Bilbo Baggins had played Frodo in the BBC radio series 20 years earlier. The movies omit the 17-year gap between Bilbo's 111th birthday and Frodo's departure from the Shire, as a result Bilbo mentions in Rivendell that he was unable to revisit the Lonely Mountain before his retirement. In Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" film series, a prequel to "The Lord of the Rings", the young Bilbo is portrayed by Martin Freeman while Ian Holm reprises his role as an older Bilbo in "" (2012) and "" (2014). The International Astronomical Union names all colles (small hills) on Saturn's moon Titan after characters
The Hobbit relate to, such as the small, food-obsessed, and morally ambiguous Bilbo. The text emphasizes the relationship between time and narrative progress and it openly distinguishes "safe" from "dangerous" in its geography. Both are key elements of works intended for children, as is the "home-away-home" (or "there and back again") plot structure typical of the Bildungsroman. While Tolkien later claimed to dislike the aspect of the narrative voice addressing the reader directly, the narrative voice contributes significantly to the success of the novel. Emer O'Sullivan, in her "Comparative Children's Literature", notes "The Hobbit" as one of a handful of children's books