Thursday, February 07, 2002
Different Versions Of Rankin/Bass 'The Hobbit'? - Strider @ 15:47 PST
From Jeff:

I received this email the other day from a fellow Tolkien fan. Since the Rankin/Bass "Hobbit" has some sentimental value for me, I wondered if any of you know anything about the version this writer describes:

"I was wondering maybe If anyone knew where I could get the full uncut version of The Hobbit the animated movie. I bought the Hobbit video in 1994 or so but was dissapointed that it had lots missing from the original movie I seem to remember seeing. It use to be at least a 2 hour long movie. It had Beorn in it. Them crossing the Black river. More time in the Lake Town and lots more. Unfortunatly I can't find this 2 hour long version of the movie. Does anyone have any Ideas were I'd be able to get it?"

This e-mail is quite bewildering to me, and brings up a curiosity I've had for a long time. I have only ever seen the short version of the film (which I own on VHS), but I've never heard any evidence that a long version actually exists. I have a deluxe edition of the whole novel, in hardback, that is illustrated with gorgeous prints from that movie, and the curious thing is that there *is* a picture of Beorn. But I assumed this was something that just got cut from the finished product and was never used at all. Man, I would do anything to see the longer version of the movie, if it exists.

Can you shed any light on this for me?