[Thoro]

I remember watching the cartoon version years ago. I actually thought it was pretty good. It does help you understand the LOTR better if you have seen the Hobbit, even the cartoon version.

The cartoon version is pretty decent, and holds up well for what it is, I think. It does drop material from the book, especially at the end. The cartoon seems to really rush its ending.

You do appreciate LotR all the more after viewing or reading the Hobbit. Knowing that Jackson's planning on doing the Hobbit in the same manner, with the same Gandalf, makes this news all the more exciting.

[sweetliberty]

"Knowing that Jackson's planning on doing the Hobbit in the same manner, with the same Gandalf, makes this news all the more exciting."

But to use the same Bilbo and Gandalf, he really needs to do the film as soon as possible. The longer from the time of the original, the harder it will be to recapture the original feel of the trilogy, especially considering that the characters would be younger in the Hobbit, and not older, although I suspect that would make little difference in Gandalf's case.