Line #30 Film/SwissFamilyRobinson


1	[[quoteright:293:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Swiss_family_robinson322_7477.jpg]]
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3	The best-known [[TheFilmOfTheBook screen adaptation]] of Johann Wyss' ''Literature/TheSwissFamilyRobinson'', produced by Creator/{{Disney}} in 1960. A much more compact and story-driven production than the original novel, it was a well-reviewed family-friendly hit. It follows the spirit of Wyss' basic [[{{Robinsonade}} Crusoe-but-a-whole-family]] premise while adding a human threat from the beginning to provide the climactic ultimate test of the family's resourcefulness.
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5	At the opening of the story, the titular family (a couple and three boys) are trying desperately to save the cargo ship they are on during a huge storm. The captain of the ship had deliberately sailed into the storm to escape from a pirate ship, but it became severe enough that everyone abandoned ship and left the Robinsons with no lifeboats for themselves. Eventually, the ship runs aground near an island, and the storm ends. The pirates, who have followed the ship, approach, but Mr. Robinson flies the flag indicating that [[YouDontWantToCatchThis the Black Death is aboard]] and the pirates retreat. The family then build some rafts and ferry themselves and as many supplies as they can out to the island.
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7	Everyone in the family proves to be extremely resourceful and together construct a comfortable and secure [[TreeTopTown set of treehouses]]. Once they feel safe, Mr. Robinson builds a small sailing boat and the two older sons Fritz and Ernst sail around the shore of the island exploring. They come upon the pirates once again, and find that they have captured an old man and his son from another ship. Sneaking up to save them, Fritz and Ernst only manage to get away with the boy, Bertie, who ends up actually being [[WholesomeCrossdresser Roberta]]. The three return to the Robinson base, and begin to prepare defenses against [[TheSiege impending retribution]] from the pirates.
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9	The film was a big hit upon release, and continues to be one of the highest-grossing films of all time when adjusted for inflation.
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12	!!Tropes used include:
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14	* ActionizedAdaptation: The film adds a hostile band of pirates, who attack the family in the climax of the movie.
15	* AdaptedOut: In the book, there were four sons. Jack was the third eldest after Ernst, but didn't make it into the film. Some of his characteristics can be found in Francis, though...
16	* AdaptationNameChange: In the original novel, Roberta is named, [[DubNameChange depending on the translation]], either Jenny or Emily. Also, one of the dogs was a female named Juno in the novel, but becomes a male named Duke in the film.
17	* AllAsiansWearConicalStrawHats: Some of the Asiatic pirates wear these
18	* AnachronismStew: The movie is supposedly set sometime during UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars (the same period in which the book was written), but contains plenty of anachronisms:
19	** [[HollywoodCostuming The female fashions are Victorian, not Napoleonic.]]
20	** The song "O Christmas Tree" was first published in 1824, nearly a decade after the Battle of Waterloo. And while we're at it, the tradition of Christmas trees was largely unknown outside of the upper Rhineland in Napoleonic times.
21	** Ernst cites land bridge theory ([[ScienceMarchesOn since discredited following the acceptance of plate tectonics]]) to explain the island's MisplacedWildlife, but land bridge theory wasn't even developed until the 1850s.
22	* AnimalAssassin: Francis has the idea of capturing the tiger so as to let him loose on the invading pirates.
23	* AnnoyingArrows: One of the traps the family sets is a collapsing bridge flanked by crossbows. The fired bolts do little more than anger the pirates, who pull them out and continue their assault.
24	* ArtisticLicenseShips: The quarantine flag that Mr. Robinson uses to scare off the pirate ship is actually the "India" signal flag. The ''actual'' de-facto quarantine flags are the [[https://2015.maritimeprofessional.com/blogs/post/quarantine-flag-13441 "Lima" and "Quebec"]] flags.
25	* BambooTechnology: And ''how''. Father, Fritz and Ernst build an absolutely massive treehouse (which became a popular attraction at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]] later) which has running water, a ''cooler'', even a skylight. To combat the pirates, they make grenades using coconuts, gunpowder and cannon fuses.
26	* BigDamnHeroes: Roberta's grandfather arrives with his ship, which outguns the pirate ship, just as the Robinsons are running out of ammo to fend off the pirates.
27	* BrattyHalfPint: Francis, who wants to make a pet out of everything on the island and get first dibs on several activities.
28	* BoyishShortHair: A plot point in that Roberta's grandfather made her hack her long hair off so she'd look more like a teenaged boy.
29	* CanineCompanion: Duke and Turk, the dogs of the captain who headed the voyage which brought the family to the island.
30	* CanonForeigner: The pirates do not appear in the original novel
31	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Not one of the family has a problem with killing the pirates. Also, Mr. Robinson giving Francis a crossbow for Christmas.
32	* DesertedIsland: Though the ending suggests that a new colony will begin.
33	* FoodAndAnimalAttraction: This shows up using a banana and the family's pet monkey.
34	* GirlyGirl: Roberta, apparently. She disliked being disguised as a boy and was happy when she could be traditionally feminine again.
35	* GuileHero: Mr. Robinson, when the pirate ship first shows up, scares them back off by [[YouDontWantToCatchThis hoisting the quarantine flag]], rather than risk any kind of direct engagement. Once it comes time to defend their new home and Roberta, he gets his sons working on traps and snares to prepare, saving the remaining guns as a last resort.
36	* HandsOnApproach: Roberta wanting Fritz to teach her how to fire a gun. When Ernst tries to continue the lesson, Roberta claims Fritz already taught her enough and she fires off a shot so perfect that it's obvious she actually already knew how to shoot the entire time.
