85. Straightwashed Gandalf.

Jared, Oriana and Ned talk about Ned’s choice of topic: Hobitit, the 1993 Finnish TV miniseries adapting The Lord of the Rings. Broadcast over nine half-hour episodes, Hobitit grew out of a live stage adaptation of Tolkien done for an open air summer theater series in Helsinki in 1988 and 1989, which garnered much attention in its own right. By the time of the series, though various live action attempts of adapting Tolkien for TV had happened before, Hobitit became the first full non-radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings anywhere in the world, though one with a specific focus on the story of Frodo and Sam in particular rather than every element of the overall narrative. Though a notable success upon initial broadcast, with a repeat following four years later, the series has never been reshown since due to licensing issues and possibly more besides that, leaving viewers since to rely on circulating online copies, sometimes available with subtitles, even as Peter Jackson’s films achieved firm pride of place. What elements of the overall production clearly carry over from the original theater version of the adaptation, and what in particular stands out as best among them? Is it possible to look past the evidently limited budget for the series to get a best sense of what the creators were attempting to achieve? What elements of the story, especially between Frodo and Sam as central characters, stand out as the most potentially successful in an admittedly up and down production overall? And just what the heck is going on with a fair amount of the music anyway?

(Quick note: the Colbert film news broke after we recorded this. We’ll talk about it next time!)

Show Notes.

Jared’s doodle. Props for you if you recognized the specific film art reference.

Yup, seven years since we kicked off with this. Time, it flies.

Jared’s post sharing the announcement of his new book Where Fire Reigns. (And if you want to indulge in those Silver Call thoughts.)

Jamie Campbell Bower on the Rings of Power. Have a good time!

That Kate Winslet Hunt for Gollum report. Er. 

Ben Child’s Guardian piece in response to said Winslet news.

Ah yes…sexy Shelob. SIGH.

Hobitit! At least, a Wikipedia page about it. (Your best bet for a watch is to see what’s at the Internet Archive at present…)

Those non-English radio productions of The Lord of the Rings: Der Herr der Ringe and Pán prsteňov.

Non-English TV productions preceding Hobitit: Sagan om ringen and the Russian Hobbit and Khraniteli.

Finnish outdoor summer dramas and theater – it’s a thing!

A little something about Suomenlinna.

Ryhmäteatteri – very much still going to the present day.

The 1988 Finnish TV documentary footage of the live stage production being prepared and rehearsed, as hosted on Yle, the eventual broadcaster of Hobitit.

Tove Jansson’s Hobbit illustrations are well worth your time.

Murnau’s Faust is a fine experience in its own right.

The BBC Chronicles of Narnia series was a notable effort from the time.

Skrillex hair, you say.

The Lost Boys from Hook (the 1991 film) did have notable hair…

Lucille Ball as the wicked city woman in I Love Lucy – a great scene! But not the best thing to base an Aragorn wig design on.

That 1982 Scarlet Pimpernel is a fun watch. And hey, Ian McKellen’s in it!

Versts!

Alexsandr Ptushko’s Sampo, his 1959 adaptation of the Kalevala, is really worth a watch.

Frank Reynolds in a Thea wig could easily be an episode.

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