Gollum sugarcoated? Giggles of embarrassment? Gollum, in Tolkien, is a serious matter.
Yup. Had the same experience. Gollum was so well done, It didn't occurr to me to think about him being a CG character. And I'm not stretching that. And the theater broke up laughing just about every time Smeagle took to screan. It's amazing how you start to sympathize with the little toad. While Same and Frodo are talking about how they will be remembered, I found myself thinking, 'what about Smeagle?' I won't give away more than that; but, Gollum was my favorite part of the Hobbit and the LOTR series. And I find myself wishing like anything that Jackson would do a theatrical version of the Hobbit now to complete the set. Not holding my breath; but, oh it would be so sweet.