 Many Tolkien fans were disappointed when Ralph Bakshi (qv)s 1978  adaptation of "Lord of the Rings" covered only the first two books  of Tolkiens trilogy. When it became clear that Bakshi would not  produce a sequel, Rankin and Bass finished the story for him with  this TV movie, disappointing fans even more due to its poor, rushed  quality. This TV movie is considered by many fans to be vastly  inferior to Bakshis 1978 movie.