I am 53. I did grow up with it. My favorite moment is from the sequel tv special. The orcs are marching along singing "We Don't wanna gonto work today, but the lord of the lash says nay nay nay. We're gonna march all day all day all day. Where there's a whip there's a way." I have randomly started singing this in many inappropriate times and places ever since I first heard it.
I'm right there with you! "Where there's a whip there's a way... left, right..." I also kind of love the tune they have for "The Road Goes Ever On and On" better than the official one.
53 here also. This one and "15 birds in 5 Fir trees, their tails were fanned, by a fiery breeze" are my favs. The orcs had the best music! I listen to metal now...is there a connection? hmmmm
The first time I watched this movie I was 4 years old and at my grandparents' house. When Gollum appeared, I was so frightened that I began crying and my parents had to take me home! But a year later, it became my absolute favorite film. I still think it's beautiful and emotional. They obviously had to trim down the story, but I think they did so deftly. This movie inspired a love of LotR and a love of nature in me.
I liked the Peter Jackstand version of LOR, but this was my childhood introduction to Tolkien and I liked it many times better than the Jackstand hobbit.
I actually think that it's a pretty good, overly straightforward adaptation of the book. I much prefer it to PEter Jackson's versions weirdly. It's just a sort of 7/10 across the board, nothing crazy. Also, Down Down to Goblin Town...
The reason this is the best version is that they didn't change any of the motivations of the characters. It wasn't "What would a hobbit in 2023 (or 1977) do if he was forced to become a thief and had his home invaded by 13 dwarves and a wizzard.
I wouldn't say the Jackson changed the motivations of characters as gave them ones to begin with. The only clear motivations any of them have in this are greed and "a Wizard was shouting at me".
I grew up watching this on laser disk at my elementary school. I’m not actually that old but the player would get wheeled into the classroom when we had a substitute and needed to fill some time. I have so much nostalgia and love for this adaptation
This was my intro to Tolkien. Saw it when it was on TV. Then somehow ended up with a tape of it. It's pretty impressive but it plays very well as an audio only media. To this day THAT'S the voice I hear when I recite Gandalf lines in my head.
This was a great TV movie. As a child, it made me fall in love with the sword and sorcerer.. I can still as an adult ( 55years old) watch this today. I have shared it with my children and they enjoy it as well..
The vibrato singer is Glenn Yarbrough, a folk singer from Milwaukee Wisconsin. As folk singers go, he's pretty famous - I'd recommend downloading an album or two if you like folk music at all.
I watched The Hobbit when it came out, I was 14, and it suffered from one big issue. It was done for the 70s audience so it had to be one hour to fit in the time slot and couldn't be two parts. No 70s audience was going to sit through a 2 hour children's show and no TV company was going to gamble on the audience tuning in the next week for the 2nd half. I think a 2 hour "true to the original story" animated version would go over really well now.
As it is, this version is pretty damn true to the original story. It barely alters anything, and includes almost every major element from the book. A longer version that included everything would be wonderful. But for what they had to work with back then, this film was actually pretty amazing.
Ill be honest. By far a better adaptation than what was made recently. Ill go back to this version everytime then go into the LOTR live action films. Gollums voice and look tripped me out as a little kid. This whole movie did.
Remember who this was for, it was on TV for kids. Thus spinning for dying, and yhey had to chop down for allowed time. They put a lot of heart into it, snd was 10x better than the Peter Jackson adaptation. And it captured Bilbos growth, the theme of focusing on building bridges to others and sharing versus covering and selfishly withholding. Id put above other kids oriented specials being produced at rhe time or in general. This was the era of Star Wars Holiday specials, as abother famous example. I actually respect this one as lot and watched it with my young kids around 5. They loved it just like they enjoyed watching Avatar the Last Aur Bender.
The animated Hobbit movie was a childhood favorite of mine and my only exposure to Tolkien prior to seeing Fellowship of the Ring in 2001. I loved it and enjoyed seeing the similarities on screen.
When this was remastered for DVD, they cut out most of the incidental sounds, which made this movie come alive. There were deep growls and grunts of Smaug, the rattling of coins. It lost a dimension.
I’m an older millennial who will be 40 this year. I grew up with this as a periodic rerun on cable. It was my first introduction to the Legendarium and I will love it forever for that reason. I have always loved that Bass and Rankin fantasy movie style of this film, RotK, the Last Unicorn, and the forgotten gem the Flight of Dragons. The designs for the spiders, goblins, and Gollum legitimately freaked me out on my first viewing and stuck with me forever. Another bit that stuck with me was the badass Black Arrow speech. Watching it now just reminds me of how badly the Jackson trilogy whiffed that scene in its adaptation… or lack there of as it were.
My uncle made me a VHS of all the animated movies when I was a kid, and I wore that tape out. I liked the hobbit and the return of the king animation style way more than the two towers. The music for the Hobbit was great.
I was 20 when this came out. Had read the trilogy 5 times by then . Read the Hobbit twice. Was starting the silmarillion then. The cartoon was a novelty to me but nothing like the books. At that time the Hildebrand brothers were putting out calendars. Their illustrations were fantastic.
