The first ever adaptation of The Hobbit, directed by Gene Deitch.
Released in 1967note J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is a major example of What Could Have Been. In 1962, producer William L. Snyder of the Prague-based animation production company Rembrandt Films bought the rights to the novel very cheaply since it was still relatively unknown, under the condition that a full-colour animated film was finished and released to a paying audience before July 1, 1967. The original plan was to make a feature-length animated musical, but when the studio couldn’t get funding (because of the book’s lack of popularity), the project was cancelled. However, when new editions of Tolkien’s books were published in 1966 and 1967, they exploded in popularity, but there was no time to make a full-length film before the contract expired. As such, the project was scaled down to a 12-minute, Limited Animation short (since the contract only said it had to be a full-colour animated film, but nothing about how long it had to be) which Snyder’s frequent collaborator Deitch was put to work on. Narration was provided by Herb Lass, a broadcaster for Czechoslovak Radio’s English language transmissions. One day before the end of the deadline, the film was shown only once essentially for free in a small projector room, technically fulfilling the terms of the contract. This allowed Snyder to sell the rights back to the Tolkien Estate for approximately $100,000 (of which he shared nothing with Deitch).
The short would remain in obscurity until 2012, when it was found and uploaded to the Internet by Snyder's son, Adam.note It was then given more exposure by Deitch himself, who gave a thorough overview of its production on his blog.
Rushed production aside, the film provides one of the more unique takes on the source material, including a fair amount of Early Adaptation Weirdness.
Tropes:
- Ambiguously Human: It's unclear if Torin is supposed a dwarf (like Thorin is in the book) or a human (since he comes from a human kingdom in this version).
- Adaptational Job Change: Rather than being hired as a burglar to sneak into Smaug’s treasure room, Gandalf appoints Bilbo as a dragonslayer to take the beast down once and for all. This understandably doesn’t make our hero any more enthusiastic about the mission.
- Adaptation Name Change: For whatever reason, this has been done to pretty much every character except for Bilbo and Gandalf.
- Smaug is now ”Slag.”note
- Gollum is now ”Goloom.”
- Downplayed with Thorin — or rather ”Torin” Oakenshield.
- Some of it overlaps with Adaptation Species Change, with goblins and trolls becoming “grablins” and “groans”, respectively.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Gandalf has seemingly never met Bilbo before in this take on the story, only visiting him because he is the subject of a prophecy.
- Adaptational Sexuality: While Bilbo originally spent his life as a bachelor, here he becomes motivated by ”his growing love for Princess Mika”, whom he eventually marries.
- Adapted Out:
- Aside from Bilbo (and Gandalf, who doesn’t actually come along on the journey this time) the company consists of three people; General Torin Oakenshield, Princess Mika Milovana and a nameless watchman, none of whom are ever stated to be dwarves.
- Mirkwood Forest is conspiciously devoid of both wood elves and spiders.
- Lake Town isn’t featured. Bilbo and his companions now kill the dragon by themselves in the latter’s cave.
- And the Adventure Continues: The short ends with — if not an outright Sequel Hook — than at least an acknowledgement that the story of the Ring is not quite over yet.”But finally [Bilbo and Mika] returned to that quiet, comfortable life in Hobbiton, until the next time Gandalf the Gray would knock upon that round, green door.
- Call-Forward: Since this short was made after the release of The Lord of the Rings, it is outright stated that Goloom’s ring is the One Ring of Power, which Gandalf himself is looking for. It’s not revealed to be an Artifact of Doom, however.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Arkenstone has been turned into this. As it turns out, being heart-shaped — the short takes the whole “heart of the mountain” thing very literally — makes it an excellent arrowhead.
- The Chosen One: Gandalf claims that Bilbo is ”the chosen dragon killer”, and the subject of the prophecy in "The Great Book".
- Ironically, in one of Tolkien's early drafts of the novel, Bilbo was in fact the one to kill Smaug.
- Demoted to Extra: The Goblins — sorry, Grablins — are only glimpsed as eyes staring out of the dark caverns above Goloom’s lake, and never even interact with the company.
- Early Adaptation Weirdness: The Lord of the Rings had been a
Sleeper Hit in the United States, which is why Snyder saw no issues taking a few liberties with the story which, as Dietch put it “a few years later would be grounds for burning at the stake.” It was the later paperback editions of the books which really made it take off and earn its Sacred Cow status. - The Guards Must Be Crazy: The Watchman, who is said to have been sleeping during Slag’s original attack.
- The Magic Goes Away: The introduction states that the story is set “before men came to power, and ruined magic forever.”
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: The title follows this format, even though the short takes a very Broad Strokes approach to the book.
- MacGyvering: Bilbo and the rest of the company manage to kill Slag by building a large crossbow out of mining equipment, with the Arkenstone as the arrowhead, no less!
- Mage Tower: Gandalf apparently resides in one.
- No Name Given: The Watchman is never given a name.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: The Watchman wears a striped tank top under his uniform. How badass he actually is may be debatable, given that he Slept Through the Apocalypse and all...
- Spirited Young Lady: Princess Mika Milanova chews Bilbo out when he initially tries Refusing the Call."Mr. Baggins!” she shouted. ”That dragon has killed my father and all of my people! He has burned to ashes my golden land of Dale! Now he sits on our treasure waiting for the time to strike other lands, maybe even here! If you are all afraid then I shall go alone!”
- Standard Hero Reward: In a clear departure from the source material, the short ends with Bilbo marrying Princess Mika and becoming king! However, the pair eventually retire back to Bilbo’s hobbit hole again, in time for a hypothetical sequel.
- When Trees Attack: The Trolls have been replaced with “Groans”, huge, wooden monsters who turn into trees if they stay out in the sunlight. This makes them — if anything — more reminiscent of ents.
- Writing Around Trademarks: The various renamed characters often come across as such. A strange example given that not only did the filmmakers have the license, most of the creature names weren’t copyrighted to begin with.
