{"id":1249,"date":"2015-11-27T12:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-27T12:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/11\/why-1977s-the-hobbit-is-still-the-best.html"},"modified":"2015-11-27T12:44:00","modified_gmt":"2015-11-27T12:44:00","slug":"why-1977s-the-hobbit-is-still-the-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2015\/11\/why-1977s-the-hobbit-is-still-the-best.html","title":{"rendered":"Why 1977’s The Hobbit is still the best"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

At least in my opinion. \u00a0As I said here<\/a>, I consider the 1977 Rankin\/Bass version of The Hobbit <\/i>to be the best screen adaptation of Tolkien\u2019s works. \u00a0Since we had our annual watching of the version last night, complete with homemade mulled cider and pumpkin and dutch apple pies (again, homemade), it got me to thinking, without any real research to back it up, just why I still prefer this to any other version yet made (not that I hate the others, I simply think this the best effort to date).<\/p>\n

1. The Talent<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Not that other adaptations haven\u2019t had talent, especially Jackson\u2019s versions. \u00a0But Jackson has an incorrigible knack for making sow\u2019s ears out of silk purses. \u00a0Take for instance the inestimable voice of Benedict Cumberbatch. \u00a0No wonder he would be cast for Smaug, the real climax of The Hobbit<\/i> story. \u00a0And yet, what does Jackson do? \u00a0Spin it through layers and layers of electronic and digital remixing so as to render his distinctive voice almost unrecognizable. \u00a0So why have him? \u00a0Just to say you have him? \u00a0In contrast, Rankin and Bass got gravely voiced Richard Boone to be Smaug, and Boone nails him perfectly. \u00a0Just like Alfred Molina was able to emote in Spiderman 2<\/i> in a way the talented Willem Dafoe was not in the first Spiderman<\/i>, so Boone is able to put just the right amount of sneering and arrogance into Smaug that Cumberbatch was unable to convey through the computerized masking Jackson demanded.<\/p>\n

The rest of the cast of The Hobbit <\/i>can\u2019t be ignored. \u00a0The great John Huston, who could have been Gandalf in live action, provides the narration as well as the voice of Gandalf. \u00a0Hans Conried, known to most as the voice of Captain Hook in Disney\u2019s classic Peter Pan<\/i>, is Thorin. \u00a0The usual cast of Rankin\/Bass faithfuls are also present, lending their expertise. \u00a0But where Jackson could sometimes waste the talent, or the production compromises the talent (as in Bakshi), the Rankin\/Bass production allows the talent to shine. \u00a0Even Otto Preminger, cast as the Elven King, lends a special spin to the scenes. \u00a0With talent like that used correctly, you can\u2019t go wrong.<\/p>\n

2. The Background Art<\/b>

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Tolkien was no mean artist in his own right. \u00a0And if you\u2019ve seen the artistic vision he had for Middle Earth, you can see how Ranking\/Bass is far closer to the mind of Tolkien than other versions, especially the sweeping, CGI post-Death Star, imaging of Jackson\u2019s two trilogies. \u00a0 The choice of a water color base for the background captures much of the Middle Earth feel, much less the feel of a pre-modern, antiquated world that Middle Earth evokes in the first place. <\/p>\n

3. The story<\/b>

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<\/b>No film adaptation of a book can be just like the book. \u00a0It\u2019s not expected. \u00a0But the changes should enhance the story, or be at least as good. \u00a0The 1931 Dracula<\/i>, starring Bela Lugosi, is based on the stage play of Dracula, not the book. \u00a0Kubrick\u2019s The Shining<\/i> bears scant resemblance to King\u2019s book of the same name. \u00a0Even King\u2019s authorized mini-series changes things up. \u00a0But the changes must be for the good, or better, or at least take advantage of the medium. \u00a0So Puzo\u2019s The Godfather<\/i>, a light porn novel with occasional mob themes, is transformed into a sweeping crime family opera by Coppola. \u00a0And the high point at the end of the film, the assassination of the heads of the Five Families, is done to perfection utilization the editing capabilities of film, versus the chapter by chapter account of the book.<\/p>\n

