Tolkien Animated Trilogy

Long before Peter Jackson there was Rankin & Bass, and Ralph Bakshi! The crew  takes a look at the original Tolkien animated "trilogy" of The Hobbit (1977), The Lord of the Rings (1978) and The Return of the King (1980). Does The Hobbit work better as an animated musical for kids? Was Bakshi ahead a pioneer of animation techniques or just bug nuts crazy?