User reviews

I must say that I actually remember this movie with fondness. I've read comments that slam the film for either technical faults or the fact that it has left out a number of things.

All these things are true, of course.

Though I thought the artwork itself was quite good, the animation could use some work. Certainly things were left out.

Come on people! Certainly the film is no ten, but it is a decent version, given the fact that to fit the book into a film at all some liberties will be taken. Especially when it seems apparent that the film is aimed at children.

If you can't unwind a bit and just sit back and watch the film without always pointing out every little omission or alteration, then this film will disappoint. But if you can, then give this film a chance.

When I saw this movie around 1984 it sparked my interest in the Lord of the Rings series. I thought the drawing were outstanding (the thin lines on the characters shows the animators took the time to get details correct). The songs seemed a bit silly, but I thought the directors were trying to reflect the attidude of the book. Although fans of the book might say the movie had an oversimplifed plot, I thought the directors did an excellent job condensing a 200 page story into an adventuorous hour and half movie.

'The Hobbit' in its animated shape is what we have to go with until Peter Jackson finishes the LotR prequel (hey, it's bound to happen...), but it doesn't mean all one should do is wait for that occasion. Watch the Rankin-Bass classic!

Rankin-Bass are behind the huge 80's successes 'Thundercats', 'Silverhawks' etc and also shine here with their interpretation of Tolkien's masterpiece. 'The Hobbit' is in this shape more of a family/children's movie than the new Lord of the Rings movies, and its runtime of only 78 minutes makes it feel a little stressed through since the scenes aren't given much time each. But nevertheless, it features good animation, solid voicework and music that is FAR MORE fantasy-like than the more majestic approach in Peter Jackson's movies. See this movie with your children!

Only backdraft I have to say is the runtime. 8/10

I saw the Rankin/Bass 'Hobbit' for the first time when I was about eight or nine years old. I was enchanted by the movie, and I credit it with motivating me to read 'The Hobbit' and later 'The Lord of the Rings', thereby transforming me into a lifelong Tolkien fan (albeit not as die-hard as some, I admit). This is probably the highest praise I can give it.

I re-viewed the movie recently. How does it stand up now that I am older and better-versed in Tolkien? So-so, I would say. Some comments/criticisms, in no particular order:

* The movie, I now realize, was seriously hampered by time constraints. The creators attempted to squeeze a very eventful novel's story into a two-hour TV movie, with commercials. The result is that everything seems very hurried, events are piled on top of each other with great speed and moments that ought to be savored get rushed. Also, the periodic fade-outs/fade-ins for commercials are distracting.

* A product of its time, the movie is wall-to-wall with songs, most with lyrics written by Tolkien, one written originally for the film, all sung to '70s folk ballad melodies. Tolkien's elves should not sound like hippie chipmunks.

* The '70s context also gives the movie a strongly pacifist message. All scenes of fighting are rendered, somewhat awkwardly, so as to avoid any actual blood or carnage (a mortally wounded character will be glimpsed in a freeze frame that will then spin into a blur, mirroring the character's disappearance from this life, I suppose). Speeches about the glory of war are presented so as to make the advocates look ridiculous. None of this is a bad, and is even refreshing, but it is the work of Rankin/Bass, not Tolkien.

* Some of the key players are perfect: Orson Bean as Bilbo, John Huston as Gandalf, Richard Boone as Smaug and Theodore as Gollum bring great life and character to the movie. The one-on-one scenes between Bilbo and each of the other three are easily the best part of 'The Hobbit'.

Overall, the movie is best suited for the audience for whom it was intended, children. Kids will probably like it, and might even want to explore Tolkien further.

This was what introduced me to the Lord of the Rings, back in '77, when I was in 6th grade, it got the kids in my class to reading the trilogy and etc. Personally, I was all up for watching this, in the fall of '77, then the local TV station ran something else(MULLIGANS' STEW?!?) in its place. We were crushed in my family. I DID buy the record/sound track instead and listened to it to Death. Loved it-the voices and artwork both.

Didn't actually See this til '85...though had caught parts here and there...my thinking then and now is the same--Rankin-Bass did a fine job with it. Yes its done by Japanese animators, and No it isn't outta Allen Lee or whomever else' kind of drawing. But they stuck some interesting spins on what elves, dwarves, Wizards, Dragons and Hobbits look like, along with trolls and whatever, personally I found it to be interesting.

And how can you knock the voices-I mean-John Huston? Hans Conried, Cyril Ritchard, Theodore Bikel, Richard Boone, Don Messick, Orson Bean-and last but not least-Otto Preminger. Some legends here guys, esp. Otto and JHuston. I loved it! Rankin-Bass did make it more for kids, definately, and took some cuts here and there-Beorn and the Arkenstone bye-bye, for example, and no one is claiming the animation is up to, say, 'Aladdin' standards, but on its own, it works fine.

