The Hobbit (1977 film)

The Hobbit
Directed by	Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Produced by	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Written by	Novel: J. R. R. Tolkien Teleplay: Romeo Muller
Music by	Maury Laws
Budget	US$3,000,000 (est.)
Language	English
Original channel	NBC
Release date	November 27, 1977 (1977-11-27)
Running time	77 minutes

The Hobbit is a 1977 animated musical television special created by Rankin/Bass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by Topcraft, a precursor to Studio Ghibli, using lyrics adapted from the book. The film is an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien and was first broadcast on NBC in the United States on Sunday, November 27, 1977.

Plot

Further information: Plot of the novel

The plot of the animated production is in most respects similar to that of the book, which was already styled as a classic children's novel, and so is adapted in that vein for a younger audience; but certain plot points are significantly compressed due to the time limitations of the format. In addition, certain scenes are obviously edited for commercial breaks. In general, alterations include simple omission of additional detail, as the producers expressed their desire to adhere to the written text, including lyrics adapted from the songs in the book.

Voices

• Orson Bean - Bilbo Baggins
• Richard Boone - Smaug
• Hans Conried - Thorin Oakenshield
• John Huston - Gandalf
• Otto Preminger - the Elvenking
• Cyril Ritchard - Elrond
• Theodore - Gollum
• Paul Frees - Bombur, Troll #1
• Jack DeLeon - Other Dwarves, Goblins
• Don Messick - Balin, Troll #3, Goblin, Lord of the Eagles
• John Stephenson - Dori, Great Goblin, Bard (the archer)
• Glenn Yarbrough - The Balladeer, Bilbo Baggins (singing voice)
• Thurl Ravenscroft - Goblin (singing voice), Background voice

Background

The film was produced and directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass of Rankin/Bass Productions and was adapted for the screen by Romeo Muller, with Rankin taking on the additional duties of production designer. When interviewed for the film, Rankin declared that he would add nothing to the story that wasn't in the original. The New York Times reported that The Hobbit cost $3 million.

The story's hero, Bilbo Baggins, is voiced by Orson Bean, backed up by noted Hollywood director and actor John Huston as the voice of Gandalf. In supporting roles, the comedian and performance artist Brother Theodore was chosen for the voice of Gollum, and Thurl Ravenscroft performed the baritone singing voices of the goblins. The gravelly voice of the dragon Smaug was provided by Richard Boone, rounding out the cast of primarily American voice actors.

The Hobbit was animated by Topcraft, a now-defunct Japanese animation studio whose animation team would go on to re-form as Studio Ghibli alongside Hayao Miyazaki. Topcraft successfully partnered with Rankin/Bass on several other co-productions, including The Last Unicorn. According to Rankin, the visual style of the film took its basic cue from the early illustrations of Arthur Rackham.

While Topcraft produced the animation, the concept artwork was completed in the US under the direction of Arthur Rankin. Principal artists included coordinating animator Toru Hara; supervising animator/character designer Tsuguyuki Kubo; character and effects animators Hidetoshi Kaneko and Kazuko Ito; and background designer Minoru Nishida. The same studio and crew members were also used for The Return of the King.

Harry N. Abrams published a large coffee-table illustrated edition of the book featuring concept art and stills.

Soundtrack and story LP

Jules Bass primarily adapted Tolkien's original lyrics for the film's musical interludes, drawn primarily from the songs that feature prominently in the book. He also assisted Maury Laws, Rankin/Bass's composer / conductor-in-residence, in the composition of an original theme song, "The Greatest Adventure (The Ballad of the Hobbit)", sung by Glenn Yarbrough as the sole original song written for the film. This folk ballad came to be associated with Yarbrough, who reprised it in the soundtrack to The Return of the King (1980).

The Hobbit first aired as an animated television special in 1977 with the goal of producing an accompanying tie-in storybook and song recordings for children, as in other Rankin/Bass productions.

The Hobbit was released on LP with the soundtrack and dialogue from the film was also released in 1977 by Disney through its Buena Vista Records label, and an edited version, along with accompanying "storyteller read-alongs", was later issued for the Mouse Factory's Disneyland Records imprint. A second music album by Glenn Yarbrough of music "inspired" by The Hobbit was also released.

