The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It combines animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a look more consistent with the rest of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the film follows a group of hobbits, elves, men, dwarves and wizards who form a fellowship. They embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, and ensure his destruction. The film features the voices of William Squire, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox and Anthony Daniels of Star Wars fame. The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, based on an earlier draft by Chris Conkling. Director Ralph Bakshi encountered Tolkien's writing early in his career, and had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before being given funding by producer Saul Zaentz and distributor United Artists. Although the film was a financial success, it received a mixed reaction from critics, and the original distributors refused to fund a sequel to cover the remainder of the story. However, the film sparked new interest in Tolkien's writing, inspiring the production of several further adaptations of the story. (more...)

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• The Arab League agrees to suspend Syria's membership amid the continued violent crackdown of an internal uprising.
• Silvio Berlusconi (pictured) resigns as Prime Minister of Italy amid the country's debt crisis.
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November 15: Republic Day in Brazil (1889); Shichi-Go-San in Japan

• 655 – Penda of Mercia was defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria at the Battle of the Winwaed in modern-day Yorkshire, England.
• 1859 – Sponsored by businessman Evangelos Zappas (pictured), the first modern revival of the Olympic Games took place in Athens, Greece.
• 1935 – The Commonwealth of the Philippines was officially established, with Manuel L. Quezon inaugurated as its president.
• 1943 – The Holocaust: Heinrich Himmler ordered that Romanies were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps".
• 1983 – Turkish Cypriots on the northeastern portion of Cyprus declared the creation of a new state known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which currently remains recognised only by Turkey.

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A 16th-century chiaroscuro woodcut of the Tiburtine Sibyl meeting with Augustus. The mythic meeting between the Roman Emperor and the sibyl (prophetess) of Tibur (now Tivoli), of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was a favored motif of Christian artists. In this scene, she shows him a vision of the Christian heaven. Artist: Antonio da Trento; Restoration: Adam Cuerden Recently featured: Fritillaria meleagris – Helicatenoid – Allosaurus mouth Archive – More featured pictures...