History WesternAnimation / TheHobbit

* AdaptationDistillation: Generally, the movie does a ''very'' nice job boiling down the novel into a good seventy minute movie, and some of the voicework is absolutely legendary (particularly Orson Bean as Bilbo, Brother Theodore as Gollum, and ''Richard Freaking Boone'' as Smaug).

* AdaptationDistillation: Generally, the movie does a ''very'' nice job boiling down the novel into a good seventy minute movie, and some of the voicework is absolutely legendary (particularly Orson Bean as Bilbo, Brother Theodore as Gollum, and ''Richard Boone'' as Smaug).

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXP8VEXWMs "The Dwarf Song"]], mentioned up top.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Smaug is based on Norse dragons, which share the long skinny bodies of eastern dragons. He also has a very catlike head.

** In fact, Tolkien based his elves on the traditional myths about fairies, but by Tolkien's time, the term fairy had been corrupted to mean something unbearably twee, so Tolkien used the term elf instead, even though, as he well knew, traditional myths about elfs (yes, Tolkien also invented the use of "elves" and "dwarves," as opposed to "elfs" and "dwarfs," as the plurals of "elf" and "dwarf") were very different.

* UnexplainedAccent: Thranduil, the Elven King, speaks with a distinct German accent thanks to the voice talents of Creator/OttoPreminger.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: The first meeting with the wood elves was left out... and then alluded to in the second meeting as "the wood elves had returned."

* {{Animesque}}: Virtually all the animators and one of the two character designers were Japanese, some of whom went to work for [[StudioGhibli Miyazaki]] so this may actually be more half-{{Anime}} than pseudo-Anime {{Animesque}}.

* AdaptationalVillainy: The trolls are far more menacing and much more intelligent, having their decision over how to cook them not be an argument but their own personal preference.

* BadassAdorable: Bilbo establishes himself as one when he killed GiantSpider for the first time, and named his blade Sting since then. Then he rescues the dwarves from other giant spiders, kills some more of the spiders, and rescues the dwarves ''again'' from the wood-elves.

* TheHerosJourney: Played completely straight.

* ItHasBeenAnHonor: Just before he died, Thorin apologized to Bilbo for calling him a coward before.

* AnimatedAdaptation

* IncendiaryExponent

* LimitedAnimation / SpecialEffectsFailure: The Battle of the Five Armies as seen from space. In the book, the scene cuts from Bilbo being knocked unconscious and missing the rest of the battle, to him waking up. The scene works here as an "and the battle continued for some time" passage, allowing us to pick up where Bilbo regains consciousness, unaware of what's happened or how things ended. It also cuts down on the on-screen gore.

* MadeForTVMovie

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bilbopipe_2387.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:345:Surely no one with such a DistinguishedGentlemansPipe goes on grand adventures.]]

Followed up by R-B's adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheReturnOfTheKing''.

* AdaptationDistillation: Generally, the movie does a ''very'' nice job boiling down the novel into a good seventy minute movie, and some of the voicework is absolutely legendary (particularly Orson Bean as Bilbo, Brother Theodore as Gollum, and ''Richard Boone'' as Smaug). The only truly noticeable plot points left out are Beorn and the Arkenstone.

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The great mountain where Smaug lives.

* DefinitelyFinalDungeon: Smaug.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Smaug is based on Norse dragons, which share the long skinny bodies of eastern dragons.

* EvilSoundsDeep: ThurlRavenscroft provides the bass in "Goblin Town" and "Fifteen Birds", likely pushing those songs [[NightmareFuel over the edge]]. Then there's Smaug of course and finally the trolls.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: ''Heavily'' inverted with the wood elves, who are described as beautiful in Tolkien's writings, but here are shown as ugly and having green skin. Elrond and his elves remain fair.

* AdaptationDistillation: Generally, the movie does a ''very'' nice job boiling down the novel into a good seventy minute movie, and some of the voicework is absolutely legendary (particularly Orson Bean as Bilbo, Brother Theodore as Gollum, and ''Richard Boone'' as Smaug). The only truly noticeable plot point left out is Beorn, who is totally absent, as well as the Arkenstone and the subplot involving it.

* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: When Bilbo climbs up the tree for a look.

** The film, however, ''compounds'' on this, because it actually makes use of the very vague descriptions Tolkien gave for the elves in ''The Hobbit'' specifically - while Elrond looks very noble, the wood elves are much closer to the original Scandinavian depictions of such creatures, being short, a bit ugly, and having ''blue skin''. Which makes them very different from other depictions of elves in Tolkien's wake!

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: ''Heavily'' inverted with the elves, who are described as beautiful in Tolkien's writings, but here are shown as ugly and having blue skin.

** A variation of NeverSayDie. There's a lot of ''talk'' about death, to avoid showing blood on-screen for the wee ones, slain foes spin away into {{Hammerspace}} like a sprite in a video game or a burst balloon.

* HeyItsThatVoice:
** Where to begin? [[DudleyDoRight Snidely Whiplash]] (or [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Disney/PeterPan Captain Hook]], if you prefer) as Thorin, [[RockyAndBullwinkle Boris Badenov]] as Bombur; [[TheSmurfs Papa Smurf]] as Balin and Lord of the Eagles, [[TheFlintstones Mr. Slate]] as Bard the Bowman and the Great Goblin.
** As (largely) [[ParentalBonus Parental Bonuses]]: [[HaveGunWillTravel Paladin]] as Smaug; the crusty town shopkeeper from [[DrQuinnMedicineWoman Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman]] as Bilbo, and the [[CompleteMonster bad guy]] from [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Chinatown Chinatown]] as Gandalf.
** [[ThurlRavenscroft Tony the Tiger]], on [[IAmTheBand multiple tracks]] to provide the singing voices for both the Goblin horde and the dwarves.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Although Smaug is based on European dragons who steal gold, he resembles an Eastern dragon and looks more cat-like than reptilian. The {{Animesque}} style is probably an influence.
** He's based on Norse dragons, which share the long skinny bodies of eastern dragons.

* NoPronunciationGuide: In this film, Bofur and Smaug are pronounced as "Boffer" and "Smog" rather than "Biffer" and "Smaog". However, Dáin is pronounced properly (''day''-in, rather than Dane).

** Smaug's got a wolfish head and snout, the better to make his snarling visage into even greater NightmareFuel when he's truly pissed off.

* TheOneGuy: To be more specific, The One ''Hobbit'', making this film ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Bilbo is both the only hobbit involved in the dwarves' quest and the only Hobbit appearing in the film; despite the opening narration stating that Bilbo lives in the village of Hobbiton, no other hobbits appear, and the village itself is barely glimpsed through Bilbo's windows during the opening credits. Even Bilbo's dreams of enjoying the potential rewards of the quest feature only dwarves waiting on him. Rankin/Bass' sequel adaptation of ''The Return of the King" adds exactly four more hobbits appearing on-screen--i.e., Frodo, Samwise, Merry, and Pippin, the hobbit members of the Fellowship of the Ring.