Director didn't understand Tolkien at all

I agree the design of the Elves could have been better. But what makes makes you think this movie is obscure? Because it only has 9000+ IMDb user ratings? It may be obscure by that criteria, but it's also almost 40 years old, so there's not exactly a lot of buzz about it. However, it was broadcast on NBC in the US in 1977, and no doubt millions of people have seen it, so it's hardly obscure from that perspective.

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In its time, this was a hugely successful hit, and after its initial broadcast in 1977, it was sold on home video for years by means of a popular television ad. In the first half of the 1980's, you couldn't watch TV for more than 10 minutes without seeing the ad for The Hobbit home video.

There is nothing "obscure" about this movie.

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It's a bit of a rough ride of a film. I like the artistry in it, some of the music, but not a great deal more.

Still, it was different than anything else when it first aired all those years ago. As a kid I did wonder why there wasn't more of a Disney like quality to it. But that was my young uninformed self at work.

It's more of an endearing "nostalgia blast", than anything else.