It is an adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 children's fantasy novel The Hobbit by Vladimir Latyshev.

[2][3][4][5][6][7] The play was shot in 1984[5] as a teleplay and produced in the framework of the children's TV series Tale after Tale (Russian: Сказка за сказкой) and aired at the Leningrad TV Channel in the 1980s and the 1990s.

[6] The play follows Bilbo's journey with Thorin and the Dwarves (Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur), advised by Gandalf, to the Lonely Mountain to steal back the Dwarves treasure from the dragon Smaug.

The play featured Zinovy Gerdt as "the professor" (a narrator stand-in for Tolkien), Mikhail Danilov [ru] as Bilbo Baggins, Anatoly Ravikovich as Thorin Oakenshield and Igor Dmitriev as Gollum.

The goblins were human-like with little makeup, and were portrayed by dancers from the Leningrad State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, as are the inhabitants of Lake Town.