"The GreeEEEEAAAAAtest adVENNNNNNture. . ." Okay, I'll admit that even though I liked that cartoon as a kid my brother and I made fun of Glenn Yarborough's voice :) But the movie still helped me visualize Tolkien's story enough to bring Middle Earth to life for me. I spent countless hours drawing pictures inspired by stills from Rankin-Bass and going over the maps in The Atlas of Middle Earth. I was much more inspired by Rankin-Bass than by Bakshi BTW.
Good lord, if I ever meet anyone inspired by the bakshi, I'll have to excuse myself from the room, go outside, and scream.