Product: The Hobbit [VHS] (1977)
Rating: 4.0
Nice
This is a quaint, pleasant adaption of the Hobbit...which is a quaint, pleasant book. Yes the animation style is rustic, but I feel like it suits the material quite well. Pixar this is not, but I actually find that a bit refreshing. The artistic style and the color palette really fit most of the characters and landscapes. I think that Bilbo is great. (The elves are very, very weird, and do not appear to be related to Orlando Bloom.) Some of the enemy character-groups are a bit on the "silly" cartoonish side, but it all works, and really stays true to Tolkein's story. A few elements are missing (Beorn, arkenstone), but the screenplay was not changed in contradictory ways. The music is really nice. There is a recurring "Bilbo's theme" song, and I very much appreciate the inclusion some of the lyrics and poems right out of the book. The only thing that I really do not like about this film is the portrayal of Smaug, which feels like a bad '80s cop movie version, complete with back hair (why???) and a jarring kind of psychotic macho man voice. I picture Smaug as being more hypnotically smooth and imperious (and without hair or fur - reptile anyone?). But maybe that's just me. I would recommend this both as a faithful, artistically tasteful adaption of the novel, and as a good not-too-scary choice for children.