Gulliver's Travels (1939)

Why so much hype?

Critics,are you kidding us

Amateur movie with Big budget

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

first, for its innocence. because it is a real animation film for children. sweet, lovely, testimony about a time . in same measure, it remains a delight. for a form of simplicity and beautiful songs and the wise use of Jonathan Swift classic novel. for a kind of romanticism, graceful, delicate, fragile and seductive. sure, it is easy to criticize it. if you ignore the period who defines it. because it is a manifesto against war but, in same sense, it is inspired use of childhood colors, flavors and joy. and this is the only detail important.

This is a feature-length animated film loosely based on the Swift novel and produced by Fleischer studio. There will be spoilers ahead:Fleischer studio decided to follow Disney's lead after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and produce a feature-length film. They chose to do an adaptation of Jonathan Swift novel, albeit very loosely. Parts of the plot work very well and parts don't work well at all. What works is more or less the Gulliver material and some of the added characters (Sneak, Snoop and Snitch work well, for example). There's a romantic subplot which doesn't really work because it's under-developed with a couple of characters who are cardboard in Prince David and Princess Glory. The who war subplot is just silly, but it at least leads to some nice animation.The musical score is very good, with several songs which are enjoyable, such as Faithful/Forever and It's a Hap Hap Happy Day. The animation is nothing short of breathtaking in spots, particularly in the opening sequence when Gulliver is swept overboard and winds up on the beach. The rotoscoping on Gulliver is beautifully done. The film comes to life whenever Gulliver is on the screen. The two best sequences are when Gulliver is being tied down and removed from the beach and later on when the Lilliputians make Gulliver a new outfit.The single most annoying aspect of the film is a character named Gabby. He's the town crier and he's a whiny, annoying jerk and cry baby. Fleischer actually took the character and made eight shorts starring him and the character is still an annoying twit in those. End of sermon.This film is available on a beautifully executed Blu Ray done by Thunderbean Animation and is well worth getting. Recommended.

The second feature-length animated film "Gulliver's Travels" gave Walt Disney something to think about after the Mouse House had released the first animated feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The imagination and expertise that the Fleischer studios poured into this 76-minute Paramount release is almost as good as Disney's Dwarfs. Indeed, the night watchmen and several other characters resemble the dwarfs with their bulbous noses. This adolescent adaptation of Jonathan Swift's classic tale substitute slapstick for satire. The scenes where Gulliver grasps the anchor lines and drags the navy away are fantastic. The musical numbers, some of which received Oscar nominations, are worthy of a Disney. The weakness of "Gulliver's Travels" is its anemic characters. The beautifully roto-scoped Gulliver is a bland character while most of the supporting characters behave in a goofy manner. Not only are the characters weak, but also you don't care that much about them. The war between two small kingdoms about to be bound in wedlock is restrained until the latter half of the action. Gulliver spends a great deal of time out cold allowing the natives to lash him down fast. Animation addicts who haven't seen "Gulliver's Travels" are missing a real treatment.

The Fleischer studios followed Disney into the uncharted waters of feature length cartoons with this adaptation of Gulliver's adventures in Lilliput.It is colourful, charming, respectful, and gentle. The moral of the original shines through.The animation is perhaps of the same standard as Disney's shorts and, maybe, falls short of the heights achieved during Snow White (there is some obvious reliance on certain movement cycles, something you often saw in Disney's shorts of the time but less so in features).The comic relief elements may seem out of place, or they may appeal - this is a matter of taste. They are fine for kids.I personally felt that the rotoscoped Gulliver contrasted a bit too much with the hand animated Lilliputians, but that shouldn't be taken as a criticism - this is a pioneering film, and a good one.