The Hobbit (TV/1977)
With the colossal success of the Lord of the Rings
movies, older animated Tolkien adaptations are coming out of
the woodwork into DVD release. The Hobbit was produced
for television in the late 1970s by the Rankin/Bass animation
company (who were mainly known for Saturday morning children's
cartoons). The animation is not exactly Disney standard, and
Bilbo Baggins looks more like a large potato than the hobbit
described by Tolkien, but all things considered, this is an acceptably
done production.
Fans of the Lord of the Rings films who are too busy to
read the books will find this movie a useful background, for
it is, in part, the story of how Bilbo met Gollum and how Gollum's
"precious" (i.e. the ring) fell into Bilbo's possession.
Whereas The Lord of the Rings is an epic saga, The
Hobbit is a fairy story, simpler and more child-like, with
dragons, elves and giant spiders. Some phenomenal vocal talent
is featured in this production, as well. The great actor/director
John Huston lends his booming voice to Gandalf while fellow actor/director
Otto Preminger furnishes the voice of the Elf King. Surrealist
comedian Brother Theodore (a frequent guest on Late Night
With David Letterman in the 1980s) provides the scraping
voice of Gollum, while the actor Orson Bean provides the kindly
and sincere voice of Bilbo.
Despite a first-class story, this is basically a technically
dated children's film, with sanitized violence and cute-looking
characters. Unfortunately, Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema
blew it by not starting their series with a film of The Hobbit,
so this little animated trifle must serve as the sole adaption
of he story which started it all.
Paul Andrew MacLean
© 2002
Shelton CT 06484 USA
(800) 232-2224 voice
(800) 775-2729 fax
LadyJanet@RenaissanceMagazine.com