Modern fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's work surely know The Lord of the Rings at least partly (if not primarily) through the lens of the beloved big-screen adaptations directed by Peter Jackson at the dawn of the 21st century. But for decades after the original 1955 publication of the Middle-earth saga, it was not a guarantee that the quest to destroy the One Ring would ever make it to the screen. The closest thing many American fans got was the 1978 animated film by Ralph Bakshi.