*** outta ****, pretty good, actually.

And Where is Leonard Maltin's review? somehow he missed this one...

This isn't perfect, but it is beautiful and fun to watch. Far better than Jackson's overblown and silly version. No, not perfect but way more loyal to the book than Jackson's. Worth seeing but may be too scary in parts for smaller children.

It seems that everyone who gives this movie a low rating comments on the same problems, poor animation, poor adaption from the book, etc. However it seems to me that they are forgetting three very important things: 1. This movie was made for TV, so it had a lower budget than it would have in Hollywood, 2. It was made in 1977, so it has a lower quality animation than we are now used to now, and 3. It is a children's movie, they had to make it child friendly.

I remember spending a whole summer of my childhood watching this movie over and over again, nearly wearing out the tape. I have since read the book and still love and own the movie. In fact, to this day every time the subject of LOTR comes up I start humming "the greatest adventure...".

It's certainly not what PJ could do with the Hobbit, but it certainly is nice. I think it captures the overall story pretty well. In fact, the only real complaint that I have is that sometimes the artistry lacked. OK, so they made everyone but Bard have fat or thin faces with either beaks, rocks, or boulders for noses. But other than that, it's quite enjoyable. Oh, and I was a little disappointed that they didn't have Beorn. But, I stopped crying after the first ten minutes when I realized they skipped him (ha ha).

There are some nice songs in it that kind of help the story along. The Riddles in the Dark part was pretty good too (although, I think they took the description in the Lord of the Rings of Gollum looking like a starved frog a little too far).

While it is a children's cartoon, adults can enjoy this too. If you happen to see it on the shelf of a store, pick it up. You might be surprised by what's in it.

Great adaptation of The Hobbit for children . The voices are outstanding and there are a lot of fun songs that reflect Tolkein's poetry beautifully. I learned them all when I was a kid. The story is chopped up a bit but the character shine through.

They pulled out all the stops on this one. A glorious ensemble of voices including the legendary John Huston and Otto Preminger gave life to Tolkien's creation while the outstanding folk and fantasy score illuminates the story.

You'll see why Frodo was supposed to be an actor in his 50's for the LOTR trilogy (though Peter Jackson's opus was well cast anyway in every position).

This will whet your appetite until "Hobbit" is a full-length feature in theatres (fingers crossed) and no doubt, Mr. Jackson and his screenwriters will pull visuals and more from this timeless adaptation.

The only shame of it is annually, Rankin-Bass's Christmas offerings are still aired while The Hobbit and its sister production of Return Of The King (starring Roddy McDowell as Samwise The Brave!) aren't.

Catch that feature too as it picks up where the Ralph Bakshi stab at The Fellowship Of The Rings/Two Towers left off. -Matt Sherman

The screen version of the Hobbit is enjoyable and in my opinion, especially so for younger children as it is not difficult to follow. That being said, I also enjoyed the film and thought it remained pretty faithful to the book. I thought the voice of Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist was well-done and righfully naive to the adventures of the world. Also enjoyed Gandalf's cahracter

This is a truly terrible adaption of Tolkiens great novel. It would be interesting to know what Tolkien himself thought of it. I think the animated version of Lord of the Rings are quite good, partly maybe because I grew up with it, but this is just sad. The movie is very poorly animated. The environments are acceptable but all the characters are really bad. The goblins look like frogs, Gollum like some sort of sleepy turtle, the wood elves look like ants and Smaug has the face of a cat. The story is also extremely rushed because the film is far too short but the worst thing of all is the annoying hippie music. There so many irritating details in this movie that I don't even dare to start arguing about them. Let's just hope that Peter Jackson will do a fine job so we'll have a good version of a marvelous tale to remember instead of crap like this.

This charming film worked its magic on me many a time when I was a little kid who understood neither its context nor its subtext. At the time I hadn't even heard of The Lord of the Rings, and I hadn't recognized the archetypal nature of Tolkein's universe. The movie was my first brush with elves, dwarfs, goblins, hobbits, and Gollum. I was fascinated. I could sense that The Hobbit was part of something larger, and there was something captivating about its tone from the opening narration.

Recently I revisited the film, and let's just say that I saw it through new eyes. And rather than finding that it merely held up well, I came to appreciate it even more and on multiple levels. I don't care if it abridged or even modified Tolkein's epic; if it's good, it's good. (Consider it "inspired by" the book if you must.) Here's why I give it 9 stars:

1. The voice acting. These are some of the best voices I've heard in English-language animation. It turns out that a few of them are heavy hitters. To me, the standouts are: Gandalf (John Huston), noble, authoritative, and wise; Bilbo (Orson Bean), mellow, gracious, and (more on this later) smooth; and Gollum (Brother Theodore), tortured, twisted, and temperamental. Not a bad use of star power.

