Gulliver's Travels (1939)

Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput and attempts to prevent war between that tiny kingdom and its equally-miniscule rival, Blefiscu, as well as smooth the way for the romance between the ... See full summary »

Director:

Dave Fleischer

Writers:

Jonathan Swift (based on immortal tale), Edmond Seward (story),

Stars:

Jessica Dragonette, Lanny Ross, Pinto Colvig

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jessica Dragonette	...	Princess Glory (singing voice)
Lanny Ross	...	Prince David (singing voice)

Storyline

Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput and attempts to prevent war between that tiny kingdom and its equally-miniscule rival, Blefiscu, as well as smooth the way for the romance between the Princess and Prince of the opposing lands. In this he is alternately aided and hampered by the Lilliputian town crier and general fussbudget, Gabby. A life-threatening situation develops when the bumbling trio of Blefiscu spies, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch, manage to steal Gulliver's pistol.

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Plot Keywords:

prince | princess | gabby | spy | sword fight | 

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Taglines:

The Amazing Characters in Jonathan Swift's Immortal Fantasy Come To Life !

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Genres:

Family | Adventure | Animation | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1939 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Viagens de Gulliver

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fleischer Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To produce this feature film, the Fleischer studio had to nearly triple in size, from about 200 artists to nearly 700. Max Fleischer had a 32,000-square-foot plant built in Miami to accommodate the new personnel, as well as to take advantage of that city's tax exemptions on film studios. (The fact that unionization had not taken hold in Florida was also a consideration, as there had been a long struggle to organize the Fleischer animators, culminating in a strike in 1937.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gabby: [singing] All's well, what's a rainy day? / Never mind that cloud, behind that cloud you'll find a golden ray.

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Connections

Version of Crayola Kids Adventures: Tales of Gulliver's Travels (1997)

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Soundtracks

"All's Well"
(1939) (uncredited)
Music by Ralph Rainger
Lyrics by Leo Robin

User Reviews

Beloved Early Animation Classic

Just throw any negative comments you read here from IMD comment contributors in the wastebasket. I don't know what they were smoking.

Gulliver's Travels is beautiful! It is just as beautiful now as it was 60-plus years ago when it premiered, perhaps even moreso with the wonderful restoration we have now on DVD. This film doesn't have to compete with anything by Disney, and I don't see how this story has anything to do with Snow White. It stands on its own two feet as a captivating and charming classic story that children can enjoy over and over again, made when animation was really animation, and all the cells were handpainted by artists, instead of slopped together on boring, cookie-cutter computer models.

The storyline is perfect and has an anti-war undertone that was a bit daring for its time, made on the eve of World War Two. Even Disney's Snow White didn't have the guts to do that! So kudos to the Fleischer Brothers!

The songs are all wonderful and the soundtrack sounds marvellously enhanced on the new DVD version. "We're All Together Now", "All's Well", "It's A Hap Hap Happy Day", "Bluebirds In The Moonlight", and especially the haunting "Come Home Again, Sailor Man" are all perfect and flow into the action of the film, instead of being placed there with no relevance just to try and get a hit song. These sheet music pieces always sell well on Ebay, highlighting the fact quite clearly that this is one of the most beloved animation movies of all time.