In turn, the film has itself become to our minds a classic. The film aired on us television screens via nbc and featured a voice cast which included john huston as gandalf, orson bean as bilbo baggins, and otto preminger as the elvenking. He is also one of the first actors to portray a hobbit, as he voiced both bilbo and frodo baggins in the rankinbass animated tv films the hobbit and the return of the king in the late 1970s. Tolkien, and was first broadcast on nbc in the united states on sunday, november 27, 1977.
Considering all the things that the hobbit did right, its especially disappointing to see the rankinbass adaptation of the return of the king fail so miserably at the exact same things. The fastest way to receive a feedback is to leave feedback. The hobbit 1977 directed by jules bass, arthur rankin. The rankin bass production of the hobbit, based on the original version of the hobbit written by j.
Directed by jules bass, arthur rankin jr with orson bean, john huston, theodore gottlieb, cyril ritchard. According to wikipedia and tolkien gateway rankinbass apparently started on the movie before the bakshi film was released, and always planned on having return of the king be the sequel to their hobbit movie. Never fear however, for there are always people out there who can shed light. Peter jacksons hobbit movies cut to the chase literally. It was the first attempt to translate jrr tolkiens epic fantasy novels to either big or small screen and while imperfect i enjoyed watching it. Now, this cartoon was actually calculated to be as faithless an adaptation as possible for use as a tool of blackmail, and this eventually led to the existence of a second attempt to adapt the hobbit to the screen eleven years later, this time by rankinbass, a studio. Pjs lotr movies, by common consent, achieved a high level of success including a number of oscars, culminati. Because the return of the king was not officially or stylistically the sequel to bakshis film, rankin bass designed the story to stand on its own as a continuation of their 1977 hobbit, so it doesnt depict characters that were less pivotal in the third book, like legolas and gimli. What is the best order to watch the lord of the rings.
Tons of rare and oop videos being listed this month. An unexpected journey, trailer 1 1977 animated version animation movies tv. The rankin bass hobbit has its problems, to be sure terrible, stilted animation. I believe that the rankinbass hobbit is the most emotionally and tonally accurate adaptation of the authors work that has yet been released. I should state out front a couple of biases i have. I am the historianbiographer for the rankinbass studios.
Just as they did with rudolph and the last unicorn, rankin and bass imbue the hobbit with the simplicity of a storybook. Deluxe edition of the rankinbass hobbit and return of the. The rankinbass production of the hobbit 1977 us only 2lp box set. But the good far outweighs the bad, and the animated film stands the test of time and is still probably the best childrens introduction to tolkien short of the hobbit book itself. The film is an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by j. The hobbit is a 1977 japaneseamerican animated musical television special created by rankin bass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by topcraft, a precursor to studio ghibli. A homebody hobbit in middle earth gets talked into joining a quest with a group of dwarves to recover their treasure from a dragon. I have also recorded three cds, the first of which is called rick goldschmidt sings with members of the gin blossoms and my band the starving artists. I even had the illustrated book with the cassette from the movie and my siblings would act out parts along with the cassette.
Rankinbasss the hobbit showed us the future of pop. Nearly twenty years ago, a production team headed by arthur rankin and jules bass set about to animate j. Two hobbits struggle to destroy the ring in mount doom while their friends desperately fight evil lord saurons forces in a final battle. Yeah thats about as much insight on the subject as i think there is. I dont think i saw the hobbit adaptation until i was 10 or so id read hobbit and lord of the rings by then, and my enduring memory was how much i hated the design of gollum, the wood elves, and smaugs eyes lighting up the room smaugs eyes are flashlights. The hobbit the desolation of smaug my antipathy for this movie is pretty well documented. Granted, this is a kids movie, but the funky art style is a big part of the draw. Directed by jules bass, arthur rankin jr with orson bean, john huston, theodore bikel, william conrad. This is the rare original soundtrack from the hobbit 1977 animated by rankinbass. Tolkiens classic book about the hobbit bilbo baggins and his unexpected adventures came to life in this animated, televised adaptation by rankinbass productions.
Our goal is to save you time and money by sharing our thoughts. Before elijah wood or martin freeman, tolkien fans had bean as. The hobbit 1977 full movie part 2 of 2 video dailymotion. In 1977, rankin bass produced an animated version of j.
I should have been more wary when they unveiled the horrible kiddyoriented cover online. This is the rare original soundtrack from the hobbit 1977 animated by rankin bass. All 19 fun, festive, utterly bizarre rankinbass christmas specials, ranked from worst to best. The hobbit 1977 full movie part 1 of 2 video dailymotion. In 1977, rankinbass produced an animated movie based on j. Voices boom as a fathers reading would at a childs bedside, and the animation is drawn with minutiae and grandeur in the style of an illustrated legend. The hobbit feels hard to recommend, but easy to love. Will the next part of the hobbit movie series come. All 19 fun, festive, utterly bizarre rankinbass christmas. The rankinbass the hobbit is remarkably true to the. The rankin bass hobbit was a staple of my childhood too. Rerun by networks for years, this tale of middleearth consistently awes viewers and has inspired a whole new generation of tolkien fans. The case does have some shelf wear and some crushing damage at the top and bottom see pics.
Clean up a still from the movie itself and youd have a much better cover than this. Youve captured the character amazingly well considering the animation style and that very specific design for bilbos face. Tolkien, the hobbit is an animated classic that was brought to the tv screen in the late 1970s by arthur rankin and jules bass. After the lord of the rings fellowshippart of the two towers theatrical movie by ralph bahski, rankinbass would finish with the return of the king, again on t. But the overriding concern of the rankinbass film, doubtless due to being a tv movie for children, is to cut to the chase metaphorically. The hobbit is a small book and can edited down to a kids cartoon. Tolkiens the hobbit, one of the most influential fantasy novels of all time. The hobbit 1977 animated musical television special created by rankinbass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by topcraft, a precursor to studio ghibli, using lyrics adapted from the book. In 1972 and 1973, rankin bass produced four animated tv movies for the abc saturday superstar movie. Tolkiens 1937 fantasy novel, the hobbit, or there and back again. So we are starting off rankinbass month off oddly enough by looking at a nonholiday tv special they made.
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