A classic film from Fleischer Studios, this adaptation of Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel has a similar look to Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I’ve seen both films many times but I actually prefer the former. I recently watched it again, after re-reading the book.
My first thought on this film as an adaptation is that the title should just be Gulliver, or maybe Gulliver’s Adventures in Lilliput. In the book, he travels to many places, the accidental voyage to Lilliput being only the first. However, not only would there have been too much material to fit into a film, it would’ve been too weird, especially for a young audience. The content is sanitised even so. In the book he basically commits treason when he puts out a fire by peeing on it (luckily he had been holding it in since the day before), despite the fact that he is saving royal lives. You just couldn’t have that in a film of the 1930s, especially one for children.
The plot is moulded into more of a conventional, romantic story. The kings of Lilliput and Blefuscu are at war over which of their national anthems will be sung at the wedding of the prince and princess. Into this conflict steps Gulliver. After being washed up on the shore and captured by the Lilliputians, he is discovered to be on their side. Blefuscu sends assassins to get rid of Gulliver; they steal his gun but the plan backfires when the prince of Blefuscu deflects it and is almost killed. Gulliver then helps bring the two countries literally back into harmony when he suggests singing both anthems at the same time.
The soundtrack is fabulous and the animation is quite cute. What I particularly like is how the Lilliputians are shown to be ingenious at their engineering. For example, when they are making a new outfit for Gulliver, an archer shoots an arrow, with thread tied to it, into a button and then into Gulliver’s shirt, in one shot. By a system of pulleys, they attach his sleeves. When he finally pulls on his boots, he stamps on the ground, shaking the whole town.
In summary, it’s a great film for kids, although as an adaptation of the book, it’s only very loosely based on the first part, Lilliput… which is actually the least interesting country he travels to!
This film was one of the first full-color shows for kids aired on TV back in 1962 or 1963. I remember it well, because we were one of the few people with a color TV and my parents let me invite my three closest friends (their names were Julie Hacker, Barbara Merar, and Fran Pincus – I’m still in touch with Julie, only in touch with Barbara’s younger sister Sally, and sadly, Fran passed away) to watch it live with us.
That’s really interesting, thank you for sharing! Watching colour TV would have been a special event for you to share with your friends.