Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced today the upcoming release of the 1978 animated adventure The Lord of the Rings
on 2-disc Deluxe Edition DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack.

Both DVD and Blu-ray versions are Special Editions with new box art (click image at right for larger full version) and packaging, as well as remastered Dolby Surround 5.1 audio, and contain an all-new bonus featurette Forging Through The Darkness: The Ralph Bakshi Vision for Lord of the Rings. This will mark the film’s first time on Blu-ray, which will include a digital copy.

Both versions are scheduled for release on April 6, the same day that Peter Jackson’s award-winning live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy comes out on Blu-ray. You can watch the trailer for the upcoming animated release here below.

Ralph Bakshi‘s Lord of the Rings actually tells the first half of the J.R.R. Tolkien tale, which is then continued in the animated follow-up Return of the King.

I know, you probably don’t think much of these old-school animated varieties (there was also an animated Hobbit television movie in 1977 produced by Rankin/Bass), what with Jackson’s masterpieces out there now, but I assure you, back when I was growing up, the animated version was a must-have — and not so easily obtained. Lord of the Rings has John Hurt voicing Aragorn and Anthony Daniels as Legolas.

By the way, Bakshi also directed the 1972 X-rated animated feature Fritz the Cat (which he also wrote); 1981′s animated music bonanza American Pop (which you can watch for free right now at Crackle); and Cool World, the 1992 live-action/animated crime drama starring Brad Pitt and Kim Basinger.

Definitely check out Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings when it’s released in April.

Trailer

[Source: Warner Bros.]