I watch ed this a million times when I was younger and also when I was a teen and twenty year old. I liked the whole thing. So did we all. My friend used to have Gollum from this on her screensaver.
I'm 47 years old. The librarian at my school made my class watch this movie when I was in 5th grade, probably about 10 or 11 years old. This movie is what made me want to read the books! Love it!❤
This was a nice suprise to see in my feed as I just watched this version for the first time a few nights ago. Great video as usual, I always enjoy your reactions together!
I grew up with this adaptation (I’m 50) and I’m not sure it holds up all that well. However, I am still friends with my best friend from kindergarten, and when we go on outdoor adventures , one of us will occasionally bust out “ the greatest adventure is what lies ahead”.
The adaptation I grew up on was the 1979 'Minds Eye' radio adaptation (though the tapes we had of it were slightly abbreviated compared to the version I've found online since). For me - their tune for "Over the misty mountains cold" is unambiguously the correct one. I heartily recommend tracking that one down if possible.
This Cartoon was my introduction into J.R.R. Tolkien. Saw it when I was like 8 or 9 years old and then came across the book in my schools library in seventh grade years later. Was the 1st book that I read for fun and not for school work...lead me to reading the whole Lord of the rings Trilogy. Bought and read them again when I was in the Marines and the Peter Jackson movie trilogy came out was I was in so I read the Silmarillion as well. Been infested for awhile lol.
Outside of the books, this was my first encounter with media based on Tolkien, and I’m very fond of it. And I’m happy that, unlike some other things I feel nostalgia for, it’s actually not half bad.
Were it not for this animation, I would have likely never discovered the amazing world of Tolkein. It was 1979, I was 10 years old and this came on TV in the 9pm family special slot. At this point in my life, everything was still complete awe of Star Wars, and cartoons were what you watched on Saturday morning and were beginning to pass into "kids stuff" in my reckoning. After watching this animated version of The Hobbit, I became a huge fan of the fantasy genre. I owned the book and record version of the Hobbit, which was state of the art in those days, and which I still have and enjoy for the album sized animation stills used to illustrate the book. I later read the LOTR, and do so on repeat about every 2-3 years. The movies were great, but i was very disappointed with the screen adaptation of The Hobbit and still consider the Rankin Bass version the be "The Hobbit" for me.
This was my introduction to Tolkien as a kid. I grew up with it and have a lot of fondness for it. I think it's a better adaptation than the Peter Jackson Hobbit movies. As you pointed out, it doesn't add anything unnecessary and it captures the fairy tale feel of the original book. I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it and gave it a fair review. It has its flaws (some odd design choices for instance, such as the gray-skinned Wood-elves and cat-like dragon) but it's a very charming movie.
This is what turned toddler me into a Tolkiendil way back in the early ‘80s. I probably watched this and the animated The Lord of The Rings a hundred times before I was able to read the books.
So, I didn't grow up with this one, and for all its quirks and things about Bilbo that kinda bugged me, I think it deserves the love it recieves. The Jackson film trilogy being bogged down with so much unwanted filler hurts them big time, and to that end I think fan edits that refine them as films or distil them down to a version closest to the book are the best versions of those movies. As for the best adaptation from book to visual medium of The Hobbit, I think that honour goes to the graphic novel illustrated by David Wenzel is a near perfect translation, and is worth a video for this channel
I was eleven when this came out and had never read the book. I saw it on TV and loved it. I mean, really loved it, especially the music. I ended up convincing my mom to buy the soundtrack and used to go to bed listening to it on the record player all the time. This version of Gollum was so cannonical in my head, the PJ version was actually kind of jarring at first. BTW, the pre-historic show Gollum's design really seems to take from is the Sleestack from Land of the Lost, which was of this same era. If you don't know it, look it up and decide for yourself.
Great video! This is nostalgic for me, as grew up in the 70s. I loved the music and animation. I also have a fondness for the Rankin and Bass "Flight of Dragons" animated movie.
Yes! I never hear anyone talk about Flight of Dragons. I loved both this and The Flight of Dragons as a kid and even to this day. You are awesome in my book
FWIW -- from memory, the voice actors from this show: Bilbo Baggins → Orson Bean Gandalf → John Houston Thorin Oakenshield → Hans Conried [Then I cheated and checked IMDb...] Smaug → Richard Boone {After checking IMDb I REMEMBERED it was Boone's voice.}
I watched this as a child when it was first aired. It was my very first introduction to Tolkien’s world. I have since showed it to my five year old daughter because it isn’t as scary as Peter Jackson’s version. I agree that Gandalf was very aggressive. My initial impression at seven years old was that he was going to be a bad guy.
