Product: The Hobbit [VHS] (1977)
Rating: 3.0
For a while this was it
For years, this was the ONLY movie rendition of my favorite book. This animated feature is a halfway decent adaptation of the book to a movie. Some of the characters look good in animation, such as the Dwarves and Elves. Others look silly, like the Goblins and poor Bilbo, who looks like a female rabbit-person (although, honestly this probably fits the description of him in the book better than Peter Jackson's humanoid Hobbits). For me the biggest failing of this movie was the voices. None of the voice actors left an indelible impression on the characters, in contrast to the BBC radio adaptation of the Hobbit, which really solidified the voices of Throrin and Smaug for me. Also, for an animated movie, the special effects are pretty dated, more like a moving illustration than a movie. All I can say is that I'm thankful Peter Jackson is making the Hobbit movies.