37	%%* HappilyMarried: Mr. & Mrs. Robinson
38	* TheHorde: No matter how many pirates get shot, blown up, knocked off the cliff, or flattened by rocks or logs during the climactic battle, there never seem to be any fewer than there were to begin with. There ''is'' a scene that shows one of the pirates signalling reinforcements to depart from their ship.
39	* IChooseToStay: That's what the parents and Francis choose after the Captain offers them passage elsewhere, with the Captain noting that Papa Robinson will likely be appointed governor of the new colony. Fritz and Roberta also opt to stay on the island together.
40	* JunglesSoundLikeKookaburras: A kookaburra can be heard on the deserted tropical island. In the original novel, the family is shipwrecked in the East Indies (which definitely isn’t kookaburra territory), but at least they were on their way to Australia (New Guinea in the movie, which is close by). And given the rather extreme levels of MisplacedWildlife on the island, it wouldn't be strange for there to actually be some there.
41	* [[LikeASonToMe Like A Daughter To Me]]. Mrs. Robinson adores her boys, but the way she visibly lights up when she meets Roberta and enjoys fixing her up shows that she's always wanted a girl as well.
42	* TheLoad: Try counting how many times Francis needs to be rescued, or just causes trouble without thinking.
43	** Roberta starts out as this when Fritz and Ernst first rescue her from the pirates. This is actually out of fear that they themselves will discover her true gender. By the time they realize she's a girl, things improve and she's able to keep up with them.
44	* LoveTriangle: Both Fritz and Ernst become quite smitten with Roberta, leading to several fights between them.
45	* NoNameGiven: As in the original story, the boys' mother and father are merely addressed as, well, Mother and Father.
46	* NoPeriodsPeriod: Neither Mrs. Robinson nor Roberta ever has to deal with this, even though this is certainly something she and her grandfather would have been worried about as it would revealed to their captors that she was a girl.
47	* PaperThinDisguise: Apparently, a cap is all it takes to make the obviously female Roberta look like a boy. If that cap is removed, even with the rest of her "disguise" still in place, she is "revealed" to be a girl.
48	** Though it is implied Fritz wrestling around with her in close quarters just beforehand may have made him feel her breasts through her clothes and the cap falling off just confirmed what he was already suspecting.
49	* PitTrap: The family dig a whole bunch of these, one of which, to the surprise of everyone but Francis, successfully catches a tiger.
50	* PragmaticVillainy: The leader of the pirates Kuala is going to take Roberta, disguised as a cabin boy, and presumably kill her until her grandfather barters with him, saying he'll write a ransom note to get the pirates money, but only if they don't harm the boy. Kuala agrees and even is shown to have released the grandfather after the pirates were given the money, showing he kept his word.
51	* QuicksandSucks: A zebra has to be rescued from quicksand at one point.
52	* {{Robinsonade}}: Heck, they even share the name somewhat. A bit less so than in the [[Literature/TheSwissFamilyRobinson original book]], but still a very strong castaway tale.
53	* RapeAsDrama: Mentioned in a way that goes over the heads of younger viewers. Roberta tearfully recounts her grandfather made her cut her hair and dress like a boy because "he didn't want them to know," making it clear to the adults in the audience he was afraid of what a group of brutes would do to his granddaughter. Fritz later tells Roberta turning herself into the pirates to save the Robinson family will do no good because she looks more feminine now and they know what will happen if they give an unarmed teenage girl over to a group of pirates.
54	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The bookish Ernst and the physically adept Fritz, respectively. Though it's downplayed in that Fritz is plenty cultured himself and Ernst has no problem using his hands for building things, trekking in the jungle, or fighting pirates.
55	* SheCleansUpNicely: All the Robinson men--even the HappilyMarried Mr. Robinson--go ga-ga over Roberta once Mrs. Robinson fixes her up and puts her in a dress.
56	* ShirtlessScene: Fritz and Ernst have several of these, especially when they go on their trek around the island and wade through water.
57	* TheSiege: The family and Roberta together have to protect their home from an onslaught of angry pirates.
58	* SnakesAreSinister: A large boa tries to constrict Ernst, but gets beaten off by Fritz and Roberta.
59	* TranslationConvention: The titular Swiss family is presumably speaking German in-universe. Okay, fair enough, but how then do they communicate so effortlessly with the English girl Roberta? And when Kuala speaks in broken English, is it really broken German?
60	* TrapMaster: Pretty much the entire family, as evidenced by the final siege of their home.
61	* TreeTopTown: Eventually the Robinson home becomes a small one of these, and a very nice one too.
62	* WalkingShirtlessScene: The Robinson men spend much of the film without their shirts on, although with their navels always remaining safely covered. As for the women, they're apparently content to swelter in their [[PimpedOutDress Pimped-Out Dresses]].
63	* WarRefugees: It's mentioned that the family fled Europe to escape from UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars. (The [[Literature/TheSwissFamilyRobinson original book]] was published while the Napoleonic Wars were still in progress, but it does not actually mention them.)
64	* WholesomeCrossDresser: Roberta, initially known as Bertie, was disguised by her grandfather to protect her from worse treatment from the pirates.
65	* YouDontWantToCatchThis: Father scares the pirates off from attacking their ship by flying a quarantine flag (specifically claiming the flag means there's Black Death aboard).
66	* YouNoTakeCandle: Kuala, the head of the pirates, tends to talk this way.

Context Film / SwissFamilyRobinson