Editing Ralph Bakshi (section)

===Shift to fantasy film (1976–1978)===
{{main|Wizards (film)|The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)}}
In 1976, Bakshi pitched ''[[Wizards (film)|War Wizards]]'' to [[20th Century Fox]]. Returning to the fantasy drawings he had created in high school for inspiration, Bakshi intended to prove that he could produce a "family picture" that had the same impact as his adult-oriented films.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-132">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |pages=132–34; 138 |chapter=''Wizards'' |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4 |last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref> British illustrator [[Ian Miller (illustrator)|Ian Miller]] and comic book artist [[Mike Ploog]] were hired to contribute backgrounds and designs. The crew included Vita, Turek, Sparey, Vitello and Spence, who had become comfortable with Bakshi's limited storyboarding and lack of pencil tests. As the production costs increased, Fox president [[Alan Ladd, Jr.]] declined Bakshi's requests for salary increases, and refused to give him $50,000 to complete the film. At the same time, Ladd was dealing with similar budget problems on [[George Lucas]]'s ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''. Bakshi and Lucas had negotiated contracts entitling them to franchise ownership, merchandising and [[Front-end and back-end#Business|back-end]] payment, so Ladd suggested that they fund the completion of their films themselves.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-132"/>

Bakshi chose rotoscoping as a cost-effective way to complete the movie's battle scenes with his own finances. Because he could not afford to hire a film crew or actors, or develop 35mm stock, Bakshi requested prints of films that contained the type of large battle scenes needed, including [[Sergei Eisenstein]]'s ''[[Alexander Nevsky (film)|Alexander Nevsky]]'', and spliced together the footage he needed. However, the cost of printing photographs of each frame would have cost $3 million. Learning that [[IBM]] had introduced an industrial-sized photocopier, Bakshi asked one of the company's technical experts if he would be able to feed 35mm reels into the machine to produce enlarged copies of each frame. The experiment worked, and Bakshi got the pages he needed for a penny per copy.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-132"/>

As ''War Wizards'' neared completion, Lucas requested that Bakshi change the title of his film to ''Wizards'' to avoid conflict with ''Star Wars''; Bakshi agreed because Lucas had allowed [[Mark Hamill]] to take time off from ''Star Wars'' to record a voice for ''Wizards''. Although ''Wizards'' received a limited release, it was successful in the theaters that showed it and developed a worldwide audience.<ref name="Beck-112"/> [[Dave Kehr]] of ''[[The Chicago Reader]]'' saw it as "marred by cut-rate techniques and a shapeless screenplay".<ref>{{cite news |title=Review of ''Wizards'' |first=Dave |last=Kehr |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/wizards/Film?oid=1149825 |newspaper=[[The Chicago Reader]] |year=1977 }}</ref> In the view of film historian Jerry Beck, the lead character, an aging sorcerer, "clearly owes much to cartoonist Vaughn Bodé's [[Cheech Wizard]] character."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Animated Movie Guide |chapter=''Wizards'' |page=317 }}</ref>

In late 1976, Bakshi learned that [[John Boorman]] was contracted to direct an adaptation of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', in which [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s three-volume novel would be condensed into a single film.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148">{{cite book |title=Unfiltered: The Complete Ralph Bakshi |pages=148; 150; 154–55 |chapter=''The Lord of the Rings'' |isbn=978-0-7893-1684-4 |last1=Gibson |first1=Jon M. |last2=McDonnell |first2=Chris |year=2008 |publisher=Universe }}</ref> Bakshi arranged a meeting with [[Mike Medavoy]], [[United Artists]]' head of production, who agreed to let Bakshi direct in exchange for the $3 million that had been spent on Boorman's screenplay.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148"/> Down the hall from Medavoy was [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] president [[Dan Melnick]], who interrupted a meeting with [[Peter Bogdanovich]] when he learned that Bakshi wanted to discuss acquiring the rights to ''The Lord of the Rings''. Melnick agreed to pay United Artists $3 million, but was soon fired; the project was canceled by his replacement, Dick Shepherd. Bakshi contacted Saul Zaentz, who wrote a check to cover MGM's debt and agreed to fund the $8 million budget for the first of what was initially planned as a series of three films, and later negotiated down to two. Before production began, Bakshi and Zaentz insisted that the Tolkien estate receive [[Residual (entertainment industry)|residuals]] from the film.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148"/>

