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KaijuKid In reply to JohnSpartan1982 [2016-12-28 17:18:26 +0000 UTC]

The Hobbit cartoon still stands to me as good a prequel movie to watch to the LOTR films as do the movies, though for sure I love the films for their strengths (just not as strong to me as the LOTR films were).
Funny you mention it, I do own the Last Unicorn and just watched Flight of Dragons not that long ago.  I love Rankin Bass animation and fantasy animation of that period, they really contain a flavor all their own.

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JohnSpartan1982 In reply to KaijuKid [2016-12-28 22:10:19 +0000 UTC]

Last Unicorn is quite good eh and so was Flight eh?

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KaijuKid In reply to KaijuDuke [2016-02-12 04:33:42 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, they tried a little hard to get the elves to look too different, they're almost freakish, but it really does feel like they put a lot of love into this movie.  The Return of the King cartoon kind of suffered and didn't feel anywhere near as strong, but the Hobbit animation is so solid as it is.  It also does what the book does.....tell an epic in a simple way from our hero's perspective, a big adventure from a little person's place in the world, action that isn't so "big" but is still captivating and awesome.  That's something we've kind of lost in modern Hollywood sensibilities, that action can still be on the smaller scale but still great.  Of course I would have liked to see a little more on the Battle of the 5 armies in this version and Beorn but overall it's just a great adaptation

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KaijuDuke In reply to KaijuKid [2016-02-12 07:57:07 +0000 UTC]

Well, to be fair, i.e. to correct myself lol, the elves at the beginning of the film look great (Elrond & his crew), and regarding the second elf group that go to war at the end, they never bothered me as a kid because this was LONG before the attractive immortal elf look became the norm in pop culture, or at least before I became aware of what most consider to be a typical elven appearance lol. But yeah, looking back now the second elf faction look more goblin like than elf like (or dare I say as less ugly versions of Live Action Gollum? lol), but maybe they're meant to look more like old school elves or forest sprites? "shrugs" 

While I do love action (Godzilla & Pacific Rim marathon anyone? lol), I do hear what you're saying about Hollywood needing to relearn restraint as it were (again, Legolas stealing scenes with his impossibly perfect fighting skills when we should be focusing on the major characters from the actual book lol), & you can still have great action scenes while keeping it on a smaller scale. Regardless, the animated Hobbit movie is still an epic classic worth remembering & revisiting, will definitely introduce my niece to it when she's born...And old enough to handle the nightmare fuel inducing awesomeness of the Goblin Song...Or the spiders....Those absolutely terrifying spiders...O_O...Eh, she'll be alright XD

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