Epic in scope and unlike any film project taken on up to that point, The Lord of the Rings movies featured groundbreaking CGI while existing at the tail-end of the practical effects era of filmmaking. The Peter Jackson trilogy beginning in 2001 set the standard upon which all other Tolkien adaptations will be judged for generations to come. In 1980, Rankin and Bass completed this ad hoc series with a Return of the King special. The first was the Rankin and Bass TV special from 1977, followed a year later with Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings animated film, which depicted The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. It was after Tolkien’s death in 1971, with his personal protections and safeguarding removed, that we began to see film and TV works sprout. That certainly didn’t stop people from trying during Tolkien’s lifetime, with Walt Disney, Stanley Kubrick, George Harrison, and John Boorman among the artists in the adaptation orbit. Tolkien, the father of modern fantasy, was hesitant about seeing his beloved Middle-earth adapted for the movies, with filmmakers themselves skeptical whether The Lord of the Rings could ever be faithfully created on-screen. (Photo by New Line/Everett Collection) Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Movies and Shows Ranked
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