Gulliver's Travels (
1939)
Summary (from
Wikipedia) -
Gulliver's Travels is a 1939
American cel-animated
Technicolor feature film, directed by
Dave Fleischer and produced by
Max Fleischer for
Fleischer Studios. The film was released
on December 22, 1939 by
Paramount Pictures, who had the feature produced as an answer to the success of
Walt Disney's box-office hit
Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs.
Gulliver was the second cel-animated feature film ever released, and the first produced by an American studio other than
Walt Disney Productions. The story is based very loosely upon the Lilliputian adventures of Gulliver depicted in
Jonathan Swift's
18th century novel Gulliver's Travels.
The film was nominated for two
Academy Awards:
Victor Young for
Best Music, Original Score
Ralph Rainger (music) and
Leo Robin (lyrics) for
Best Music,
Original Song for the song "
Faithful Forever"
Plot -
On
November 5, 1699, Gulliver washes up on a mysterious island after his ship sinks on a stormy night. It is revealed
that the island, Lilliput, is inhabited by very small people. While scouting the forest, the town crier,
Gabby, comes across Gulliver's unconscious body and takes him as a giant, so he rushes off to warn the ruler of Lilliput,
King Little. At this time, Little and his friend, King
Bombo of the neighboring and equally minuscule island of
Blefuscu, are planning a wedding between their children:
Princess Glory of Lilliput and
Prince David of Blefuscu.
Things turn sour between the kings, however, when they argue over which song to play at the wedding (Little wants to play the song "
Faithful" while Bombo wants "
Forever"), and Bombo soon declares war.
Gabby manages to tell King Little about the "giant" (i.e. Gulliver) on the beach and is sent to capture him. Gabby leads a mob to the beach but is surprised to find Gulliver is not there; the mob begins to scorn Gabby until they all realize that they are standing on Gulliver's belly. The
Lilliputians tie Gulliver down to a wooden platform and wheel him into the village—a task that takes them until daybreak. By then, Gulliver awakens and manages to break free which frightens everyone away, but when they see that the invading Blefuscuians are also intimidated by his size, the Lilliputians decide to enlist his help to fight against their rival neighbors.
Cast -
Gulliver -
Sam Parker
Gabby -
Pinto Colvig
King Little, Sneak,
Snoop, and
Snitch -
Jack Mercer
King Bombo -
Tedd Pierce
Princess Glory -
Jessica Dragonette
Prince David -
Lanny Ross
Credits -
Produced by Max Fleischer
Written by
Dan Gordon,
Cal Howard, Tedd Pierce,
Edmond Seward,
Isadore Sparber
Based on Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Music by Victor Young, Leo Robin, Ralph Rainger,
Al Neiburg,
Winston Sharples, &
Sammy Timberg
Cinematography -
Charles Schettler
Studio - Fleischer Studios
Distributed by - Paramount Pictures
Release dates -
December 22, 1939
Running time: 76 minutes
Language -
English
Soundtrack -
"
Faithful/Forever" (Music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin)
"I
Hear a
Dream (
Come Home Again)" (Music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin)
"We're
All Together Now" (Music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin)
"
Bluebirds in the
Moonlight (
Silly Idea)" (Music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin)
"
All's Well" (Music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin)
"
It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day" (Written by Sammy Timberg, Al Neiburg and Winston Sharples)
Related Videos -
Gabby - All's Well (
1941)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDEZxf7N_bE
Gabby -
Fire Cheese (1941)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etOfAM1ZGrs
Gabby -
Swing Cleaning (1941)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GAVToPUB2g
Gabby
Goes Fishing (1941)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzOTliWjHoM
Copyright Information -
Copyright
Report: Gulliver's Travels (1939)
https://archive.org/details/CopyrightSearchReportGulliversTravels1939
- published: 20 Mar 2014
- views: 7398