Outside our small safe place flies Mystery... A snake beneath the forest floor, a whisper: Melusine

Ever since Peter Jackson and company made the blockbuster movie adaptation of Lord of the Rings, Tolkien fans have longed to see "The Hobbit" come to the screen.  Now we will be getting our wish.  On Thursday Guillermo Del Toro officially announced that he will direct, and Jackson will produce, the prequel.  For several years, the following spoof (that fooled some fans into thinking that it would really be released in 2006, I even got into several heated arguments with friends over this!) which is a mix of scenes from 1981's "Dragonslayer" and "Fellowship" just goes to show how cool imagining a live action "Hobbit" movie would be like:

Many of us fantasy fans grew up with an animated version of "The Hobbit" that doesn't capture the book as well as live action could. Back in the 1970's, fantasy and science fiction was still kid's stuff. For those of you who want to take a peek back, watch the following clip of the original animated movie:

Scenes and character portrayals ran into the "cutesy" zone with this animated movie, but no matter how corny the animation, many vocal performances were so endearing that I missed the spider talking in the live action "Return of the King!" And to this day I still think Smaug (the dragon) is cuddly and all he needed was a good hug or cup of hot cocoa. My friend, Miya, even had (and probably still has) a plush version of Bilbo Baggins that plays the song "The Greatest Adventure..." when you hug him. That might all change once we see "The Hobbit" come to life on the screen.

And, I'm sure, to those who are not in the know are going to consider "The Hobbit" movie a "sequel" to LOTR, but in reality it's a prequel in two parts that will be released in 2010-12. Teaming up with Peter Jackson this time is Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro who kinda looks like a big fluffy hobbit himself! If you look at his filmography, I think fans will agree that he's the best choice to lend his artistic vision to the Tolkien film adapations. What do you think?