Home Cinema The animated Lord of the Rings made a villain scarier than Peter Jackson’s trilogy

The animated Lord of the Rings made a villain scarier than Peter Jackson’s trilogy

Isabella Smith
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The animated Lord of the Rings made a villain scarier than Peter Jackson’s trilogy


The fearsome Witch-King of Angmar was one of the coolest and most terrifying villains in Peter Jackson’s film. Lord of the Rings cinematic trilogy, as befitted the lieutenant of Minas Morgul. He was the leader of the Nazgûl, and in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringhe was indistinguishable from the others – they all wore tattered black coats that cast their invisible faces into shadow. In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Witch-King has received an upgrade. As Gandalf and Pippin talked about the upcoming siege of Minas Tirith, the film cut to a scene of the Witch-king equipping himself for battle. The orcs placed spiky black gloves on his hands and a matching helmet on his head. The front of the helmet was open, revealing the dark nothingness beneath. On the battlefield, he wielded a flaming sword as well as a massive flanged flail, similar to Sauron’s mace from the first film’s prologue.




During this sequence, Gandalf describes the legendary status of the Witch-King to Pippin: “Sauron has not yet revealed his deadliest servant. The one who will lead the armies of Mordor in war. The one they say no man living can kill. The Witch-King of Angmar.” As if that wasn’t intimidating enough, the Witch-King rode a dragon-like monster known as the Ferocious Beast into battle. He demonstrated his immense power by breaking Gandalf’s staff and killing King Théoden at the Battle of Pelennor Fields, making Éowyn’s victory against him all the more impressive. Lord of the Rings followed Jackson’s lead regarding the Witch King’s appearance; he generally resembles a more heavily armored version of his Nazgûl subordinates. But an earlier adaptation had a very different take on the Witch-King, frightening in its own way..



The Witch-King wore a symbol of his royal status

  • The flail that the Witch King used in Jackson’s film was the fourth version created by Wētā Workshop, as Jackson kept asking for it to be larger.
  • The Witch-King’s helmet in Jackson’s film was originally larger and sturdier, similar to Sauron’s, but was replaced with a helmet with an exposed face to enhance his resemblance to the unarmored Nazgûl.
  • The original helmet design still appeared in some related media, notably video gaming. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.


In 1980, Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment was released The return of the kingan animated film based on the last third of JRR Tolkien’s novel. Lord of the Rings novel. It is sometimes confused with a sequel to the animated film by Ralph Bakshi. Lord of the Rings film released two years previously, but they were unrelated projects. The return of the king takes place in the same continuity as the animated film The Hobbit 1977 film, bringing back many character designs and voice actors. The creators chose to skip The Fellowship of the Ring And The two towers because they doubted that the public would be interested in such a long story – an idea that Jackson rightly refuted a few decades later. Ideally, the Rankin/Bass The return of the king It turns out that I took over roughly where Bakshi is. Lord of the Rings stopped, so it worked as a spiritual successor.


The animated version of the Witch King didn’t look at all like his incarnation in Jackson’s film. He wore a black tunic decorated with the Eye of Sauron, a red cape closed with a skull-shaped medallion on his shoulder and a black hood under which only his glowing red eyes were visible. During his confrontation with Gandalf, he threw back his hood, revealing his head – or rather the lack of it. He was just a pair of floating eyes with a crown floating above them. Although he looked like a less fearsome warrior, he was more clearly inhuman than Jackson’s version.. The live Witch King could potentially be mistaken for a human with his face cast in shadow, while the animated Witch King was a specter.

The animated Witch King was closer to the Lord of the Rings novel

The Witch King on his winged horse from the Rankin/Bass animated film The Return of the King


In both the novel and Jackson’s films, the Witch-King’s horse seemed relatively normal, but Rankin/Bass gave him a more monstrous mount. His horse had wings and horns, which gave him a demonic appearance. This had no basis in Tolkien’s writings, but it highlighted the Witch-King’s supernatural status. Apart from the horse, Rankin/Bass’s portrayal of the Witch-King was more faithful to the novel than Jackson’s.. In the chapter “The Siege of Gondor” of The return of the kingTolkien wrote: “The Black Rider threw back his hood, and behold! he had a royal crown; and yet on no visible head was it placed. The red lights shone between it and the broad, dark shoulders of the cloak. ” Rankin/Bass brought this description to life in great detail. However, such a thing would likely have looked awkward in live-action, especially given the limitations of early 2000s CGI, so Jackson opted for a design that could be achieved mostly practically.


Ringwraiths and Nazgul from Lord of the Rings

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Unfortunately, there was one thing that was seriously holding back the animated Witch-King: his voice. He was portrayed by John Stephenson, a voice actor best known for his role as Thundercracker in Transformers. Stephenson had previously voiced the Great Goblin and Bard the Archer in Rankin/Bass’. The Hobbitand his voice suited them well, but his vision of the Witch-King was strange. He gave the Lord of the Nazgûl a high-pitched voice and exaggerated pronunciation reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoon villains like Skeletor. His voice also had a robotic filter that seemed out of place for a medieval fantasy setting like Middle Earth. Earlier in the film, when the Witch-King cast a spell to enchant Grond the ram, he spoke in a low, almost incomprehensible voice. It was much more menacing and should have been the voice he used for his regular dialogue.


Rankin and Bass had a different audience than Jackson

The Witch King on his ferocious beast from the Rankin/Bass animated film The Return of the King

The Witch-King’s voice undermined his fearful purpose.and as soon as he opened his invisible mouth, it became difficult to take him seriously. However, this may have been deliberate. The animated The Hobbit And The return of the king the films were lighter than Jackson’s live-action outings. Although they had some dark moments, they were cartoon musicals primarily aimed at young audiences. The Witch-King’s exaggerated vocal performance could have been an attempt to undermine his frightening aura and prevent children from being bothered by him. However, the family nature of the film did not prevent it from meeting a horrible fate; in Jackson’s film, Éowyn stabbed the Witch-king with the invisible face to kill him, but in the animated version, she decapitated him instead. His crown crumbled and his spectral body vanished, leaving his clothes and armor in a heap on the ground.


Gothmog, Lurtz and an Orc from Moria from Lord of the Rings

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The other Nazgûl in the animated film were neither as frightening nor as faithful to Tolkien’s novel as their leader. They wore similar outfits, but they were fully visible. They had gaunt faces with pale skin, red eyes, and long gray hair – they looked more like witches than undead ghost riders. But unlike the Witch King, their role in the film was minimal. Rankin/Bass had other characters that would seem very unusual to those familiar with Jackson’s versions. Thranduil was short, bald and gray-skinned, looking more like a goblin than a majestic elven king, and Gollum looked like a frog. Jackson’s films are such an integral part of the pop culture zeitgeist that their depictions of Lord of the RingsThe characters are what most fans imagine in their minds when they imagine Middle Earth and its inhabitants. These are legendary films that have more than earned that status, but it’s fun to see depictions of the characters before one of their versions became so big. They tend to be very different, showcasing the artists’ different interpretations of Tolkien’s vivid descriptions.


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