...One of the ever-present "who-to-cast-for-the-movie" threads on rec.arts.books.tolkien took an unexpected spin when @#$%!?! discussed combining live action with animation, and then went on to suggest using Babs and Buster Bunny as Eowyn and Eomer, with Bugs as their uncle Theoden. Bill Thompson and I jumped on the idea, and by the time the three of us were finished with it the casting was moving in this kind of direction:
| Gandalf | Mr. Peabody |
| Aragorn | Daffy Duck (though Popeye was strongly considered) |
| Arwen | either Olive Oyl, Jessica Rabbit, or Minnie Mouse |
| Boromir | Brutus (a.k.a. "Bluto" in the old Dave Fleischer cartoons) |
| Gimli | Yosemite Sam |
| Legolas | Speed Racer |
| Bilbo | Mr. Magoo |
| Frodo | Bart Simpson (though Mickey Mouse was also a likely candidate) |
| Sam | Hadji from "Jonny Quest" |
| Merry and Pippin | Heckle and Jeckle |
| Tom Bombadil | either Ren, or Stimpy |
| Goldberry | Nell Fenwick from "Dudley Do-Right" |
| Butterbur | Homer Simpson |
| Elrond | Doctor Quest |
| Glorfindel | Race Bannon |
| Celeborn and Galadriel | Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale |
| Saruman | Evil-lyn (a slight departure from traditional casting, but I think it works) |
| The Balrog | The Tazmanian Devil |
| Shagrat and Gorbag | Beavis and Butthead |
| Chief Ringwraith (a.k.a. the Witch-king of Angmar) | Snidely Whiplash |
| The Other Ringwraiths | The Smurfs |
| Eowyn and Eomer | Babs and Buster Bunny (though Nell Fenwick was also suggested for Eowyn) |
| Theoden | Bugs Bunny |
| Dead Men of Dunharrow | Casper the Friendly Ghost and friends |
| Grima Wormtongue | Porky Pig |
| Denethor | either Inspector Fenwick, or Commander McBragg |
| Faramir | Dudley Do-Right |
| Shadowfax | Dudley Do-Right's Horse |
| Shelob | The Tick (casting against type though it be) |
| Gollum | Wile E. Coyote |
Some time later @#$%!?! took this idea to its penultimate conclusion, and after long painful hours of cleaning up video captures he succeeded in creating a full and complete animated cast for The Lord of the Rings. I recommend it highly, even if the images do take a bit of extra time to download.