I remember reading an article about this animated TV production, in Starburst Magazine during the late 70's. There were rumours that this Rankin/Bass production, which had already premièred on US network television, would gain a European cinema release. This was possibly to cash in on the success of Ralph Bakshi's animated feature film adaptation of "The Lord Of The Rings". However, this never happened and to my knowledge "The Hobbit" has never been commercially released in the UK via any medium. In the US, it has been available on two VHS labels and also on DVD.

The production company had a pedigree in bringing traditional and familiar children's material to the small screen, so it was not unusual for them to take on such a project. However, the major animation was sub contracted to a Japanese studio and subsequently had a major impact on the production design. Rankin/Bass productions often included songs in their material and Tolkien's work lent itself to this very well. As a result "The Hobbit" has a wealth of vocal tracks sung by popular folk singer, Glenn Yarbrough.

The adaptation of the story is very simple. Some of the more complex plot details have been lost, such as the Arkenstone, Beorn and the scheming master of Lake Town. Tolkien wrote this story for children and that is the way the film is pitched. The character designs range from the adequate to the bizarre. Gandalf is represented pretty much as you would expect. Bilbo and the Dwarves reflect a more juvenile friendly interpretation. However, the Trolls and Goblins are not especially scary and lack any real sense of threat. It is in the design of the Elves that this production really fumbles the ball. This race of near perfect creatures with their angelic qualities, are simply ugly and emaciated. Someone definitely missed the point! Gollum is also poorly conceived and looks a little like a large Bullfrog.

With these shortcomings, are there any positive attributes regarding this production? Well the minimalist water colour backgrounds work well, often drawing on Tolkiens illustrations themselves. The voice casting has some strong performers, such as John Huston as Gandalf. However, some of the minor characters are played by well known voice artists Don Messick and John Stephenson as a result you do feel that you are watching an episode of "Scooby Doo" or "The Arabian Night".

So where does this leave us? Well it's difficult to be objective as any adaptation of Professor Tolkien's work will be over shadowed by the success of Peter Jackson's trilogy. A lot of this was due to his use of several well known artists as production designers. The public already au fait with their work and visual interpretation had no difficulty in accepting Jackson's vision. "The Hobbit" suffers as a result of this. It is a low budget, basic adaptation, with a variety of good and bad animation. The biggest stumbling block being the design of the character. They are often not as you and I would envisage them.

For your enjoyment, here are several songs from the film soundtrack. The vocals are by Glenn Yarbrough and the film cast.

1.) "The Greatest Adventure".

2.) "The Dwarves Song".

3.) "That's What Bilbo Baggins Hates".

4.) "The Road Goes Ever On And On".

XoD.