The First (and Worst) Adaptation of The Hobbit

The insane and slightly tragic story behind the 1967 adaptation of The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien.
Gene Deitch's blog: web.archive.org/web/201201130...
Support the show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/DomSmith?ty=h
Co-writer/editor: Kate Robinson: / channel
Dominic Noble merchandise: teespring.com/stores/dominic-...
Dom on Twitter: / dominic__noble
Original music by: / djilneige

[@WhaleManMan]

Remember: This was the only screen adaptation that Tolkein got to see.

[@anderkid1090]

YIKES

[@cameronheaton9900]

No wonder he keep making his own stories.

[@tach-uq5tw]

That's just sad

[@bahghoul]

That...is horrifying.

[@evanlinden4410]

Depressing as hell

[@wanderinghistorian]

Peter Jackson: How can I stretch this book into three long movies? Gene Deitch: How can I chop this sucker down to 11 minutes?

[@imdrum6881]

HAHA

[@King_Nex]

Jules Bass: I'm good!

[@matthewhecht9257]

@@King_Nex Bass is the man. The man who realizes 75 minutes is ideal.

[@haski002]

to be fair, it was the studio insisting on three movies. you can really tell.

[@TheJrockfreak]

@@haski002 I did love all three movies tho

[@2springs3winters5]

I'm glad to see the most important scene from The Hobbit remained intact: the dwarves busting in and eating all of Bilbo's food 😂

[@mimkyodar]

Yes... "dwarves"

[@r.jclark4641]

Actually "elves" according to this mess of a film

[@lovableasshole]

@@r.jclark4641 *technically*, in various folklore, dwarves and elves are the same thing.

[@ezrastardust3124]

@@lovableasshole my mind is doing somersaults from confusion right now

[@elenafriese891]

@@ezrastardust3124 probably the simplest way to put it is elves: fairies who live in the sun Dwarves: fairies who hide in the hills

[@SunburntHands]

The artwork itself is a fine example of Eastern European folk art inspired illustration. This is considered a golden period for a particular sort of artwork. It's maybe not to everyone's taste, but I do think it's good artwork, just very badly applied to the project.

[@andrewgwilliam4831]

As soon as I saw some of it, I was reminded of Eastern European animation that would occasionally pop up on television in the UK when I was a kid. I think this video confuses the quality of the artwork with the quality of the production! Fortunately that doesn't detract from the rest of the story being told here.

[@cyryl3827]

It looks a lot like Rumcajs series (I don't remember if it was a Polish or Chech/Slovakian series I watched translated to Polish... since I watched it alongside... Kretek? Kretik? and a few other animations that weren't in Polish).

[@beth12svist]

​@@cyryl3827 Rumcajs is Czech, but it's a different artist (and right now I can't remember who).

[@jamesmc04]

I've seen it in books of legends and fairytales - it fits perfectly. It could be used to illustrate Tolkien well, if done properly. I didn't know it was Eastern European; that seems rather appropriate to Tolkien's mythology.

[@JennyDolfen]

@@jamesmc04 It certainly looks like 99% of all the storybooks I had as a kid, so the drawing style definitely rubbed off on German artists in the sixties and seventies.

[@Great_Olaf5]

Wait. Was this incident why Tolkien was later so aggressively against his books being made into movies?

[@phastinemoon]

Burned once, never again

[@kieranmahon4382]

Poor man!

[@Shatterverse]

I wouldn't be surprised. I mean look at what happened to the poor, poor Wheel of Time.

[@Killtech15]

@@Shatterverse The Wheel of Time show isn't out yet. Do you mean Earthsea?

[@wanderinghistorian]

This puts that other story into much clearer context. That poor man.

[@blaircastillo9136]

I skimmed Deitch's blog, and funnily enough, someone in the comments asked about the princess' name. He responded: "The Princess’s name was “Mika Milovana.” “Mika” is the name of Pete Seeger’s eldest daughter. I always loved her name, so I borrowed it for this new character. Her last name, “Milovana” means a beloved woman in the Czech language."

[@vaclav_fejt]

Wow, so that's why it sounded suspiciously Czech to my ear. Albeit the first syllable should be stressed and the last syllable should be long: ['milovana:]

[@AntediluvianRomance]

It definitely sounded somewhat Slavic. Although it also sounded more like Spika than Mika.

[@Vanastar]

I needed to read that princess's name very carefully; at first glance I thought it was 'Mia Malkova'.

[@vaclav_fejt]

​@@Vanastar Not too far off - it's possibly too derived from a Czech surname. "Málková" is the feminine form of the surname "Málek", derived from the word "malý" (small). However, since that name is a pseudonym, it could be from many Slavic languages. And "Mia" is completely anglophone.

[@baky582]

@@AntediluvianRomance Before I saw this comment, I always head "Princess speaker milabottom", but now I can't unhear the correct name.

[@pushinguproses]

I actually really like some of the illustrations - in a picture book form I think it would be lovely and stylized. In this form... it's unfortunate.

[@chanterelle483]

Thank you! Literally half of the books I had as a child were illustrated by this artist. I am a tad bit offended that people seem to hate it so much.

[@luciajancarova9314]

Adolf Born, who did the art for this, is actually quite a popular illustrator here in Slovakia and Czech Republic! He’s a really big part ouf our childhoods and I really love his work!

[@cosmicriptid]

Agreed. Not my style, but It seems to be a great form for picture books

[@TimUp]

If it had been done with more care it would have been something like the PBS show Long Ago and Far Away. Which was amazing, (at least in my memory.)

[@abiwonkenabi7027]

I agree. If this were just a simple short aired on TV, it wouldn't have been as bad. The art is somewhat charming.

[@BlitzAttacker]

As an American with interest in the metalworking industry, finding out that "Slag" has a very different meaning in the UK is hilarious.

[@chrisoliver3642]

Next up: bender and fanny.

[@zarrg5611]

It mostly has that meaning in the UK, it is a fairly old-fashioned bit of slang.

[@hedgehatchet3578]

“Be sure to pound out that slag.”

[@mollymcdade4031]

Geography lessons were always a challenge when talking about slag piles and all the kids going ‘pfffft’

[@eldrago19]

I'm British and I'd only ever heard of it in metalworking or in the expression 'slag off'.

