The Hobbit

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The Hobbit

1977,

1h 18m,

Fantasy/

Animation

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72%

18 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

50,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

18 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

An animated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of the adventures of a hobbit on a quest to regain a dwarf king's gold.

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Steven D. Greydanus

Decent Films

Jan 30, 2004

C+

Rankin-Bass bring their typically serviceable animation, strong voicework, and corny folk ballads to The Hobbit… worthwhile for kids and not too bad for parents.

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David Day

Horror Movie Talk

Sep 23, 2025

10/10

I love this movie with all my heart, it got me started in fantasy and horror and I wouldn’t be the person I am today had it not been for renting ten thousand times on VHS.

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Kevin Carr

Fat Guys at the Movies

May 12, 2023

3/4

Quick and breezy compared to the live-action films, this offers a good introduction to on-screen Tolkien lore.

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Rachel Wagner

rachelsreviews.net

Apr 18, 2019

6/10

For a made for TV movie from the 70's I was impressed.

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Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

Nov 24, 2012

7/10

There is something undeniably fun about this kind of crisp, unfussy fantasy storytelling.

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Charles Cassady

Common Sense Media

Dec 15, 2010

4/5

Cartoon adaptation of famous book is a great intro for kids.

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Hagrid P

Mar 31, 2019

I love this old cartoon, wish it was finished.

Hermione M

Mar 23, 2019

80' Classic. Great way to see Tolkien's world as a child.

Hermione G

Dec 25, 2018

This Rankin & Bass adaptation of Tolkein novel, is better than Peter Jackson trilogy

Luke S

Jan 2, 2018

Ugly to look at, pretty painfully cheesy, and with some rather awful interpretations of the songs contained within the text... most of what's good about it was what was already good about the Tolkien novel (so doesn't really count), and the rest is not so much. If anything, it's a really good argument in itself against all those people who took issue with the live-action adaptations being three films, as it really, really doesn't work in one film (granted, this was a very short film, but even with double the length I think it still would have suffered).

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Jules Bass

Director

Arthur Rankin Jr.

Director

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Synopsis

An animated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's tale of the adventures of a hobbit on a quest to regain a dwarf king's gold.

Director: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
Producer: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
Screenwriter: Romeo Muller
Production Co: Rankin/Bass Productions
Genre: Fantasy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 31, 2014
Runtime: 1h 18m

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