The "Return of the King" production that followed made Bakshi's effort look like Citizen Kane.
2. Tolkien on Disney:
From a letter to Sir Stanley Unwin in 1946 on some poor cover artwork submissions for "The Hobbit": "He has sent me some illustrations of (the Trolls and Gollum) which despite certain merits, such as one would expect of a German, are I fear too 'Disnified' for my taste: Bilbo with a dribbling nose, Gandalf as a figure of vulgar fun rather than the Odinic wanderer that I think of..."
To Jane Neave, 1961: "I am sorry about The Pied Piper. I loathe it. God help the children! I would as soon give them crude and vulgar plastic toys. Which of course theywill play with, to the ruin of their taste. Terrible presage of the most vulgar elements in Disney."
TO C.A. Furth of Allen & Unwin, 1937, on artwork for editions of "The Hobbit": "It might be advisable, rather than lose the American interest, to let the Americans do what seems good to them - as long as it was possible (I should like to add) to veto anything from or influenced by Disney studios (for all whose works I have a heartfelt loathing)."
Tolkien was a conservative with a capital C (only he would never capitalize it, but you get my drift). Nonetheless it's one one more reason I consider myself a fan. A sharp contrast with the author of a currently popular fantasy series-turned-movie franchise.
Kudos to Jackson, at any rate, for realizing the undesirability of utilizing midget actors for hobbits. The use of forced perspective was astonishingly convincing for the most part - and allowed the use of good actors and proper "hobbit proportions."