Loved it as a kid. The voice acting was superb, being performed by very talented, established actors. The songs were very memorable. Gollum and Bilbo's riddle sequence was the best scene of the entire movie for me. No one will ever top Brother Theodor as Gollum. The background riddle pondering music (which tells and reveals the answer to its own posed riddle) was hauntingly beautiful. Loved Richard Boone's Smaug too. My second favorite voice scene. The other voices were very good too. Glenn Yarborough's introspective folk songs were a nice addition to the ensemble songs. The artwork and detail were good and beyond the typical cartoon animation. Though I felt some scenes could have benefitted from higher frame rates. The only other thing that was a little underwhelming was the portrayal of violence being watered down, but I understand why, since it was meant to be for general audiences - especially kids - and Im sure CBS wouldnt have allowed graphic content on their Saturday primetime special. I couldnt complain of the gaps in the story, because this was my first exposure to the Hobbit and Tolkien in general. So overall, a great film for me. Also enjoyed Rankin-Bass' Return film, which was kind of an unofficial sequel to Ralph Bakshi's LOTR (Fellowship), and which I also liked.
they didn’t jump straight to return of the King. The Ralph Bakshi lord of the rings, I think, was supposed to be part of the series, but it was so bad that they went back to Rankin and bass.
9:05 Might be a good call back. In Tolkiens notes theres a deleted scene from LOTR, after a White Council meeting Saruman complains that Gandalf is less attentive due to his smoking pipe weed. Gandalf replies Saruman might see more clearly if he smoked too. Gandalf then blows several tiny smoke rings and pretends to be frustrated at not being able to grab them, impliying he knows about Saruman's fixation on the Rings, but that they will evade his grasp.😂
I do kind of like the goblins looking like moblins from Zelda and sort of this odd bulldog art style! Same I as I like Gollum being sort of an amphibious frog man. The songs are also mostly fire in this, IMO
I hate when a wizard yells at me then a bunch of dwarves start crawling out of the foliage in my yard. It's really hard to keep a job when I'm constantly going on epic treks to save the world from dark relics. But that's tuesday for yah....
Ever seen that Christmas movie with the mouse that writes a letter to Santa Claus to f off? Then he fixes the clock tower to play sorry music to Santa? Same animation. It's weird. Like Disney reused animations
I was 10 when this was first broadcast and I can remember watching it. I remember not liking the songs but I did like the "scary" aspects of it. I didn't read the book until many years later. I hated the new Hobbit movies and only saw the first one.
I like this more compared to the Peter Jackson-version, because much of it (the music, the stylized character designs, the outdated language) helps to create a folk-tale atmosphere which The Hobbit is more suited for. Even Lord of the Rings had (at points) more in-common with folk tales, and Middle Earth is by comparison less crowded than the Pen & Paper-universes that followed it. PJ (due to the neckbreaking schedule and executive meddling he was subjected to) tried to make it more like his own LotR, added a lot of padding and therefor only made his own flaws as a writer more obvious.
this cartoon is straight savage. it kills off more dwarves than the books and live action lol (this was something they did add tho. more death) I LOVE this film but i also LOVE Peter Jackson's films of the Hobbit. They might have some bad moments but if you do a little extra mind work, PJ's hobbit can be one of the best experiences ever. (maybe yall do a Hobbit Fan edit review)
I know that this comment is a year late, but I think that one should watch the "Lord of the Rings" film by Ralph Bakshi before watching the Return of the King by RB. Rankin Bass made its Return of the King adaptation as a sequel to that film, even though there was no connection between the studios.
Entire reaction is you two being overly pretentious, and mocking a child's cartoon for not being sophisticated enough for you, then you call the movie's language pretentious... nice. Maybe try a little self-awareness.
RE: The Art Style of this Film; If you like the way this looks... see also "The Last Unicorn" (1982) also by Rankin and Bass. Not Tolkien, very heavily inspired by this set of broad character types though, funny and off-putting fantasy with frequent musical breaks for song.
This certainly has charm but I had read the book before I watched this and I remember being MASSIVELY disappointed by the "fight" scenes in this... especially the "battle" of five armies :P
There's a really interesting tradeoff in 70s tv animation like this - the design is gorgeous, and part of that is that the design tends to be extremely detailed, with these gorgeous illustrative backgrounds, but that detail stunts the actual animation, leading to extremely few actual frames of movement happening, making everything pretty stiff and stilted, which is absolutely what this film suffers from, imo. So while I'd say the design and backgrounds are, indeed beautiful, I'd say the animation itself is mediocre.. certainly passable for tv but nothing to write home about
I don't think it's a hot take to say that Peter Jackson's version of Bilbo is more likable than the animated versions. It is mostly due to the actors. Both Ian Holm and Martin Freeman were excellent. Say what you will about the Hobbit movies in particular, but at least Bilbo underwent a believable character transformation, which was also a big part of the book as well.
This Hobbit and the Bakshi LOTR are both great IMO. It might just be that they were the first adaptations I saw as a kid in the 70's, but I stand by saying that they are both legitimately decent. Now, that being said...the "Return of the King" they made for tv to try and ride the coattails of the Bakshi movie...it's horrible....and yet, it's SOOO bad, that some of it's excesses are actually enjoyable in a kitschy way...but it's pretty bad. You should watch it! "Where there's a whip....there's a way!" :)
I had to read the Hobbit in ninth grade, and I didn't like it. Then we as a class watched this, and after that I finished reading the book and enjoyed it.
