User:Stephenfisher2001/sandbox/The Hobbit (Old)

NOTE: I'm not sure if it is 100% not biased to be on this wiki, but we'll see.

The Hobbit is a 1977 American animated musical television special created by Rankin/Bass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by Topcraft, a precursor to Studio Ghibli. The film is an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, and was first broadcast on NBC in the United States on Sunday, November 27, 1977.

Plot
The movie begins with a book, a long time ago, there was a time of ancient planet was not quite so ancient, it was called Middle-Earth that it shares with Elves, Gobbins, Dragons, Dwarves, Wizards, and even the Hobbits. In the lands of Middle Earth, there is an area, called The Shire, the place where a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who lived here. Later, he smokes and he sees Gandalf, stating that he is looking for a burgular, however, Bilbo replies that he is afraid that he comes to a wrong place, and even going on adventure would be late for dinner. Soon, he sees a group of thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield, goes over Bilbo, and they go inside, having dinner, and they sing a song the magic in the music affects Bilbo, making him suddenly long for adventure. During the visit, they tell a backstory: "The Dwarf king Thrór brought an era of prosperity for his kin under the Lonely Mountain until the arrival of the dragon Smaug. Destroying the nearby town of Dale, Smaug drove the Dwarves out of their mountain and took their hoard of gold."

TBA.

Reception
In 1978, Romeo Muller won a Peabody Award for his teleplay for The Hobbit. The film was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, but lost to Star Wars. A few days before its first airing, John J. O'Connor wrote in The New York Times that "Rankin and Bass Productions have now carefully translated 'The Hobbit' into film. The result is curiously eclectic, but filled with nicely effective moments. … The drawings frequently suggest strong resemblances to non-Tolkien characters… The goblins could have stepped out of a Maurice Sendak book. But … the Dragon and Gollum the riddle aficionado bring some clever original touches… Whatever its flaws, this television version of 'The Hobbit' warrants attention."

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide range of critics, gives the film a score of 69% based on reviews from 16 critics. Director Arthur Rankin Jr. was proud of The Hobbit, and in an interview in 2003 he described it as "a good film", stating that the simplicity of the story made it easy to adapt to the screen.

Trailers
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