Good Adaptations? (Essay)

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

I promised certain people on the moot that I would post my essay on the Bakshi and Jackson adaptations of The Lord of the Rings. (Not sure if this is right place to post?!), so, here it is!
Opinions, thoughts, criticsms, etc. greatly welcomed!
I shall post this in 4 Parts.
1st Post = Introduction
2nd Post = Part 1 - Animated Adaptation
3rd Post = Part 2 - Jackson's Adaptation
4th Post = Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION
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As part of my Key Skills Communication portfolio, I have been asked to write an essay on any of a list of topics produced by my lecturer. The topic which I have chosen is ‘The Film was good, but the Book was better’. The aim of this essay shall be to create an appraisal of the Lord of the Rings (animated Version), as directed by Ralph Bakshi, an appraisal of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, as directed by Peter Jackson, and an evaluation of how well they follow the story as written by J R R Tolkien. In addition to ‘The Lord of the Rings’, I have cited ‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Silmarillion’ and ‘Unfinished Tales’, all by J R R Tolkien, as they provide vital background information to the plot of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, and I will assess to what extent this background information has been transferred to the films.
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‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS’, BY J R R TOLKIEN
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‘The Lord of the Rings’ is an epic tale of good versus evil, in which the Hobbit Frodo Baggins must achieve what seems like an impossible task: to destroy The Dark Lord Sauron’s master Ring, which was forged by Him in Oroduin, The Mountain of Doom, in the midst of the Land of Mordor, aided by a fellowship consisting of Gandalf the Wizard, Aragorn of the North, Boromir of Gondor, Legolas the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, and Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took and Samwise Gamgee, three of Frodo’s Hobbit-companions, from the sleepy land of the Shire. Pursued by Orcs, Nâzgul and the mysterious ‘Gollum’, their task seems unachievable, yet they meet unlikely allies along the way, and take part in the War of the Ring, consisting of a number of battles fought across the realms of Middle-Earth.
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