When we think of The Lord of the Rings adaptations, Peter Jackson's seminal live-action trilogy immediately comes to mind. The trilogy swept the Oscars, with The Return of the King even claiming the elusive Best Picture award. The Middle-earth franchise would continue to grow with The Hobbit trilogy, and most recently Prime Video is seeing success with its prequel series The Rings of Power.

But decades before these live-action projects, in 1978, Ralph Bakshi created his very own animated movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien's famous book series. Bakshi's Lord of the Rings film wasn't without its controversies: for instance, the story remained unfinished; it only covers The Fellowship of the Rings and some of The Two Towers. Even so, in my humble opinion, it's one of the most charming films ever made. There are so many randomly placed comedic beats, like when Gandalf decides to frighten Sam for literally no reason whatsoever.