The Hobbit (1977)
 

What are Barrow Downs' feelings on it? I think while far from perfect, it was an admirable effort given the time and medium, and did keep true to the spirit and tone of the book.

I have a measure of nostalgic liking for it, as I was very young when I first saw it.

To me, one of the best elements is the character voices. I mean, John Huston is Gandalf. ;)

Also, I may well be in the minority, but I have a soft spot for the music too. Glenn Yarbrough is definitely an acquired taste, but the "Greatest Adventure" song at the beginning, overlaid by the scenes of a nervous Bilbo getting out of bed in the middle of the night to gaze at the moon, works very well.
The entire movie has a sense of innocence that I fear will be lacking in the Hollywood blockbuster to come.

Hollywood has killed innocence. Look at the new "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" or "Snow White and the Huntsman" abominations. Not even Fairy Tales are sacred, oh no, every goddamn thing has to have a gritty, dark reboot. Sometimes I feel like the world is going utterly to Hell. I wish there was a version of the Grey Havens to which I could retreat. I am about as resistant to any change as the Elves, and I feel like the little glimmers of innocence and beauty left in the world are being sucked away by the cynics, professional pessimists and those who hate innocent and light hearted things.

Believe me, I can sympathize. Have you read my rantings about the movies before they were released? ;)

It's not as bad as all that, though. As long as we have the books, we have the innocence and beauty. Ther're still here, and they're going to remain.

Viewing PJ's version of the story only renewed my appreciation for these fabulous books. I have the real story in my head, and PJ can't muck with it, no matter how many changes he makes in the name of being "cinematic".

There were some down sides to the Rankin-Bass Hobbit, of course. I always thought the goblins looked hideous (not in a good way), not to mention the poor Elven-king, who looked more like Gollum than Gollum did.

With all due respect, you're pining for a world that never existed. Fairy-tales were as grim and bloody as the storyteller wanted them to be. Hollywood killed innocence? You surely don't really believe that?

True. They were created mainly as a means to control people's behaviour, with quite a bit of gore and sexual innuendo.

At first I thought you were talking about that Ralph Bakshi abomination "LOTR" from 1978. Then I realized you were referring to the Rankin/Bass abomination.
Well... not really. The voices were excellent, but I could never get past the animation. Really, really disliked it. And Glenn Yarborough was a huge distraction, IMHO.

He's certainly distinctive, but you have to admit Rankin-Bass could have done much worse for their singer. ;)

Quite a good one, the songs and portrayal of Gandalf the best IMO ;)

During the Big Barrow Downs Britain Moot, we watched this (and the Return of the King animation, which shall not be spoken of). The general feeling seems to have been that The Hobbit was the better of the two, despite the songs being a little cringe worthy and the faces being somewhat creepy.
It follows the book rather closely and there is a general sense of it being a work of someone who actually wanted to tell the story properly. Far more, I think, than this version...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-t9OULNKlc

So, yeah... One thumb up for the animated Hobbit from me.

Slag? And Dale looking practically Byzantine? Or perhaps it looked more like medieval Kiev or Muscovy, because Thorin (no longer a dwarf, I guess) certainly looked like a Boyar.

As for the Rankin-Bass production, I liked the Goblin's songs, but couldn't stand the annoying vibrato of Glenn Yarborough. To make matters worse, they had him croon in the follow-up LotR cartoon.

"Fr-o-o-o-d-o-o-o of the nine fingers!" Bah!

I love the voice for Gandalf & the songs. overall well made for the period it was done in.