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Featured CED VideoDisc No. 22 - Fall 2001

 


J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

Tolkien Hobbit Tolkien Lord Of The Rings Tolkien Return Of The King

This CED feature covers three CED titles- the 1970's animated versions of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novels about the Hobbits and Middle-earth. This page covers "The Lord of the Rings," while the Hobbit and the Return of the King are on separate pages.

I've been planning this CED feature for over a year now in anticipation of the release of the first Lord of the Rings movie, but in light of the September 11 attack, I believe Tolkien's works also serve as an allegory to conditions in this country leading up to the tragedy. America had a false sense of security with its friendly neighbors and geographic isolation, not unlike that of the Hobbits safe in the relative isolation of their Shire with friendly people about, oblivious to the gradually darkening world at large. Well, the Hobbits and their allies rose to the challenge, and we're accomplishing the same thing.

"The Lord of the Rings" is the 1978 Ralph Bakshi animated adaption of about the first one and one-half volumes of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The plot revolves around a great struggle for power in a section of the world called Middle-earth, with a certain important ring that first turned up in "The Hobbit" playing a pivotal role. This animated version of what might sound like the complete trilogy covers most of "The Fellowship of the Ring" and about half of "The Two Towers." None of "The Return of the King" is covered, although an animated version of that volume was made the following year. There is no way a single movie could cover all three volumes without exercising an extreme hatchet job or being excessively long.

The animation in this adaption is interesting, as it uses a rotoscope technique where live actors were filmed and then animated. This ranges from some characters looking like animation with really fluid motion to some characters looking like live actors with just a little bit of colorization. The scenes where the live actors are really obvious are at the Prancing Pony Inn and in the epic battle sequences. One of the biggest criticisms of this movie is the abrupt ending. For example, the Treebeard character is only shown for about one minute when he was a major character in the book. It is said that Ralph Bakshi ran out of money and had to cut the project short. But even if he had completed "The Two Towers" the ending would have been abrupt, as the book itself ends rather abruptly in anticipation of its sequel "The Return of the King."

Ralph Bakshi also did the CED title Fire and Ice which throughout the movie makes more effective use of the rotoscoping animation technique. If you're looking for "The Lord of the Rings" on eBay, don't confuse it with the similarly named Lords of the Ring. The later is a professional wrestling disc having nothing to do with Tolkien, although being a very rare CED title, it's somewhat of a find in its own right.

SPOILER ALERT!
The pictures below show most of the characters of "The Lord of the Rings" and are intended to loosely review the plot. If you plan to read the books, I recommend not even looking at these pictures beforehand. One of the great things about Tolkien is his ability to evoke images in your mind, which can be spoiled by having a pre-conceived notion of what the character looks like. Clicking on the pictures will bring up pages that provide additional information, like quotes from the book and links to pages concerning those characters in the upcoming live-action movies. The pictures may also be viewed in slide show fashion.

 

Scenes from The Lord of the Rings
Nine Rings for Mortal Men Seven Rings for the Dwarf-lords Three Rings for the Elven-kings
Nine Rings for Mortal Men Seven for the Dwarf-lords Three for the Elven-kings
     
One Ring for the Dark Lord Sauron Hobbiton in the Shire Bilbo's 111th Birthday Party
One for the Dark Lord Hobbiton in the Shire Bilbo's Birthday Party
     
Bilbo with OneRing in Envelope Gandalf Confronts Bilbo Bilbo Departs the Shire
Bilbo Contemplates Gandalf the Grey Last Look at the Shire
     
Frodo Hands the Ring to Gandalf The One Ring Impervious to Fire Sam Gamgee Uncovered
Frodo with Ring Impervious to Fire Sam Gamgee Uncovered
     
Isengard - the Dwelling of Saruman Saruman the White The Pinnacle of Orthanc
Isengard Saruman the White The Pinnacle of Orthanc
     
Departing Hobbiton Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took Black Rider
Departing Hobbiton Merry and Pippin A Black Rider
     
Ringwraith Approaching Bree in Bree-land Prancing Pony Inn
Ringwraith Approaching Bree in Bree-land Prancing Pony Inn
     
Barliman Butterbur Strange Men Strider
Mr. Butterbur Strange Men Strider
     
Aragorn Weathertop Frodo is Stabbed
Aragorn Weathertop Frodo is Stabbed
     
Glorfindel and Asfaloth Rivendell Ford Swept Away
Glorfindel and Asfaloth Rivendell Ford Swept Away
     
Rivendell Gwaihir the Windlord Frodo and Bilbo are Reunited
Rivendell Gwaihir the Windlord Reunited
     
Council of Elrond Boromir Son of the Lord of Gondor Elrond
Council of Elrond Boromir of Gondor Elrond
     
Sword Sting and Mithril Chain Coat Gimli Legolas
Sting and Mithril Coat Gimli Legolas
     
The Durin Doors Legolas and Gimli Watcher in the Water
The Durin Doors Legolas and Gimli Watcher in the Water
     
Serpent Closes the Durin Doors Daeron's Runes in Moria Orc Attack
Serpent Closes the Doors Daeron's Runes Orc Attack
     
Gandalf and Balrog Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien Lady Galadriel
Gandalf and Balrog Lothlorien Lady Galadriel
     
The Mirror of Galadriel Frodo Offers the One Ring The Pillars of the Kings on the Great River Anduin
Mirror of Galadriel Frodo Offers Pillars of the Kings
     
Boromir Demands the One Ring Breaking of the Fellowship Boromir Blows His Horn
Boromir Demands Breaking of the Fellowship Boromir Blows His Horn
     
