The sequel to the story Bakshi told, Rankin and Bass came in to finish the story of The Lord of the Rings! Having already done The Hobbit, it came all too natural for the pair! The Return of the King (also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits) is a 1980 American-Japanese animated musical fantasy television film created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. It is an adaptation of part of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1955 high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It takes its name from The Return of the King, the third and final volume of the novel, and is a sequel to the 1977 film The Hobbit. The first two parts of Tolkien's story, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, are not covered in this release and are only briefly summarized at the beginn ...