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Who payed the critics

Fantastic!

Best movie ever!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

My assumption is that the Fleischer Studio was working on "Gulliver's Travels" for a very long time before it finally debuted in 1939. In fact, they were probably working on it long before the first full-length cartoon, "Snow White" debuted in 1938. I say this because had they seen just how inferior their product was in comparison, I doubt if the Fleischer project would have ever gotten off the ground. In every possible way, the story pales when viewed side by side with "Snow White". The story is dull, the characters dull, the animation dull and the songs, SUPER-dull in comparison. In fact, comparing the two full-length films is like comparing a Yugo to a BMW. Yes, they are both cars and have four wheels but after that, the differences are huge.The number one problem with "Gulliver's Travels" and other films made since on the same topic is that they usually take a minuscule portion of the famous Jonathan Swift novel and bring it to the screen. And, in the process, they focus on the obvious while ignoring all the metaphor and political allegory intended by the author. So, while Swift intended the Lillipution portion of his story to be an attack on the monarchy and other small-minded individuals, here in the Fleischer story it is just a superficial story--with TONS of Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy sort of tunes tossed in to boot. As a result, it has no depth---none. And so you are left to appreciate the film only on a superficial level--and in this sense, it is also a dismal failure. Terrible songs, adequate animation and little in the way of character development, I could see why kids never grew to love this film like they grew to love "Snow White"...and why the Fleischers soon gave up on the idea of making more full-length films. At best, adequate.

I used to love this animated film version of Gulliver's Travels when I was a child, and hadn't seen it for almost twenty years. A few times over the last few years, I'd seen it on a shelf at video stores and thought about hiring it out, but had always moved on, which was unfortunate, because it's a genuinely lovely film. The animation can't be compared to Pixar or Dreamworks, as it was the standard of animation almost seventy years ago, but you can tell by watching it that the film was made with a lot of skill and love by the artists. The world created within the film seems a lot more innocent than today's fare due to the era in which it was created - you won't find any popular culture references like in Dreamworks' Shrek or Disney's Aladdin, which is a good thing, the story is able to stand on its own two feet.*Spoiler* I was surprised by how much a few of the comical moments in the film made me laugh - the part where the town-crier (Gabby) goes to the king's chambers and tells the king that the giant won't fit in his room, and the king's response? 'So, it's not good enough for him?', followed by the king seeing the giant for the first time, and immediately streaking back to his chambers, being pursued by a whirlwind of flying furniture that his wind motion has generated, I honestly couldn't stop laughing! Don't expect this film to be at the standard of today's animation, because you'll be disappointed. But if you view it as a children's film which was lovingly made and has excellent artwork considering that it was all hand-drawn, then you may very well like me find yourself watching it again two or three times within a week before reluctantly returning the copy to the video store. Highly recommended.

Lemuel Gulliver, his ship wrecked in a fantastic storm, washes ashore on the island of Lilliput, inhabited by people so tiny that Gulliver is a giant in their eyes. Soon Gulliver finds himself entangled in a war between Lilliput and neighboring Blefuscu, all brought about because the two kings of these lands couldn't decide which song was to be sung at the wedding of their two beloved children, who happen to be deeply in love with one another.The animation is often breathtaking here especially when it focuses on the fairytale like romance between Prince David and Princess Glory. Unfortunately we never fully learn their back story or get to see much of them at all except when it's absolutely necessary to advance the plot. The rotoscoping process used for Gulliver is also fascinating to watch both in terms of its historical significance and the interesting visual impression of realism it creates on screen.However Jonathan Swift's satirical story is almost completely sacrificed here in favor of fairytale fantasy which arguably borrows more from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet than it does Gulliver's Travels. Its main focus also is on the wrong character, a town crier named Gabby who isn't particularly appealing to the viewer. Too many of the other far more interesting and fun characters get sacrificed to make room for him. Actually the best fun here comes the two kings and their interactions with one another not to mention the hijinks that goes on between Belfuscu spies Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch. Gulliver himself is reduced to friendly giant peacemaker. Prince David does get a great moment towards the end. Of course, it would have had far more impact of the viewer was actually made to care about him.

