The Return of the King (also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits) is a 1980 American-Japanese animated musical fantasy television film created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. It is an adaptation of part of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1955 high fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. It takes its name from The Return of the King, the third and final volume of the novel, and is a sequel to the 1977 film The Hobbit. 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 (the also animated The Lord of the Rings film by Ralph Bakshi from 1978 is an unrelated project, although the two were later marketed together by Warner Bros.).

The special aired on ABC on Sunday, May 11, 1980 after a legal challenge filed by the Tolkien Estate and Fantasy Films was settled. Both critics and fans gave The Return of the King a lukewarm welcome.