Among many fantasy films, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the series that automatically comes to mind for people all around the world. This iconic story first began as a novel written by J.R.R. Tolkien, published in July 1954. The book series from the mid 1900s proved to be one of the best-selling book series’ of all time. Decades later, the groundbreaking set of movies not only captured fans of the original book but also introduced the fantasy storyline to an entirely new generation. These epic films, released in 2001, 2002, and 2003, are still frequently talked about today. The series continued to grow in popularity over the years with many toys and other merchandise released. Travel back in time to Middle-earth with us through this Lord of the Rings Retrospective.
The storyline of The Lord of the Rings begins with the future of civilization resting in the One Ring. The fate of the ring finds its way into the hands of Frodo Baggins, a young Hobbit. With the reawakening of the evil being, Sauron, out to capture the ring, Frodo takes on the daunting task to destroy the One Ring.
Join us in a Lord of the Rings Retrospective
Join us in this Lord of the Rings Retrospective. We will go through the storyline through the books and movies. We will also mention the toys and television series released that are still popular among fans today. Additionally, we will introduce exciting new plans for The Lord of the Rings!
The Lord of the Rings Novel (1954-1955)
Before we dive into the mystical world of The Lord of the Rings, we take our journey back to 1933 when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings, also written by Tolkien in 1954, followed after the storyline of The Hobbit. It was this story that is inevitably the basis for modern fantasy storytelling. Tolkien’s books were also the first in the genre to have such a large and expansive universe made up of both history and mythology. The story of The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins as he is persuaded by the wizard Gandalf to leave his village, Hobbiton. The two join Thorin and his twelve dwarves to start their journey to reclaim the dwarves’ homes and treasure.
Continue following along in this Lord of the Rings Retrospective with us. We will begin to go deeper into the storyline and characters of this widely loved fantasy.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring takes place as the first of three volumes in The Lord of the Rings novel. This first volume released on July 29, 1954. The book begins telling the story of Sauron, Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo, and other hit characters. Sauron, the Dark Lord and The Lord of the Rings, lost the One Ring many years earlier. He desires to regain the power of the One Ring and use it to enslave everyone in Middle-earth. In the beginning of the story, a flashback happens with Bilbo Baggins, referring back to the story of The Hobbit. Here, Bilbo Baggins is wandering lost in a dark cave when he stumbles upon the One Ring. Unknowing of it’s great power, he takes it back home with him to the Shire.
The Fellowship of the Ring opens with Bilbo’s 111th birthday party. As Bilbo Baggins tries to give Frodo Baggins the ring, Bilbo alarmingly becomes very reluctant to do so. He finally gives up the ring by the persuasion of a Great Wizard, Gandalf, Bilbo’s friend. Gandalf’s suspicion of the ring being the true One Ring is confirmed. Gandalf then has to tell Frodo to quickly take the ring away from the Shire, as Sauron’s power begins to grow again. Hearing this, Frodo and his three hobbit friends- Merry, Pippin, and Sam, set out from the Shire. Frodo and his friends face obstacles along the way as they are followed by the Ringwraiths, servants of Sauron, that take the form of nine petrifying Black Riders.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Two Towers takes place as the second volume of The Lord of the Rings novel. This volume released on November 11, 1954. As the middle volume of a longer piece of literature, this book’s structure appears a bit differently than a conventional novel. With the introduction of the characters in the first volume and still more of the story to unravel in the next, The Two Towers begins and ends sort of abruptly.
The Two Towers picks up in the story with Aragorn, Gimli the dwarf, and Legolas the elf. These three characters come across Eomer and Rohan as they are tracking Merry and Pippin. Eomer and Rohan tell Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas that they attacked the Orcs and left no survivors. However, Aragorn follows footprints on the ground that lead to Fangorn where they meet up once again with Gandalf. This was a great surprise as they believed Gandalf perished in the mines of Moria. After finding Gandalf, they travel first to Edoras and then to Hornburg. While at the Hornburg, they resist an attack of men and Orcs sent by Saruman. After Hornburg, the group heads to Saruman’s fortress, Isengard. While at Isengard, they finally reunite with Pippin and Merry. After having an unexpected encounter with Sauron, Gandalf and Pippin have to flee to Minas Tirith for the upcoming war.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings novel by J.R.R. Tolkien ends with The Return of the King. This final volume released almost a year after the previous one on October 20, 1955.
The story picks up again with Gandalf telling Denethor, Steward of Gondor, about the upcoming war. Gandalf brings Pippin with him and Aragorn goes to find a lost army of men in the place of the Paths of the Dead. The Battle of Pelennor Fields begins in Gondor’s capital city, Minas Tirith. With an attempt to distract Sauron from guarding his boarders, Aragorn leads those who survived the battle on an attack against the Black Gate of Mordor. Meanwhile, Sam enables Frodo to navigate the unfamiliar land of Mordor. Frodo and Sam suddenly get captured by Orcs along the way. They escape by pretending to be Orcs and finally reach the Cracks of Doom. While at the Cracks of Doom, Gollum bites off Frodo’s finger and falls into the lava while still holding the ring. Middle-earth seems to finally be freed from Sauron’s power forever.
