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Concerning The Hobbit, the 1977 animated film…
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Topics discussed (chapter discussion begins at 5:30)…
- Background / Rankin & Bass
- Notable actors
- Opening / Bilbo / Gandalf / Dwarves
- Trolls
- Rivendell / Elrond
- No Stone Giants!
- Misty Mountain Goblins
- Gollum
- Eagles
- No Beorn!
- Mirkwood / Spiders
- Woodelves?!?!?!
- Laketown / Bard / No Master?
- Smaug / Thrush
- Battle of the 5 Armies / No Arkenstone
- 6 Dwarves die…why?
- The Return Journey / The Ring epilogue
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3 Responses
The music in this one is so Rankin/Bass, especially when you listen to the soundtrack. The studio recording of the music is better than in the cartoon. I like how John Huston recited the verses. He was one of the few actors who could recite poetry without ignoring the meter. He didn’t make everything sound iambic the way most actors do. Great narration in this one, and they got permission from the Tolkien estate to make this cartoon. They did leave stuff out, but that was because the television network had given them limited screen time. They also had limited permission for the poems and songs. I like the voice acting and the music.
I used to watch Rankin/Bass, the original Peanuts cartoon, and the original Dr. Seuss cartoons. The Peanuts cartoons and Dr. Seuss cartoons were better than Rankin/Bass. When you consider A Charlie Brown Christmas, nothing was better than that.
In the book it is very clear which are the five armies. After it says that it was a great battle and it was called the Battle of the Five Armies it says on the one side were the dwarves, elves, and men and on the other side the Goblins and bats. It is right there in black and white.