So no Tolkien adaptation can be what the books are. \u00a0But they should be at least as good, or make sense. \u00a0Bakshi stripped away much of the story of the first two books and left us with a bare branch arrow shooting right across the basic story arc. \u00a0While much was missing, most of what was there still held to the essence of the books. \u00a0Jackson, of course, wanted to show the world what Tolkien should have written, and almost each time he meddles, he makes it worse than better. \u00a0Rarely do his embellishments do anything other than add confusion and plot holes, ruining characters or diminishing the impact of scenes in the book. \u00a0Great moments, such as the confrontation of the Witch King by Eowyn, or the standoff between Gandalf and the Witch King at the gates of Minas Tirith, are lost on Jackson. \u00a0Occasionally Jackson does well, as in the conversation between Frodo and Gandalf in Moria about Bilbo\u2019s mercy, or the destruction of the Ring and the flight of Sam and Frodo. \u00a0But those are balanced by so many lost or ruined chances on Jackson\u2019s part. \u00a0And that\u2019s the first Trilogy, which is head and shoulders better than the deplorable Hobbit series.<\/p>\n

In contrast, given the confines of a 2 hour prime time slot for a cartoon aimed mainly at children, Rankin and Bass keep everything needed to get the plot. \u00a0I first saw the cartoon long before I read the book. \u00a0And when I read it, I was pleasantly surprised by how close to the story line the cartoon adhered. \u00a0Sure, there is no Beorn, and the Arkenstone isn\u2019t mentioned. \u00a0And the final chapters are condensed to the last few minutes of the cartoon. \u00a0But the basic story of Bilbo there and back again is maintained and conveyed. \u00a0And that, if you aren\u2019t going to reinterpret it artistically with an entirely unique vision, is as good as you can get.<\/p>\n

4. The Music<\/b>

<\/b>Many decry the music in the R\/B\u00a0The Hobbi<\/i>t for its 70s cartoonish sing-song style. \u00a0And yet, that\u2019s the charm. \u00a0We read The Hobbit<\/i> in light of the epic The Lord of the Ring<\/i>s. \u00a0We forget that The Hobbit<\/i> was for children. \u00a0It was a fairy tale story aimed at young audiences. \u00a0Not the sweeping young adult and adult masterpiece sequel of 15 years later. \u00a0And in many ways, like the background art, the music seems to capture a feel for the songs and the atmosphere. \u00a0I have no way of knowing what kind of music Tolkien would have wanted. \u00a0But the songs in R&B;\u2019s The Hobbit<\/i> are able to move back and forth from light hearted (Chip the glasses, Where are you going, Heave-ho!<\/i>), to the heavier (Mount
\nain King returns<\/i>), to the sinister (Fifteen birds<\/i>). \u00a0And that\u2019s not bad. \u00a0Often music, when trying to capture \u2018a feel\u2019, keeps the feel across the board, no matter what the style of music or the moment in the story. \u00a0And this doesn\u2019t count the absolutely out-of-the-ballpark excellent rendition of the dwarven song of the lonely mountain at the beginning. \u00a0Partly sung, partly narrated tag-team style between John Huston and Hans Conried, it is the high point of almost all attempts to put Tolkien\u2019s songs and poetry into film in any version. \u00a0Ever. \u00a0And that\u2019s not bad for a prime time Rankin\/Bass production. \u00a0But then, when you have Huston and Conried, what do you expect? <\/p>\n

5. The Themes<\/b><\/p>\n

Where Bakshi and Jackson often fail the greatest is missing the basic themes of the stories. \u00a0In his first trilogy, Jackson does at least try to keep some of the basics, such as the importance of Bilbo\u2019s mercy. \u00a0But by The Hobbit<\/i> trilogy, Jackson seemed to have thrown out any regard for anything Tolkien had to say. \u00a0Bakshi, also seemed to miss overarching themes that Tolkien thought important. \u00a0True, the confrontation between Golum and Bilbo in Rankin\/Bass misses the emphasis on Bilbo\u2019s mercy. \u00a0But it was a one-shot deal, and without The Lord of the Rings<\/i> to follow up with, that could be forgiven. \u00a0In the end, Ranking\/Bass manages, through its time constraints, to keep the basic three-fold comparisons that are Tolkien\u2019s basic plot themes: Bilbo, like all children of the kindly west, like simple things, Thorin covets gold for gold\u2019s sake, and Smaug simply guards treasure he has no use for. \u00a0In the end, adventure and war may have their place, but it\u2019s the wise Hobbit who knows that food and good cheer are what make the world go around. \u00a0And in our day and age, just like the 50s, or the 70s, that\u2019s not a bad message to remember. <\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least in my opinion. \u00a0As I said here, I consider the 1977 Rankin\/Bass version of The Hobbit to be the best screen adaptation of Tolkien\u2019s works. \u00a0Since we had our annual watching of the version last night, complete with homemade mulled cider and pumpkin and dutch apple pies (again, homemade), it got me to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy 1977's The Hobbit is still the best<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At least in my opinion.  As I said here, I consider the 1977 Rankin\/Bass version of The Hobbit to be the best screen adaptation of Tolkien's\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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