Why are there so many characters?

[Black Captain]

Here is the cast for the new hobbit film. Why does it have so many LOTR characters? Why is, for example, Saruman, Galadriel, and Frodo in the show at all? I'm not sure if they're even referenced in the Hobbit (it's been a while though).

 

[Starbrow]

Jackson is taking some liberties with the Hobbit. The rumor I've heard is that Jackson will include some of the things the White Council does, which would include Galadriel and Saruman. I'm not sure how Frodo will get in since he wasn't born at the time of the Hobbit.

 

[Ghorim]

Jackson is taking some liberties with the Hobbit. The rumor I've heard is that Jackson will include some of the things the White Council does, which would include Galadriel and Saruman. I'm not sure how Frodo will get in since he wasn't born at the time of the Hobbit.

I believe we will have a nostalgic, soft-lit prologue between Frodo and wizened Ian Holm Bilbo where the elder hobbit pulls out his copy of "There And Back Again" and starts rambling on about his adventuring days. They'll probably show up at the end of movie #2, as well, just to wrap everything up neatly.

I am intrigued by the idea of showing what Gandalf actually does when he disappears from the pages of "The Hobbit," but the terms "Peter Jackson" and "liberties with the source material" don't go well together.