The Rankin/Bass Production of the Hobbit

by Romero Muller (Adaptor), J.R.R. Tolkien (Original author), Bob Holt (Narrator)

A long time ago, in Middle Earth, humans shared their days with elves, wizards, goblins, dragons, heroes ... and hobbits. Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return as Bilbo finds himself joining a quest to reclaim the kingdom of Middle Earth from an evil dragon.

This Read along book and audio is based on the all star Rankin/Bass animated adaptation of Tolkein's classic The Hobbit which aired on NBC in November 1997. the book included either a record or casette tape with the audiobook and two songs form the television show.

Genres: Childrens

24 pages, Paperback and Audio Cassette

First published November 1, 1977

Reviews

[Chris Sudall · Rating 5 out of 5]

My five year old son Alex loved this! Looking at the pictures whilst following the words as they were spoken on the record really engaged him. Yes, the record is a bit old and crackly, but that kind of adds to the fun!
The story is much abridged and misses swathes of storyline, amending to allow for this as it goes, but it is still a joy to read. We did it together in a few minutes.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rankin/Bass film was a big part of my appreciation of Tolkien's fantasy world as a child. So, the imagery and music of Glenn Yarbrough, American folk singer with The Limeliters, is a big part of vision of that world. I still enjoy the album with the 24-page booklet to peruse while listening to the music and snippets of dialogue making for an abridged telling.