Animated Films (1978)(1980)
More than 20 years after the release of Tolkien’s novel, two animated films released to theaters based off the heroic fantasy. The first of these, The Lord of the Rings, was a ginormous financial success. Unfortunately, United Artists distribution refused to fund the sequel to finish up the story. This led to the Rankin/ Bass development of The Return of the King which made the storyline more complete for viewers.
The Lord of the Rings film
Next, on this Lord of the Rings Retrospective, we have The Lord of the Rings 1978 film. This animated movie, directed by Ralph Bakshi, released on November 15, 1978. The film was based off the first half of Tolkien’s novel. Following up the first half, Rankin/ Bass animation studio finished the storyline through their animated film, The Return of the King.
The Lord of the Rings animated film differs from the novel in a few spots but overall follows Tolkien’s story closely. One way the movie differs from the book appears from one part of the plot to another. With a lot of the transitions removed, viewers have a harder time following the plot if unfamiliar with the story. Also in the film, Frodo’s journey condensed to fit within the 2hr and 12 min showing. Because of this, Crickhollow, Brandy Hall, the Old Forest, and the Barrow-downs do not appear. Rotoscoped to produce an animated look, most of the movie still used live-action footage. This not only saved production costs, but also gave the animated characters a realistic appearance.
The Return of the King film
The animated adaptation of Tolkien’s novel, The Return of the King, originally aired on May 11, 1980. Rankin/ Bass began production to this movie before Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of the Rings animated film. Because of this, Rankin/ Bass presents this movie as more of the sequel to their previous movie in 1977, The Hobbit. The movie begins with a brief recap of events from The Hobbit and then moves into a few story events from The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers.
The film begins with Bilbo Baggins’ 129th birthday party. During the party, Frodo begins telling the story of his journey to destroy the One Ring. Frodo’s story begins with his friend, Sam, as the ringbearer in Frodo’s absence. As Sam treads through the Mordor, Frodo continues being held captive by Orcs. Later in the film, Sam rescues Frodo and returns the ring. As they continue on their way, Gollum attacks Sam and Frodo at Mount Doom. Near the end of the film, Frodo decides he cannot resist the temptation of the ring any longer. Gollum ends up biting off Frodo’s finger and falls into the fire, destroying the ring.
Lord of the Rings Toys
From 1979, after the release of the Lord of the Rings animated film, to present day, the release of many different toys helped gain popularity for this hit story. Continue following along with us in this Lord of the Rings Retrospective as we dive into some of these toys.
Lord of the Rings Action Figures
A year after The Lord of the Rings animated film came out in 1978, Knickerboxer produced a line of action figures to bring the loved characters to life. The 5 1/2″ figures featured characters such as Gandalf, Frodo, Aragon, Samwise, and Gollum. Along with these characters, Knickerboxer also released a Ringwraith figure with a 7 1/2″ horse figure.
Almost 2 decades later, a Middle Earth line of toys released in 1998 by Toy Vault featuring dozens of new action figures. These figures featured intricate designs and color for the characters through their different clothing and paint.
In 2002, after Peter Jackson’s release of the first movie from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Toy Biz began releasing a toy line complimenting the new look of these characters as seen in the film. These action figures, released from 2002- 2005, consisted of many favorite characters including an incredible 13 versions of Frodo! During the same time as the Toy Biz release, companies such as Art Asylum and Play Along also released figures for The Lord of the Rings characters.
More Lord of the Rings Toys
Other than action figures, the release of many other toys caught the attention of fans all across the globe. Since 1979, the release of these Lord of the Rings toys brought the characters from Tolkien’s story to life and continue to bring joy to fans today. Many Lego sets, Funko Pops, playsets, stuffed animals, board games, and more have reached to incredible popularity among fans.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
Next up on our Lord of the Rings Retrospective, we have the trilogy by Peter Jackson that sparked immense popularity. Still widely talked about among fans today, The Lord of the Rings live action trilogy no doubt had an impact on many things including the fantasy adventure genre.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The first part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, runs for a time of 178 min. (theatrical version) or 228 min. (extended version). This movie released on December 19, 2001, is produced and directed by Peter Jackson. The film originally had a budget of $180 million U.S. dollars and proved to be a great success, making over $871 million U.S. dollars worldwide. At the time of it’s release, The Fellowship of the Ring reached to the second highest-grossing film of 2001 (behind Harry Potter), making it the only film of the trilogy not to be number 1 highest-grossing film the year it released.
Among many impressive effects in the films, most scenes noticeably contain a proper scale so the characters appear the correct height. For example, the actor who plays Frodo (Elijah Wood) has to appear four feet tall, although he is 5’6″ in real life. Although some of the scenes were altered, most showed similarity to the novel and follow Tolkien’s story through all three movies. Similarly, much of the dialogue from the novel can be seen throughout the film. This film brought Tolkien’s characters to life for the first time in these live action movies. In 2002, it won four Academy Awards. The winning categories were: Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Music.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The second and middle part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers, released almost exactly a year later on December 18, 2002. Although this movie resembles the second part of Tolkien’s novel, some of the book’s events held over to the third movie, The Return of the King. This film’s running time consists of 179 min. (theatrical version) and 235 min. (extended version). The Two Towers proved to be another great success as it made over $936 million U.S. dollars at it’s initial release. The movie also proved to be a fan favorite with over 20 nominations and awards, including two Academy Awards.
