FILM · 1977 · USA
The Hobbit
17 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (17)
- #001
The Arkenstone, the heirloom of Thorin's dynasty and the most important treasure he wants to reclaim, does not appear in this film; likewise, the story of Bilbo stealing the Arkenstone and giving it to the elves is absent. In the book this incident causes visible friction between the two, and in the film it is presented as Thorin's annoyance that Bilbo does not understand war, which never happens in the book.
- #002
Although Gandalf says during or after the Battle of the Five Armies that seven dwarves died, only three are lost in the book: Thorin, Fili and Kili.
- #003
The Hobbit was animated by Topcraft in Tokyo, a now-defunct Japanese animation studio that was re-established as Studio Ghibli under the direction of Hayao Miyazaki.
- #004
At the end, Gandalf says that the not-yet-born members of Bilbo's family may one day understand the ring. And the story does not really end, it is just beginning. These lines were not in the book, nor was there any indication that the ring was anything more than invisibility. At the time the original book was written, there was no intention of connecting The Hobbit to the Tolkien legendarium that includes The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings (not yet written). However, by 1977 it was known that the ring Bilbo found and the events he took part in were the beginning of a much larger story.
- #005
Cyril Ritchard died only a few weeks after this film aired. A year later, André Morell, who played Elrond in The Lord of the Rings (1978), died only a few weeks after that film's release. Paul Frees took over the role in The Return of the King (1980).
- #006
The second song the dwarves sing at Bag End, "Beyond the cold misty mountains, to deep dungeons and ancient caves, we must set out before sunrise, to seek pale enchanted gold," is a direct quotation of the first line of the book version (which consists of ten lines).
- #007
This is the second film version of The Hobbit. The original was a 12-minute animated short produced by Gene Deitch in 1966. It was, however, quite different from the source material; it took place in a city called Dale that contained the Arkenstone magic jewel, a princess and a dragon named Slag (unlike Smaug). None of these were in Tolkien's book, and this 1966 cartoon was quickly forgotten (though it can still be watched online on YouTube).
- #008
The Wood Elves, including the Elf King Thranduil, are depicted as squat, ugly and grey-skinned, unlike the Elves described in Tolkien's works.
- #009
The song the goblins sing when they capture the dwarves and Bilbo is adapted from the version written in the book.
- #010
John Stephenson, who voices Bard (and others), was the original voice of Dr. Benton Quest in the original Jonny Quest (1964) cartoon series. After it was determined that his voice sounded too much like Mike Road's Race Bannon voice, Don Messick, who provides the voice of Balin (and others) here, was brought in in his place.
- #011
Many characters in The Hobbit are related to characters in The Lord of the Rings. Bilbo is of course Frodo's uncle. He is also a Took on his mother's side, which makes him a cousin of Peregrin Took (Pippin). Elrond is in fact Aragorn's great-uncle (several generations removed). Gloin is Gimli's father, and the Elf King (named Thranduil) is Legolas's father. Surprisingly, Gimli and Legolas do not appear in Rankin/Bass's later film 'The Return of the King (1981)(TV)'.
- #012
John Huston also appeared as Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976). This made him the first of three actors who played Gandalf to also play a character in films about Sherlock Holmes. Ian McKellen played Sherlock Holmes in Mr. Holmes (2015), and Michael Hordern played Doctor Watson in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). The roles of Holmes and Watson were also played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who played Smaug and Bilbo in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013).
- #013
Unlike Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings series, Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings and many other Tolkien productions, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey uses almost exclusively American actors. John Huston (Gandalf) and Orson Bean (Bilbo) are Americans with American accents here.
- #014
Both Hans Conried and Cyril Ritchard played Captain Hook, in Disney's Peter Pan (1953) and in the televised Broadway musical adaptation of Peter Pan (1955) respectively.
- #015
Orson Bean and Otto Preminger had worked together before. Preminger directed Bean in Anatomy of a Murder.
- #016
This special was distributed by Warner Bros., while Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy was produced by WB's future company New Line Cinema.
- #017
Hans Conried and Jack DeLeon also worked together the same year on It's Grinch Night (1977).
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