The Hobbit (1966) User Reviews

Strange Take of The Hobbit

[Rainey-Dawn · 5/10 · 14 February 2020]

This is the first time The Hobbit was ever on film. It is one of the most bizarre animations I have seen. There is something novel of this one - it's awful, terrible film short yet something charming about it. It is attention grabbing!

You'll find Bilbo is in-love with a princess - marries her in the end. The dwarves are practically non-existent. Very little air time for Gandalf.

As one person said: "It looks as if the film makers was eating some of Radagast's mushrooms." - and it really does!

5/10

Bizarre curio

[MissSimonetta · 5/10 · 22 January 2014]

This is the first cinematic adaptation of The Hobbit. Okay, put "cinematic" in quotes, because the actual film consists of nothing but static illustrations with voice over narration. Granted, the illustrations are charming in their own way, but still.

As an adaptation of the book, this is pitiful. Most of the dwarfs whom Bilbo accompanies are replaced by a princess character with whom the hobbit falls in love. Everything is condensed into eleven brief minutes, certainly not enough time to flesh the story out.

And yet, I would not say this is a total waste. It has the charm of a children's night time story and is not nearly as laborious to sit through as the recent Hobbit films, which suffer from an overabundance of run time altogether. This short movie is worthwhile for Tolkein fans and the curious, but not so much for anyone else.

You can practicly see where the storyboard got chopped

[gacsogergely · 4/10 · 25 May 2021]

It is a miracle this short works at all considering the budget and time spent on it. The creator did his best with what he had if you ask me.

I say, expand it to 30 minutes, filling the gaps in the story, and you'll end up something that's not infamous for what it is, but can show its potential for values.

C'mon, it even has a theme with the black heart/diamond heart thingy.

Though beats me why the Spider from LotR is here with the character of Gollam, and how does Bilbo marry a dwarf princess... But if that it is, then that it is!

More of a contract fulfillment than a cartoon, but an interesting historical document

[wilhelmurg · 2/10 · 9 July 2014]

This is not so much a "cartoon" as it is a rush job to get a "film" made before a deadline.

Producer William L. Snyder bought the rights to THE HOBBIT for a small sum before the revival of interest in Tolkien that came when the books were published in paperback. The plan was to make a feature length film adaptation, but it fell through. Meanwhile the interest in Tolkien started to take off and by 1968 even Leonard Nimoy was recording songs based on THE HOBBIT.

In order to keep the rights for resale Snyder realized he just needed to make A film; the contract did not say the film had to be animated, nor did it say how long it had to be, nor did it say it had to be any good. He had Deitch make a 12 minute film made up of still pictures so he could show it in a theater one time, which he did on June 30th 1966, the day the contract would have expired. The audience members had to sign affidavits that they saw it as proof that the contract had been fulfilled. Snyder got his extension on the rights and soon sold them for $100,000 (in 1966 money!)

The film was presumed lost, but turned up in a vault and its now readily available on YouTube. Deitch added characters, made Bilbo look like a little human boy, and chopped what took Peter Jackson 3 films to tell down to 12 minutes.

It's not a great cartoon by any means; there was NEVER any plans to release it! Howeverit is an interesting historical oddity from a weird meeting where Deitch crossed paths with Tolkien.

Lacks in visuals

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 5 April 2016]

This version of Tolkien's "The Hobbit" has its 50th anniversary this year and Tolkien was actually alive to see it. I really wonder what he thought of it. To start with the positive here, I like Herb Lass' narration and I wonder why he has not appeared in any other films. The story is of course very complex, but I guess writer and director Gene Deitch did a solid job in fitting it into a pretty short 11.5 minutes. The big downside of this film, however, is the animation. This is way inferior to what Disney and Warner Bros did in the 60 and actually already in the two decades before that. It's tough to call this even animation at times as there are many scenes that are really just shots with no movement except the camera moving in closer to the action. But the characters and objects stand completely still. The story deserves better than that. Apart from that, I did not like the animation style a lot either, but that is just personal preference. Overall, I do not recommend the 1966 version of "The Hobbit". Thumbs down.

A War Crime, this should be banned under the Geneva Convention

[theelfofthewand · 20 February 2016]

The director (one Mr Daesh I believe) now has the death sentence on 12 systems-I don't like this. By far the worst 'adaptation' of any Middle Earth story in existence. Tolkien & Unwins had to buy back the copyright for a $100,000? Money well spent since they could have paid more. Who is this Daesh guy - Dr. Frickin' Evil or what? Throw me a frickin' bone here, there aren't even any dwarfs here - only ill-tempered "grablins" with frickin' "lazer" beams on their heads. The director should certainly have taken an arrow to the knee for many that live deserve death & some that die deserve life. I think we know which side of the line this turkey stands. Spoiler - its utter garbage!

Great animation from 1966 with an alternative story for the youngest ones

[robinhio84_ · 8/10 · 31 August 2022]

Overall this is fun watch and the first movie of this childrens book. We reached a moment where fans like myself of the franchise are so protective. So I can go in about the lore, but IMO that completely defeats the purpose of this little adaption made for the youngest ones. The right were with someone who was reaching the end of his time with the right: So created a mini story of the Hobbit to make a movie later.

Having done that intro: The animation is very cool and well done, it gives a dark fairytale feeling and that feels correct. The voice over is is fitting and pleasant. And a new main character is introduced (which probably people with have feelings about) haha.

It's short and some scenes are recognizable at the base, but there a lot of liberties taken, so expects some twists and turns. Personally I just laughed about it.

It could have been a bit longer, BUT this was created more then 50 years ago with a different purpose in mind.

For me an 8 (it really looks great and it entertains), but let me add that I have full understanding for people who think that this is absolutely blasphemous.