[@NoaLeighMaxwell]

Sweet lord the WAP 'cover' at the end is the BEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. Big applause for Il Neige.

[@clintonscheber2097]

The best thing I've heard all day.

[@becauseimafan]

Same! 😂

[@bookleaf72]

Especially since it spells out SAD, which is what that adaptation turned out to be. Poor Deitch

[@CM-ss5pe]

Check out Elise Roth's version as well. It's hilarious!

[@Zarsla]

Yes I went to go hear this whole thing.

[@saintdane05]

I actually don't hate this style. If it moved rather than just slide across the frame it would actually be kind of cool

[@cassiemoyles4177]

Yes, it would be a lot more.... cohesive? Pleasant? I don't know but it would've been better hahaha

[@leothebackgroundsheep3010]

That or illustrations in a book.

[@d.o.m.i.]

the drawings are pretty. hated everything they did to the plot though

[@HivefleetMagoladon]

@@leothebackgroundsheep3010 I kind of like the fact that they looked like illustrations in a book, though. Bearing in mind that the Hobbit was originally written to be a children's story, it really reminded me of the style like a parent reading a story to their child at night. I couldn't see Lord of the Rings working in that style, but the Hobbit matches it really well. Now all they need is to... actually use the story.

[@cooltrainervaultboy-39]

Kinda reminds me of those classic cartoons compilation dvds, where it'd have one or two Popeye cartoons, and the rest is stuff you probably never heard of.

[@wd3185]

The fact that _this_ is the _only_ screen adaptation of any of his stories that Tolkien ever lived to see, animated or live-action, fills me with an indescribable sadness.

[@Lazarus1095]

If nothing else, this series of events is definitive proof that film producers have always been in the habit of buying writers' IP for no better reason than to make their own works under better authors' names.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Something similar had pretty much happened to the iconic 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man. It was both an in name only effort and a dolled up instalment.

[@TF2Fan101]

Somewhere out there, Rick Riordan just cringed and he doesn’t know why.

[@abidizzne892]

@@TF2Fan101 he knows

[@Serai3]

I'm starting to see why Tolkien got so tetchy about anyone adapting his work.

[@Tsukuyomi28]

*touchy Edit: I realized techy might be a variant of touchy on some forsaken corner of the earth.

[@vaclav_fejt]

@@Tsukuyomi28 That's a bit too harsh on England, don't you think? :D

[@scottmantooth8785]

*and why he refused to allow the Beatles to to make their own adaption with them playing the key roles*

[@qty1315]

@@scottmantooth8785 I might have refused to let them do that if I saw Yellow Submarine. I mean, it's a decent movie, but it looks like everyone involved was high on LSD. Would you have wanted druggies in-charge of adapting your beloved, lore-heavy fantasy books?

[@scottmantooth8785]

@@qty1315 *short answer...no* *detailed deep dive answer would be an infatic NO augmented with a deep earth shaking and undeniably impressive use of reverb and auto tune leaving no room for misunderstanding that the NO in question was not going to change to a more permissive variant before the next scheduled super nova event*

[@imdrum6881]

I get the feeling that Frodo in this canon would be Bilbo and Princess Smilkvalalnfjfkdbsx's son.

[@Rochambo]

But his name would’ve been Fro-yo lol

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

@@Rochambo Frogurt

[@samuellaakso7012]

Fro-Ho

[@BATCHARRO]

That's good!

[@casperchristiansen2458]

@@ninjabluefyre3815 Fivel, who was protected by the Brotherhood of the Wolf on his way west.

[@natecross7686]

It was kinda hilarious that even this 12 minute slideshow from the 60’s added a prophecy making Bilbo the chosen Hobbit. That seems like such a modern Hollywood thing to do but the Jackson movies didn’t even go there. Though in fairness, I actually think using the Arkenstone to kill the dragon is a clever idea.

[@trooper9249]

There was an earlier adaptation of Tolkien's work released before this one: a twelve episode radio drama of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy produced by the BBC in 1955 and 1956. The entire drama is considered lost today, but we do know that Tolkien absolutely hated it, feeling that none of the cast or crew took the material seriously.

[@juliamavroidi8601]

It's a shame the production was so rushed. Some of the designs, especially of the hobbit hole in- and exterior are really cute

[@taekwongurl]

Of all the things you don't expect in this video, a parody music at the end "Slag ass dragon" is definitely one of them.

[@MelaniePoparad]

I, personally, found it an improvement over the original. I’d like a full length version of slag ass dragon

[@taekwongurl]

@@MelaniePoparad the original is a banger! We wouldn't have Slag Ass Dragon without it.

[@d.o.m.i.]

I also love the original, though my favourite version is Ben Shapiro's cover

[@ApequH]

I loved it

[@dustyrose192]

I wish we can find full length versions of these songs. Hell i would pay for them

[@SoSoMikaela]

Moral of the story: Don't sell the film rights of your creative works to people who only want weazled boodle.

[@KingBobXVI]

The same happened to Robert Jordan's _Wheel of Time_ film rights. They were sold to a company who sat on it for decades and the night they were set to expire the company aired a super shitty "pilot episode" at like 2am on a completely random network (it was the Home & Garden channel iirc?) just to renew them. The rights have since been recovered and since then bounced around between like 4 different major companies and I think they're actually in casting for the series, but I haven't checked in a while.

[@greenhowie]

@@KingBobXVI Huh, I always figured the first novel would make for an excellent YA movie or series - that's depressing.

[@johnvinals7423]

Or anyone named Snyder.

[@52wbending52]

Yes, but also Synder and Dietch did have creative ideas and wanted to create something special. Ultimately Synder was a greedy bastard, but I doubt even he intended to disrespect the original work. I really like the style of the art, and Dietch's ideas sound like an extension of Tolkiens' work.

[@52wbending52]

Yes, but also Synder and Dietch did have creative ideas and wanted to create something special. Ultimately Synder was a greedy bastard, but I doubt even he intended to disrespect the original work. I really like the style of the art, and Dietch's ideas sound like an extension of Tolkiens' work.

[@odothedoll2657]

...is it bad that I like the art style. Like it’s not animated but as illustrations it’s got a cute surreal effect.

