The Hobbit is a series of three epic high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. The films are subtitled An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014). The films are based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, with large portions of the trilogy inspired by the appendices to The Return of the King, which expand on the story told in The Hobbit, as well as new material and characters written especially for the films. Together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Peter Jackson, the film's director, co-writer, and producer
Guillermo del Toro was originally set to direct the film, but left because of ongoing delays. Jackson stated that del Toro's "creative DNA" would remain in the scripts and designs.
Martin Freeman was cast as the titular character.
Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, they live barefooted, and traditionally dwell in homely underground houses which have windows, built into the sides of hills, though others live in houses. Their feet have naturally tough leathery soles and are covered on top with curly hair.
Hobbit holes or smials as depicted in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy
Tolkien stated that he liked gardens, trees, and wearing waistcoats, just as hobbits did; he was often photographed with trees.
Tolkien dated the Shire to the time of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, 1897, when Exmouth's Jubilee clock was built.
Fireworks (England's Royal Fireworks of 1749 pictured) are among the anachronistically modern material features of hobbits' lives.