Loves how much you talked through this, getting stream of consciousness thoughts was great. I agree that the Peter Jackson Bilbo is very likable, it's just that he's not present enough in a film that's named after him; they gave too much time to other characters and fabricated plotlines. I really enjoy The Hobbit animated adaptation; all the music, especially the goblin choirs, the collected and calm voice acting, the psychedelic way they portray death with the character spiralling into blackness, i rhought the depiction of the elves was a little bizarre, but I'm glad you liked it. My favorite bit is Bard killing the dragon, not because he has access to medieval artillery, but because Smaug has a literal chink in hus armor he's overlooked in his arrogance, y'know, like hiw it was in the book.
This is based on the *original* version of the book, before Tolkien made the revisions to make it more in line with events of LOTR. Gandalf's lines at the end aside. This version always struck me as the last gasp of the hippie ownership of Tolkien. It's very pastoral and trippy, with backgrounds that wouldn't look out of place on a Led Zeppelin album. We were deep in Star Wars mania when this debuted (1977 was ground zero for many a burgeoning young nerd), we were on the cusp of the explosion of epic fantasy (Sword of Shannara was published the same year), and D&D was about to explode into the mainstream, which meant Tolkien was about to be embraced by the masses. No doubt helped by how many of us watched this and immediately demanded our parents buy as the book.
My understanding was that in the original version of the book, Gollum was less hostile, played the riddle game straight, and gave Bilbo the ring as a prize for winning. I won't pretend to have read that version myself, but I'm not clear what you're talking about here? In what way does this line up with the original vs the later edit?
A minor point. I believe the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were already popular, and were having a 60s/70s resurgence before the 1977 movie. See, for example, songs by Led Zeppelin (Ramble On, Misty Mountain Hop, Battle of Evermore), Rush (Rivendell, The Necromancer), Black Sabbath (The Wizard), and Leonard Nimoy (The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins).
@@richarddoan9172 I think those were more cases of popular bands referencing Tolkien more than instances of Tolkien himself being popular. Led Zeppelin and Rush have a lot more non-Tolkien content than songs that reference him.
The animation in this IS gorgeous, it was animated in Japan so it's technically an Anime, though obviously it was an American production. The guy that voiced Gollum is Brother Theodore and his is my favorite voice for Gollum. Brother Theodore really brings out a sort of insanity I love.
Brother Theodore is underrated as Gollum. I really liked how in the 1980 animated Return of the King he balanced the strange slimy otherworldly aspect of Gollum with the more sympathetic pitiable side.
I am 53. I did grow up with it. My favorite moment is from the sequel tv special. The orcs are marching along singing "We Don't wanna gonto work today, but the lord of the lash says nay nay nay. We're gonna march all day all day all day. Where there's a whip there's a way." I have randomly started singing this in many inappropriate times and places ever since I first heard it.
I'm right there with you! "Where there's a whip there's a way... left, right..." I also kind of love the tune they have for "The Road Goes Ever On and On" better than the official one.
53 here also. This one and "15 birds in 5 Fir trees, their tails were fanned, by a fiery breeze" are my favs. The orcs had the best music! I listen to metal now...is there a connection? hmmmm
🎶Where there’s a whip there’s a way… hey hey 🎶
That’s the only version that got the watchers right. I still love it.
Wait… was it work? I always heard it as “We don’t wanna go to war today…”
The first time I watched this movie I was 4 years old and at my grandparents' house. When Gollum appeared, I was so frightened that I began crying and my parents had to take me home! But a year later, it became my absolute favorite film. I still think it's beautiful and emotional. They obviously had to trim down the story, but I think they did so deftly. This movie inspired a love of LotR and a love of nature in me.
I liked the Peter Jackstand version of LOR, but this was my childhood introduction to Tolkien and I liked it many times better than the Jackstand hobbit.
I actually think that it's a pretty good, overly straightforward adaptation of the book. I much prefer it to PEter Jackson's versions weirdly. It's just a sort of 7/10 across the board, nothing crazy. Also, Down Down to Goblin Town...
The Black Crack
Here down in the valley
It's not weird to prefer RB Hobbit to PJ Hobbit. I was so disgusted with PJH2 that I didn't even bother to watch PJH3.
The reason this is the best version is that they didn't change any of the motivations of the characters. It wasn't "What would a hobbit in 2023 (or 1977) do if he was forced to become a thief and had his home invaded by 13 dwarves and a wizzard.
I wouldn't say the Jackson changed the motivations of characters as gave them ones to begin with. The only clear motivations any of them have in this are greed and "a Wizard was shouting at me".
The goblins were great singers in this movie. "Down, down to goblin town" & "Fifteen birds in five fir trees!" They rocked!