Bakshi did not want to produce a broad cartoon version of the tale, so he planned to shoot the entire film in live action and animate the footage with [[rotoscoping]].<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148"/> The film also incorporated brief cel animation and straightforward live-action footage.  Production of the live-action sequences took place in Spain. During the middle of a large shoot, union bosses called for a lunch break, and Bakshi secretly shot footage of actors in [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orc]] costumes moving toward the craft service table, and used the footage in the film.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148"/> Jerry Beck later wrote that, while he found the rotoscoped animation "beautiful", he felt that it was unclear whether the use of live action was an artistic choice or due to budgetary constraints.<ref name="Beck-155">{{cite book |title=The Animated Movie Guide |chapter=''The Lord of the Rings'' |pages=154–155 }}</ref>

After the Spanish film development lab discovered that telephone lines, helicopters and cars were visible in the footage, they tried to incinerate it, telling Bakshi's first assistant director, "if that kind of sloppy cinematography got out, no one from Hollywood would ever come back to Spain to shoot again." When Bakshi returned to the United States, he learned that the cost of developing blown-up prints of each frame had risen. He did not want to repeat the process that had been used on ''Wizards'', which was unsuitable for the level of detail he intended for ''The Lord of the Rings'', so Bakshi and camera technician Ted Bemiller created their own photographic enlarger to process the footage cheaply. Live-action special effects and analog optics were used in place of animation to keep the visual effects budget low and give the film a more realistic look. Among the voice actors was the well-regarded [[John Hurt]], who performed the role of [[Aragorn]]. The project's prominence brought heavy [[trade journal]] coverage, and fans such as [[Mick Jagger]] visited the studio for the chance to play a role. Animator Carl Bell loved drawing Aragorn so much that Bakshi gave Bell the live-action Aragorn costume, which he wore while animating.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148"/>

Viewing ''The Lord of the Rings'' as a holiday film, United Artists pressured Bakshi to complete it on schedule for its intended November 15, 1978, release. Once it was finished, Bakshi was told that audiences would not pay to see an incomplete story; over his objections, ''The Lord of the Rings'' was marketed with no indication that a second part would follow.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148"/> Reviews of the film were mixed, but it was generally seen as a "flawed but inspired interpretation".<ref name="Beck-155"/> ''[[Newsday]]''{{'}}s Joseph Gelmis wrote that "the film's principal reward is a visual experience unlike anything that other animated features are doing at the moment".<ref name="Beck-155"/> [[Roger Ebert]] called Bakshi's effort a "mixed blessing" and "an entirely respectable, occasionally impressive job [which] still falls far short of the charm and sweep of the original story".<ref name="Ebertreview">{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19780101/REVIEWS/801010307/1023 |title=Review of ''The Lord of the Rings'' |access-date=January 9, 2007 |author=Ebert, Roger |date=January 1, 1978 |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |archive-date=December 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121208203101/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19780101/REVIEWS/801010307/1023 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Vincent Canby found it "both numbing and impressive".<ref name="Canbyreview">{{cite news |url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=Lord%20of%20the%20Rings%2c%20The%20%28Movie%29&title2=&reviewer=VINCENT%20CANBY&pdate=19781115&v_id=30049 |title=Review of ''The Lord of the Rings'' |access-date=January 9, 2007 |author=Canby, Vincent|date=November 15, 1978 |work=The New York Times }}</ref> [[David Denby (film critic)|David Denby]] of ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' felt that the film would not make sense to viewers who had not read the book. He wrote that it was too dark and lacked humor, concluding, "The lurid, meaningless violence of this movie left me exhausted and sickened by the end."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Denby |first=David |date=December 4, 1978 |title=Hobbit hobbled and rabbit ran |journal=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |volume=11 |issue=49 |pages=153–154 |issn=0028-7369 }}</ref> The film, which cost $4 million to produce, grossed $30.5 million.<ref name="Beck-155"/> The studio refused to fund the sequel, which would have adapted the remainder of the story.<ref name="Gibson-McDonnell-148"/> ''The Lord of the Rings'' won the Golden Gryphon at the 1980 [[Giffoni Film Festival]].<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077869/awards?ref_=tt_awd The Lord of the Rings - Awards - IMDb]</ref>