[@NeonUFO]

the storybook illustration-esque art style of this movie looks absolutely gorgeous. I would've loved to see where deitch's creativity would take it if he ever got a chance to actually realize it the way he wanted to...

[@baz8484]

He should have made it an illustrated storybook then... Probably would have worked too, as the hobbit was originally a story for children

[@dafyddkeen4741]

Yep and they were made by Adolf Born who was a Czech artist that made Mach and Sebestova aka Max and Sally a Czech cartoon series that became popular in the country with much improvment 15 years as I guess so.

[@JF1k]

But the pictures you can see in the movie are pictures of famous Czechoslovakian illustrator Adolf Born (not Deitch). He illustrated a lot of books and made some (better) cartoons too. If you are interested see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Born.

[@griffindiary6692]

@@dafyddkeen4741 Oh that explains why the illustrations reminded me of some older russian animated movies! (I know Czechoslovakia isn't Russia, but art-wise they have a similar vibe) Thanks for elaborating :)

[@efoxkitsune9493]

@@dafyddkeen4741 Wait for real?! I'm Czech and I didn't even connect the dots...! Man, that's wild.

[@Clydoken]

With all the other... let's say "liberties" taken with the story, I'm legit surprised the ring still turned Bilbo invisible instead of giving him laser vision or something.

[@enharmonics]

I watched the short and I honestly don’t think they ever actually did say what the ring did

[@luciajancarova9314]

The art for this adaptation was made by Czech illustrator Adolf Born who is one of the biggest children’s illustration artists of the last century. His art is has been a huge part of childhoods around Czechia and Slovakia with his animated series Mach a Šebestová. I’d suggest to check out more of his work, it’s very unique

[@RobinParravel]

Oh, THAT'S why the art seemed so familiar to me!

[@DinoRicky]

Wait Adolf!!!!!! If his parents knew about another adolf who knows art then they’ll scream

[@jerryhorn4697]

Czech Republic --- NOT Czechia! Damn Google Earth for this embarassing misnomer! The Czech citizens do NOT call their nation Czechia!

[@RobinParravel]

@@jerryhorn4697 are you Czech?

[@beth12svist]

​@@jerryhorn4697 I'm Czech and I do. It's a very useful English shorthand when one discusses history as frequently as I do. It's extremely improper and weird to say "Czech Republic" when one is, for example, talking about what was happening in the area in the 19th century when we did not even have a separate state but did have specific cultural features (like regional costume).

[@j.f.davenport3232]

It was actually Ralph Bakshi's "The Lord of the Rings (Part One)" that used rotoscoping while the little clip you showed in the top right corner as you said it was actually Rankin/Bass's "The Hobbit" and the reason I put "Part One" in the title is because that was how it was initially going to be titled but dropped "Part One" because United Artists (the distributor of the movie) believed that moviegoers would not pay full ticket prices to see half a movie, but Ralph Bakshi was furious about the company's decision and in interviews he still refers to it as "The Lord of the Rings: Part One" and if you are reading this comment I am so sorry that I'm and feeding you too much information if you're feeling that way it's just that I am a huge nerd and fan of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.

[@hunterolaughlin]

Really stupid that United Artists made Bakshi drop Part One from the title because they believed audiences wouldn’t pay to see half of a movie. Well, they’re definitely wrong about that. Look at other films based on popular books that are divided into two parts like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Twilight: Breaking Dawn. Audiences still paid to see both parts even if they were half of a complete film.

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

I suspect they actually made him drop it because they saw the final product and realized that it was never getting a Part 2.

[@geoffreyrichards6079]

With all the behind-the-scenes butchering going on with most adaptations of Tolkien’s work, it’s kind of a miracle we got a decent adaptation of “The Hobbit” from Rankin-Bass and a solid trilogy of films from Jackson.

[@weberman173]

years later@@hunterolaughlin that was A) decades later, and B) not the FIRST entry into the series. If the Philospohers stone was split into 2 Movies you can be sure less people would have been willing to watch it back in the day besides the bookfans. When your 6 movies in, having the last "story" be split in two is a lot less problematic then if you are 0 movies in and you split the first story. Thats actually a thing i notice while reading specifically light novels, becuase of how they "work"(often times be contest winners or just free on the internet as webnovels) in publication the first 1 or 2 volumes are very often very much "self contained" they rarely set up a overarching plot or stop in the middle of one. V1 ends and the series could stop without much issues, same with V2 at times, only at V3(orv2 at times) is where you start setting up more of an overarching goal and stuff. why? because if you have a deal for the first book you will not know if the audience will buy it and you get a second.. but after you have 2 books out(or 1 very sucesfull one) its almost certain that you will continue for a good while so you can make more longer reaching elements that would not work if you have the possibility of ending after 1 entry

[@Lazysupermutant]

The whole "pay me a dime, oh you don't have a dime? Well here's a dime!" Strikes me is very much a Gentry thing to do, this is how the fay steal you away to Arcadia kids.

[@aceofspades9503]

I like this and might use it as a character origin story the next time I run a Changling game! 😁

[@guanyu8539]

@@aceofspades9503 It brings me great joy to know that people still run Changeling games.

[@aceofspades9503]

@@guanyu8539 Second Edition for Changeling the Lost came out about a year ago, in case you haven't already seen that. 😊 They updated the rule set to be in line with the Chronicles of Darkness edition- I liked most of the changes.

[@guanyu8539]

@@aceofspades9503 I hadn't been keeping up with it, so I didn't know. Thank you! I'll definitely check it out.

[@juliagoodwin9510]

I got it! ...I understood that reference.

[@AFUFreeman720]

‘She will try alone if he won’t come’ Story of my life tbh

[@bbsj86]

I feel very personally attacked

[@latieraeve]

I choked on my sandwich. Curse my dirty mind

[@_gremlinboy]

Chin up queen we got this

[@Salsmachev]

The problem was last time I we did it I said "Princess Grglesplatz" and she got angry at me for saying some other princess' name!

[@MsMaydayGoingDown]

"Now THIS" * points at this comment * "This is beautiful!"

[@morgand.3809]

Thanks for the warning about the flashing lights. Not many KZbinrs are this considerate toward epileptics like me. Even with my eyes closed the flashing was bothering me, so I had to turn away from the screen and just listen to your voice. No way I'll risk watching the actual movie. From what you say, I won't be missing much anyway.

[@CherryCheetah]

When I first saw these images I thought "Hmmm, the style and colours are strangely familiar. Are you sure this isn't Czech production?" Then the name Adolf Born showed up and I was like "I KNEW IT!" But wait - how did Adolf Born became part of this mess...?

[@alanpennie8013]

Presumably because he knew Deitch, the world of Czech animation and illustration being a small one.

[@sophiamckirdy3034]

Okay, so Sl*g isn't a completely ridiculous name change: it's a smelting term used to refer to the waste produced when extracting iron from its ore. It floats on top of the molten iron and is scraped off and sold for use in construction of roads etc. Factor in a language barrier meaning that someone with English as a second or third language would most likely be unaware of the slang use of the word and boom! Sl*g the dragon. I'm honestly gutted for both Deitch and Tolkien that the original vision for this never got made because of Snyder's greed :(

[@tig-6426]

This is the only definition of slag I was aware of. Interesting British slang.

[@TheHopperUK]

I have somewhere an original triceratops Dinobot when he was still called Slag :D

[@bosyber]

@@TheHopperUK Exactly, being a Dutch materials scientist, I really didn't get why that name had to be changed, until I came across what Dom so helpfully posted as an explainer about British slang :)

[@TF2Fan101]

@@TheHopperUK I prefer to call the character Slag, honestly. I get that people might object to the name, but considering that some words have multiple meanings in different cultures, and seeing how the name itself for the character isn't meant to be offensive in any way... I don't see a problem with it.

[@TheHopperUK]

@@TF2Fan101 Honestly I feel the same given that the word is fairly mild, it amuses me but doesn't offend at all.

[@Ordostsceri]

To be fair, Slag has a different definition that's much more common in American English; noun, "Stony waste matter separated from metals during the smelting or refining of ore." That's the only definition I was familiar with, and it is kind of appropriate for a dragon, if not Smaug.

[@BartMassey-PO8]

Yeah, I'm sure most Americans have no idea of the British slang meaning of "slag". I had certainly forgotten it until it was brought up. It's as if a British adaptation had named the princess (why is there a princess?) "Princess Tramp": would mean something quite different than intended to American audiences.

[@KateHistoryMysteries]

That is in British English too.

[@cooltrainervaultboy-39]

Reminds me of the reason they changed one of the Dinobots from Transformers name from Slag to Slug.

[@aceofspades9503]

Yeah I wouldn't have caught the British Slang either. The only definition of the word Slag that I have heard before this was the mining waste version.

[@veggiedragon1000]

I am British and I had never heard the slang, only the metal waste.

[@Frenchaboo]

You know, if anything it's interesting to see how the "pseudo-medieval fantasy look" wasn't prevalent yet back then. Good or bad, this sort of aesthetic and clothes for Tolkien characters (or any hard fantasy for that matter) would never get a pass today.

[@Taschenschieber]

"The Twelve-Minute Hobbit" sounds like a good title for a podcast.

[@ezrastardust3124]

I thought this was a fever dream I had when I was a kid Good to know it was real, and also creepypasta levels of terrifying

[@qty1315]

Understandable, have a nice day!

[@magitek09]

Had the same experience with the last unicorn

[@Tamashikiri]

Interesting thing about the dragon's name in this version; the word "slag" doesn't actually have the same connotation outside the UK, and in America at least, is primarily used as a word for molten metal, so yeah, it does kind of make sense as the name for a fire breathing monster. And funny thing; the reason that I know this is that the contrast between those definitions actually came up in Transformers, of all things. In the original 80s toyline, the triceratops Dinobot was named Slag (again, because of fire breathing), and Beast Wars later established "slag" as a Cybertronian swear word with a similar usage to "shit." It wasn't until almost 25 years later in Transformers Animated and its iteration of the Dinobots that the British definition came up and Hasbro learned that it was *not* an appropriate name for a toy sold to children in foreign markets, so the triceratops was renamed to Snarl in the series (traditionally the name of the stegosaurus, who was absent in this iteration). Eventually, once the whole Dinobot team was slated to appear in the Fall of Cybertron video game, the triceratops was finally given the new name Slug, which has been the character's name in every iteration since. You'd think that would be the end of it, but Slag had still been going by his old name in the IDW comics, where it was more acceptable due to those comics being aimed at older fans, until the comics' Dark Cybertron event, issues of which where included in the series' 30th anniversary toyline, so the character's name was finally changed in the comics as well. Amusingly, this was the one time where his name's other definition was acknowledged, as he explained in the comic that he decided to change his name when he learned that the female Autobot Arcee had found it offensive.

[@vilena5308]

Kudos for all that background. :) Slag is still a commonly used swearword in Transformers fanfiction.

[@becauseimafan]

@@vilena5308 😂 Was not expecting a fanfic tidbit, that's excellent 😁

[@Th3Treasoner]

He's being called Slag once again in Kingdom.

[@stanrogers5613]

It's the impurities removed from molten metal (alternatively called dross), but yeah. I grew up in a smelting town, and watching slag pours in the evening - at a considerable distance - was cool for a wee lad. It was like having a tame volcano that ran on schedule and only did those lovely lava flows and none of the annoying explodey tantrums.

[@nicholasfarrell5981]

Oh yeah, I remember the hard-core TF fans being furious when the TCG came out and the character wasn't named Slag on his card.

[@may.k_me]

I feel so sorry for Tolkien Imagine writing a story that would shape a whole genre of books, to have that adapted to this

[@erynlasgalen1949]

As a minor scholar of Tolkien, my belief is that The Hobbit was far from the beginning of his work in his created world of Arda. It was an adaptation pulled together from his vast histories and notes, compressed into what seemed to be a children's tale and covering only one brief chapter in a world that existed for millennia. Some of his favorite ideas saw the light of day. The Arkenstone was a Silmaril. The unnamed Elvenking (Thranduil) was a much less grand version of Thingol Greycloak, right down to his ancient quarrel with the Dwarves over jewelry. I don't think he knew when her was writing The Hobbit of the Ting Trilogy that Christopher would mine gold out of all those notes he left behind --The Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales, The Book of Lost Tales, the many volumes of The History of Middle-earth, and even more I have forgotten.