I grew up watching this on laser disk at my elementary school. I’m not actually that old but the player would get wheeled into the classroom when we had a substitute and needed to fill some time. I have so much nostalgia and love for this adaptation
the art is fantastic in this, really cool designs.
This was my intro to Tolkien. Saw it when it was on TV. Then somehow ended up with a tape of it. It's pretty impressive but it plays very well as an audio only media. To this day THAT'S the voice I hear when I recite Gandalf lines in my head.
"Hear Hear!"
This was a great TV movie. As a child, it made me fall in love with the sword and sorcerer.. I can still as an adult ( 55years old) watch this today. I have shared it with my children and they enjoy it as well..
The vibrato singer is Glenn Yarbrough, a folk singer from Milwaukee Wisconsin. As folk singers go, he's pretty famous - I'd recommend downloading an album or two if you like folk music at all.
I watched The Hobbit when it came out, I was 14, and it suffered from one big issue. It was done for the 70s audience so it had to be one hour to fit in the time slot and couldn't be two parts. No 70s audience was going to sit through a 2 hour children's show and no TV company was going to gamble on the audience tuning in the next week for the 2nd half. I think a 2 hour "true to the original story" animated version would go over really well now.
As it is, this version is pretty damn true to the original story. It barely alters anything, and includes almost every major element from the book. A longer version that included everything would be wonderful. But for what they had to work with back then, this film was actually pretty amazing.
I love how Peter Jackson reference the songs by making his blunt the knives and Misty Mountains referential without sounding like a copy or rip off
Ill be honest. By far a better adaptation than what was made recently. Ill go back to this version everytime then go into the LOTR live action films. Gollums voice and look tripped me out as a little kid. This whole movie did.
I'm 52, and this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Watched it every year on Thanksgiving growing up.
Remember who this was for, it was on TV for kids. Thus spinning for dying, and yhey had to chop down for allowed time. They put a lot of heart into it, snd was 10x better than the Peter Jackson adaptation. And it captured Bilbos growth, the theme of focusing on building bridges to others and sharing versus covering and selfishly withholding. Id put above other kids oriented specials being produced at rhe time or in general. This was the era of Star Wars Holiday specials, as abother famous example. I actually respect this one as lot and watched it with my young kids around 5. They loved it just like they enjoyed watching Avatar the Last Aur Bender.
The "What are moon letters?" line is a literary tool used by writer to explain their mcguffins/ Duex ex Machinas.
The animated Hobbit movie was a childhood favorite of mine and my only exposure to Tolkien prior to seeing Fellowship of the Ring in 2001. I loved it and enjoyed seeing the similarities on screen.
When this was remastered for DVD, they cut out most of the incidental sounds, which made this movie come alive. There were deep growls and grunts of Smaug, the rattling of coins. It lost a dimension.
I’m an older millennial who will be 40 this year. I grew up with this as a periodic rerun on cable. It was my first introduction to the Legendarium and I will love it forever for that reason.
I have always loved that Bass and Rankin fantasy movie style of this film, RotK, the Last Unicorn, and the forgotten gem the Flight of Dragons. The designs for the spiders, goblins, and Gollum legitimately freaked me out on my first viewing and stuck with me forever. Another bit that stuck with me was the badass Black Arrow speech. Watching it now just reminds me of how badly the Jackson trilogy whiffed that scene in its adaptation… or lack there of as it were.
My uncle made me a VHS of all the animated movies when I was a kid, and I wore that tape out. I liked the hobbit and the return of the king animation style way more than the two towers. The music for the Hobbit was great.
I was 20 when this came out. Had read the trilogy 5 times by then . Read the Hobbit twice. Was starting the silmarillion then. The cartoon was a novelty to me but nothing like the books. At that time the Hildebrand brothers were putting out calendars. Their illustrations were fantastic.
I watch ed this a million times when I was younger and also when I was a teen and twenty year old. I liked the whole thing. So did we all. My friend used to have Gollum from this on her screensaver.
I'm 47 years old. The librarian at my school made my class watch this movie when I was in 5th grade, probably about 10 or 11 years old. This movie is what made me want to read the books! Love it!❤
This was a nice suprise to see in my feed as I just watched this version for the first time a few nights ago. Great video as usual, I always enjoy your reactions together!
I hope you enjoyed your watch through! It was a ton of fun
You have to realize, in 77’ there was NOTHING else on TV. This was an oasis in a sea of awfulness.
I grew up with this adaptation (I’m 50) and I’m not sure it holds up all that well. However, I am still friends with my best friend from kindergarten, and when we go on outdoor adventures , one of us will occasionally bust out “ the greatest adventure is what lies ahead”.
The adaptation I grew up on was the 1979 'Minds Eye' radio adaptation (though the tapes we had of it were slightly abbreviated compared to the version I've found online since). For me - their tune for "Over the misty mountains cold" is unambiguously the correct one. I heartily recommend tracking that one down if possible.
Hey it’s Ranken Bass everyone loved them and couldn’t wait for them to be shown
each year
5:20 literally me. I will go wild for any map.
