User:Stephenfisher2001/sandbox/Return of The King (Old)

NOTE: I'm not sure if it is 100% not biased to be on this wiki, but we'll see.

The Return of the King (also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits) is a 1980 epic animated musical fantasy television film created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. It is an adaptation of the 1955 high fantasy novel 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 (or The Lord of the Rings, depending on your opinion). 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.

Reception
The film has garnered mixed reviews from modern sources. Charles Cassidy of Common Sense Media gave it a score of 3/5, and said, "Cartoon tale is darker, more complex than others in series" Steven D. Greydanus of Decent Films Guide gave it a C, and said, "Works even less well than The Hobbit, which really is a children's story… overbearing folk-ballad soundtrack doesn't even gesture lyrically to Tolkien's poetry". It currently holds a score of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes.