Editing Smaug (section)

== Adaptations ==

=== Animated films ===

[[File:Smaug The Hobbit 1977.jpg|thumb|upright|A somewhat cat-like Smaug as seen in the 1977 [[Rankin/Bass]] [[The Hobbit (1977 film)|animated film of ''The Hobbit'']]<ref name="Gilkeson 2018"/> ]]

A dragon named 'Slag' features in [[Gene Deitch]]'s brief [[The Hobbit (1967 film)|1967 animated film]].<ref name="companion">{{cite book |last=Lee |first=Stuart D. |author-link=Stuart D. Lee |title=A Companion to J.R.R. Tolkien |date=2020 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=9781119656029 |pages=518–519 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vsPXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA518}}</ref> 

[[Francis de Wolff]] voiced the red dragon in the long-lost [[The Hobbit (radio series)|1968 BBC radio dramatization]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/TheHobbit1Of8AnUnexpectedParty |title=''The Hobbit'' Full Cast Radio Drama |website=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref> 

[[Richard Boone]] voiced Smaug in the 1977 [[The Hobbit (1977 film)|animated film]] by [[Rankin/Bass]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Harvey |first=Ryan |title=The Hobbit: The 1977 Animated Television Movie |url=https://www.blackgate.com/2011/03/29/the-hobbit-the-1977-animated-television-movie/ |publisher=[[Black Gate (magazine)|Black Gate]] |access-date=26 February 2020 |date=29 March 2011 |archive-date=26 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226222845/https://www.blackgate.com/2011/03/29/the-hobbit-the-1977-animated-television-movie/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Austin Gilkeson calls the film's depiction of Smaug "distinctly feline" as he has cat-like eyes and whiskers "and a lush mane".<ref name="Gilkeson 2018"/> Gilkeson comments that the result does not resemble [[European dragon|Western dragons]], but that it works well, not least because Smaug's nature as an "intelligent, deadly, greedy" and lazy predator is in his view "very cat-like".<ref name="Gilkeson 2018">{{cite web |last=Gilkeson |first=Austin |title=Rankin/Bass's The Hobbit Showed Us the Future of Pop Culture |url=https://www.tor.com/2018/12/21/rankin-basss-the-hobbit-showed-us-the-future-of-pop-culture/ |website=[[Tor.com]] |access-date=26 October 2023 |date=21 December 2018 |archive-date=26 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026140259/https://www.tor.com/2018/12/21/rankin-basss-the-hobbit-showed-us-the-future-of-pop-culture/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== ''The Hobbit'' (film series) ===
[[File:Smaug (Peter Jackson Hobbit Trilogy).jpg |thumb |left |Smaug as depicted in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Hobbit (film series)|The Hobbit]]'' trilogy, with voice and motion-capture by [[Benedict Cumberbatch]]]]

Smaug was voiced and interpreted with [[performance capture]] by [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] in [[Peter Jackson]]'s three-part adaptation of [[The Hobbit (film series)|''The Hobbit'']].<ref>{{cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |url=https://deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit-140694/ |title=Benedict Cumberbatch To Voice Smaug in 'The Hobbit' |work=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]] |publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]] |location=Los Angeles, California |date=16 June 2011 |access-date=19 June 2011 |archive-date=19 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619214808/http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> From the motion capture, Smaug's design was created with [[key frame]] animation. [[Weta Digital]] employed its proprietary "Tissue" software, which was honoured in 2013 with a "Scientific and Engineering Award" from the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] to make the dragon as realistic as possible. In addition, Weta Digital supervisor [[Joe Letteri]] said in an interview for ''[[USA Today]]'' that they used classic [[European dragon|European]] and [[Asian dragon]]s as inspirations to create Smaug.<ref>{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Truitt |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/12/16/five-things-hobbit-dragon-smaug/4037287/ |title=Five things to know about scaly 'Hobbit' star Smaug |work=[[USA Today]] |publisher=[[Gannett Company]] |location=Mclean, Virginia |date=16 December 2013 |access-date=12 September 2017 |archive-date=2 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202223142/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/12/16/five-things-hobbit-dragon-smaug/4037287/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' stated that Cumberbatch had "the authority to make of Smaug a cunning nemesis".<ref>{{cite news |title=Benedict Cumberbatch's career in pictures: from Hawking to The Child in Time |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/benedict-cumberbatch-his-career-in-pictures/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-2013-benedict-cumberbatch-len/ |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=24 September 2017 |archive-date=20 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920055851/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/actors/benedict-cumberbatch-his-career-in-pictures/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-2013-benedict-cumberbatch-len/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the first film, ''[[The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]'', the audience sees only his legs, wings, and tail, and his eye; the eye is showcased in the final scene of the film. Smaug is a topic of discussion among the [[White Council]] as Gandalf's reason to support [[Thorin Oakenshield]]'s quest.<ref name="mfleming">{{cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike |url=https://deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit-140694/ |title=Benedict Cumberbatch To Voice Smaug in 'The Hobbit' |publisher=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=16 June 2011 |access-date=8 January 2013 |archive-date=18 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130118003736/http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/benedict-cumberbatch-to-voice-smaug-in-the-hobbit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Smaug appears in the second film, ''[[The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug]]''. In an interview with Joe Letteri, Smaug's design was changed to the [[wyvern]]-like form shown in the film after the crew saw how Benedict Cumberbatch performed Smaug while moving around on all four limbs.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Kevin P. |title=What Happened To Smaug's Other Legs? 'Hobbit' FX Expert Explains |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1719502/smaug-hobbit-fx-explained/ |publisher=[[MTV]] |access-date=24 February 2020 |date=20 December 2013 |archive-date=29 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229121554/http://www.mtv.com/news/1719502/smaug-hobbit-fx-explained/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In ''[[The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies]]'', Smaug attacks Lake-town. He is killed by Bard with a black arrow and his body falls on the boat carrying the fleeing Master of Lake-town. It is later revealed that Smaug's attack on Erebor was all part of Sauron's design, meaning that Smaug and Sauron were in league with each other.<ref>{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Hughes |title=Review - 'The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug' Is Middle-Earth Magic |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2013/12/08/review-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-is-middle-earth-magic/2/ |work=[[Forbes]] |date=8 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701140629/https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2013/12/08/review-the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-is-middle-earth-magic/2/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |first=Richard |last=Corliss |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/09/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-Smaug-it-lives/ |title='The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug': It Lives! |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |publisher=[[Meredith Corporation]] |date=9 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=28 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828033558/http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/09/the-hobbit-the-desolation-of-smaug-it-lives/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Smaug was considered one of the highlights of the second film of the series; several critics hailed him as cinema's greatest dragon. Critics also praised the visual effects company Weta Digital and Cumberbatch's vocal and motion-capture performance for giving Smaug a fully realized personality, "hiss[ing] out his words with cold-blooded vitriol".<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Nick |last=De Semlyen |url=https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137814 |title=The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Movie Review |magazine=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |publisher=[[Bauer Media Group]] |date=6 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213125526/https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=137814 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Josh |last=Wigler |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1718676/the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-early-reviews.jhtml |title='The Hobbit' Reviews: Get The Scoop On 'Smaug' |publisher=[[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]] |date=9 December 2013 |access-date=1 July 2018 |archive-date=5 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205131858/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1718676/the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-early-reviews.jhtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Video games ===
<!--
In the [[The Hobbit (2003 video game)|2003 video game]] release, Smaug, voiced by [[James Horan (actor)|James Horan]], appears as a non-player character, based closely on the book.{{cn|date=October 2023}}--->

In the 2014 video game ''[[Lego The Hobbit (video game)|Lego The Hobbit]]'', the portrayal departs more from the book; rather than ever more closely simulating the book's characters, the scholar Carol L. Robinson notes, the technology has allowed new fiction to be created.<ref name="Ashton2017">{{cite book |last=Ashton |first=Gail |title=Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7J24BgAAQBAJ&pg=PA125 |year=2017 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-02161-7 |page=125}}</ref>