2. The fundamental lightheartedness. The film is, of course, meant to appeal primarily to children, and it's a good example of how this can be done without diminishing palatability to adults. Essentially, rather than sacrificing meaningful content, Rankin and Bass only gloss over the _presentation_ of mature elements (danger, fear, violence). For example, when Bilbo defeats the giant spiders, the damage from his dagger thrusts is symbolized by images of the spiders' heads spinning. When he hesitates on the way towards confronting Smaug, we hear of his doubts, but his inner monologue is given a calm and reasonable voice. We know he's thinking (not for the first time on this quest), "I may very well be walking to my death," but why scare the kids by making such realities palpable? Another benefit of the absence of truly dark moments in the film is that the audience is always primed for humor. This comes in handy since the movie has numerous amusing or funny elements, intentional or otherwise. (Try thinking of Gandalf as a benevolent questmaster, for instance. The film lends itself to this "reading" because of his teacherly demeanor and conveniently timed appearances, departures, and revelations -- it's as if he's trying to set the ideal difficulty level for the little guys, or for a good story.) Overall, The Hobbit is a very fun movie. I consider it more of a comedy than anything else.

3. The animation. (Or should I say anime, as it was done in Japan?) While of course dated, it's more quaint than outmoded. There's something charmingly British about it. Maybe the production team based the film's landscapes and character designs on Tolkein's own illustrations. I wouldn't be surprised.

4. The cinematography. The Hobbit shines in this department, too. Two good examples come to mind. First, consider the opening credits. In many movies these are shown at the beginning, superimposed on landscape shots and the like so as not to distract viewers from anything too important. Here Rankin and Bass present the opening credits the night after the first scene, in which Bilbo is enlisted by Gandalf and the dwarfs. The credits provide a transition from night to day and are accompanied by images of Bilbo's uneasy dreams and by the uplifting theme song. The dream sequence is beautifully "shot," and the contrast between it and the inspirational lyrics artfully expresses Bilbo's conflicted attitude towards suddenly leaving his life behind for the promise and peril of adventure. Second, there's the famous riddle scene, in which Bilbo and Gollum try to stump each other. After a couple of exchanges, the camera zooms out and pans around the cavern, and a haunting choral interlude sings one of the riddles and conveys the passage of a considerable amount of time. Then the scene shifts back to the adversaries and their final confrontation.

5. Bilbo Baggins. (Best porn name ever.) Much of the amusement I derive from the film is due to its portrayal of this little big man. In short, he's a badass, and I don't just mean for a hobbit. Despite getting pushed around by the condescending king of the dwarfs, Bilbo takes it in stride and calmly saves them on many an occasion. Like James Bond he confounds his enemies by never losing his cool, and he's got a British accent. Unlike James Bond his enemies include goblins, giant spiders, and a dragon, in addition to crazy Russians (i.e., the hard-drinking and xenophobic wood elves, who have Russianesque accents to boot). One of his best moments is when, after playing along with the riddle game for quite some time, he asks Gollum "what have I got in my pocket?" and pretends to be taken aback when Gollum objects. Bilbo ironically invokes the rules, which are stacked against him but say nothing about what constitutes a legitimate riddle. The name's Baggins. Bilbo Baggins.

6. The songs. These work wonders for the film's tone. Maury Laws wrote some great melodies. Glenn Yarbrough has an ideal voice for the contemplative folk ballads, and various choirs are used to good effect, particularly in the goblin battle chants. Notably, most of the lyrics come directly from poems and songs that Tolkein included in the novel.

I think I've spilled enough ink about a cartoon that you may vaguely remember, if at all, as a cheesy adaptation of a vastly superior book. But hey, I'm trying to convince you otherwise. If you're into this sort of thing, The Hobbit is worth (re)visiting.

While this is definitely not a good representation of the book, it does stand well on it's own. There is no reason a movie based on a book should be the same as the book. Compare Stanley Kubrick's The Shining with the screenplay Stephen King came up with. Kubrick's is better by far for a movie. Anyway, I like the animation and loved the music. This movie turned me on to Tolkien and so I hold it in high regard. It's definitely a must see.

It is possible that Rankin & Bass crafted the perfect adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic novel. It is certainly true to the source material and like all of their other collaborations it is so charming and full of heart. It's no mystery that I am a nerd for the universe. I love it all! I've read all of the books many times and I'm a huge fan of Peter Jackson's work on the topic. I never complained about him splitting his version of The Hobbit into three films. I was just happy to have so many movies to lap up, even with the over bloated liberties he took with the story. I loved it all! I own the extended editions of both The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings, so the amount of material will never be a problem for me. Rankin & Bass took the opposite route, choosing instead to trim all of the fat away and bind the most important elements into a svelte 78 minutes. This particular adaptation came out the year I was born, so I remember watching it as a young person. Watching it again recently brought back so much nostalgia, and while I'm accustomed to the lavish production values of Weta Workshop, there is still so much to love about the original cartoon. I enjoyed revisiting it immensely!

