The two worked closely together for many years, co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons, perhaps most famously the holiday-themed TV specials, such as WIllie Mcbean and his Magic Machine, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974 TV special), and Jack Frost. He is also credited with devising the story for many Rankin/Bass productions, including the featurefilms The Daydreamer and Mad Monster Party?.

In 1977 Rankin and Bass produced a version of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The pair also teamed on a wide variety… read more