Existing "Hobbit" films

[Ncoded]

Yes, there is an animated Hobbit and Return of the King Done well by Rankin & Bass and a Lord of the Rings done by Ralph Bashki. The animation of Bashki can be a bit un-nerving so, rent it before showing it to the kids. The Rankin & Bass Middle Earth stuff has lots of Glenn Yarbrough music. My favorite is "Frodo of the nine fingers and the ring of DOOM!" :lick:

[RobRoy]

Yes, there is an animated Hobbit and Return of the King Done well by Rankin & Bass

This is debatable. The character of Bilbo in The Hobbit was vastly different from the one in the books. I disliked the Rankin & Bass version of this story.

[Ncoded]

It's true that R&B hack and slashed book content way worse than Peter Jackson in order to get shorter animated movies out that were geared more toward kids. Aye, they bastardized bilbo a bit but the main bits of the story are there. When I said they were done well by R&B I was actually comparing the animation to Ralph Bashki's and not really the high level of movie content. These movies are still entertaining to watch but I still recommend reading the books or getting them on unabridged audiobook, I have all 4 on Audiobook and I listen to them in my car.

[RobRoy]

It's true that R&B hack and slashed book content way worse than Peter Jackson in order to get shorter animated movies out that were geared more toward kids. Aye, they bastardized bilbo a bit but the main bits of the story are there.

I don't mind what Rankin & Bass did with the story. They checked all boxes for major events, and hit them all reasonably well.

The characterizations and thus the themes of Tolkien's work were completely lost in the translation. Bilbo is uncharacteristically fearless, and then arrogant toward the dwarves who are mostly served up as all the same character repeated. Thorin & Co. are generally careless, unappreciative and cowardly in almost every situation.

The growth of Bilbo from a small and timid creature, to one of great capacity is completely and utterly lost.

When I said they were done well by R&B I was actually comparing the animation to Ralph Bashki's and not really the high level of movie content.

Bakshi's version, often panned by critics, is actually quite entertaining. Bakshi stuck to the books closer than almost any other telling of the tales (baring unabridged readings . . . which I generally loathe). He used a style he fairly pioneered called rotoscoping or retroscoping, in which live action film is then animated over. It's certainly not for everyone. But he's been more critically acclaimed then he was booed for some of his other features.

If he'd been able to complete the final chapters, I feel he would have been taken less to task for some of his other choices in the film.

These movies are still entertaining to watch but I still recommend reading the books or getting them on unabridged audiobook, I have all 4 on Audiobook and I listen to them in my car.

I would not recommend an unabridged version. I much prefer the BBC's radio production of both The Lord of the Rings (13 hours I believe and includes a rather young Sir Ian Holm as Frodo) and The Hobbit (4 hours). They trim them down in parts, but keep the integrity of the characters, and the themes of the books, very solid.

Besides, I prefer a voice actor to a voice reader. They generally have a larger budget and come off far more polished.

[RobRoy]

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