I have the two-record vinyl recording of this with the read-along book. I'm going to read/listen to it with my granddaughter when she's ready.
"You're a burglar, burgle something"
I remember having the exact same reaction when I was a kid in the 80s.
In DnD term, Gandalf is the player that can’t make every session, but wants a valid reason for their character’s disappearance.
This Cartoon was my introduction into J.R.R. Tolkien. Saw it when I was like 8 or 9 years old and then came across the book in my schools library in seventh grade years later. Was the 1st book that I read for fun and not for school work...lead me to reading the whole Lord of the rings Trilogy. Bought and read them again when I was in the Marines and the Peter Jackson movie trilogy came out was I was in so I read the Silmarillion as well. Been infested for awhile lol.
Outside of the books, this was my first encounter with media based on Tolkien, and I’m very fond of it. And I’m happy that, unlike some other things I feel nostalgia for, it’s actually not half bad.
Were it not for this animation, I would have likely never discovered the amazing world of Tolkein. It was 1979, I was 10 years old and this came on TV in the 9pm family special slot. At this point in my life, everything was still complete awe of Star Wars, and cartoons were what you watched on Saturday morning and were beginning to pass into "kids stuff" in my reckoning. After watching this animated version of The Hobbit, I became a huge fan of the fantasy genre. I owned the book and record version of the Hobbit, which was state of the art in those days, and which I still have and enjoy for the album sized animation stills used to illustrate the book. I later read the LOTR, and do so on repeat about every 2-3 years. The movies were great, but i was very disappointed with the screen adaptation of The Hobbit and still consider the Rankin Bass version the be "The Hobbit" for me.
Because of this Hobbit, in my mind every magic sword makes that drawn *schring* and cold ringing sound.
This was my introduction to Tolkien as a kid. I grew up with it and have a lot of fondness for it. I think it's a better adaptation than the Peter Jackson Hobbit movies. As you pointed out, it doesn't add anything unnecessary and it captures the fairy tale feel of the original book. I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it and gave it a fair review. It has its flaws (some odd design choices for instance, such as the gray-skinned Wood-elves and cat-like dragon) but it's a very charming movie.
Rankin and Bass later did Thundercats. You will see the inspiration for some of the characters from The Hobbit.
This is what turned toddler me into a Tolkiendil way back in the early ‘80s. I probably watched this and the animated The Lord of The Rings a hundred times before I was able to read the books.
Prior to Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, this is what I grew up on. I still sing the songs from time to time.
So, I didn't grow up with this one, and for all its quirks and things about Bilbo that kinda bugged me, I think it deserves the love it recieves. The Jackson film trilogy being bogged down with so much unwanted filler hurts them big time, and to that end I think fan edits that refine them as films or distil them down to a version closest to the book are the best versions of those movies.
As for the best adaptation from book to visual medium of The Hobbit, I think that honour goes to the graphic novel illustrated by David Wenzel is a near perfect translation, and is worth a video for this channel
I was eleven when this came out and had never read the book. I saw it on TV and loved it. I mean, really loved it, especially the music. I ended up convincing my mom to buy the soundtrack and used to go to bed listening to it on the record player all the time. This version of Gollum was so cannonical in my head, the PJ version was actually kind of jarring at first. BTW, the pre-historic show Gollum's design really seems to take from is the Sleestack from Land of the Lost, which was of this same era. If you don't know it, look it up and decide for yourself.
Had the read along record of this and the return of the king.
Great video! This is nostalgic for me, as grew up in the 70s. I loved the music and animation. I also have a fondness for the Rankin and Bass "Flight of Dragons" animated movie.
Yes! I never hear anyone talk about Flight of Dragons. I loved both this and The Flight of Dragons as a kid and even to this day. You are awesome in my book
I loved this movie when I first saw it on television as it was something different.
The two messes he got them out of were the spiders and the wood elves' dungeon.
FWIW -- from memory, the voice actors from this show:
Bilbo Baggins → Orson Bean
Gandalf → John Houston
Thorin Oakenshield → Hans Conried
[Then I cheated and checked IMDb...]
Smaug → Richard Boone
{After checking IMDb I REMEMBERED it was Boone's voice.}
This is my second favorite Rankin Bass animated movie. My first is The Last Unicorn
I grew up on this. I read the hobbit at age 6 in 1979.
This is a gem❣ Loved it since my teens 👌🙏❣
Only 3 of the dwarves die in the book, so Rankin/Bass just fully killed off half the company on a whim
I was just about to write that Gollum looks like Ducky from Land Before Time, and then you said it on screen.
I watched this as a child when it was first aired. It was my very first introduction to Tolkien’s world. I have since showed it to my five year old daughter because it isn’t as scary as Peter Jackson’s version.
I agree that Gandalf was very aggressive. My initial impression at seven years old was that he was going to be a bad guy.
