The Hobbit (1977)

Ultimately, one of the fundamental issues that doomed the live-action Hobbit adaptations very much from the start was Peter Jackson’s creative decision (or perhaps contractual obligation) to try to match the tone, style, and epic scope of his LotR trilogy. First, this approach commits the cardinal sin of reminding the viewer of much better movies they could be watching instead. But it also seems like a complete misreading of the source material, which is considerably lighter than its sequel in both content and spirit, and resulted in stretching a story that could’ve easily been told in one movie into three.

Fortunately, we’ll always have the superior and definitive Hobbit adaptation in this ’70s animated classic by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, who understood the assignment to a tee and managed to get the job in little over an hour while staying faithful to the essence of Tolkien’s novel. Perhaps we’re being a little easy on their film (Gollum looks like a nasty frog and the wood elves’ design will haunt your dreams), but everything from the quirky character designs, old-school animated style, and evocative use of music fits like a glove to tell Bilbo’s there-and-back-again journey and make us grin ear to ear.

Warts and all, there’s clearly more heart and passion being poured into any of Glenn Yarbrough’s folk song renditions than all six hours of Jackson’s version combined. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, the greatest adventure truly lies ahead.