[@JourneyTraveler]

Fact check: "The Hobbit" (1977) wasn't the Ralph Bakshi production, it was produced by Rankin/Bass and animated by Topcraft (best known for also animating Naussica) for TV broadcast. Ralph Bakshi's rotoscoped film was the "Lord of the Rings" (1978) thanks to a completely different legal deal and a dedicated crew working primarily in Spain. Small detail but with the 2 films having very different production histories it's important to know which is which. Still great research on this video!

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

*Fun Fact:* Gene Deitch, who created the first adaptation of the Hobbit, is the same creator behind the worst era of Tom and Jerry (except for that Cartoon Kit short which it's good) and the Popeye TV series.

[@doubleflores8350]

Oh god, I hated that era of Tom and Jerry. Even as a kid, i hated how Cartoon Network would rerun those shorts instead of the Hannah Barbara or Chuck Jones shorts.

[@bahghoul]

Oh lord, I remember those shorts. Some of the ugliest animation I've ever seen.

[@merrittanimation7721]

More charitably he also made the animated adaptation of Charlotte's Web.

[@leothebackgroundsheep3010]

From what I've heard the guy hated the original Tom and Jerry shorts, being one of the people who deemed them too violent. Why MGM decided this was the guy to continue Tom and Jerry after Hanna and Barbera left is any one's guess.

[@dunes8817]

I'm not sure what was more "off" the animation or the humor. It comes across like it was made by someone that didn't quite understand T&J.

[@TheRealLemur]

"The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Slag"

[@zarinaa1135]

I'm shocked that the one thing that stayed the same was Bilbo finding The Ring that turns him invisible in a cave with Gollum. Especially since the writers DIDN'T KNOW THE OTHER BOOKS EXISTED, let alone that The Ring was so important down the road. Just goes to show you that JR2T chose the right bit from The Hobbit to expand into his epic story. If this crazy adaptation kept it very nearly the same, it's gotta be iconic.

[@alexiane250]

the only thing it was missing was being voiced by the beatles. oh yeah there was a real possibility, ie it almost happened, that the fab four were to be in a LotR adaptation. but, and get this, the reason it didn't go through was because Tolkien had once been their neighbour and hated them for producing “indescribable” noise from their practice sessions

[@rbck8826]

Sources?

[@ziraniko]

Ok, my guess is that the name of the princess is Mirka Milovaná. I checked the Wikipedia page of the film and it says the princess is named Mirka of Dale. Mirka is a usual Czech name. It is a diminutive of common Slavic name Miroslava. Milovaná in Czech means "beloved". So, it is Mirka Beloved in English. I think it is reasonable to suppose, that they name Princess a nice Czech name if they made the film in Prague. And the narrator just slightly "rounded" the "r" in Mirka like the English language does. It sounds much sharper in Czech.

[@aidancollins1591]

An earlier comment claims that he cleared it up in a comment, It's Mika Milovana

[@Olivia_Dreamrider]

Thanks for looking that up

[@garthst.claire3459]

But a Czech name *really* doesn't fit into Middle Earth

[@beth12svist]

​@@garthst.claire3459 We know that now. They didn't know it then. (Also, well, we don't _really_ know that. Tolkien was intentionally playing with the "this work is a translation" conceit, so, you know, from that point of view her name could just be a modern-day translation from an ancient language.)

[@oneinathousand2156]

The character designs are cute in a children’s’ storybook kinda way but I’m not sure if I would want to watch a full length movie that looked like that.

[@madamgalen225]

I LOVE the character designs- gollum at least is genuinely creative and creepy

[@agregau]

If I am not hallucinating, the images were actually made by czech illustartor Adolf Born who is famous for his drawings in many books and short animated films for children. His cartoons for czech television are awesome and have much smoother animation. I have no idea how he managed to get himself involved in this project... and why it ended up so miserably. edit.: ok, one minute and Dom explained all my questions. Making anything better than this in less than 30 days would be impossible.

[@skylx0812]

It kind of reminded me of the animated version of the 70s song One Tin Soldier.

[@stargirl7646]

Yeah it’s definitely a very trippy style of animation haha. Very artistically cool, but not my style.

[@jlev1028]

Good thing this adaptation was only 11 minutes long.

[@amrys_argent]

"Slag Ass Dragon" alone was worth the 10 cents I didn't pay to get admission to this video. X'D

[@chaosae3143]

This is like someone read a cliffnotes of the hobbit, ate some frozen pizza that has been in the fridge a bit too long, then went to sleep.

[@Mizuna]

Little did Dom know.... he made at least one Beautiful Watcher's day by showing the abnormally hot dwarf, Kili. Thanks Dom.

[@tracyroweauthor]

I was going to say the same thing!! Aiden Turner is simply beautiful.

[@stargirl7646]

Right?? The love triangle was bleh and maybe dwarves shouldn’t techhhhnically be hot (though who knows, right?), but dangit Kili was so cute 🥺

[@EvaEstera]

Kili is cute, adorable, and handsome. How can you hate that adorable face of his? 🥺🥺

[@Torlik11]

"Slag A$$ dragon" was amazing, best end credit song so far.

[@RoseRavenQueen]

the song was pretty fun cx - i have to say have been enjoying them on all the current videos.

[@ImmortalBroken]

The fact that all the comments aren't about SLAG ASS DRAGON makes me think everyone stopped the video too soon.

[@uncopyrightabled]

"There's some dwarves in this house" was freaking amazing. Now I want a "The Saga Begins" style song covering the entire hobbit!

[@hannahbrennan2131]

There is. It's called The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins. It's sung by Leonard Nimoy. It's amazing.

[@Grim_Sister]

Fun fact, there is a Hebrew translation of The Hobbit, called the pilots translation. This because it was translated by Israeli pilots who were taken captive in during the War of Attrition. These pilots were taken in by the Egyptian forces and needed something to pass the time. Some of the other captives didn’t read or write in English very well, thus forcing the pilots to translate the Hobbit to them. That specific translation is worth a lot on the book collecting market (And I have it❤️)

[@ezrastardust3124]

Yooooo that’s incredible! Any chance it could be shared with the internet?

