The Return of the King

The Return of the King (also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits), is a 1980 animated musical-fantasy television film created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. It is an adaptation of 1955 high fantasy book The Return of the King, being the third and final volume of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, and is a sequel to the 1977 film The Hobbit.

The film is often mistaken as a sequel to Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings. After Rankin/Bass became defunct in 1987, Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the special for home video distribution and chose to market the film, along with The Hobbit, as installments to an animated Tolkien trilogy, with The Lord of the Rings (also owned by Warner Bros. from United Artists) acting as the middle chapter. This false promotion led to rumors that Rankin/Bass originally decided to produced The Return of the King upon hearing that Bakshi's sequel to The Lord of the Rings was canceled. However, Rankin/Bass had always planned on making The Return of the King as a follow-up to The Hobbit even before the release of Bakshi's version.

The special aired on ABC on Sunday, May 11, 1980 after a legal challenge filed by the Tolkien Estate and Fantasy Films was settled. Critical and fan reaction to The Return of the King was lukewarm.

Plot
At Bilbo Baggins's 129th birthday party in Rivendell, his nephew Frodo tells the story of the quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron.

In Mordor, Frodo's friend and companion Samwise Gamgee bears the Ring in Frodo's absence as he ventures to rescue Frodo from the Orc fortress of Cirith Ungol. During his journey, Sam is tempted to claim the Ring for himself, but ultimately resists its power. He rescues Frodo, and the two Hobbits head out for Mount Doom to destroy the Ring.

Meanwhile, the wizard Gandalf the White and the Hobbit Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith to warn Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, about the upcoming war—only to discover that the Steward has gone insane and means to take his own life. Frodo and Samwise continue toward Mount Doom (eluding Ringwraiths and infiltrating a battalion of Orcs in the process) only to be attacked by Gollum, the creature from whom Bilbo took the Ring decades before. Frodo casts Gollum down, however, and goes to the Crack of Doom. Sam prepares to kill Gollum, but is overcome with pity and allows him to flee.

At the same time, Gondor's neighboring country, Rohan, battles Sauron's forces in the Battle of Pelennor Fields, but its king Theoden is killed by the Witch-king of Angmar. Theoden's niece Eowyn, who had disguised herself as a man to take part in the battle, kills the Witch-king with help from Pippin, momentarily defeating Sauron's armies. Upon his own arrival, Aragorn, heir to the throne of Gondor, plans to confront Sauron at the Black Gate. Here, he quarrels with the Mouth of Sauron and the two armies prepare for battle.

On Mount Doom, Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power and puts it on, becoming invisible. Sam discovers Gollum and Frodo fighting over the Ring, which results in Gollum biting off Frodo's finger to claim it. While dancing with joy at the retrieval of his "precious", Gollum falls into the lava of Mount Doom, taking the Ring with him. The Ring is destroyed, and Sauron perishes. Sam and Frodo are rescued by the Eagles from the erupting Mount Doom. A few months later, Aragorn is crowned King of Gondor. The story concludes with Frodo accompanying Bilbo, Gandalf, and Elrond as they leave Middle-earth. He gives the Red Book of Westmarch (consisting of Bilbo's memoirs with some spare pages) to Sam, assuring him that a good life is still in store for him. Gandalf assures them that Hobbits will someday have descendants among humans, to preserve their own existence; and the film ends in Frodo's departure from the Grey Havens.

Cast

 * Orson Bean – Frodo, Bilbo
 * Theodore Bikel – Aragorn
 * William Conrad – Denethor
 * John Huston – Gandalf
 * Roddy McDowall – Sam
 * Brother Theodore – Gollum
 * Paul Frees – Elrond, Orc, Uruk-hai
 * Don Messick – Théoden, Easterling, The Mouth of Sauron
 * John Stephenson – Lord of the Nazgul, Gondorian Guard
 * Casey Kasem – Merry
 * Sonny Melendrez – Pippin
 * Nellie Bellflower – Éowyn
 * Glenn Yarbrough – The Minstrel