The Two Towers is the only film out of both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies where Bilbo Baggins does not make an appearance. Also, the invisibility power of the One Ring never makes an appearance in this film, as it does in all others. The theatrical version of The Two Towers released on VHS and DVD on August 26, 2003 with extras on the second disc. The extended version released on DVD on November 18, 2003 and included 45 minutes of additional footage.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
For the third and final film of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, we have The Return of the King. This film is one of the highest grossing films in cinema history. The Return of the King won 11 Academy Awards at the 2004 Oscars and is also the first fantasy film to win Best Picture. The Return of the King also proved to be a big success, grossing over $1.1 billion worldwide. This film contains key scenes that did not appear in The Two Towers movie but did in the novel.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the only movie written simultaneously and shot all at once. Because of this, the films appear as one single long film. The story, acting, direction, and effects also all stayed the same throughout the films since it was all done at once. The widely popular soundtrack shown throughout all three films, composed and conducted by Howard Shore, received many awards. Howard Shore composed around eighty pieces for the trilogy. The soundtracks were recorded in London, England by the London Voices and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Rings of Power Television Series (2022)
Next up on The Lord of the Rings Retrospective, we have The Rings of Power series. Season one of this series came to a close on October 14, 2022. This first season includes many minute details from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion. The series starts off as 8 episodes and now has the distinction of being the most expensive TV series of all time.
The Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age period of Tolkien’s universe, 3,000 years before the events of The Hobbit. This series serves as a prequel to the trilogies as it’s plot revolves around the future forging of the 19 rings. Although the series is set thousands of years before the trilogies take place, many Easter eggs can be found for fans throughout the show- most of which connect to The Lord of the Rings. With more than 100 million viewers worldwide by December 2022, the series proved to be an incredible success and Prime Video’s most watched series ever.
The Lord of the Rings Future (2024-2026)
Lastly on this Lord of the Rings Retrospective, we will discuss future plans for these loved characters and storyline. With the development of new series and movies coming out, the The Lord of the Rings popularity will be sure to increase even more.
The Rings of Power Season 2
Amazon confirmed the release date of The Rings of Power to be August 29, 2024. The series will pick up where the previous season left off, with the War of the Elves and Sauron in the Second Age on Middle Earth. With the filming of season 1 taking place in New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic, the following four planned seasons may be filmed somewhere else. This uplifting epic already captured many fans through the first eight episodes. The next season continues the hit story on Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Next up, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim comes out in theaters on December 13, 2024. This animated movie, written by Pheobe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, tells the story by Jeffery Addiss and Will Matthews. A co-writer of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies, Philippa Boyens, served as a story consultant noting The War of the Rohirrim as an animated prequel to the trilogies. This movie’s storyline starts 183 years before the events of The Two Towers. The plot centers around the famous king of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand.
The Lord of the Rings Action Figures
Diamond Select Toys developed new Lord of the Rings action figures. These figures, designed by Eamon O’Donoghue and sculpted by Gentle Giant Studios, are incredibly realistic and detailed. This new line of figures features 7 characters including: Witch King, Eowyn, Gimli, Invisible Frodo, Legolas, Pippin, and Merry. The figures vary in size based on the character with both Pippin and Merry standing at 4 inches all the way to the Witch King’s standing at 9 inches. This new line even features an Invisible Frodo figure, made entirely out of clear plastic. Everything from the facial expressions to the clothing sculpted on these figures shows incredible attention to detail and brings these characters to life in toy form once again. These toys are available for preorder and expected to be sent out early 2025.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
Directed by Andy Serkis and distributed by Warner Bros., The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be the first live action Lord of the Rings movie since Peter Jackson’s trilogies. This upcoming fantasy adventure film, scheduled for release in 2026, dives into the story of Gollum and his obsession with the One Ring. The story journeys through the dark forests and landscapes of Middle-earth that threaten the fate of the One Ring. The movie takes place during the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the cast expects filming to take place in New Zealand again. Although no plot details released yet, fans look forward to what Andy Serkis and Warner Bros. release.
Do You Have Old Lord of the Rings Toys?
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Bio: I am the founder and owner of Wheeljack’s Lab Pop Culture and Toy Shop. My vision has always been to reunite customers with their favorite childhood toys and pop culture, triggering fond memories, and reigniting their imaginations. Every day, I work in the “lab” where it’s Christmas 365 days a year. I scour the internet, like when we had the Sears Catalog of yesteryear, for the next great treasure. Then, I await the arrival of the postman as if he were Santa Claus himself and helping collectors worldwide with their versions of Christmas. Every day as a vintage toy buyer is an absolute joy!