The summer of ’84 was one of the defining summers of my life. It saw a lot of changes in my life, and was also the first time that I read The Lord of the Rings. I was swept up in the world, and was delighted that I’d read all three books so quickly, and I loved how they fired my imagination.

Once I was done with them, we went to our local video shop, Vision Video, and were able to rent a copy of Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings (I had actually seen most of the animated version of The Return of the King a couple years prior when it had aired on television). I was not as happy with it as I thought it would be.

It plays very experimentally. I appreciate the fact that Bakshi utilized a variety of animation styles to bring the story to life, but sometimes, they are just too jarring, and the film never seems to be sure whether it wants to go scary and dark, or light and family-friendly.

While it definitely had an influence on Peter Jackson’s adaptation, there are some very recognizable shots and moments, this film never seems to find its footing, and the editing always seems to suggest that we just missed something, whether it was dialogue or a beat.

The narrative hits all the big moments, Frodo (Christopher Guard) being sent off with Samwise (Micheal Scholes) by Gandalf (John Hurt) to take the One Ring to Rivendell and the elves, where a council will decide its fate. Joined there by Legolas (Anthony Daniels), Boromir (Micheal Graham Cox) and Gimli (David Buck), the Fellowship heads out on their quest.

But we won’t get the full tale in this movie. With a two-hour and thirteen-minute runtime, the film truncates the first two books into one, not quite streamlined, movie.

The rotoscoping and different animation styles make this one a tough film for me to enjoy, though I really quite like Leonard Rosenman’s score. In fact, I’ve never been able to sit through it in one go. I always have to step away, and while I like hearing the lines I know so well spoken aloud, I can’t get into the film itself.

One could argue that both of Alan Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass films, The Hobbit, and The Return of the King, are stronger animated features than what Bakshi gave us, though I do dig the poster art.

It’s too bad this one didn’t work, but it definitely helped lay some of the groundwork for what would follow, and boy do I need to watch those films again soon.