Comparison to the source material

While the script adheres fairly closely to the book, several significant plot points are altered or missing:

• The character of Beorn and the associated locale of Beorn's house and the Carrock. Beorn does not appear in the final battle or otherwise, and his sub-plot is cleanly omitted; the Eagles take the party to the edge of Mirkwood. In his absence, several additional dwarves die at the end from the main cast, including Bombur. As in the book, Bilbo witnesses only part of the final battle and its aftermath.
• The Arkenstone and Bilbo's journey to the opposing camp. Although the film lingers on the dwarves' reclaimed treasure, the Arkenstone is not mentioned, and is replaced with truncated verbal negotiations and Gandalf's sudden appearance. Thorin's anger at Bilbo and subsequent forgiveness are still referenced in his final scene.
• The Elvenking's feast and the dwarves' starvation after escaping from the spiders. These were incorporated into a scene which was storyboarded but apparently never filmed, leaving a reference to it without explanation in the subsequent dialogue (In their first appearance in the finished film, Bilbo announces that "the wood elves had returned.")
• In the end of the film, Gandalf reveals to Bilbo that he not only knows of the ring, but knows that it is in fact the One Ring, and foreshadows the events of Lord of the Rings. In the books, the ring is not discovered to be the One Ring until Fellowship of the Ring.

In addition, while the majority of visual stylistic choices mostly drew on the book for some inspiration and detail illustrations, the characters of the wood elves are inexplicably given green skin, short stature, blond hair and Otto Preminger's German accent; highly unlike the more typical elves of Rivendell, such as Elrond.

In depicting Gollum, the animators chose to emphasize his more monstrous and amphibian appearance in Tolkien's early descriptions of the character, although retaining a humanoid form and a tortured personality familiar to readers. The "Hobbit scale" of his design would become more apparent in Rankin/Bass's artwork for The Return of the King (1980 film). Gollum's own dialogue and riddles are included largely intact, one of which is included as background music, with the accompanying lyrics 'chanted' by a female chorus, presumably under the direction of choral director Lois Winter.

Critical reception

In 1978, Romeo Muller won a Peabody Award for his teleplay for The Hobbit. The film was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, but lost to Star Wars. A few days before its first airing, John J. O'Connor wrote in The New York Times that "Rankin and Bass Productions have now carefully translated 'The Hobbit' into (a) film. The result is curiously eclectic, but filled with nicely effective moments. […] The drawings frequently suggest strong resemblances to non-Tolkien characters… The goblins could have stepped out of a Maurice Sendak book. But […] the Dragon and Gollum the riddle aficionado bring some clever original touches… Whatever its flaws, this television version of "The Hobbit" warrants attention."

Critics primarily focused on adaptation issues, including the unfamiliar style of artwork used by the Japanese-American co-production team, whereas some Tolkien fans questioned the appropriateness of repackaging the material as a family film for a very young audience. Douglas A. Anderson, a Tolkien scholar, called the adaptation "execrable" in his own introduction to the Annotated Hobbit, although he did not elaborate; and a few critics said it was confusing for those not already familiar with the plot. On the other hand, critic Tom Keogh praised the adaptation as "excellent", saying the work received "big points" for being "faithful to Tolkien's story" and that the "vocal cast can't be improved upon."

Home video releases

The Hobbit was released on video by Sony and ABC Video Enterprises in the early 1980s. The film was released on VHS by Warner Home Video in 1991, and on DVD in 2001 (through Warner Bros. Family Entertainment). The earlier VHS contains sound effects that were edited out of the 2001 DVD without explanation.

The film was released on DVD by Warner Bros. for the DVD trilogy boxed set along with The Lord of the Rings and The Return of the King.

Sequel

Before The Hobbit ever aired on NBC, Rankin/Bass and its partner animation houses were preparing a sequel, taking elements from The Return of the King, the last volume of The Lord of the Rings. Meanwhile, United Artists released J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 1978, an animated adaptation directed by Ralph Bakshi, originally intended as the first part in a two-part film.

Regardless of the UA version, with their own sequel having been cancelled after a disagreement with Bakshi, Rankin/Bass proceeded with their plans to produce their own television installment, bringing back most of the animation team and voice cast, but unfortunately were unable to provide continuity for the missing segments, resulting in the development of a framing device connecting it directly to the better-received Hobbit. The voice team --- notably Bean, Frees, Huston, Theodore and Yarbrough --- would also return for the 1980 adaptation of The Return of the King.

See also

• The Hobbit (2012 film) (live action)
• The Last Unicorn (film)
• List of animated feature films
• Lord of the Rings (1978 film), animated by Ralph Bakshi
• Rankin/Bass Productions
• The Return of the King (1980 film), also by Rankin/Bass

External links

• The Hobbit at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hobbit (1977 film) at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Screen captures from the CED edition. Also features links to galleries of screen captures from other Tolkien animated films.