

The story follows the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a diminutive creative who resides in a place called Middle-Earth before he is compelled to go on a quest to find a treasure buried deep in the heart of the Lonely Mountain.
Sound
The Goblin song SLAPS. Tolkiencore before it was aesthetic.

Director
Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film was animated in Japan by Topcraft, the studio that would later become Studio Ghibli — which explains why the elves look so Miyazaki-adjacent.
This TV movie was many Americans' first exposure to Tolkien, airing annually through the 80s and creating a generation who hear 'The Greatest Adventure' and immediately smell their grandmother's couch.