Timed to the release of Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy coming to Blu-ray on April 6, distributors Warner Bros. will also upgrade director Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated feature edition of the first half of the story to the high definition format as a BD/DVD combo pack for $29.99. The film, notorious in many circles for the use of rotoscope and the fact that, as a box-office failure, it never spawned a sequel to complete the story, has been completely remastered and marks one of the few occasions Warners has issued a classic animated film in HD. The set will include a Forging Through The Darkness: The Ralph Bakshi Vision For The Lord Of The Rings featurette. A trailer can be seen here.
Animated Rings gets Blu upgrade