First - it's a wonderful introduction to full scale Fantasy, for anyone. But, for small children it's truly a gift. This is the Gateway for reading that most parents would die for. Children that watch this cry for more because it's usually the first thing in their lives that is not so dumbed down that they realize they've been had.

Second - for all those that love a quality story, this is the Grand-daddy of them all for modern times. Sure the story is told from a more artistic viewpoint than the Book is, but that just adds to the enjoyment. * read the Book.

Third - Since the current (wonderful) movies are coming out, this provides a foundation that makes them even more enjoyable.

Finally - Even in this animated version, one can tell why J.R.R. Tolkien is celebrated as one of the finest writers of the 20th century. These books provided the foundation of nearly all quality Fantasy/Sc-Fi books and movies for the last 75 years and will continue to inspire writers and moviemakers for a long long time to come.

This movie was fairly good. When I watched it after reading the book, I noticed there are a lot of goofs and parts left out! For example, Beorn isn't in it, and there is a BIG change in the story when they are imprisoned by the elves. However, if you have not read the book, you will most likely enjoy this movie much more. I especially liked the backgrounds. They looked very neat. I would like to see another Hobbit movie... cartoon, film, I don't care! But this is really a little too outdated and has many bloopers in it (look at the animation, you'll see!) All in all, I gave it a 7/10.

I remember not too long ago, when Tolkien fans would trash this cartoon saying it was silly, stupid and such. I felt weird because, I loved this cartoon to death! If you ask me. it was a much better adaptation than the mega budget recent production.

The part that always glued me to the set and still gives me chills to hear today, is when Bard takes up the black arrow. Nuff said. This was one of the book's greatest moments and has never since been portrayed in film as successfully as in this film.

Beat me with a stick if you like, but I love the songs too.

The voice acting was incredible. I don't think people even have the capability today to enjoy the excellent characterizations and talent displayed in this wonderful little film. It's like going back to watch Lon Chaney portraying the "Phantom of the Opera" and really grasping what a fantastic silent actor he really was.

Yet, you can! Give it a try. This is definitely like finding your old childhood teddy bear still quite huggable. :D

If you are a Tolkien fan, don't see this. If you are not a Tolkien fan, don't see this. For the time, the drawings and animation are slightly above average, but very unrealistic. The battle scene is a bunch of dots sending flecks at each other. The accuracy to the book was barely there. The elves sounded and acted like refugees from a WW2movie, Words and names were mispronounced. And Smaug was an Oriental dragon. The only person who seemed to demonstrate any knowledge of the book at all was Richard Boone, who did an excellent job.

Many Tolkien fans who have written reviews say that this movie has done bad things to the book. They say it oversimplifies it, that it takes out parts that shouldn't've been taken out, that it turns it from a novel for mature readers into a movie for 'kids'. I've read the book, and been watching this movie for many years. I have to disagree that this is a movie just for children-- when I was younger and watched this movie, I did not realize the philosophical lessons present from beginning to end. Bilbo begins his day just like any other day-- he washes his dishes, cleans his hobbit hole, and leaves it to go outside and smoke his pipe. Then, from the suddeness of destiny, his life is changed. He's taken from his quiet home in the Shire, to begin his Greatest Adventure. An adventure that changes him from shy, unsure, afraid, and reluctant, into a confident, wiser, and better man. "The Chances, the Changes, are all yours to make. The mold of your life is in your hands to break." This happens to all of us in our lives. We leave our happy, unknowing-of-danger homes, and are taken through hard times, until finally, we take those steps into the cave, and we face our fears. "...but to take those last steps. That would be the bravest of all things. Whatever happens afterwards is nothing."

The songs are beautiful, with tunes that will have you humming at work. The song 'The Greatest Adventure', if you listened to carefully, can tell you much about what you will have to do in your own hard times. This is a beautiful, wonderful movie. Not just the animation and the music, but the lesson it can teach.

"So, Mr. Bilbo Baggins... Do you turn back?"

The Rankin/Bass animated version of "The Hobbit" has a cozy mythical feel to it, that aligns perfectly with the source material. A majority of the credit goes to the Topcraft animators whose unique style of boldly intricate character designs combined with softly flowing backgrounds.

Airing originally as a television special, content from the original novel had to be cut, but the filmmakers mostly made smart decisions about what to remove without dismissing the novel's themes. While songs in fantasy books are notoriously boring for most readers, the adapted and original songs in this film work well and add to its child-friendly charm.