History Westernanimation / TheReturnOfTheKing

* AdaptationalJerkass: Aragorn is more rude in this version of events.

[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/frodosamwise.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:330:Don't die, Mr. Frodo.]]

* WhipItGood[=/=]ATasteOfTheLash: see above.
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Or whole TV Movie Flashback, in this case. The entire story of "The Return of the King" is told through a bard after the fighting and questing is already done.

* NoPronunciationGuide. Subverted. There IS a pronunciation guide, as in, a literal guide to the pronunciations, in the back of the book, but that didn't stop the movie from getting several of them wrong.

* TalkingToHimself: Orson Bean as both Frodo and Bilbo, also the scene where the orc commander argues with the captain of the Rangers both voiced by Don Messick.

* DemotedToExtra: Legolas and Gimli do appear very briefly in a few scenes one being in Aragon's flashback, a few shots during the battle scenes, and can be seen during the parade, neither of them have any lines. For that matter, Aragorn has less than a dozen spoken lines either, and '''he's the title character'''. Faramir also appears right at the end with no explanation.

* ForegoneConclusion: Unlike the book, the movie begins with Frodo narrating the events at the 129th birthday celebration of Bilbo Baggins, already revealing he survived this adventure.

* IWantSong: Subverted, it's an "I DON'T want" song. ''Less can be More'' is about rejecting the delusions of grandeur the Ring invokes because Sam already has everything he needs to be happy.
* LargeHam: Creator/RoddyMcDowall as Sam. ''Good grief,'' Roddy [=McDowall=] as Sam.

* PaperThinDisguise: Sam and Frodo are half the size of orcs, have radically different skin tones, hair tones, and facial structures, lack horns, fangs, and cat-like eyes, and have their hairy hobbit feet plainly visible, but if they're wearing orc armor it's convincing enough for the slavedriver.
** Of course, it's possible that considering how varied the real orcs are in this version, he might have just thought they were scrawny.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Sam turns an instance of anti-orc discrimination to his own purposes.

The third film in a loose trilogy of animated films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth stories, ''The Return of the King'' is [[Creator/RankinBassProductions Rankin-Bass]]' adaptation of the third ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' volume of the same name. The film serves as a follow-up to [[WesternAnimation/TheHobbit their earlier adaptation of]] ''Literature/TheHobbit'', and as a conclusion of sorts to the Creator/RalphBakshi adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'', which covered ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' and most of ''The Two Towers''.

* BehindTheBlack: Hilariously, no one notices the Minstrel of Gondor until Gandalf introduces him. Apparently he was just standing there silently during the entire party waiting for a cue.
* BigDamnHeroes: Couple of instances, most notable being when the Rohan army arrives, naturally, at the single most dramatically appropriate moment to save the day. Aragorn's arrival is actually ''more'' badass in this version, since it looks like he routes the evil army ''just by showing up''.

** By Sam when he rejects the Ring's influence, and again when [[spoiler:it claims Frodo]].

** Frodo has an ''absolutely chilling'' one when [[spoiler:he gives into the temptation of the Ring]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Begone and trouble me no more! You ever touch me again, you shall be cast yourself into the fire of Doom!" The Ring is speaking to Gollum through Frodo. [[spoiler:Later, when Gollum does get his hands back on the Ring, both he and it plummet into the lava.]]

* VocalDissonance: The Witch-King shows up using the Black Tongue, and appearing as a silent and very frightening figure for the most part. Then he appears to Gandalf, and sounds like mix of Starscream and Skeletor, and intimidation is quickly forgotten.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Or whole TV Movie Flashback, in this case. The entire story of "The Return of the King" is told through a bard, after the fighting and questing is already done.
* WingdingEyes: Frodo's animesque eyes (even larger than Elijah Wood's) go from {{Chibi}} to scary when he wields the Power of The Ring, causing him to appear tall and brightly lit, [[OneWingedAngel Saiyan-style]], and the pupils of his eyes become ''flames!'' This is a ''slight'' exaggeration from the book, where Frodo does indeed appear to grow into a powerful figure (like Galadriel and Gandalf in the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings live action films]]) when asserting [[MoreThanMindControl control over Gollum]].

* {{Disneyfication}}: Compared to the original text, there is more an attempt to include NotableOriginalMusic with mixed results, light-hearted scenes, a brief dream sequence of orcs being friendly to Sam and Frodo and the violence is toned down from the original material.

