Gulliver's Travels (1996)

A Englishman returns after a long time abroad and tells his strange stories about the lands he visited which are allegories about the real world.

Director:

Charles Sturridge

Writers:

Simon Moore (screenplay), Jonathan Swift (novel)

Stars:

Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, James Fox

Won 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ted Danson	...	Lemuel Gulliver
Mary Steenburgen	...	Mary Gulliver
James Fox	...	Dr. Bates
Ned Beatty	...	Farmer Grultrud
Edward Fox	...	General Limtoc
Robert Hardy	...	Dr. Parnell
Nicholas Lyndhurst	...	Clustril
Phoebe Nicholls	...	Empress of Lilliput
Karyn Parsons	...	Lady-in-Waiting
Edward Petherbridge	...	Dr. Pritchard
John Standing	...	Admiral Bolgolam
John Wells	...	Flimnap the Treasurer
Alfre Woodard	...	Queen of Brobdingnag
Edward Woodward	...	Drunlo
Peter O'Toole	...	Emperor of Lilliput

Storyline

All star adaptation of Jonathan Swift's satirical tale about a normal man who, after returning home following eight years of absence, relates fantastical tales about how he was thought to be giant in the Land of Lilliput, but was only six inches high in the Land of Brobdingnag. He also tells of his visit to the floating island of Laputa populated by scientists who are so obsessed with reason that they act with no common sense. Finally, he tells of his journey to the land where his disturbing likeness to the bestial Yahoos and his inferiority to the intelligent horses there makes him question the very worth of his humanity.

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Plot Keywords:

horse | giant | liliputian | father son relationship | flashback | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Viagens de Gulliver

Filming Locations:

Ajuda National Palace, Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment, Channel 4 Television Corporation, Jim Henson Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

186 min 186 min (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first screen version of Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel "Gulliver's Travels" to adapt all four of its parts.

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Goofs

When Dr. Bates is tearing pages from Gulliver's journal and throwing them on the fire the pages change position between shots.

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Quotes

Drunlo: [walking down the beach] Don't despair, son. you remember when we were walking down here, it was the middle of winter, never thought we'd find anything. And then... we found a *treasure*.
Clustril: We found one boot. With a hole in it!
Drunlo: Well, you never know. Today we might look down and find the matching boot.
Clustril: That was *five years ago*, Dad!

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Connections

Referenced in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

User Reviews

A Work of Art

Swift's writing really has more in common with Kafka and Orwell than with fantasy-adventure writers, so it's curious that Gulliver's Travels has been deemed a children's novel. Lucky kiddies!

The same applies to this movie. There have been some really awful versions of this story, which must be why people are reluctant to look at this version. I mean, it's a TV-movie and it comes from muppetteer Jim Henson, so how should we expect anything but cuteness?

Look again - beauty turns up in the oddest places. Children love this movie enough to sit through all three hours of it, but it also takes the time to get Swift's dark vision right. I hate special effects, but here they are used to carry the story forward instead of just dazzling us. Please note that the producers took the trouble to recruit classical actors like John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole who perform their eccentric roles with perfection.

Dramatically, the romance between Gulliver and Glumdalclitch is rendered touching and poignant, as well as funny (she's a little girl, but twenty times his size). The frame-story has a theme about absent fathers that many children will relate to. And the part about Gulliver in the asylum introduces an element of horror dealing with the abuse of authority (apparently deriving from Val Lewton's "Bedlam" [1946], another forgotten masterpiece).

The VHS is always turning up in the bargain-bin for a few cents, which is an insult to the many great artists who put this thing together. I encourage audiences to recognize a good thing by getting this movie and inspiring others to watch it. Although it has a lot to offer children, grown-ups will find that it stands up nicely to such classics as Aguirre, Brazil, 1984 and other serious fantastic works.