[@calliewalsh7058]

Patron: make this lost in adaptation Dom: here's a history lesson Dom's Subs: whatever, we're here for anything!

[@icogetch]

Thanks for making me realise that I'm Sub to a Dom.

[@lillianb8762]

I can't unsee that- welcome to Dom's Subs, beautiful watchers :)

[@butterflyslinky]

It's a shame that they didn't make a full movie in this style. It wouldn't have been good, but given it was the 60s, it probably could have become a beloved stoner film.

[@prismagraphy]

Yeah I actually liked the style, just not the production.

[@mesektet5776]

I feel like a staff wielding Tolkien should have showed up and Deitch's door and announce they were going to steal a treasure from Synder's mountain hoard.

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

not gonna lie, when you finished summarizing the movie, I paused the video, and for a solid 15 seconds or so I stood here, stared into the void thinking "what the actual fuck?" all this time.

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

0:43 - [Captions] "You hesitate to even spend that poultry amount on a film" Whatsamatter, Dom? You chicken?

[@ilikecheese775]

That's a fowl pun.

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

@@ilikecheese775 Hey, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[@BATCHARRO]

Ashcan movies are for the birds!

[@alisaurus4224]

@@imveryangryitsnotbutter you’re just egging them on

[@leperwolf7287]

Ralph Bakshi did the Lord of the Rings adaptation (Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers) Rankin/Bass did the Hobbit and Return of the King.

[@ebwarg]

It stopped midway through The Two Towers. …something just occurred to me: would that make it The One Tower?

[@leperwolf7287]

@@ebwarg I barely remember anything about it. I was maybe 11 or 12 when I saw it on the Friday Night Movie (I'm 43 so yeah that was quite a while ago).

[@brandonlyon730]

@@ebwarg There was suppose to be a sequel but the Box office numbers didn’t justify to give Ralph a sequel, the movie was apparently suppose to have a part 1 and 2 in the title, but the studio thought it would confuse audience members and made Ralph drop it.

[@tracyroweauthor]

I saw the Bashki version in a movie theater. It was live action animation and pretty confusing. It did make me want to read the books though, just to figure out what the hell the movie was about. I'm grateful for that, because the LOTR books turned out to be one of my favorite book series. Fun fact: In 1972 Ralph Bakshi made his debut feature film, Fritz the Cat. It was based on the comic strip by Robert Crumb and was the first animated film to receive an X rating

[@johnsensebe3153]

@@brandonlyon730 Bakshi intended to make one, long movie telling the whole story, but ran out of money. That's also the reason some of the shots are processed live action footage. He just ran out of money to animate them properly.

[@ebwarg]

Blooper Reel: “No, Sir Terry, we do not eat dimes.”

[@leafruns7672]

This "style" of "animation" is oddly nostalgic to me. I've seen several of these things though I can't remember them. I think it usually was aimed at very young children and with short stories it works very well.

[@Pratchettgaiman]

Creating a cheap quick version of a property to maintain rights-isn’t uncommon-I believe it’s generally called an “ashcan film”

[@victorianmelodrama]

Isn't that what happened with Queen of the D@mned?

[@Redrally]

@@victorianmelodrama Fantastic Four is a much more infamous example. It. Keeps. Happening.

[@fermintenava5911]

I think that's what happened with that awful "Earthsea"-movies as well - at least they were made very late into their licensing period.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

There’s also an anime EarthSea film by Goro Miyazaki, Hayao’s own older son. Still, while bland, it’s not as weak as Ghibli’s most recent effort, Earwig and the Witch, which is still pretty meh but isn’t as terrible as Garzey’s Wing.

[@MJTRadio]

Copyright bending stories are fascinating, and I love learning about them. Even if what they produce is garbage, the stories of the making ofs tend to be wild.

[@patrickt.6492]

Like that crappy Wheel of Time pilot from a few years ago that started Billy Zane.

[@BATCHARRO]

Fun fact: Half of all existing Fantastic Four movies are this.

[@brandonlyon730]

@@BATCHARROIt's sad the first one has the most comic accurate Dr. Doom.

[@justinalbin7272]

@Patrick T. I feel bad for Billy. The guy goes from a major role in one of the most financially successful movies of all time to a copyright holding sham that aired during late night ad time on FXX, probably sandwiched inbetween ads for impotence pills and girls gone wild.

[@evilbob840]

I'm usually outraged by copyright bending stories, because they mostly fall into one, or both, of two categories: 1) creative person gets completely screwed out of money and the rights to their own creation, or 2) locked away by a corporation that doesn't do anything with it (except for the bare minimum when it's about to expire), preventing anyone from doing anything creative with the property.

[@aaronsirkman8375]

Wow, that's a rough story. And Deitch was clearly a talented animator; I actually really like the designs in the film, even if they were inaccurate and highly stylized.

[@SithLadyDarhVamp]

Honestly, I wanna see the love triangle from the 80s between RDJ, Carrie Fisher and Arnie too now.

[@genevieve5411]

That was so specific that I actually started wondering if it was a real movie.

[@KeybladeMasterAndy]

I expected him to reveal it was real until he said he wishes it were.

[@kiyo4476]

Imagine this being the basis of the Peter Jackson adaptation. It'd just be Legolas shooting the crossbow instead.

[@oscarstainton]

Yeah, no. -_-

[@or_gluzman561Peace_IL_PS]

unlike a wizard this Adaptation has arrived too early

[@ApequH]

Your comment needs more love

[@or_gluzman561Peace_IL_PS]

@@ApequH thank you good sir

[@Sleipnirseight]

BEST COMMENT

[@LowellLucasJr.]

With us reviewing it, it arrived precisely when it means too!

[@Hum0ng0us]

2:48 I have absolutely zero idea of what happens in The Hobbit. The only thing I know about it is that the Seventh Doctor is in it.

[@alanpennie8013]

People who've actually watched the trilogy won't know much more (unless they've also read the book).