Boromir's Funeral Boat Pursuit of the Orcs Peregrin and Meriadoc Captive
Boromir's Funeral Boat Pursuit of the Orcs Hobbits Captive
     
Pursuers Discover a Sign Riders of Rohan Orcs Carry the Halflings
Discover a Sign Riders of Rohan Orcs Carry Halflings
     
Mount Doom Gollum Gollum Captured
Mount Doom Gollum Gollum Captured
     
Orcs are Trapped Eomer the Marshal Grishnakh and Urak-hai Ugluk Quarrel
Orcs are Trapped Eomer the Marshal Grishnakh and Ugluk
     
Grishnakh Wants the Ring Orcs Last Stand Forest of Fangorn
Grishnakh Wants Ring Orcs Last Stand Forest of Fangorn
     
Ent Treebeard Dislike of Orcs Sign of Treebeard
Ent Treebeard Dislike of Orcs Sign of Treebeard
     
Is It Saruman ? Gandalf the White Gandalf Fights the Balrog
Is It Saruman ? Gandalf the White Gandalf Fights Balrog
     
To Theoden's Golden Hall Meduseld in Edoras Wormtongue and Saruman Allied at Isengard Helm's Deep
To Theoden's Edoras Wormtongue and Saruman Helm's Deep
     
Court of King Theoden King Theoden Grima Wormtongue
Court of King Theoden King Theoden Grima Wormtongue
     
Gandalf Exposes Grima Wormtongue Eowyn, Sister-Daughter of Theoden Riders to Helm's Deep
Gandalf Exposes Grima Eowyn Riders to Helm's Deep
     
Battle Plan Against Isengard Gollum Spots Nazgul Flying Carrion Beast Carrying Ringwraith
Battle Plan Gollum Spots Nazgul Flying Carrion Beast
     
Gollum Debates with His Smeagol Personality Riders of Rohan Defend Helm's Gate Isengard Orcs Attack
Gollum Debates Smeagol Defend Helm's Gate Isengard Orcs Attack
     
Evil Wargs Attack Orcs Scale the Walls Blasting Fire of Orthanc
Evil Wargs Attack Orcs Scale the Walls Fire of Orthanc
     
Retreat to the Hornburg Aragorn's Pledge to Theoden To the Stairs of Cirith Ungol
Retreat to Hornburg Aragorn's Pledge Stairs of Cirith Ungol
     
Riders of Rohan Charge Out Gandalf Returns Victory at Helm's Deep
Riders Charge Out Gandalf Returns Victory at Helm's Deep
     

 

Book Chapters from "The Fellowship of the Ring" and Their CED Start Times
Chapter Title
CED Start Time
Book I,   1.   A Long-Expected Party Side 1, 04:48
Book I,   2.   The Shadow of the Past Side 1, 07:02
Book I,   3.   Three Is Company Side 1, 16:00
Book I,   4.   A Short Cut to Mushrooms Skipped
Book I,   5.   A Conspiracy Unmasked Skipped
Book I,   6.   The Old Forest Skipped
Book I,   7.   In the House of Tom Bombadil Skipped
Book I,   8.   Fog on the Barrow-Downs Skipped
Book I,   9.   At the Sign of the Prancing Pony Side 1, 20:37
Book I,   10.  Strider Side 1, 24:08
Book I,   11.  A Knife in the Dark Side 1, 28:05
Book I,   12.  Flight to the Ford Side 1, 35:05
Book II,   1.   Many Meetings Side 2, 00:01
Book II,   2.   The Council of Elrond Side 2, 05:07
Book II,   3.   The Ring Goes South Side 2, 08:39
Book II,   4.   A Journey in the Dark Side 2, 11:05
Book II,   5.   The Bridge of Khazad-dum Side 2, 18:34
Book II,   6.   Lothlorien Side 2, 25:13
Book II,   7.   The Mirror of Galadriel Side 2, 28:16
Book II,   8.   Farewell to Lorien Side 2, 31:21
Book II,   9.   The Great River Skipped
Book II,   10.  The Breaking of the Fellowship Side 2, 32:31

 

Book Chapters from "The Two Towers" and Their CED Start Times
Chapter Title
CED Start Time
Book III,   1.   The Departure of Boromir Side 2, 38:23
Book III,   2.   The Riders of Rohan Side 2, 42:15
Book III,   3.   The Uruk-Hai Side 2, 43:00 and Side 3, 06:50 (Out of sequence)
Book III,   4.   Treebeard Side 3, 10:15
Book III,   5.   The White Rider Side 3, 12:10
Book III,   6.   The King of the Golden Hall Side 3, 14:00
Book III,   7.   Helm's Deep Side 3, 19:47, 25:38, and 35:09
Book III,   7.   The Road to Isengard Skipped
Book III,   9.   Flotsam and Jetsam Skipped
Book III,   10.  The Voice of Saruman Skipped
Book III,   11.  The Palantir Skipped
Book IV,   1.   The Taming of Smeagol Side 3, 02:13 (Out of sequence)
Book IV,   2.   The Passage of the Marshes Side 3, 20:56 (Out of sequence)
Book IV,   3.   The Black Gate Is Closed Skipped
Book IV,   4.   Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit Skipped
Book IV,   5.   The Window on the West Skipped
Book IV,   6.   The Forbidden Pool Skipped
Book IV,   7.   Journey to the Cross-Roads Skipped
Book IV,   8.   The Stairs of Cirith Ungol Side 3, 33:04 (Partial)
Book IV,   9.   Shelob's Lair Skipped
Book IV,   10.  The Choices of Master Samwise Skipped

 



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