Gulliver's Travels 

An Englishman returns after nine years abroad and tells strange stories of the tiny people of Lilliput, the giants of Brobdingnang, the flying island Laputa, and the Houyhnhnms, a race of intelligent horses.

Stars:

Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, James Fox

Won 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Ted Danson	...	Lemuel Gulliver 2 episodes, 1996
Mary Steenburgen	...	Mary Gulliver 2 episodes, 1996
James Fox	...	Dr. Bates 2 episodes, 1996
Robert Hardy	...	Dr. Parnell 2 episodes, 1996
Edward Petherbridge	...	Dr. Pritchard 2 episodes, 1996
Tom Sturridge	...	Tom Gulliver 2 episodes, 1996

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:

gulliver | reference to gulliver | reference to gulliver's travels | doll house | dollhouse | 

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Taglines:

The adventure of a lifetime

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

distributor's official site for individuals Distributor's official site for professionals

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 February 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gulliver's Travels

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 (2 parts)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

During his brief career as an actor, the director Charles Sturridge played young Albert, Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) in Edward the King (1975) in which Robert Hardy played his father Prince Albert and John Gielgud played Benjamin Disraeli.

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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

[Gulliver has just explained in great detail the nature of 18th Century Britain]
Queen of Brobdingnag: The history of you country seems to consist of nothing more than a squalid string of conspiracies, rebellions, revolutions, murders and massacres. Every judgment seems to be motivated by greed, by malice, hypocrisy, hatred, envy, lust and madness!
Lemuel Gulliver: Perhaps I explained badly.
Queen of Brobdingnag: You have proved that ignorance, idleness and vice are the only qualifications for public office and that your laws are made by those whose only ...

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Connections

Referenced in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

User Reviews

Better than the Book

I first saw this when I was a teen in my last year of Junior High. I was riveted to it! I loved the special effects, the fantastic places and the trial-aspect and flashback method of telling the story.

Several years later I read the book and while it was interesting and I could definitely see what Swift was trying to say, I think that while it's not as perfect as the book for social commentary, as a story the movie is better. It makes more sense to have it be one long adventure than having Gulliver return after each voyage and making a profit by selling the tiny Lilliput sheep or whatever.

It's much more arresting when everyone thinks he's crazy and the sheep DO make a cameo anyway. As a side note, when I saw Laputa I was stunned. It looks very much like the Kingdom of Zeal from the Chrono Trigger video game (1995) that also made me like this mini-series even more.

I saw it again about 4 years ago, and realized that I still enjoyed it just as much. Really high quality stuff and began an excellent run of Sweeps mini-series for NBC who followed it up with the solid Merlin and interesting Alice in Wonderland.