Loved it as a kid. The voice acting was superb, being performed by very talented, established actors. The songs were very memorable. Gollum and Bilbo's riddle sequence was the best scene of the entire movie for me. No one will ever top Brother Theodor as Gollum. The background riddle pondering music (which tells and reveals the answer to its own posed riddle) was hauntingly beautiful. Loved Richard Boone's Smaug too. My second favorite voice scene. The other voices were very good too. Glenn Yarborough's introspective folk songs were a nice addition to the ensemble songs.
The artwork and detail were good and beyond the typical cartoon animation. Though I felt some scenes could have benefitted from higher frame rates. The only other thing that was a little underwhelming was the portrayal of violence being watered down, but I understand why, since it was meant to be for general audiences - especially kids - and Im sure CBS wouldnt have allowed graphic content on their Saturday primetime special. I couldnt complain of the gaps in the story, because this was my first exposure to the Hobbit and Tolkien in general.
So overall, a great film for me. Also enjoyed Rankin-Bass' Return film, which was kind of an unofficial sequel to Ralph Bakshi's LOTR (Fellowship), and which I also liked.
they didn’t jump straight to return of the King. The Ralph Bakshi lord of the rings, I think, was supposed to be part of the series, but it was so bad that they went back to Rankin and bass.
3:01 yeah, it was wild as a kid
I grew up with this as a kid
This was my introduction to Tolkien back in the 70's. This may be considered heresy, but Brother Theodore is the definitive Gollum.
I saw this back in 1977 the music was the best part of the movie
This music inspired the music from the South Park Lemmiwinks episode.
9:05 Might be a good call back. In Tolkiens notes theres a deleted scene from LOTR, after a White Council meeting Saruman complains that Gandalf is less attentive due to his smoking pipe weed. Gandalf replies Saruman might see more clearly if he smoked too. Gandalf then blows several tiny smoke rings and pretends to be frustrated at not being able to grab them, impliying he knows about Saruman's fixation on the Rings, but that they will evade his grasp.😂
I do kind of like the goblins looking like moblins from Zelda and sort of this odd bulldog art style! Same I as I like Gollum being sort of an amphibious frog man. The songs are also mostly fire in this, IMO
I like the character design for all the villains! Very unique.
The goblins look freaking awesome
I do feel like Rankin Bass perfected this style in "The last Unicorn" and maybe to a lesser extent "Flight of Dragons".
I hate when a wizard yells at me then a bunch of dwarves start crawling out of the foliage in my yard. It's really hard to keep a job when I'm constantly going on epic treks to save the world from dark relics.
But that's tuesday for yah....
This is a really good reaction video.
Ever seen that Christmas movie with the mouse that writes a letter to Santa Claus to f off? Then he fixes the clock tower to play sorry music to Santa? Same animation. It's weird. Like Disney reused animations
I was 10 when this was first broadcast and I can remember watching it. I remember not liking the songs but I did like the "scary" aspects of it. I didn't read the book until many years later. I hated the new Hobbit movies and only saw the first one.
This was my introduction to Tolkien
I like this more compared to the Peter Jackson-version, because much of it (the music, the stylized character designs, the outdated language) helps to create a folk-tale atmosphere which The Hobbit is more suited for. Even Lord of the Rings had (at points) more in-common with folk tales, and Middle Earth is by comparison less crowded than the Pen & Paper-universes that followed it.
PJ (due to the neckbreaking schedule and executive meddling he was subjected to) tried to make it more like his own LotR, added a lot of padding and therefor only made his own flaws as a writer more obvious.
this cartoon is straight savage. it kills off more dwarves than the books and live action lol (this was something they did add tho. more death) I LOVE this film but i also LOVE Peter Jackson's films of the Hobbit. They might have some bad moments but if you do a little extra mind work, PJ's hobbit can be one of the best experiences ever. (maybe yall do a Hobbit Fan edit review)
Where there's a whip, there's a way.
It was okay. I want to rewatch it stoned outta my mind. I have a feeling it will be cooler.
I watched this as a child and I loved it.
I didn't know that there was a Hobbit movie as well! I only knew the Lord of the Rings movie from this time!
I know that this comment is a year late, but I think that one should watch the "Lord of the Rings" film by Ralph Bakshi before watching the Return of the King by RB. Rankin Bass made its Return of the King adaptation as a sequel to that film, even though there was no connection between the studios.
I'm very fond of this movie
Entire reaction is you two being overly pretentious, and mocking a child's cartoon for not being sophisticated enough for you, then you call the movie's language pretentious... nice. Maybe try a little self-awareness.
RE: The Art Style of this Film; If you like the way this looks... see also "The Last Unicorn" (1982) also by Rankin and Bass. Not Tolkien, very heavily inspired by this set of broad character types though, funny and off-putting fantasy with frequent musical breaks for song.
This certainly has charm but I had read the book before I watched this and I remember being MASSIVELY disappointed by the "fight" scenes in this... especially the "battle" of five armies :P
This is what got me into Lord of The Rings back in the 80's. I far prefer this to the Peter Jackson movies.
