The Hobbit (Rankin/Bass)
I've known of this early adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit for a few decades but have never actually seen it in full, and decided to do so on HBO Max. Like the novel, the peaceful Bilbo Baggins is recruited by Gandalf and his dwarven companions as the team's "burglar" (which is probably the most overused word in the movie) to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. The opening credits say it's "based on the original version of The Hobbit", but it does feature key scenes such as Bilbo getting what would later be identified as the One Ring of Sauron and encountering the corrupted Gollum, with whom he has a riddle contest, although there are many compressed portions. The animators definitely had offbeat takes on the various races and characters such as Gollum, but it has a lot of decent music such as "The Greatest Adventure" which serves as the movie's central theme, along with musical interpretations of the poetry Tolkien featured in the book. All in all, a good watch, albeit aimed at younger viewers.