History WesternAnimation / GulliversTravels

** The florist is based both in accent and appearance off Herman Bing.

In an attempt by Paramount to have the film compete with Disney's then-wildly successful ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', Swift's hard-edged story is made considerably LighterAndSofter by the Fleischers, and his rather unattractive and wholly commonplace protagonist is transformed into a sort of all-wise [[MightyWhitey Mighty Biggie]] teaching the "silly little people" of Lilliput and Blefuscu a [[{{Aesop}} serious lesson]] about getting along (with UsefulNotes/WorldWarII about to explode in Europe, and having already exploded in China, perhaps a lesson in getting along was what the nations needed.)

It was produced by Max Fleischer and directed by Dave Fleischer, both of Creator/FleischerStudios for Creator/{{Paramount}}, and released in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1939]]. The animation directors for the film were Seymour Kneitel, Willard Bowsky, Tom Palmer, Grim Natwick, William Henning, Roland Crandall, Thomas Johnson, Robert Leffingwell, Frank Kelling, Winfield Hoskins and Orestes Calpini.

* ArrangedMarriage: Glory and David, to join the kingdoms of Lilliput and Blefuscu. This seems to be a good thing, as the young couple regard each other as their heart's desire, the Kings are on good terms and the people support the joining kingdoms... until the Kings get into an [[ForWantOfANail petty argument about which anthem]] to play during the ceremony.

* OffModel: The animation can get really sloppy at some parts, and is rather mediocre overall. The most biting critique of this came from Creator/WaltDisney, who claimed "[[InsultToRocks We can make a better film than that with our second string animators.]]"

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: King Bombo putting two guards out of combat with his bare hands.

* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: Besides only being a very loose adaptation of the the Lilliput section the book, the ending is overhauled. In the book, Gulliver is convicted of treason by the Lilliputians and is sentenced to be blinded, but with the assistance of a kind friend, "a considerable person at court," he escapes to Blefuscu. Here he spots and retrieves an abandoned boat and sails out to be rescued by a passing ship, which safely takes him back home. In the movie, Gulliver helps stop a war between the two nations and leaves in a giant boat build by both of them for him, leaving all of them on good terms.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Little demands that this giant appear in audience before him. When Gabby awkwardly mentions he ''can't'' (i.e., he's too big to fit in the castle), Little assumes Gulliver has refused, (i.e., the meeting is beneath him) and becomes rather offended.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Bombo and a large army are due to trigger the war on Lilliput, but as soon as they catch sight of Gulliver, he realizes they have ''no'' chance of standing up to him, and he and the entire navy flees the area in ''seconds''. A non-comedic example also occurs near the end, when Bombo basically calls off the battle when he sees his attempt at killing Gulliver with his own pistol was sabotaged by none other his own son David, and seemingly got himself killed in the process.

* TheTwelvePrinciplesOfAnimation: A result of the Fleischers trying to compete with ''Snow White'' was beefing up their animation considerably, as well as attempting to adapt to these principles. Unfortunately, much of the animation in the film is ruined by sloppy inbetween work and terrible inking, giving the drawings a mushy, floaty feeling. This was undoubtedly a result of ''Gulliver'''s tight deadline for production, as well as the studio have a mix of East Coast and West Coast animators who were constantly at odds with each other and their approaches to animation.

* DigitalDestruction: The Kino 70th Anniversary DVD and Blu-Ray releases, which cropped the film into widescreen, and used a shoody, blurry transfer. While the Winstar 60th Anniversary DVD uses a much, much better transfer, it suffers from nasty frame ghosting. Fortunately for Blu-Ray collectors, Thunderbean acquired a 35mm Technicolor print in 2013, and gave it a proper HD restoration with no distortion or line erasure.