The story follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a diminutive creative who resides in a place called Middle-Earth before he is compelled to go on a quest to find a treasure buried deep in the heart of the Lonely Mountain.
Sound
The Goblin song SLAPS. Tolkiencore before it was aesthetic.
Director
Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Orson Bean
Bilbo Baggins (voice)
John Huston
Gandalf the Grey (voice)
Hans Conried
Thorin (voice)
Richard Boone
Smaug (voice)
Theodore Gottlieb
Gollum (voice)
Otto Preminger
Elvenking (voice)
Cyril Ritchard
Elrond (voice)
Paul Frees
Bombur/Troll #1 (voice)
Don Messick
Balin/Troll #3/Goblin/Lord of the Eagles (voice)
John Stephenson
Dori/Great Goblin/Bard (voice)
Glenn Yarbrough
The Balladeer (voice)
Thurl Ravenscroft
Goblin (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was animated in Japan by Topcraft, the studio that would later become Studio Ghibli — which explains why the elves look so Miyazaki-adjacent.
This TV movie was many Americans' first exposure to Tolkien, airing annually through the 80s and creating a generation who hear 'The Greatest Adventure' and immediately smell their grandmother's couch.
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