[@merri-toddwebster2473]

Yeah, Radagast is basically Seven if he ate too many funny mushrooms

[@archvaldor]

For any one who attempts to watch the animation, it uses excessive flashing images that could be dangerous to any one with photosensitive epilepsy, and will likely give you a splitting headache and nausea if you don't.

[@livinghistory9701]

Just from those few seconds of the movie, I'm officially scared to see what's ahead.

[@radiofuel2733]

I love when reviews are longer than the film

[@madpsycho6]

8 hour review of the Syndercut: actual review is 4 hours long but there's 4 hours worth of slow motion for no reason

[@MsMaydayGoingDown]

I mean the name 'Slag' could of come from how melted-down metal is called 'molten slag', in reference to the dragon's fire breath... but let's be honest I'm giving this WAY too much credit haha

[@victoriagrist5374]

I’m going to need a full on SAD (slag ass dragon) cover now so I can blast it in my car and confuse all my friends

[@pupax2000]

Have you watched the Russian hobbit movie? If not, it is a must. It is... insane. It features a glitter Gandalf.

[@eshbena]

There are two words that I can least imagine next to each other and they are "glitter" and "Gandalf".

[@vaclav_fejt]

Do you mean the 1991's "The Protectors", adaptation of The Fellofship of the RIng? That is insane...I prefer this czech/american "movie". :D

[@AntediluvianRomance]

Hey, those times, all cinematic effects around here were glitter.

[@Fluffehz212]

I find it so fitting that Snyder literally means cheater/trickster or to deceive in my language (Danish). What a wild story tho. 😬

[@martaj7614]

I was about to say the same!

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

seems every Snyder is destined to ruin a franchise.

[@airsir9559]

@@MrKlausbaudelaire Which is why the Snyder cut proved to be such a success and people are fervently rallying to restore his vision. Yeah okay.

[@MrKlausbaudelaire]

@@airsir9559 half a dozen of the noisiest, fanatic fans putting up a pathetic hashtag up for a couple weeks isn't "a success" or "fervently rallying".

[@justinalbin7272]

@Aerry Suri If the movie was so good then why did only 36% of viewers actually finish watching it?

[@undead.rising]

This is definitely Il Niege's best work with your end credit's song... SAD (Slag Ass Dragon) is truly a piece of art!

[@folgore1]

Apologies if this was mentioned in one of the other comments. The animated version of The Hobbit -- which was very good -- was by Rankin Bass studio in 1977 for TV. They are the studio responsible for all the great animated holiday classics in the US. Ralph Bakshi created an animated version of the first half of Lord of the Rings in 1978 or 79 for theatrical release. Rankin Bass then did the second half of the LOTR for TV in 1980. Edit: Great video! A wonderfully bizarre story!

[@PrincessNinja007]

Slag makes sense as a dragon's name. It's the leftover debris from welding

[@vaclav_fejt]

It's also a troll insult in Terry Pratchett's books.

[@PrincessNinja007]

@@vaclav_fejt I thought it was their drug

[@vaclav_fejt]

@@PrincessNinja007 That was "Slab". Also, I'm not sure if "slag" was really used as an insult, I read it in Czech and I remember two insults - "Brekcie" (also a troll's name) and "koprolit", but the troll was "Breccia", and maybe that other insult was "coprolite" and not "slag".

[@vaclav_fejt]

@@PrincessNinja007 Also, the inconspicuous Assassin in the Fifth Element, Inigo Skimmer, is in Czech "Hoptam Struska", literally "Hopthere Slag" (with only the metallurgical meaning).

[@AliceDorthy]

I almost spit out my coffee when he said “Snyder Cut!” Just his reaction made me laugh. Great nails Dom!

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

But Snyder's cut is actually really good superhero movie.

[@timothymclean]

What is it with Snyders and really bad adaptations?

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

@@timothymclean You mean Whedon...

[@timothymclean]

@@ExtremeMadnessX I really don't. I like most of Whedon's MCU films more than I like the all-Snyder DCEU films. (The theatrical Justice League was my second-favorite DCEU film when it came out.) If you like Snyder and hate Whedon, that's fine, but I still reserve the right to make fun of Snyder. "Save...Martha!"

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

@@timothymclean Theatrical Justice League is utter garbage. They fucked up Flash and especially Cyborg.

[@count_bodies_like_sheep9296]

Stanley Kubrick wanted to adapt Lord of the Rings into a movie and cast the Beatles as certain characters. After watching this video, Tolkien’s refusal to sell the copyrights makes a lot of sense.

[@megteg]

Absolutely LOVE the nails. Wish more guys would do this, it’s super fun. Great video, I wasn’t even aware this film existed!

[@GracieLizzy]

Just looked up Gene Deitch's Wikipedia page and read that the full length Hobbit film that never came to pass was going to be a co-creation with stop motion legend Jiří Trnka, damn we missed out on something that would have been massively off book but probably really creative and special :/

[@GracieLizzy]

I said his Facebook page original wtf, Grace?

[@chanterelle483]

Yes, Trnka's movies had awesome visual!

[@beth12svist]

I had long thought Trnka could have done amazing things with Middle Earth, so imagine my fannish heartbreak when I found out that actually could have happened.

[@SilverAnicore]

"Bare Minimum Achieved: The Movie" What a... peculiar piece of film history. Thank you! And thanks to IlNeige for the ending song. Just when I started to get WAP out of my head.

[@Theturtleowl]

Poor Deitch, being so close and working so hard and getting screwed over so hard.

[@emilyrln]

Some of the still art looks pretty neat, imo. And the credit song slaps! Also, slag has a non-obscene definition that has to do with metallurgy.

[@mechazoic]

When you order a copy of The Hobbit movie on Wish...

[@SamuraiMujuru]

Methinks they might have named the dragon after the congealed impurities that result from smelting metal... 😜

[@PrincessNinja007]

Thank you! I was trying to remember what it was, I just remembered it as "the welding stuff"

[@dorianr4770]

yeah, as an American, this was my only connotation of the word "slag." Although maybe I think "slag" could also mean to be lazy. I've never heard of the usage Dom is referring to. I'm guessing that's a British term only.

[@lornetc]

I *NEED* a full length version of Slag Ass Dragon.

