The Return of the King is a 1980 animated musical fantasy television film. It is a sequel to The Hobbit (1977). The film is an adaptation of The Return of the King, the third and final volume of the 1955 novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. The first two parts of Tolkien's story, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, are not covered in this release and are only briefly summarized at the beginning of the movie.