The Return of the King [Deluxe Edition]

Overview

The second of Rankin/Bass' animated TV specials based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Return of the King plots the quest to defeat the evil wizard Sauron. Frodo, nephew of The Hobbit protagonist Bilbo Baggins, vows to destroy the Ring, even if it costs him his own life. He carries the Ring to the volcanic innards of Mount Doom. All this he does on behalf of good-guy Aragon, who will never be able to escape the dreaded land of Sauron so long as the Ring retains its evil powers. Orson Bean, who'd been the voice of Bilbo Baggins in the 1977 Hobbit cartoon special, returns to portray Frodo. Return of the King originally aired May 11, 1980.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/22/2014
UPC:	0883929396443
Original Release:	1980
Rating:	NR
Source:	New Line Home Video
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	4,225

Special Features

Tolkien and filmmaker highlights (vintage featurette); Bonus cartoons; Good knight droopy; Jerry Hood and His Merry Meeces

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Orson Bean	Frodo Baggins
Roddy McDowall	Samwise Gamgee
Casey Kasem	Voices
Sonny Melendrez	Voices
Glenn Yarbrough	Minstrel
Theodore Bikel	Voices
John Huston	Gandalf
William Conrad	Voices
Paul Frees	Voices
Maury Laws	Composer

Technical Credits

Arthur Rankin Jr.	Director,Producer
Jules Bass	Director,Producer

Editorial Reviews

Among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century..

Sunday Telegraph

An extraordinary work—pure excitement....

New York Times

A masterful story — an epic in its own way — with elements of high adventure, suspense, mystery, poetry and fantasy..

Boston Herald

One of the great fairy-tale quests in modern literature.

Time Magazine

A work of immense narrative power that can sweep the reader up and hold him enthralled for days and weeks..

Nation

A remarkable book.

Newsweek

Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron..

C.S. Lewis

. . . spirited productions . . . stirring music . . .

The Washington Post