* NotableOriginalMusic:
** A very warbly HowWeGotHere song, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW_ocZLaRdI Frodo of the Nine Fingers]]", sets up the film as a WholeEpisodeFlashback sung by the "Minstrel of Gondor".
** A bittersweet LyricalDissonance ballad, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt6Nj2vgFiE It's So Easy Not to Try]]", whose music is actually a rearranged version of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdQ1E3t3Qq0 Roads]]" from ''WesternAnimation/TheHobbit'' animation that came before. ''The Return of the King'' animation gives it some additional new lyrics, ups its TearJerker effect, and makes the song the film's main and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOhmd9RKwgU closing]] theme. It's the only song that features in both animated films, but becomes more notable in the latter.
** An IWantSong, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=864VY2jux7U Less Can Be More]]".
*** As the title implies, he doesn't want all that much. He actually wants this ''and not the One Ring''.
** A VillainSong, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVgZDcUQPEY Towers of the Teeth]]".
** The aforementioned Marching Song, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdXQJS3Yv0Y "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way"]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMhY59n7X-Y "The Wearer of the Ring, the Bearer of the Ring"]], a haunting tune summarizing the perils the Ring-bearers carry as the Ring continually whispers promises of power into their minds to corrupt them.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvgQzlAN-tA "The Cracks of Doom"]], an eerie VillainSong that describes Mount Doom and possesses an overall depressing and nihilistic tone, fitting the hopelessness of the situation.

%%* AnimatedAdaptation

%%* {{Disneyfication}}

The [[Creator/RankinBassProductions Rankin-Bass]] adaptation of the third ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' book is a follow-up both to [[WesternAnimation/TheHobbit their adaptation of]] ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and the Creator/RalphBakshi adaptation of [[WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings the first three Books (or one-and-a-half volumes)]].

* DemotedToExtra: Legolas and Gimli do appear very briefly in a few scenes one being in Aragon's flashback, a few shots during the battle scenes, and can be seen during the parade, neither of them have any lines. For that matter, Aragorn has less than a dozen spoken lines either, and '''he's the title character'''.
** Faramir also appears right at the end with no explanation.

* WingdingEyes: Frodo's animesque eyes (even larger than Elijah Wood's) go from {{Chibi}} to scary when he wields the Power of The Ring, causing him to appear tall and brightly lit, [[OneWingedAngel Saiyan-style]], and the pupils of his eyes become ''flames!'' This is a ''slight'' exaggeration from the book, where Frodo does indeed appear to grow into a powerful figure (like Galadriel and Gandalf in the [[Film/LordOfTheRings live action films]]) when asserting [[MoreThanMindControl control over Gollum]].

* AdaptationDistillation: Made for TV after the failure of Ralph Bakshi's ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'' by a completely different studio. It attempts to adapt the work, with no reference to the previous two titles, which results in a very disjointed effort. But individual scenes like Éowyn's confrontation with the Witch-King are adapted almost word for word from the book.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted. The song, "Where There's A Whip, There's A Way" basically says that they fight because they're ''being made'' to, not because they ''want'' to. This suggests that only ''the higher-ranking orc officers'' are truly malicious and evil, whereas the rank and file are [[SlaveMooks brutalized slaves]].

* AnimatedAdaptation

* BigNo: By Merry when he {{Back Stab}}s the Witch-King; just after It smashes Eowyn's shield to flinders.

** Frodo's confrontation in the Cracks of Doom is drawn out, stretching and deforming the timeline quite a bit, since he apparently claims the ring and wanders around Mount Doom for quite awhile while the story proceeds. Oddly, it's portrayed as a disaster if Sam should put on the ring in sight of Mount Doom (as in the book) but Frodo can do so and all that happens is the quest gets derailed with Sam wandering around the inside of the volcano looking for him!

** By Sam when he rejects the Ring's influence, and again when [[spoiler: it claims Frodo]].

* TheDragon: The Witch-King.
* EvilLaugh: The Mouth of Sauron delivers one when he returns to Mordor. The Witch-King has a pretty good one as well.

* EvilLaugh: The Mouth of Sauron delivers one when he returns to Mordor.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: Averted. The cartoon goes where even the books didn't and actually humanizes the orcs to a degree. The song, "Where There's A Whip, There's A Way" basically says that they fight because they're ''being made'' to, not because they ''want'' to. This suggests that only ''the higher-ranking orc officers'' are truly malicious and evil, whereas the rank and file are [[SlaveMooks brutalized slaves]].
** The original books do make the same point, that smaller breeds of orcs are driven to war by force as slave soldiers. However, this doesn't mean that they aren't evil, just that they are cowardly and sneaky by nature, and prefer ambushes over open battle.

->'''Denethor:''' ''And '''all''' shall be ended... '''Ash and smoke''' blown a-'''way''' on the wind!''
->'''Gandalf:''' ''[bellowing]'' ''All shall '''not''' be ended!''

Read more: https://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/movie_script.php?movie=the-return-of-the-king

->'''Denethor:''' ''And '''all''' shall be ended... '''Ash and smoke''' blown away on the wind!

->'''Denethor:''' And '''all''' shall be ended... '''Ash and smoke''' blown away on the wind!
->'''Gandalf:''' All shall '''not''' be ended!