One Day at a Time

Is Peter Jackson really going to make The Hobbit?! And where have I been that I haven't heard the news until now?

The Hobbit is one of my all-time favorite books. I know it lacks the depth of LotR, but it's the book I grew up on. I've read it in multiple editions, heard multiple recordings, and have a very special fondness for the Rankin-Bass animated version with Glen Yarlborough singing. I still have the boxed LP set.

There was a time when I could practically recite the R-B edition from memory. I still love the soundtrack (even though I am mocked by certain others everytime it comes up), and can't help but hear those songs when I read the book. I probably will miss that when Jackson does the movie, even though I have faith that I'll still love his soundtrack.

There are so many wonderful moments in the R-B version, though. "Each to his own, boys, each to his own. I likes mine raaawww," as stated by one of the trolls when they capture Bilbo and the dwarves, still comes up in our family for various situations. And I've always been enamored fo Bilbo's pronouncement, "I do like maps." I've often thought of myself as a version of Bilbo...I'm not from an adventurous type, but I'll go along, and "may the hair on [my] toes never fall out."

But the very best part about The Hobbit for me is the dragon Smaug. [I've always secretly thought he was wrongly accused by the dwarves and died a martyr's death. But I may just be biased...] The narrator's voice in the R-B edition is truly fabulous. I'll never forget Bilbo's instructions to "stand at the door as the thrush knocks, and the last light of the setting sun will shine upon the keyhole." Inside, Bilbo encounters Smaug, who tells him, "come out, thief. I smell you, though I cannot see you." Oh, it's just so beautiful.

I must admit, however, that the one scene I'm not looking forward to with the new movie will be the battle of five armies. I somehow have a very specific image of that in my head that will be impossible to recapture. However, now that I think of it, the R-B version hasn't ruined that, so there's no real reason that Jackson's version will, either.

Oh, I can't wait! Please let it actually happen!