# LOTR Finnish Television Series



## Mike (Nov 18, 2007)

I remember this popping up on the Tolkien Forum a while back.

Apparently, a television series was made in Finland in the 1980s based on "The Lord of the Rings". 

Does anybody have information about this? Is there any possible way to get hold of a copy?

I know "Old Gaffer" mentioned it a while back, but he did not answer my requests for more info. Searches on Google only revealed brief bits of information, I assume a search in Finnish would yield much better results.


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## Mike (Nov 20, 2007)

That was...strange. But funny. 

What an odd advertising technique!

*Bad joke alert*: I guess it's "We wish you a 'Merry' Christmas"

From what I was able to find, Sam Gamgee was apparently the main character and this technique was used to keep the budget down (no large battles, etc.). But I'm afraid I know nothing else.

Does anybody on this site speak Finnish?


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## Eledhwen (Nov 20, 2007)

I suggest you put your request in your signature, Mike. That way it will be broadcast across the boards.


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## Mike (Nov 20, 2007)

Done. Thanks for the tip!


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## Mike (Dec 2, 2007)

*Update*

Update:

Credit to Chrysophalax for finding this.

http://http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441925/#comment

Turns out the series aired in 1993 under the title "Hobitit" and had 9 parts. AND it included Tom Bombadil (at least he's on the cast list)!

It really, truly does exist. While Boromir wears samurai armour, it looks worth a watch. My next task is to hunt down some more information, and perhaps find a copy...

Episode list:

1. Bilbo
2. Tie (Road)
3. Vanha metsä (Old Forest)
4. Pomppiva poni (Prancing Pony)
5. Konkari (Strider)
6. Lórien
7. Mordor
8. Tuomiovuori (Mount Doom)
9. Vapautus (Liberation)
Description:
"J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings told from the perspective of the hobbits. The series follows the ring's journey from Gollum to Bilbo and from Bilbo to Frodo. It concentrates on Frodo's and Sam's journey to Mordor, only mentioning the events in Gondor and Rohan"

EDIT: Hmm. Seems this was aired in Poland at one time, so I might be able to watch a version I can understand.


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## Eledhwen (Dec 3, 2007)

*Re: Update*



Mike said:


> Update:
> 
> Credit to Chrysophalax for finding this.
> 
> ...



Thank you both.

Now I know the title, information is easy to come by, though most of it is in Finnish! The company that made the series seems to have only made two products, and this is the latest; so they may not still be in business.

It could be that the series was made without license, which would make copies difficult to obtain, now The Tolkien Estate has woken up to its intellectual property rights.

Here's the director's resume - including email address!


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## Mike (Nov 1, 2008)

Allright members, the entire Hobitit series is now on Youtube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InLfFZQyeKQ

Well, not quite what I expected. It's a fairly abstract representation of Middle-Earth, very odd, with plenty of symbolic montages etc. But seeing as they worked from a low budget, I can't see how they could've done it differently. Still, very interesting to watch, and the music's quite nice. And sure, Tom Bombadil doesn't have a beard, but he's there.

To be perfectly honest, the musical has better live effects and costumes than this does.


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## Eledhwen (Nov 1, 2008)

The Finns must be very fond of narration ... the first two episodes are full of it! I haven't watched the rest yet. I wish I could understand what they are saying. I rather like the treatment so far ... lots of close-ups; ideal if you're on a tight budget and have to recreate middle-earth.


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## Mike (Dec 2, 2012)

Hey all!

So, a version with English subtitles of this series is up on Youtube. I watched it, in its entirety, and wrote a review since nobody else has:

http://onelastsketch.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/tolkien-on-a-budget-a-review-of-hobitit-1993/


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## Prince of Cats (Dec 3, 2012)

You're a great writer, Mike. Although I don't think I'm going to take the 4 hours to watch the 1993 adaptation of LOTR I might spend more than that playing Interplay's adaptations after reading your reviews of pre-film games in full  

Not this one though


https://onelastsketch.wordpress.com said:


> I think this image sums up everything wrong with “The Lord of the Rings: Game One”


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## Mike (Dec 3, 2012)

The only reason I finished that text adventure was my sheer stubbornness. The things I submitted myself to when I was younger in pursuit of complete Tolkien-related media knowledge...yikes!


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