I remember the age when I first fell in love with fantasy art. Dragons, goblins, trolls, wizards, spiders, wood elves, dwarves and a hobbit. I was 6 years old when Rankin/Bass created their version of the Tolkien’s work the hobbit. I remember my dad letting us stay up to watch it when it aired on national TV. I loved it then, I still love it now. The songs, the voice acting- especially John Huston (gandalf), Theodore (gollum), richard boone (smaug) and the rest of the cast. The visual illustrations were unlike anything i had ever scene, and honestly it was then, I decided I wanted to draw fantasy like that.  What made the show so powerful to a 6 year old then, and what still resonates with me today, is how well they crafted the tale. I find gollum far more terrifying as voiced by theodore than I do from andy serkis (no offense he did a great job) but Theodore’s voice chills me to this day. I can remember crying at the end. It is a shame that we do not create animated features like this. The drew their story their way and it inspires still to create fantasy. I know to some it doesn’t hold up to the anime and animation that we see today, yet take a moment and revisit it and you might just see how a simple well made cartoon, with incredible voice acting, inspired 6 year old boy to become a fantasy artist.

Keep creating-

trav