The animated television film The Hobbit first aired in 1977.
This adaptation was a 78-minute animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, with animation supplied by the Japanese studio Topcraft. It adapted J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel and was broadcast in the United States by NBC on November 27, 1977.
Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass directed the production, while Romeo Muller wrote the teleplay. The voice cast included Orson Bean as Bilbo Baggins, John Huston as Gandalf, Richard Boone as Smaug, and Hans Conried as Thorin Oakenshield. Glenn Yarbrough performed “The Greatest Adventure,” the special’s best-known original song.
The date is sometimes confused with later Tolkien screen projects. Ralph Bakshi’s animated The Lord of the Rings followed in 1978, while Rankin/Bass released The Return of the King in 1980. The 1977 film was also made before Peter Jackson’s live-action Hobbit trilogy, which began with An Unexpected Journey in 2012. The television special received a Peabody Award for Muller’s teleplay.