[@alucardbloodyvampire6066]

So it's an animated movie that they just forgot to actually *animate* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Thundarr100]

Dom, now that you've reviewed this "movie" adaptation of The Hobbit, how about doing a full Lost In Adaptation episode on the Rankin-Bass version? I always really enjoyed that one growing up, and despite the huge chunks of the story that were cut out to fit the required time restraints I think that it was pretty accurate to the book (in spirit if not entirely in content).

[@jasonblalock4429]

I agree. The Rankin-Bass ROTK doesn't really hold up (aside from childhood nostalgia) but I'll defend their Hobbit as an adaptation. And I still love the music.

[@brandonlyon730]

Story was mostly fine, but some of the character designs looked awful, especially Smaug and the wood elves.

[@Thundarr100]

@@brandonlyon730 I liked the design of Smaug, actually. The wood elves though? Yeah, they looked pretty awful. All gray skinned and wrinkly? Who thought that would be a good idea? Especially after depicting Elrond as such a regal figure. In the same movie no less!

[@Thundarr100]

@@jasonblalock4429 If a lot of the novel was cut from The Hobbit to fit a 78 minute running time, then MOST of Return of the King was cut for the same reason. And they spent a LOT of time on musical numbers that they could have instead used to advance the plot and put more of the story into their brief time requirement. However, if watched back to back with Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings movie, it does KIND OF give you the full story in animated form. But their version of The Hobbit is still much better.

[@jasonblalock4429]

@@Thundarr100 Yeah, trying to shoehorn ROTK into a kid-friendly musical format just didn't work. That said, I do genuinely love its depiction of Sam's temptation and his fight to save Frodo from Cirith Ungol. And I'm still absolutely baffled why Jackson cut most of that subplot from his version.

[@ssatva]

New Rule: do not be taking a sip of the morning coffee as Dom is winding down, because you know what will be coming next, but you do not know if you will have time to swallow. Il Neige never fails to astonish.

[@alisaurus4224]

Right? I was eating popcorn and almost died

[@angrytheclown801]

Slag would be a cool name for a brutal fire breathing dragon with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to a ceramic plate. Since it isn't just a sexual slur.

[@groofay]

This film is like if you passed a Wikipedia synopsis of the Hobbit through a few languages in Google translate, threw a princess in with a keyboard-smash for a name, and called it done. Though that might be uncharitable to Google translate.

[@lexwolfhale1729]

According to Wikipedia (so take this with a major grain of salt, like a whole salt mine of the thing) the Princess's name is Mirka of Dale.

[@Carewolf]

Almost fits the Princes'smiko'bolla from the narration.

[@chaosvii]

Ah, the true identity of Princess Whatshername has been revealed!

[@someoneprobably1802]

@@chaosvii The name is Mirka its Slavic name, no wonder they have such a hard time pronouncing it, and it kinda makes sense as the film was made in Prague.

[@Bored_Barbarian]

I found this from the linked blog. “The Princess’s name was “Mika Milovana.” “Mika” is the name of Pete Seeger’s eldest daughter. I always loved her name, so I borrowed it for this new character. Her last name, “Milovana” means a beloved woman in the Czech language.”

[@LaNoLaCola]

Oh man, I remember seeing this one in OSW Review's Hobbit review. Still can't believe that the guy who directed this also did those 70s Tom and Jerry cartoons

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Sadly, he died last year.

[@donalds980]

60's

[@JackieTheCatfox]

THERE'S SOME DWARVES IN THIS MOUNTAIN! Dammit, Il Neige, you did it again!

[@Deliaexplainsitall6745]

watching your videos always make me feel calmer and weirdly better. thank you for talking about books, movies and their weird adaptations

[@FrisbeeGorbeh]

It's things like this that make me want to pull Tolkien into our time just to watch the LOTR trilogy that was made.

[@tracyroweauthor]

as long as he never has to see the Hobbit Trilogy

[@FrisbeeGorbeh]

@@tracyroweauthor I wholeheartedly agree!

[@stargirl7646]

Even if he didn’t agree with some of the changes, imagine if he had been invited on set to wander around in Bree or Rivendell. Seeing your world come to life, especially in a gorgeous place like New Zealand... awww man I wish he could have seen it :)

[@qwertyTRiG]

I don't imagine that Tolkien would have liked the film. His son didn't.

[@twinkthatloveslotrtrilogy7676]

I think he would liked Frodo and Sam friendship atleast

[@Insane-Howl-Cowl]

TIL that the Arkenstone was actually in the Hobbit. I thought it was just invented for the films. Then again my first experience with the Hobbit was the Rankin Bass

[@alanpennie8013]

The films didn't actually invent all that much. Alfrid and Tauriel are the only notable characters who aren't either mentioned in the books or at least implied as existing (like Bard's wife and daughter.)

[@stareyedwitch]

Deitch did a lot of work on his version, so I wonder if there's enough left to recreate it as close as possible to what he envisioned.

[@modernotaku1764]

This is a pretty sad story. I really wish the original intended full length film had been made because honestly, considering the popularity the books reached by 67 I bet it would have been a smash hit, even with some changes to the story

[@GurrenPrime]

“Slag” is also the word for the by-product of smelting metals. That’s probably what this version of Smaug was supposed to be named after, since I don’t know if many people outside of the UK use it in any sexual context.

[@LadyEowyn]

This I did not know. I live in the US, but I watch a lotta British television. I've only ever heard slag used in that context.

[@alanpennie8013]

Slag heap used to be used in British English for a pile of spoil left over from the smelting process.

[@tscream80]

"Well, me Slag from Transformers glad me not only one with 'unfortunate' name."

[@eamonndeane587]

Didn't his name later get changed to Slug?

[@tscream80]

@@eamonndeane587 I believe that's what they finalized it as (as they used "Snarl" for the Triceratops character in Transformers: Animated).

[@morphman86]

And here is one of the reasons why theatres started demanding at least 75 minutes to call it a "feature film".

[@Author.Noelle.Alexandria]

Given the circumstances behind this, I think it’s hard to pan, like the infamous ET game that the developer had something like five weeks to make. For the time and budget and the era, it’s rather remarkable that he came out with even this. When Jackson’s three-film disaster had such a massive budget and so much more time, I think it’s fair to say that this version really is better.