The Hobbit

The Hobbit is a 1977 Japanese-American animated musical television special created by Rankin/Bass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by Topcraft, a precursor to Studio Ghibli. The film is an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, and was first broadcast on NBC in the United States on Sunday, November 27, 1977.

Plot
The plot of the animated production is in most respects similar to that of the book; but certain plot points are significantly compressed or removed due to the time limitations of the format. In addition, certain scenes are obviously edited for commercial breaks. In general, alterations are confined to simple omission of detail, and the story follows the source text. The lyrics of the songs are adapted from songs in the book, but are generally longer.[2]

Voices

 * Orson Bean – Bilbo Baggins
 * Richard Boone – Smaug
 * Hans Conried – Thorin Oakenshield
 * John Huston – Gandalf / Narrator
 * Otto Preminger – The Elvenking
 * Cyril Ritchard – Elrond
 * Brother Theodore – Gollum
 * Paul Frees – Bombur, Troll #1
 * Jack DeLeon – Dwalin, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, Glóin, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Troll #2
 * Don Messick – Balin, Goblin, Lord of the Eagles, Troll #3
 * John Stephenson – Dori, Bard, Great Goblin
 * Glenn Yarbrough – The Balladeer
 * Thurl Ravenscroft – Goblin (singing voice), Background voice

Crew

 * Producers/Directors – Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass
 * Writer – Romeo Muller
 * Based on "The Hobbit" – J. R. R. Tolkien
 * Music – Maury Laws
 * Lyrics – Jules Bass
 * Production Designer – Arthur Rankin Jr.
 * Animation Coordinator – Toru Hara
 * Animation Supervisor – Tsuguyuki Kubo
 * Character Designers – Lester Abrams, Tsuguyuki Kubo
 * Background Designer – Minoru Nishida
 * Animation Directors – Katsuhisa Yamada, Koichi Sasaki
 * Animators – Kazuyuki Kobayashi, Tadakatsu Yoshida, Hidemi Kubo, Yukiyoshi Hane, Hidetoshi *Kaneko, Kazuko Ito
 * Sound Effects – Tom Clack
 * Sound Recorders – John Curcio, Dave Iveland, Bob Elder
 * Choral Director – Lois Winter
 * Associate Producer – Masaki Iizuka