Line #49 WesternAnimation/GulliversTravels


1	[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gulliver_2_6108.jpg]]
2
3	->''"There's a giant on the beach!"''
4	-->--'''Gabby''', the Town Crier
5
6	''Gulliver's Travels'' is the second American animated feature ever made.
7
8	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, Creator/GrimNatwick, William Henning, Roland Crandall, Thomas Johnson, Robert Leffingwell, Frank Kelling, Winfield Hoskins and Orestes Calpini.
9
10	The film is an ''[[InNameOnly extremely]]'' loose adaptation of the "Lilliput" voyage of Creator/JonathanSwift's 1726 [[Literature/GulliversTravels classic]], keeping only the skeleton of Swift's story and sugar-coating whatever hints of harsh satire or topical allegory were remaining from the tale.
11
12	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 {{UsefulNotes/Europe}}, and having already exploded in {{UsefulNotes/China}}, perhaps a lesson in getting along was what the nations needed.)
13
14	The animation is an interesting blend of the rubbery East Coast cartoon style of animation associated with the shorts of the period, with the more realistic style that had been pioneered by ''Snow White'', which ''Gulliver'' was obviously meant to emulate. There are some extremely impressive sequences – the binding of Gulliver by the little people is perhaps a stand-out – and the backgrounds are sumptuous in color and detail, also helped by superbly composed layouts. A lot of the film's entertainment comes from the scenes involving King Little and King Bombo bickering and Gabby the Town Crier's antics, as well as Bombo's bumbling trio of spies, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch, and the carrier pigeon Twinkletoes, who provide some much needed genuine comic relief. Gulliver also meets the StarCrossedLovers Princess Glory of Lilliput and Prince David of Blefuscu, whose separation forms the mainspring of the action.
15
16	Victor Young and Ralph Rainger provided score, and there are a number of catchy songs by Al Neiburg, Winston Sharples, and Sammy Timberg, including "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day" (which became something of an unofficial theme for the Fleischer Studios, rather as "Merrily We Roll Along" did for Creator/WarnerBros cartoons) and the clever counter-point combination song, "Faithful Forever", formed from the two competing traditional marriage songs of Lilliput and Blefescu, and united at the end to symbolize the union of the happy couple and the now united kingdoms.
17
18	This film is in the PublicDomain and can be viewed for free online.
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20	This film also spawned a short lived SpinOff theatrical cartoon series: ''Gabby'', starring the eponymous Town Crier from the film. Another Fleischer short series, ''Animated Antics'', have at least four shorts featuring characters from the film, two centered on the spies Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch, and two on Twinkletoes the Pigeon.
21
22	''Gulliver'' was a success at the box office, but not quite enough to cover the overhead[[note]] This was due to Paramount deliberately discounting the money received for the film in Europe before the war had broken out, where Gulliver had also achieved box office success[[/note]], resulting in the Fleischers immediately starting work on [[WesternAnimation/MrBugGoesToTown their next and last feature...]]
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24	----
25	!!This film provides examples of:
26	* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: Besides only being a very loose adaptation of 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.
27	* AnimatedAdaptation: Of Jonathan Swift's masterpiece, but has little real relationship with it (there's a regular-sized man on an island inhabited by inches-tall people, and that's about it).
28	* AnimationBump: The opening storm, and the entire sequence where Gulliver is bound and carried off into the village.
29	* AnnoyingArrows: The Blefuscu archers hit Gulliver's arm with several salvos. They do little but cause him discomfort.
30	* AntiVillain: King Bombo, who is a type 3. While he is the one who technically instigated the war in the first place and for a very petty reason, it's clear that it's out of misplaced nationalism and his own short sighted ego and temper, rather than death and destruction for an evil cause. And he almost reconciled his quarrel with King Little as soon as it began, until a misunderstanding involving Gabby getting him attacked by Little's guards made him change his mind--and even then, it's clear during David's "Forever" song that he does wish it didn't come to that, but he hides it in front of his own men to save face.
31	* ArgumentOfContradictions: The two kings disagree about whether the song "Faithful" or "Forever" will be played at the wedding, starting the war between them.
32	--> '''Little''': "Faithful" has always been played at our weddings.
33	--> '''Bombo''': Twaddle. Absolute twaddle. It must be "Forever".
34	--> '''Little''': Faithful.
35	--> '''Bombo''': (his crown flying up, and landing back on his head) Forever!!!
36	--> '''Little''': (squeaky voice) Faithful.
37	--> '''Bombo''': (his face going up in flames) It will be Forever, or there will be no wedding.
38	--> '''Little''': No wedding? Oh, but the cake, and the pretty flowers... (dances and sings "faithful")
39	--> '''Bombo''': IT'S WAR!!!! (Smashes the wedding cake, and storms out)
40	* 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 petty argument about which anthem to play during the ceremony.
41	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Gulliver to the Lilliputians, at first anyways.
42	* BagOfKidnapping: When Gabby accidentally wanders into the spies' hideout, they stuff him into a tied sack, hanging it on a hook, with Gabby's hat.
43	* BigDamnHeroes: Prince David pulls this on the spies, just when they're about to kill Gulliver with his pistol.
44	* {{BFG}}: Gulliver's flintlock pistol--although it's only big in comparison to the lilliputians.
45	* BlackCloak: Sneap, Snoop and Snitch, King Bombo's spies, wear these.
46	* BlatantLies: Gabby tries to impress Gulliver with highly suspect tales of Gabby's naval heroism (including pulling a whale out of the water). Gulliver bemusedly plays along and pretends to be impressed.
47	* {{Breakout Character}}s:
48	** Gabby proved popular enough to get 8 cartoons.
49	** To a lesser extent, the spies Sneak, Snoop & Snitch, and Twinkeltoes the Carrier Pigeon were popular enough to star in several of the Animated Antics cartoons Fleischer made; 2 for the spies, and 3 for Twinkletoes.
50	* BulletHoleSpelling: After King Bombo has declared war over the "Forever" song, he has his arrows spell out "Forever" on King Little's castle wall.
51	* BumblingDad: King Little has shades of this.
52	* CampStraight: King Little.
53	* CapeSwish: Bombo does one after he declares war on King Little.
54	* ChekhovsGun: A literal example--Gulliver's pistol is used later as part of the Spies attempt to kill him.
55	* ColorFailure: Gabby's face is flushed white in frustration right before it [[HighPressureEmotion turns red]].
56	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Little demands that this giant appear in the 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.
57	* CompressedAdaptation: The film only adapts the first part of the book (and loosely at that), where Gulliver winds up shipwrecked on Lilliput.
58	* ConjoinedEyes: Sneak and Snoop, but only in a brief, OffModel moment when they realize Snitch had accidentally started a fire in their hideout.
59	* ConstructionIsAwesome: The ''very'' lengthy sequence where the Lilliputians build an elaborate slab to bind Gulliver to and drag him off to the village.
60	* CoolBoat: The stunning sailboat model used in the opening credits, and the boats seen in the movie itself are nice, too.
61	* CrowdSong: The crowd reprise of "All's Well", "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day", "Bluebirds In The Moonlight", as well as "All Together Now" and "Faithful Forever".
62	* DangledByAGiant: When Gulliver meets Gabby for the first time, he holds Gabby up by his shirt while he's flailing around in utter terror.
63	-->'''Gabby:''' You can't do this to me! I got a wife and kids! ''Millions'' of kids!
64	-->'''Gulliver:''' Hold on there, mate. Nobody's going to hurt you.
65	* DigitalDestruction: The Kino 70th Anniversary DVD and Blu-Ray releases, which cropped the film into widescreen, and used a shoddy, 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.
66	* {{Disneyesque}}: Possibly the Ur-example, as Paramount made the film solely to compete with Disney and requested that Fleischer imitated their works.
67	* DisneyDeath: Prince David, after saving Gulliver from being shot. Gulliver sees that he survived, but momentarily keeps it hidden from the warring nations so they can reflect on what their actions had wrought.
68	* DisneySchoolOfActingAndMime: No surprise, since the film used a number of ex-Disney animators, including Creator/GrimNatwick and Creator/ShamusCulhane.
69	** Justified somewhat in that at the time Fleischer was trying to compete with Disney through mimicry.
70	* DopeSlap: Snitch suggests several weapons for Gulliver's assassination... nothing that would come close to doing the job. Then he suggests a dinky slingshot. Sneak snaps the band back into Snitch's face.
71	%%* EarTrumpet: One of the Lilliputians has one.
72	* GentleGiant: Gulliver is nothing but gentle and compassionate to all of the Lilliputians.
73	* HaveAGayOldTime: The trailer mentioned that the movie was "one solid hour and 20 minutes crammed full of laughter and gay music."
74	* HiddenHeartOfGold: During the "Forever" song, Bombo is clearly upset that he had such a bad falling out with King Little that it provoked him to declare war, but his pride prompts him to hide his real feelings in front of Sneak, Snoop and Snitch.
75	* IHaveAFamily: Gabby when Gulliver is picking him up. "You can't do this to me! I have a wife and KIDS! Millions of kids!"
76	* HyperspaceArsenal: Snitch carries an impressive number of weapons beneath his cloak.
77	* HypocriticalHumor: When Little finally hears Gabby tell him about '''THE GIANT ON THE BEEEEEACH''' and promptly chastises him for not telling him earlier.
78	* KnightInSourArmor: Gabby HATES his job as night watchman, occasionally interrupting his happy work song to complain about how tiring and tedious it is, but he does it anyway.
79	* 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 than his own son David, and seemingly got himself killed in the process.
80	* {{Leitmotif}}: An instrumental version of "I Hear A Dream" for Gulliver.
81	%%* {{Lilliputians}}: Of course!
82	* LovableCoward: Annoying voice aside, Gabby is this. He'll at least TRY when push comes to shove though.
83	** King Little, to an extent. He's easily frightened, but when his subjects are at stake, he'll step up.
84	* MadnessMantra: Gabby during the scene where he wakes up the whole town to tell them "'''THERE'S A GIANT ON THE BEACH!'''"
85	* MassOhCrap: King Little when he first sees Gulliver, as well as Bombo and his entire army when they first see Gulliver.
86	--> "We of Blefescu are not... afraid of... anything."
87	* MeaningfulName: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin King Little]]; King [[HairTriggerTemper Bombo]] (as in bombastic); [[{{Motormouth}} Gabby]], and well as the spies, Sneak, Snoop and Snitch.
88	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:
89	** The wedding overseer is based both in accent and appearance off Herman Bing.
90	* PreventTheWar: The kingdoms of Lilliput and Blefuscu are on a path to war. Gulliver must find a way to stop the war before it destroys both countries.
91	* PublicDomainAnimation: The film fell into the public domain decades ago, and it has since become a staple of bargain bin VHS and DVD releases.
92	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: King Bombo putting two guards out of combat with his bare hands.
93	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Given by Gulliver to the dueling kingdoms after Prince David is apparently killed saving Gulliver from being shot, but it ends on a high note:
94	-->"Poor foolish little people, look what you've done. Now go ahead, break your nutshell heads over your song. But did you have to break Glory's heart, King Little? Because you were thoughtless and selfish...and you, Bombo, oh mighty warrior...what have you won? You were too stubborn to think. Too busy quarreling to lend ear to the harmony that might have been yours. But now in your sorrow and despair, perhaps you'll listen to your songs as they might be sung." ''(cue "Faithful Forever")''
95	* {{Rotoscoping}}: This technique was used to animate Gulliver, tracing directly from footage of his voice actor, Sam Parker. While some critics have complained about the unimaginative use of the technique in the film, it's handled so meticulously well, that Gulliver at times almost looks like a storybook illustration come to life! Some of the close ups of his hands and face are rendered and shaded in jaw-dropping detail. It also helps Gulliver to stand out from the Lilliputians (at least to the degree that his size doesn't do this already).
96	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: King Little, despite not being as big and strong as King Bombo and acting humble and effeminate, still has enough determination to protect his kingdom by going to battle with a sword in hand.
97	* SceneryPorn: Some of the background and layout work is very well done and almost compensates for the uneven animation.
98	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: King Little when he first sees Gulliver.
99	-->''"Call all the guards, the army, the navy, [[MenAreTheExpendableGender women and children first]], I'll see ya later...."
100	* ShamingTheMob: Gulliver in the film's ending. He sees early on that David has survived the fall but he still lets them think that he died in order to show them the consequences of war and give them above mentioned TheReasonYouSuckSpeech where he calls them out on their pettiness and their readiness to fight.
101	* ShooOutTheClowns: Gabby gets captured by Bombo's spies just in time for the climax, only to be released after Gulliver helps the two kingdoms make peace. Amusingly, the same spies willingly free him from the bag he's trapped in, but Gabby comically beats the stuffing out of them anyway.
102	* SillyReasonForWar: One of many changes made from the original story is that instead of a holy war over which end of an egg should be broken, King Bombo declares war on King Little for ''not playing the song he wanted to play at Glory's wedding''. When David and Glory tell Gulliver what's going on, he [[LampshadeHanging notes with irony]] how silly the whole quarrel is.
103	* SlapFight: Gabby's approach to swordplay seems to be to frantically waggle his sword near the target. With his eyes closed.
104	* SlidingScaleOfAdaptationModification: The film is a Type 1 (InNameOnly) adaptation of the first part of Jonathan Swift's story.
105	* SmokingIsCool: Gulliver with his pipe during the "I Hear A Dream" sequence.
106	* SpinOff: The short-lived ''Gabby'' cartoons. Sneak, Snoop & Snitch, and Twinkletoes the Carrier Pigeon respectively make appearances in four shorts from the Fleischer short series "Animated Antics".
107	* SuperSpeed: Lilliputians are capable of this when frightened.
108	* SymbolicallyBrokenObject: After declaring war, King Bombo smashes the wedding cake. The camera lingers on the cake toppers of Prince David and Princess Glory as they lay broken on the ground.
109	* TakeAThirdOption: What Gulliver suggests at the end to end the quarrel--merge the two songs together.
110	* TerribleTrio: Bombo's spies, Sneak, Snoop and Snitch respectively.
111	* ThisMeansWar: What the argument between King Little and Bombo literally amounts to.
112	* TrrrillingRrrs: The overseer when describing the flower selection:
113	--> '''Overseer''': Rrrrrroses, rrrracies Rrrrrrrhododendrrrrrrons, verrrrnacularrrs, snappadrrrrrangons und… daisies.
114	* 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 in between 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.
115	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The whole quarrel between Bombo and Little would have ended as soon as it started if Gabby hadn't barged into Little's throne room to warn him about Gulliver, which causes Little's guards to mistakenly attack Bombo, making him change his mind about reconciling the feud.
116	----
117	!!The Gabby series provides examples of:
118	* ActorAllusion: At least twice in this series, characters voiced by Pinto Colvig, Gabby included, let out a very familiar [[WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} A-Hyugh]].
119	* ButtMonkey: Gabby, it's like no matter what he does, the universe will ensure that he always screws up in the funniest of ways.
120	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: No matter what Gabby does, he's bound to screw it up somehow and in the end he '''always''' loses!
121	* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Gabby generally gets himself in trouble by attempting to "help" people with things they are far more qualified or better at than he is.
122	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Whether it's trying to help out the fire department or clean King Little's castle, Gabby will go his own route in doing the job and always screw it up royally, then he usually takes a punishment (usually a beating) at the end. Pretty much the only time he's ever been competent was when he was a constable ([[UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode though certain laws at the time might've been the reason for this]]).
123	* PublicDomainAnimation: All 8 cartoons have entered the PublicDomain.

Context WesternAnimation / GulliversTravels