The Greatest Adventure

How do you go about transforming a 300-page legendary work of literature into an animated feature less than an hour and a half long? Not very easily. But the creators of this movie made a go of it, and the result was not bad...not bad at all. The animation captured the beauty of the landscapes described so eloquently by Tolkien, and the characters were depicted quite admirably. The actors who provided the voices for Bilbo, Gandalf, the dwarves, and the other characters brought them to life. The musical score is enchanting, and it is entrancing to actually hear the songs which were written in the text.

Unfortunately, there was much that this movie left to be desired. For instance, Beorn the shape-shifter was left out of the story altogether, as was any mention of the coveted Arkenstone. The introduction of the dwarves to Bilbo, which took up a great deal of time in the book and provided quite a few laughs, was shortened to nearly nothing at all. Many critical sequences in the story received the same treatment. Still, given the time constraints of an animated movie for children, this could hardly be avoided.

This movie retains the spirit of the book, even though it leaves out many critical details. It is a good movie for children to watch to introduce them to the wonderful world of Middle Earth. But it should not be a substitute. If you really want to get the full appreciation of "The Hobbit", read the book.