The Rankin Bass Tribute Thread

Post by **Rowanberry** » Thu May 11, 2006 4:27 pm

True, they really resemble Taz a lot.

Some of the stuff reminded me of Magical Mystery Tour - and, well, the Beatles were rather keen on pipeweed at that time...

Post by **superwizard** » Thu May 11, 2006 4:31 pm

You seem to have a good point Tom.

Post by **Alatar** » Thu May 11, 2006 4:36 pm

No, there's definitely a hint of Hanna Barbera there too.

Did you know that Pippin is voiced by the same guy who did Shaggy in the Scooby Doo cartoons?

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Fri May 12, 2006 2:19 am

Alatar wrote:No, there's definitely a hint of Hanna Barbera there too.

The dog cartoon I used, "Chopper" from the Yakky Doodle cartoons, is actually Hanna Barbera.

Alatar wrote:Did you know that Pippin is voiced by the same guy who did Shaggy in the Scooby Doo cartoons?

Ruh roh! Hee hee hee hee hee hee!

Kasey Casem, what an actor!

Post by **Alatar** » Tue May 30, 2006 3:03 pm

Bet you thought this would go away if you ignored it! No such luck!

Most people agree that PJ's Ride of the Rohirrim was pretty damn good. There's a bit of disagreement about Gandalf vs The Witchking though. Well, fortunately, Rankin Bass have provided us with a nice puristy version to compare with!

We begin with the approach of Grond. There's a Mumak first, who looks suspiciously like a wooly Mammoth, then a bunch of drumming Orcs. Strangely, these Orcs are capable of creating beautiful tensioned snare drums yet seem incapable of producing drumsticks more detailed than your average tree trunk. Then we see the Witchking, who flies in on a sort of demented Pegasus with horns. Three times he raises his sword and three times the ram is thrust against the gates. They fall and the Witch King rides in, to be confronted with Gandalf on Shadowfax, and Pippin for some reason standing beside them. Gandalf issues his challenge and the Witchking removes his hood. Where his head should be is a crown and two eyes and a sort of ball of flame representing his head. He then proceeds to cackle in an electronic voice that makes him sound about 170 years old. We hear the cock crow, "recking nothing of wizardry or war" and the Rohirrim arrive. (First we get a bizarre view of Minas Tirith that makes it look like it's giving us the finger). For some reason they're riding two abreast. Theodens speech consists of "Ride Now, Ride Now, Ride to Gondor"... just where the hell does he think he is? The Shire?

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure:

Ride of the Rohirrim

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Tue May 30, 2006 3:30 pm

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Tue May 30, 2006 4:01 pm

Huh? Is it over? Gee, was that lacking in drama or what?! Even the music, which I liked for its own sake, did not convey the proper drama. Where were the arrows that should have been raining down on the orcs and trolls wielding Grond? And don't get me started on the Witchking! Pretty weak, I must say. The Ride of the Rohirrim at the tail end of the clip was animated pretty well, though.

Alatar wrote:We begin with the approach of Grond. There's a Mumak first, who looks suspiciously like a wooly Mammoth...

Of course the Oliphaunts were wooly! Don't you know how cold it gets down there in the Harad? Wait. What's that? The Harad was a hot, arid desert? Nevermind.

Post by **superwizard** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:37 pm

That was scary.

No but seriously; what was up witht that witch king? He didn't look remotely scary and his voice....Ahhh Why oh why was his voice metallic? The main other thing that bothered me was Gandalf speach. He said it with almost no enhousiasm. I was expecting a lot more emotion from him:(

Post by **MithLuin** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:37 pm

My 8-yr-old self found the Witch-King rather scary....

I think this is all so much more acceptable if you are

a) a child
b) someone whose never read the books
c) someone whose never seen PJ's movie
d) someone who was expecting a non-Disney cartoon movie....

I don't mind Gandalf, I just wish they hadn't made him the narrator. (He does a good job, but I'm inclined to think he should be busy elsewhere at the time....) And they do have an annoying habit of quoting the descriptions, but it's even funnier when they turn it into dialogue (Frodo in Cirith Ungol!)

Alatar also (mercifully) cut it off before they made the worst!timeline!error!ever!

...Frodo claims the Ring at the same time that the Witch King takes on Théoden

And doesn't Aragorn have bluish hair?

But anyway, I maintain that I don't see any problem with the Witch-King here.... (at least, compared to other much more serious complaints.

Post by **yovargas** » Wed May 31, 2006 1:14 pm

Call me crazy (or don't) but this is the first time I've seen any of these and...hey, I think they're pretty cool! Okay, so Sam turning orcs into fuzzy creatures is a bit odd, and the Witch King's voice is pretty obnoxious, but otherwise, it ain't that bad. No, really!

