It doesn’t seem possible, but King of the Hill aired for 13 seasons and 258 episodes from 1997 until 2010. It doesn’t seem possible because for the latter half of the show’s run it felt like no one ever talked about it. The series just kept chugging alongside its animated counterparts The Simpsons and South Park with nary the dialogue around those shows. But what’s becoming clearer is that King of the Hill lasted as long as it did not only because it was excellent, but because people loved it. People not only talk about it all the time, they consistently find unique ways to pay tribute to it. Now one fan has honored Mike Judge’s classic series by combining it with another beloved story. And dang nabbit you ain’t seen nuthin’ til you’ve seen this J.R.R. Tolkien-inspired “Return of the King of the Hill of the Rings.”
Forget Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings comes to Texas in comedian Alasdair Beckett-King‘s animated short. (Which we first saw at Laughing Squid.) In the mashup Beckett-King voices Hank Hill as the ring bearer himself, Frodo. He also plays Dale Gribble as the skeptical Boromir. And he brings Gollum to life as the fast-talking, hard-to-understand Boomhauer.
If Beckett-King has time to make a sequel video in the future, we’d like to see the kind-hearted Bill Dauterive as Samwise Gangee. The stubborn Bobby can take Gimli’s place. The powerful Peggy Hill should also get to play Galadriel. And Hank’s dad Cotton Hill would make for a perfect quick-tempered Gandalf.
And those are just our initial thoughts. After watching this short way too many times we’re going to keep fan casting King of the Hill characters as their The Lord of the Ring counterparts. We’re also going to rewatch some of our favorite episodes of the Fox animated series. We didn’t talk about it enough when it wasn’t on. But that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate getting a chance to now.
