Gulliver's Travels Max Fleischer Animated Classic

There are probably at least 100 films with which every American should be familiar by the time they reach young adulthood. Several are children's films, both live and animated, including: The Wizard of Oz, Miracle on 34th Street, National Velvet, Snow White, Bambi, Mary Poppins. Gulliver's Travels is certainly among these. Produced in 1939 (the GREATEST year in movie history), Gulliver's Travels was only the second full-length animated feature film ever produced (less than 2 years behind Disney's Snow White). Yes, I know the story line bears no more resemblance to the Jonathan Swift classic than the Wizard of Oz does to the Frank Baum novelettes. So what? These are great flicks...for kids and any of us who was ever a kid. Apparently, the problem with Gulliver's Travels is that after the demise of the Fleisher Brothers Studio which produced it, the film fell into the public domain where any one could produce and market copies; some faithful to the original, some "restored" with varying results, some absolutely dreadful. So, which copy to add to our collection? I gambled on the 60th Anniversary Limited Edition (1999) by North Hampton Partners, Ltd. I am well pleased with my choice. To be sure, the video and especially the audio are far from perfect. But this DVD gives you 4 sound choices, and it is eminently watchable...preferably with small children to share it. Gulliver's Travels is one of my earliest movie memories. It's been at least 50 years since I saw this film in it's entirety, and seeing it again quickly took me back to my childhood. I was delighted by the nearly non-stop sight-gags among the minor characters, and moved by the plight of the separated lovers. I caught myself humming "All's Well" and "Faithful, Forever" throughout the rest of the day. And its lessons of KINDNESS, fidelity ("Faithful-Forever"), and avoiding pettiness are timeless. There may be better, cleaner video versions out there, but you will not go wrong by choosing this 60th Anniversary Limited Edition. Finally, kudos to the merchant, ThriftPro. The DVD arrived in only 3 days (?!), in new condition as promised, and for a very reasonable price.

I gave these five starts for the great memories it brought me! The film quality is poor - not the fault of the distributor. It's a super old film (1939). When I was little, this film used to play on one of the three local stations, every Thanksgiving morning. I think I will never forget the "All's Well" song! It is a joyful tune. You can find it on YouTube as sung by the character "Gabby". By the way, I bought a copy of this for my siblings as well. My 10-years-older sister did not remember the film but my middle sister did!

You may or may not care about the historical or technical aspects of this film (The 2nd full length animation, after Snow White. One of two feature films to come out of the famous Fleisher Studios. The delicate use of the rotoscoping, a process by which animation cells are created by tracing them from filmed footage or photographs. A great extra documentary featuring Max Fleisher, showing how cartoons are made.) If you are a cartoon buff, these things may appeal to you.You will probably enjoy the visual element of this film. (An entirely hand painted cartoon, like a living painting. Sensuous oceans that echo the block print style of the Japanese Ukiyo-E masters. Outstanding use of the masking effect.) If you enjoy animated art, these things should appeal to you.Or you might just want to run around your house screaming "Giant on the Beach!" and have some fun watching a great old cartoon that never really got its due. My 4 year old nephew seems to favor this approach, no matter how much I remind him of the film's aesthetic qualities and historical importance. Go figure. Anyway, this is a great DVD, and well worth the rather small price.

Very poor quality video

A classic feel-good movie

I saw this feature-length cartoon when was first released in the early 1940's and was enchanted by it. The art was superb and the music and voices equally so. Admittedly the cartoon features only one of Gulliver's adventures (based on the book by Jonathan Swift), but the treatment is engaging. Royalty doesn't act as shown in the cartoon, but after all, it IS an animated cartoon. Featured songs, "Faithful" and "Forever," both "national anthems" of the two countries about to be joined through the marriage (indeed the threatened war was engendered by argument over which "anthem" would be played at the wedding) of the prince of one country and the princess of the other. As most people know who have either read the book or seen the cartoon know, the solution, offered by Gulliver, was to combine the anthems into one beautiful song. The composer(s) did an excellent job with the music. I strongly recommend this for both children and adults.

If I could give this a big fat ZERO rating, I would. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!! This is nothing but a very, and I mean VERY BAD copy of a very bad copy of what is very wonderful telling of this story. I knew these bootlegged copies were out there so I tried to be careful and read the description to make sure this was for real. As they say, you can't believe everything you read. I know the price should have been a give-a-way but I had purchased some other movies for around the same price and they were actually released by the original studios. I figured the price just reflected the age of this movie. Needless to say, I have learned my lesson and hope to keep others from making my mistake. DO NOT BUY FROM THIS VENDOR!!! EVER!!!!!

Great copy of a film I grew up with.Watched it with my Dad *every* time it came on TVI think it was on Channel 9 (WOR) or Channel 11 (WPIX) in New York City area