Gulliver's Travels (1996) (TV)

Director:

Charles Sturridge

Writers:

Simon Moore (screenplay)
Jonathan Swift (novel)

Release Date:

4 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Plot:

A Englishman returns after a long time abroad and tells his strange stories about the lands he visited which are allegories about the real world.

Plot Keywords:

Giant | Horse | Sergeant | Surrealism | Horse Actor

Awards:

Won 5 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Ted Danson	...	Lemuel Gulliver
Mary Steenburgen	...	Mary Gulliver
James Fox	...	Dr. Bates
Ned Beatty	...	Farmer Grultrud
Edward Fox	...	General Limtoc
Robert Hardy	...	Dr. Parnell
Nicholas Lyndhurst	...	Clustril
Phoebe Nicholls	...	Empress of Lilliput
Karyn Parsons	...	Lady-in-Waiting
Edward Petherbridge	...	Dr. Pritchard
John Standing	...	Admiral Bolgolam
John Wells	...	Flimnap the Treasurer
Alfre Woodard	...	Queen of Brobdingnag
Edward Woodward	...	Drunlo
Peter O'Toole	...	Emperor of Lilliput

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements.

Runtime:

186 min (2 parts)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Ontario) | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Bridport, Dorset, England, UK

Company:

Hallmark Entertainment

Trivia:

Lemuel and Mary Gulliver are played by real-life married couple Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. This film was the first starring project for either following their 1995 marriage.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr. Bates is tearing pages from Gulliver's journal and throwing them on the fire the pages change position between shots.

Quotes:

Empress of Lilliput: [while passing under Gulliver whose trousers are ragged] Colossus!

Movie Connections:

Version of Los viajes de Gulliver (1983)

A Work of Art

Swift's writing really has more in common with Kafka and Orwell than with fantasy-adventure writers, so it's curious that Gulliver's Travels has been deemed a children's novel. Lucky kiddies!

The same applies to this movie. There have been some really awful versions of this story, which must be why people are reluctant to look at this version. I mean, it's a TV-movie and it comes from muppetteer Jim Henson, so how should we expect anything but cuteness?

Look again - beauty turns up in the oddest places. Children love this movie enough to sit through all three hours of it, but it also takes the time to get Swift's dark vision right. I hate special effects, but here they are used to carry the story forward instead of just dazzling us. Please note that the producers took the trouble to recruit classical actors like John Gielgud and Peter O'Toole who perform their eccentric roles with perfection.

Dramatically, the romance between Gulliver and Glumdalclitch is rendered touching and poignant, as well as funny (she's a little girl, but twenty times his size). The frame-story has a theme about absent fathers that many children will relate to. And the part about Gulliver in the asylum introduces an element of horror dealing with the abuse of authority (apparently deriving from Val Lewton's "Bedlam" [1946], another forgotten masterpiece).

The VHS is always turning up in the bargain-bin for a few cents, which is an insult to the many great artists who put this thing together. I encourage audiences to recognize a good thing by getting this movie and inspiring others to watch it. Although it has a lot to offer children, grown-ups will find that it stands up nicely to such classics as Aguirre, Brazil, 1984 and other serious fantastic works.