There's a really interesting tradeoff in 70s tv animation like this - the design is gorgeous, and part of that is that the design tends to be extremely detailed, with these gorgeous illustrative backgrounds, but that detail stunts the actual animation, leading to extremely few actual frames of movement happening, making everything pretty stiff and stilted, which is absolutely what this film suffers from, imo. So while I'd say the design and backgrounds are, indeed beautiful, I'd say the animation itself is mediocre.. certainly passable for tv but nothing to write home about
Don’t be weird ! Was my favorite part
Gandalf here reminds me of Winter Warlock from Santa Claus is Comin to Town.
Best version!
Yup… I’m convinced that’s her bf and Imma die alone 😂
Suddenly Gandalf appeared
What is it with not one single person on this website being able to pronounce "Studio Ghibli" correctly??!?!
I don't think it's a hot take to say that Peter Jackson's version of Bilbo is more likable than the animated versions. It is mostly due to the actors. Both Ian Holm and Martin Freeman were excellent. Say what you will about the Hobbit movies in particular, but at least Bilbo underwent a believable character transformation, which was also a big part of the book as well.
Hey where's that follow up i you to hear Where there's a whip there's a way!
I see Dillon got the John Lennon look
Bilbo was chosen by the prophecy...Gandalf states it on the return to the Shire.. prophecy is euphemism for the Valar/Eru.
They used bilbo cause he has burglar skills he was a talented thief so he could easily sneak for them
Gandalf was such a fawker.
Still better than the live-action trilogy.
This Hobbit and the Bakshi LOTR are both great IMO. It might just be that they were the first adaptations I saw as a kid in the 70's, but I stand by saying that they are both legitimately decent. Now, that being said...the "Return of the King" they made for tv to try and ride the coattails of the Bakshi movie...it's horrible....and yet, it's SOOO bad, that some of it's excesses are actually enjoyable in a kitschy way...but it's pretty bad. You should watch it! "Where there's a whip....there's a way!" :)
I had to read the Hobbit in ninth grade, and I didn't like it. Then we as a class watched this, and after that I finished reading the book and enjoyed it.
Loves how much you talked through this, getting stream of consciousness thoughts was great. I agree that the Peter Jackson Bilbo is very likable, it's just that he's not present enough in a film that's named after him; they gave too much time to other characters and fabricated plotlines. I really enjoy The Hobbit animated adaptation; all the music, especially the goblin choirs, the collected and calm voice acting, the psychedelic way they portray death with the character spiralling into blackness, i rhought the depiction of the elves was a little bizarre, but I'm glad you liked it. My favorite bit is Bard killing the dragon, not because he has access to medieval artillery, but because Smaug has a literal chink in hus armor he's overlooked in his arrogance, y'know, like hiw it was in the book.
This is based on the *original* version of the book, before Tolkien made the revisions to make it more in line with events of LOTR. Gandalf's lines at the end aside.
This version always struck me as the last gasp of the hippie ownership of Tolkien. It's very pastoral and trippy, with backgrounds that wouldn't look out of place on a Led Zeppelin album. We were deep in Star Wars mania when this debuted (1977 was ground zero for many a burgeoning young nerd), we were on the cusp of the explosion of epic fantasy (Sword of Shannara was published the same year), and D&D was about to explode into the mainstream, which meant Tolkien was about to be embraced by the masses. No doubt helped by how many of us watched this and immediately demanded our parents buy as the book.
My understanding was that in the original version of the book, Gollum was less hostile, played the riddle game straight, and gave Bilbo the ring as a prize for winning. I won't pretend to have read that version myself, but I'm not clear what you're talking about here? In what way does this line up with the original vs the later edit?
A minor point. I believe the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were already popular, and were having a 60s/70s resurgence before the 1977 movie. See, for example, songs by Led Zeppelin (Ramble On, Misty Mountain Hop, Battle of Evermore), Rush (Rivendell, The Necromancer), Black Sabbath (The Wizard), and Leonard Nimoy (The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins).
@@richarddoan9172 I think those were more cases of popular bands referencing Tolkien more than instances of Tolkien himself being popular. Led Zeppelin and Rush have a lot more non-Tolkien content than songs that reference him.
58 here, had already read the book. Have had the vinyl box set for years. This was indeed released at an opportune time. I was a DM by 79.
My mother already owned the book...she got it from a children's literature class in college.
The animation in this IS gorgeous, it was animated in Japan so it's technically an Anime, though obviously it was an American production. The guy that voiced Gollum is Brother Theodore and his is my favorite voice for Gollum. Brother Theodore really brings out a sort of insanity I love.
The art studio that worked on this eventually became Studio Ghibli.
@@papabearlives9995 Amazing, isn't it?
Brother Theodore is underrated as Gollum. I really liked how in the 1980 animated Return of the King he balanced the strange slimy otherworldly aspect of Gollum with the more sympathetic pitiable side.
@@Strideo1Oh, agreed! 10,000%! He did all that all while maintaining that underlying insanity of his. The guy was amazing.
For 1977 it IS great. Mostly held back by whatever TV or sound system most people had for VHS. Sad the original audio was destroyed by a fire.