Gulliver's Travels (1939) - Review and Analysis

For this blog entry I’d like to bring some much deserved attention to a film that, today at least, is forgotten by most people. Die-hard animation buffs know this one and some even prefer it to Disney’s later efforts from the 1970’s.

Gulliver’s Travels, while being a cartoon, for many years was the most popular, albeit a very loose, adaptation of Jonathon Swift’s story. Released in December of 1939, this was the Fleischer Studios’ first full-length feature. It was a response and reaction to the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and, as such, is the second feature length animation by an American studio. Paramount commissioned the feature after Disney’s success.

Like Disney’s debut feature, Gulliver’s Travels was a resounding success at the box office.The movie earned roughly $3 million in the United States during its original run, impressive because it was limited to just fifty theaters during the 1939 Christmas season. Unlike Snow White however, eleven people, all on staff at Fleischer Studios, ultimately directed this feature. As much as animation in films and television is a group effort, this one truly was.

The animation itself is trademark Fleischer. The characters have that early cartoon style and the movement is very reminiscent of their other work like the Popeye cartoons and Betty Boop. The story takes advantage of techniques and sight gags that were common in early cartoons. I remember as a young kid being fascinated by how lifelike Lemuel Gulliver seemed, and wondered why all of the Lilliputians and the Blefuscu army looked so cartoony. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of the realism of Gulliver’s world and the fantasy of the Lilliputian realm.

Most of the music and songs are typical of the era’s cartoons and nothing really special. There is a standout however. The song, "All’s Well", that gets sung at the beginning by Gabby, the Town Crier, is very catchy and memorable. The love theme, "Faithul/Forever", might also get stuck in your head if you’re not careful.

By today’s standards, the story can be a little slow in places but audiences in 1939 were enthralled and had little problem with the pacing. The battle scenes between Lilliput and Blefuscu are still very enjoyable, but it’s a film very much of its time. Again, while animation buffs appreciate it, it doesn’t hold up nearly as well as the early Disney features. It doesn’t have the realistic quality or pacing of Pinocchio for example. It’s also not as well known because new generations aren’t being introduced to it like they often are with every Disney picture. That being said, it’s an interesting piece of animation history. It’s worth a watch and, for animation buffs, should probably be owned on DVD.

The good news for those who have never seen this movie is that it has fallen into the public domain. It can be viewed online at just about every major video site. It can be downloaded legally as a digital copy here: https://archive.org/details/gullivers_travels1939