Animation Celebration Saturday - Gulliver's Travels (1939)

Paramount, 1939
Voices of Sam Parker, Pinto Colvig, Jack Mercer, and Tedd Pierce
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Music by Ralph Rainger and others; Lyrics by Leo Robin and others

Max and Dave Fleischer had wanted to make their own feature-length animated film as far back as 1934. Their home studio Paramount was restructuring after almost going into bankruptcy and just didn't have the money then. After the success of Snow White in 1938, they decided they wanted their own blockbuster animated film and pressed the Fleichers to rush this out for the 1939 holidays. On top of that, they were in the midst of moving their facilities to Miami, Florida, and they had to hire a ton more animators. Was all the fuss worth it? Let's join Gulliver as he survives a storm at sea and find out...

The Story: Gulliver (Parker) washes up in the middle of a war. King Little (Mercer) of Liliput and King Bombo (Pierce) of Blefescu argue over whether the songs "Faithful" or "Forever" should be played at the wedding of their children, Princess Glory and Prince David. Bombo is so offended by the idea of his national song not being played, he calls his country to arms over it. Jumpy night watchman Gabby (Colvig) finds Gulliver on the beach and immediately believes he's there to harm them. They take him to their capitol, where he finally reassures them that he's friendly after he helps them defeat the Blefescuians.

Bombo's not taking his loss lying down. He sends three spies to eliminate Gulliver, using his own pistol. Meanwhile, Gulliver has discovered Glory and David have continued to see each other. That gives him an idea of how to stop the war...if only those silly, stubborn kings would listen to him...

The Animation: A mixed bag. The backgrounds are lush and gorgeous, and the rotoscoping on Gulliver and the prince and princess moves well and looks quite realistic. Too realistic. The very real and romantic Gulliver, Glory, and David clash badly with the cartoonier designs of the other residents of Liliput and Blefescu. They look like they've come from a different movie entirely.

The Song and Dance: I give the Fleischers some credit for delivering even a half-way decent film on an 18-month schedule. There's some nice music here, along with a fine performance from Parker as Gulliver, who goes from amused by all these little folks to wondering why in the heck they're all fighting. Considering World War II was in the midst of starting as this movie debuted, it's also pretty interesting that there's a fairly strong anti-war message. Gulliver finally tells them in the end that war isn't the answer, though it takes a near-sacrifice to get them to listen.

Favorite Number: "Faithful Forever," the combined version of the songs that caused all the fuss, is a lovely ballad that was nominated for an Oscar. Gabby's song "All's Well" is catchy too, even if he's right that the lyrics can get a little too cutesy-cheery. An off-screen chorus joins a homesick Gulliver for his beautiful "I Have a Dream (Come Home Again)" as he longs to get back.

Trivia: Then-popular singers Jessica Dragonette and Lanny Ross were the singers for Princess Glory and Prince David.

The movie was nearly as big of a hit as Snow White, one of the top hits of 1939.

What I Don't Like: In addition to the animation complaints, there's the ridiculous plot. The idea of the two kings arguing over which song to perform at a wedding is so silly, even Gulliver calls them on it. I have no idea how Gabby and the spies got their own shorts series. Gabby and his high-pitched voice are annoying and useless, and the goofy spies are even more so.

The movie doesn't really let Gulliver do much traveling. It only uses the first part of the book Gulliver's Travels, and then it makes a ton of changes. For one thing, the rift between the two countries was originally over which side to crack an egg. For another, there was no prince and princess. Gulliver just wouldn't male Blefuscu a part of Lilliput.

The Big Finale: Might be fun for enthusiasts of 30's and 40's animation or the Fleischer brothers, or younger children who won't mind the goofy plot and characters.

Home Media: As a public domain film, it's quite easily found everywhere and in every format. The out-of-print Blu-Ray has a digitally restored print and extra Fleischers shorts.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime