The First Film Hobbit (1966)

I have previously taken a look at a couple of obscure Tolkien adaptations: the Soviet Hobbit (1985), and the Finnish Hobitit (1993). Time to complete the set with the earliest, the shortest, and easily the oddest Tolkien film adaptation of all, the 1966 Hobbit, produced in Prague by American William L. Snyder:

This one requires a serious explanation – which can be found here*. For those who just want a potted summary: Snyder had got his hands on the film rights for a trivial sum in the early 1960s, and set to work making a full-length adaptation. This fell through, and the project was discarded – until a month before Snyder’s hold on the rights were due to expire, The Lord of the Rings exploded in popularity via the Ace Paperback Controversy, and those unused film rights suddenly became valuable.

*Link no longer works, alas. Here is an alternative.

Snyder took a look at the contract, and realised that he could extend his hold on the rights if he made a film – any film – in the next month. So he made this one, then sold the rights back for $100,000, a tidy sum for 1966. The result is a 12-minute film, made for purely mercenary purposes, and which has absolutely nothing to do with the book Tolkien wrote. It’s a strange enough backstory to warrant a short film of its own.

But enough about the context – what of the film itself, the only screen adaptation made in Tolkien’s own lifetime? It is… different.

Basically, the dragon Slag[sic] destroys the town of Dale, leaving only three people left alive – a Princess, a Guard, and General Thorin Oakenshield. Thorin’s human, and there are no dwarves, because that’s the way this film rolls. They are told by Gandalf the Grey that the hero destined to save them is Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit. So they turn up at Bilbo’s residence, and guilt-trip him into helping.

From there, they head to the Lonely Mountain – minus Gandalf, who just watches. Bilbo pulls the voice-imitation trick on troll-replacements (creatures called Groans who turn into dead trees in sunlight). Then, minus a riddle-game, he picks up a Ring of Power from Goloom[sic] after falling down a hole. He finally steals the Arkenstone from Slag’s hoard, and uses it as a gigantic arrowhead to kill the dragon. Bilbo marries the Princess(!) and goes back home. THE END.

So, yes, it’s The Hobbit with no dwarves, elves, spiders, eagles, or goblins. There is no Beorn, Lake Town, or Battle of Five Armies. It has trolls-that-are-tree-creatures, a misspelt dragon, and Goloom instead. As I said, it’s different.

Ignoring the daftness of the adaptation, it’s actually not bad when viewed entirely on its own terms as a surreal 12-minute child’s adventure. The Czech animation isn’t a patch on the 1977 Rankin-Bass adaptation, but it has a certain harmless charm, and there is at least some character arc for Bilbo: from comfortable homebody, to using cunning against the Groans and Goloom, to being brave in stealing the Arkenstone. This humble hobbit emerges with a Princess, no less – which makes absolutely no sense, either in or out of story, but which is a legacy of Hollywoodising (adding pointless love interests was not invented by Peter Jackson). Bilbo’s the hero, right? That must mean he gets the girl.

My biggest issue with the thing is actually thematic, because I think themes are important. It rather irritates me that Bilbo, an odd little gentleman with a bit of resourcefulness and a functioning moral compass, is turned into the Big Chosen Hero, when he is anything but.

Tolkien’s Bilbo isn’t some sort of Destined Saviour or Aragorn figure – he’s just a very ordinary guy, in a very strange world, and by making him special, the 1966 film anticipates the downside of the 1980s fantasy genre (i.e. the infamous Farm Boy becomes King trope). Film-Bilbo does have to work for his victory though, and at least the adaptation does not take itself too seriously. And Goloom is appropriately creepy.

I think had this film been much longer, it would have outstayed its welcome. As it is, it manages well enough as a silly 12-minute fairy tale that has nothing to do with J.R.R. Tolkien. And, of course, it succeeded in its true goal of giving William L. Snyder a massive financial windfall for minimal work.

• March 4, 2018
• Reviews, Tolkien essays, Watching, Youtube
• 6 Comments