The Hobbit: 5 Things The Rankin/Bass Cartoon Did Well (& 5 It Did Poorly)

Though Rankin/Bass is best known for their stop-motion Christmas specials, they also dabbled a little in other works, such as The Last Unicorn, but in 1977, the first cinematic adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s Middle-Earth books was produced by Rankin/Bass as a TV special. It was The Hobbit, which is fitting, seeing as it was the popular gateway into the fantasy universe and a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Unlike the Peter Jackson Hobbit adaptation, the Rankin/Bass Hobbit didn’t suffer from being overloaded into three films but instead, was a concise 77-minute cartoon. Here’s a look at what it did right and wrong.

10 GOOD: Following The Book

Sometimes, when books are being adapted into films, a few things have to be trimmed down or cut, or big moments have to be changed. A film is a different medium from a book, and in reality, adaptations are never going to be straightforward.

That being said, when a book is simple enough, following the skeleton outline and loyally following the story is to be expected, more or less. It should be noted that the Rankin/Bass Hobbit does exactly that. Bilbo’s journey is condensed, certainly, but it hits all of the major beats and story moments, includes songs in the books, and direct quotes, so it certainly is a faithful adaptation.

9 BAD: The Animation

The animation isn’t a complete loss. Many of the background matte paintings are actually quite charming, and the coloring works out nicely as well. However, the actual fluidity isn’t present, and it’s quite a choppy film.

There are often frozen characters in backgrounds, stilted action shots, and very cheesy ’70s cartoon effects and choices. It might be up to audiences’ preferences more than anything else, but seeing as there was better 2D animation already present by 1977, it’s just not that fantastic.

8 GOOD: The Music

As parodied in South Park, the soundtrack of The Hobbit is actually impressively catchy. Many of the songs in the soundtrack take lyrics from the actual songs Tolkien wrote in the book, and the folk music approach fits the setting nicely.

There’s some corniness to it, but it’s not too distracting. Not every song is a bullseye, but the overwhelming majority of songs and the score do work out really well and give the film personality.

7 BAD: Some Of The Character Designs

This goes hand-in-hand with the questionable animation, but there are some pretty universally bad design choices in the cartoon. Many of the dwarfs are indistinguishable from each other, and it seems a bit lazy or cheap. Likewise, the elves look more like monstrous creatures of the forest than the majestic and angelic-like elves Tolkien described. In fact, they look like trolls.

Lastly, the decision to make Smaug a cat-like dragon is memorable, but the design itself is goofy and pretty hideous. Tolkien described Smaug as a traditional Western dragon, so it’s also not quite in line with what a reader’s vision of the iconic dragon would have been.

6 GOOD: The Tone

The film is very effective at drawing the viewer into the sense of adventure and fantastical whimsy within its first scene, and it never loses the sense of wonder and awe throughout its runtime, which is a fantastic feat.

Despite its ugliness, the animation helps in that regard, and the music, dialogue, and (obviously) the story all help maintain it. The wonder of Middle-Earth, both the good and the bad, is as sharp as the opening scenes in Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring.

5 BAD: No Time For Character Development

While the 77-minute runtime goes by quickly, it does go by a little too quickly. It’s hard to care about anyone else other than Bilbo, which is fair seeing as he’s the protagonist, but a bit more meat on the bones isn’t bad.

Thorin, Bard, and at least a few of the Dwarves should also matter, but there’s just no time to sit down and learn about their feelings or thoughts, so much as show what happens to them. It’s hard to care what happens or appreciate stakes when we never got to know them.

4 GOOD: It Appeals To Kids

Sure, the animation might freak out some particularly sensitive children, but a little bit of childhood trauma from media can be a good story 20 years down the road.

The film’s dialogue is archaic but easy to follow, and for adapting what was essentially a kids’ book, it manages to put itself out as a kids’ movie. The horrors of war and violence are touched upon, but it’s (thankfully) not on Saving Private Ryan-levels of violence.

3 BAD: It Doesn’t Appeal To Adults

The best kids’ films are movies that will appeal to all audiences; movies like Ratatouille or Into The Spider-verse come to mind. A movie can be made for children without completely pandering to them, dumbing itself down, or being infantile.

While The Hobbit doesn’t pander or do anything to that nature, it’s just too simple of a film to really grab adults’ full attention. Hardcore Tolkien fans would enjoy it, but general audiences wouldn’t be enthralled.

2 GOOD: Bilbo & Gandalf’s Friendship

Just as in Peter Jackon’s Hobbit trilogy, the best aspect of the Rankin/Bass Hobbit is probably the portrayal of its lead (titular) character, the eponymous hobbit Bilbo Baggins, and its most important supporting character: the wizard Gandalf.  Both voice actors give their performance their all, and it gives that much more life to the characters. Gandalf is just as mysterious, wise, and as volatile to crankiness/kindness as he is in the book.

But to top that, Bilbo is actually portrayed (script-wise) better than Bilbo was in Jackson’s Hobbit. Here, Bilbo is the unquestionable focus (as he should be), and pretty self-capable and undergoes his arc to be more confident and adventurous very believable. The plot doesn’t just happen around Bilbo, as he actively affects it at most turns through his choices.

1 BAD: Everything About Thorin Oakenshield

Tragically, the other critical character in The Hobbit is the dwarven leader Thorin, who is not done justice in the cartoon. His character design is off-putting, he doesn’t get as much screentime as he should, and when he does, he’s bumbling or hot-headed, with few redeeming qualities. And of course, he doesn’t get much depth, so Thorin suffers in every regard.

When Thorin gets in his final words to Bilbo about friendship on his deathbed, it’s just not believable, because he was constantly berating poor Bilbo. Likewise, it’s hard to care because he didn’t do anything and wasn’t very interesting or even likable.

About The Author

Rafael Sarmiento
(90 Articles Published)

I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and am Spanish/Venezuelan-American. I graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in History, and in Film. I write for both ScreenRant and CBR, along with other projects on Medium, so feel free to stalk me. I love to read discussion, even when it’s totally awful, so leave comments all over my articles, folks.

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