DVD Win! – Rankin/Bass’ Animated Hobbit

The success of Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings trilogy introduced J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world to an entire new generation. With Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labrynth) attached to direct a version of The Hobbit for the silver screen, don’t expect Middle Earth to disappear from the cultural lexicon anytime soon.

I am sure whatever Mr. Del Toro has planned, it is going to be great. He is a very talented director and I cannot wait to see what he does with one of my favorite books of all time (I actually like The Hobbit more than Lord of the Rings). For those unfamiliar with the storyline, The Hobbit is about Bilbo Baggins (uncle to Frodo) and his journey with a group of dwarves across Middle-Earth to reclaim treasure from the dragon Smaug. The story also features everyone’s favorite wizard, Gandalf, and introduces the ring of power as well as its creepy keeper, Gollum. While I eagerly await Mr. Del Toro’s adaptation it should be noted that there has already been an adaptation of The Hobbit and I am quite the fan of it.

Stop-animation company Rankin/Bass (best known for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) released their translation in 1977. While intended for children, the cartoon hits all of the major points of the original novel and manages to create its own unique charm.

I first came across this version of the Hobbit back when I was but a wee nerd in Velcro shoes. My brother and I were wandering around an indoor swap-meet when I was five years old and we came across a bin of VHS tapes on sale. While my little hands firmly held onto a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, my brother looked on disapprovingly. Amongst the saturation of amphibian ninja videotapes he found a copy of the Rankin/Bass Hobbit cartoon.

Being a fan of the book and using his magical powers of older brother persuasion, he convinced me that a cartoon with wizards and goblins would be far more enjoyable than the shameless corporate synergy that was Vanilla Ice and his “Ninja Rap.” Or maybe he just told me that it had some cool sword fighting.

Either way, I went home that day and got lost in Tolkien’s fantasy world. I loved the songs, the characters and general sense of adventure found throughout the entire film. Although the goblins and Gollum creeped me the hell out, I wanted nothing more than to wander Mirkwood forest with an invisibility ring and take down some giant, strangely androgynous spiders. Regardless of the gender confused spiders, this cartoon got me hooked on Tolkien and his characters at a very young age.

Unlike Secret of the Ooze, I can pop The Hobbit into my DVD player even today and still genuinely enjoy the film. I still find the film’s animation style extremely unique and unlike anything else I’ve seen. The use of line on the faces of each dwarf, hobbit and goblin add an additional layer of dimension and texture. This gives each of them such individual personality that they cease to be just drawings on paper, but living, breathing characters. I still have yet to see any style match the one in this interpretation of The Hobbit.

The voice acting is also top-notch and serves to make each character distinct and unique. Orson Bean, an actor whose credits range from Miracle on 34th Street (the original), to Being John Malcovich, to a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother, voices Bilbo Baggins himself. His humble and vulnerable tone perfectly matches that of the hobbits described by Tolkien in his novel. Aside from Bean, each voice perfectly matches the tone and character of Tolkien’s universe the same way that Bean does. That is, except for those damn spiders.

Rankin/Bass also enlisted the services of folk singer Glenn Yarbrough to record some original songs. Are they kind of hokey? You bet your ass, but they also have this unique charm and they manage to get stuck in your head all day.

However, Tolkien elitists probably won’t like the film. There is no inclusion of Beorn, the film changes the way in which Gandalf saves Bilbo and company from the trolls, there are no moments depicting the hallucinations of wood elves in Mirkwood Forest and there are plenty of other slightly altered plot details that would seriously upset purists. However, the film’s unique animation style, catchy music and solid voice acting serve the same purpose as the original novel: to construct an engrossing and captivating fantasy world.

The cartoon was a jumping off point for myself into the realm of Middle Earth. As soon as I felt that I could handle it, I read The Hobbit book itself and continued to read it every summer through high school. I went on and read the Lord of the Rings books, saw all the films and, if you get a couple of beers in me, I’ll admit that I’ve purchased a fair number of Lord of the Rings action figures. Warner Bros. has released the film on DVD and if you see it around at your local store, available for download online or at the bottom of an indoor swap-meet bargain bin, I highly suggest you give it a shot.