My favorite part was Gandalf telling the Witch King to go away like if he was shooing away a dog. "Shoo...go away...bad Nazgûl...shoo".

Post by **superwizard** » Wed May 31, 2006 2:46 pm

yovargas wrote:Call me crazy (or don't) but this is the first time I've seen any of these and...hey, I think they're pretty cool!

I think I will call you crazy

. Where's the action the suense? the pure majesty of it all?? I think all the problems I have about this movie can be traced to one thing: it is a kid's movie. I just don't think that LOTR can be made as a children's story. Hobbit yes LOTR no...

Post by **Alatar** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:16 pm

I felt a little recovery time was needed before sharing these next clips with you all.

First we have the Death of Théoden. This scene is guranteed to bring tears to your eyes, although not necessarily for the right reasons. We begin with the fighting on the Pelennor and Théoden bouncing about 30 arrows off his shield while Gandalf slays all round him. Merry is in apparent mortal danger until Pippin comes to the rescue. Our shire hobbits seem to suddenly decide that they are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and begin speaking in bad Shakesperean dialogue while playing Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie (curiously apt dont you think?). Suddenly some lightning strikes the mountains and a giant black cloud billows out over the field. Théoden's no-so-golden shield gets overshadowed and Snowmane begins to play Bucking Bronco. Eventually Théoden falls off and... dies. For no apparent reason. We are then treated to Merry's vow of vengeance. "Oh The Horror!!!" indeed....

Death of Théoden

Next we have Éowyn and the Witch King. Yes indeedy! Captain electronic of the glowy eyes returns, this time on a flying gecko. Éowyn, in the most unconvincing drag act of all time steps forward to challenge him. Now, its worth pointing out that in the film this is the first time we have ever met Dernhelm or Éowyn. Hence the great new lines for Pippinstock and Guildemerry "A woman? Éowyn?" and "Theodens Niece! She wanted to ride, but he forbade! Hah! She disguised as a knight and she came hither!". Funnily enough there are whole chunks of Tolkien dialogue here, almost verbatim, but they really fail to save the scene. I might point out that Merry stabs the Witch King in the arse, but it seems almost inevitable.

Éowyn and the Witch King

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:26 pm

What are .rv files? I can't play them.

Post by **Alatar** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:27 pm

Realmedia. I seem to remember you downloading the free realplayer last time?

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 3:39 pm

Ah. I'm on my work PC, that's why. I'll check 'em out at home tonight.

Post by **Sassafras** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:33 pm

First viewing impression:

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

My eyes! My ears! My sanity!

Dreadful stuff.

Thank heaven my introduction to Tolkien was the book and not this ... <words fail> .... this .... cartoon-type-thing. If the rest of the film is of equally visual dismal quality and content (though I do like that they used the dialogue ... Begone foul dwimmerlak! ... it's no compensation for the invented stuff ... Oh the horror! indeed

... seen 'Apocalypse Now' one too many times, eh?)

Certainly increases my appreciation of PJ's films.
.
.
.
*must scroll through thread searching for more clips with which to assault senses.*

Post by **Old_Tom_Bombadil** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:10 am

The music there at the beginning of the Théoden scene seemed far too light for a battle scene. I would have expected that to accompany a ballet.

I actually like R-B's depiction of Éowyn vs. the Nazgûl Lord better than Jackson's. Sure, it's lacking in tension (all those dudes standing around gawking don't seem very afraid of the Witch King, and Merry-and-Pippin's commentary, as if they were doing play-by-play for a sporting event, seems very strange), but I like Éowyn's appearance and demeanor, even if she should have been unmounted at that point. (Of course I picture her actually a lot more grim, but for a kid's cartoon that wasn't too bad.)

I think it's pretty obvious that this is a toned down version for kids, as Mith more-or-less said back in May. If they made it scary enough for adults, it would be way too scary for the young'uns.

Thanks again for sharing, Alatar. And you don't have to wait another seven months before "inflicting" some more on us.

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:31 am

When I opened the files, they crashed my browser.

When I downloaded the files and opened RealOne Player, it wouldn't recognize the files.

Phooey.

Post by **Frelga** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:32 am

Primula Baggins wrote:When I opened the files, they crashed my browser.

When I downloaded the files and opened RealOne Player, it wouldn't recognize the files.

Phooey.

I couldn't open them in Firefox, either. Worked fine in Explorer.

Alatar, that's hilarious

The WitchKing sounds like an old armchair and those flaming eyeballs! ouch! They look like the parents of the great big lighthouse topper in PJ's movie.

I have to say, I liked Éowyn, and I thought the drag act was fine. Unfortunately the WitchKing more than makes up for the positives.

Post by **superwizard** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 10:03 am

This movie just gets stranger and stranger! The witch king's sound effects are particularly nice