The Hobbit

The Hobbit
by Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass

List Price: ~~$12.98~~
Category: DVD
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DVD details

Actor: Brother Theodore, Cyril Ritchard, John Huston, Orson Bean, Richard Boone
Director: Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass
Brand: RANKIN & BASS
Producer: Arthur Rankin Jr.
Producer: Jules Bass
Producer: Masaki ?zuka
Writer: J.R.R. Tolkien
Writer: Romeo Muller
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-09-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Reviews of The Hobbit

DVD Review: Drained of emotion
Summary: 1 Stars

As many have said, this version of the film is inferior to it's earlier incarnations. I've watched this film on TV and VHS since I was a child. I've loved it ever since and never got tired of it.
I was SO disappointed in the Warner's DVD release. Half the music is subdued. And worse, half the sound effects are missing. The clanging of swords. The screech of the Eagles. The sound of Sting slicing up Spiders. The sound of Glamdring cutting down Goblins. Many more. All gone. They even cut bits of dialog. At one point, Bilbo looks like he's just talking to himself because the off camera dialog is gone.
The movie has been rendered dead and lacks of emotion. I hope they correct this with a future release. H3ll, if nothing else, they could just get the Laser disc (remember those? *heh-heh*) and rip the soundtrack from that. Anything is better than this, Warner. You're an old company. You know better.

DVD Review: Awesome DVD Product!
Summary: 5 Stars

The DVD arrived promptly and was packaged exactly as promised...professionally and securely. The DVD was unblemished and in perfect working order! Great buy!

DVD Review: DVD Versus VHS Edition Pro's and Con's
Summary: 5 Stars

I own both the VHS and DVD versions of this movie and recently watched them both. I've read many reviews from viewers who did not recommend the DVD version of this movie because of a few missing sound effects. While I did not notice any of these issues until I read about them, I had noticed something slightly different about the movie, which I couldn't place. It wasn't a huge deal though. However, the DVD version is missing certain sound effects which were left out of the remastering such as:

-No Spider slaying vortex sound
-No dwarf complaining while in barrels
-No sound of arrows plinking off Smaug's chest
-Smaug's fire breathing at one point seems to not coordinate with the movie, as he is flying towards the town, and the fire crackles almost like static.
-Smaug does not roar at all when he is attacking Laketown, at least not until he gets shot.

Again, I did not really notice these issues until they were pointed out. What I did notice about the remastered DVD was:

-Much improved visual quality. It's like you are looking at the original artwork! There is no color distortion.
-Much, MUCH improved audio and balance. I never could make out the words of many songs until the DVD. I actually have a hard time now enjoying the audio on the VHS because many sound effects were too loud, making it hard to hear all the words, without turning up the volume. Struggling to hear everything on the VHS gave me a bit of a headache, actually.
-Do you remember the scene where Bilbo runs out of the secret passageway with his behind on fire? This part was cut out of my VHS version.

To be honest, the strengths of this movie are the wonderfully done artwork, and the wonderfully done music. Having the DVD only highlights these core parts. Although the small missing sound effects are unfortunate, I still recommend the DVD, because you will enjoy the movie more, overall.

DVD Review: Bilbo
Summary: 4 Stars

I like the way the movie pretty much followed the book. Even though it is antimated it is worth watching, especially if you're a Lord of the Rings fan.

DVD Review: An oldie but goodie
Summary: 5 Stars

I had a vhs of this years ago and lost it. I purchased the DVD to re-new the warm fuzzy feelings of something I enjoyed years ago. The sound track had some lovely ballads in it. Worth listening to over again.

Description of The Hobbit

A wonderous animated version of J.R.R. Tolkein's classic about the magical world of Middle Earth and the adventures of lovable Bilbo Baggins. Featuring the voices of Orson Bean and John Huston. Year: 1977 Director: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. Starring: Orson Bean, John Huston

The J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy classic set in Middle-earth was adapted into this excellent 1978 animated feature first broadcast on television. Codirectors Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., working from a script by Romeo Muller, are faithful to Tolkien's story and for that alone they get big points. The vocal cast can't be improved upon: Orson Bean is perfect as Bilbo Baggins, the timorous hobbit who grows brave on his adventure with the wizard Gandalf (John Huston). Otto Preminger is the voice of Elvenking, Richard Boone is Smaug, Hans Conreid is Thorin, and Brother Theodore is very effective as the weird Gollum. Terrific for kids and adults alike. --Tom Keogh

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