Every journey eventually asks its price. When The Battle of the Five Armies was released on December 17, 2014, it brought Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy1 to its conclusion. Not with riddles or songs, but with fire, steel, and reckoning. This final chapter is less about discovery and more about consequence, less about setting out and more aboutContinueContinue reading “Observing an Anniversary: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)”
Tag Archives: the-hobbit
Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (2012)
Long before dwarves knocked on Bilbo’s round green door, I had already walked the edges of Tolkien’s map in my imagination. That little book, The Hobbit, was the kind you read as a child and then reread as an adult, discovering new corners of courage every time. Today I’m marking the anniversary of The Hobbit:ContinueContinue reading “Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ (2012)”
Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ (2013)
I first walked into Middle-earth in the mid-70s through a brand-spanking-new paperback copy of The Hobbit. Bilbo’s unexpected adventure was playful, sharply drawn, and rooted in a storyteller’s wink. Decades later, Peter Jackson invited us back again, but with a different tone, different scale, and (for many of us) a different set of expectations. Today I’mContinueContinue reading “Observing an Anniversary: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ (2013)”
The Hobbit That First Opened My Door to Middle-earth — Celebrating the 48-Year Legacy of Rankin/Bass’ Hobbit
I met Bilbo Baggins when I was thirteen years old, standing in the hallway of DeRidder Junior High. The library door carried a poster that stopped me in my tracks. A curious, round fellow stood in his front doorway, pipe in hand, sending smoke rings lazily into the air. The art looked like watercolor washedContinueContinue reading “The Hobbit That First Opened My Door to Middle-earth — Celebrating the 48-Year Legacy of Rankin/Bass’ Hobbit”
Veni. Vidi. Scripsi. 