Have you ever watched a cartoon you used to watch a long time ago? Like watching the 1940's Superman today, Gulliver's Travels from 1939 leaves viewers of today not only feeling nostalgic, but like it was a good movie by the standards of today. True, tastes in movies change with time, but true classics never die.The animation style of Gulliver is simple and the story straightforward. It starts with Gulliver being shipwrecked onto an island full of tiny people, about the size of ants. One nation's princess is getting married to another nation's prince, and the kings are planning the wedding. When it comes down to the wedding song, both kings suggest their own songs and have a fight about it. They end up going to war over it, but before the war can start, Gulliver is found and captured by the tiny people. He escapes and becomes allies with the people of Lilliput, the nation with the princess. The rival king has sent spies to Lilliput and asks them to kill Gulliver. The movie progresses with the countries warring and Gulliver trapped in the middle. Gulliver reunites the prince and princess and is about to put a stop to the war when the spies pull his own pistol on him. The prince hops on his horse and knocks the gun off just in time, but falls down a cliff in doing so. Gulliver picks up the boy and tells the kings how stupid they've been, fighting over a song, and that the prince is dead. In the end, the prince turns out to be alive and sings his country's song with the princess singing her country's song. Gulliver gets a new ship and is on his way. All is well.The most striking thing a viewer will notice in the movie is the differences between characters. The smarter, most knowledgeable and reasonable characters like Gulliver, the prince and princess all are animated to look lifelike, whereas the villagers, spies and kings all have a sort of dwarfish, cartoon style about them. This puts a visual line in the sand between the characters that becomes more and more obvious as the movie goes on. The kings are acting foolish and the people from the village are acting on their behalf. The spies and Gabby, the man who finds Gulliver all have the most cartoonish movements and are the most comic-relief type characters. The animation style provides for a visual representation of the character's personality, subtly hinting that real people should be more reasonable and intelligent, lest they look like the dwarfish, ignorant people.Another element that draws attention to itself is the repetition of Gulliver's line "Oh my." Oddly enough, he only says it at times where the plot is thickening, such as when the prince comes back for the princess. He doesn't seem to find it odd that people not much bigger than ants are clothing him and dancing for him for no reason other than he's a giant to them. This may be surprising, but considering Gulliver's character, it could just be a part of his kind-hearted nature. This distinction between "Oh my" being something surprising, and Gulliver's "Oh my" meaning something is about to happen, becomes more concrete as the movie goes on. Thus, when an "Oh my" is heard from Gulliver, the audience knows it should pay attention to this point in the plot, as it is important to the overall storyline.The most notable animation achievement is the realism behind Gulliver. Nowadays, amazing things can be done with 3D animation, making characters look more realistic, but for some reason, they still have an unnatural feel to them. This comes down to the motion of the characters, which this movie nailed with Gulliver. His movements look like that of a human being, jerky at times, possibly slow, but always realistic in those flaws. Nobody moves swiftly across the floor with little bounce, or keep steady, fluid motion, and this lack of fluidity is captured in Gulliver. Good examples of this include when Gulliver steps over the town and during the first shipwreck scene. Before he steps over the buildings, he pauses slightly as if to gain balance and keep going. This slight pause is what separates him from the CGI of today. When Gulliver's ships wrecks and he's drowning, his head comes above water a few times, but his arms are seen flailing, wildly, but with purpose, as if in an attempt to get air. Their movement is almost random, but meaningful. This level of realism within Gulliver is still astounding today, almost seventy years after the film's production.The director Dave Fleischer has something to do with this animation style. At that time, he was a great director of many cartoons, most notably Popeye. Gulliver had a huge step toward realism and it continued on in Fleischer's work. A few years later, he went on to direct the Superman cartoons, which are still held in high acclaim for their animation style and techniques of realistic movements and absorbing story lines.Though this movie may have been forgotten by many, its animation style, subtle repetition of elements and straightforward storyline all lend to this movie's timelessness. Normally, people look to the future for the latest and greatest, but Gulliver is a shining example of what the past can teach the future.