Customer Reviews

Max Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

In 1939 when this movie was released, it faced stiff competition at the Academy Awards from 'Gone with the Wind' and 'The Wizard of Oz.' Nominated for an Academy Award in 1939, it didn't win. But those who love this film will always believe that is should have. By 1939, the Fleischer Studios had been crafting the finest animation around -- they actually produced the first full length animated movie (though Disney gets the credit). This is the very best that the Fleischer Studios ever produced. Its characters are every bit as rich and deep as the very best Disney, Bluth or Spielberg-Katzenberg efforts. (Anyone who hears the classic line: "There's a giant on the beach!" -- will never forget it!) For years, I have wanted to get my hands on this and remaster this movie digitally. (I do effects and compositing for a living.) It's wonderful to see that someone who loves this movie has given it the care and respect it deserves. Max Fleischer was a sheer genius, whose work includes the original Betty Boop, Popeye, the animated Superman -- and his own contributions to film include techniques of effects production that are still used today. He was a master of his craft who, sadly, has little recognition outside artists and animators. I have bought many copies of this over the years -- usually in versions so poorly recorded and transfered that they are pitiful indicators of the Fleischer talent -- and yet, everyone I've given it to, loves the movie. My personal gratitude to Winfield Hoskins, Seymour Kneitel and Thomas Reich for your tender care in restoring such a wonderful movie. Thank you. It is truly long overdue and it is a case of giving honor to whom honor is due. This belongs right alongside the best Disney, tucked right on the shelf alongside Bluth's best -- and when the young and the young at heart ask "What is this?" -- play it. My grand daugther plays it regularly and never tires of it and always quites "There's a giant on the beach" -- and she laughs. This movie is simply pure magic -- breathtaking! Many of you will watch it and will suddenly remember seeing this long ago and your eyes will light up, just as many who I have bought it for, have said to me: "I saw this years ago and have never known what it was. I love this!" And they always smile. And I always buy more copies. The soul of a true artist lives in this movie. And this is the best edition of it that you will find. Buy it...

First let me say that I am not a big fan of Winstar products, but they have done the restoration job on this title that they promised. The 60th Anniversary Edition image is so sharp and pure that I got rid of my Republic Laserdisc that came from their studio masters. As typical with Winstar, they created a new stereo soundtrack, but THEY HAVE INCLUDED THE ORIGINAL MONO TRACK! I would suggest selecting the original mono track, their stereo track is distracting.
This Winstar DVD IS the ULTIMATE RESTORATION of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS on DVD!!!

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.

A genuine pity that this delightful animated version of Jonathan Swift's classic has been so abused in this purported "restoration." Aside from the excessive clean-up which wipes away the details along with the scratches and leaves a very flat look (albeit with bright colors), the movie has been cropped and geometrically distorted to an aspect ratio of approximately 1.66x1. Virtually all Hollywood films made prior to 1953 were shot and composed for the much more square 1.37x1 screen (just about identical to the older 4x3 TV sets). For years movie fans have badgered TV stations and video companies to letterbox post-1953 widescreen films so as to avoid cropping important information out of the image. Now that we have widescreen TVs the opposite problem exists and it's the movies made prior to 1953 that will suffer as the tops and bottoms of the image will be removed (or the image geometrically "squished"). If you care about movies please don't support this practice, and avoid this product.

Here's a wonderful offering from the Fleischer Studio, creators of Betty Boop and Koko the Clown, and producers of the original Popeye and Superman cartoons. The Fleischer brothers, Max and Dave, also put out the first sound cartoon, an animated sing-along with their trademark bouncing ball that highlighted the lyrics to the audience. They also experimented with some truly effective special affects such as combining live action and animation, and the Three-Dimensional Setback which was a tiny stage with animation cels hung in front to create a convincing illusion of dimension. One of their inventions, the Rotoscope, is still in use today.

The Fleischer Studio was active between 1919 and 1942, after which they folded due to increased competition from Disney. By then features were the norm, and to meet this demand the Fleischers made two, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (1939) and the rarely seen HOPPITY GOES TO TOWN (1941), originally known as MR. BUG GOES TO TOWN. They were unable to make back the money put into these, so Paramount foreclosed their loan, took over the studio, and fired the Fleischers. Later on the brothers recouped as Famous Studios but never quite regained the sparkle and innovation of their earlier days.

Timing wasn't on their side. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS was made after another great animated film hit the theaters, the one with the seven short guys and a wicked witch and a girl who wanders the forest. SNOW WHITE of course has become a legend of animation; in comparison GULLIVER'S TRAVELS fairly languishes and too bad. Here's a noteworthy production that deserves its due.

There's a noticeable distinction between the animation styles of Disney and Fleischer. The Fleischer style appears more arty, with stylized figures and backgrounds and lighting affects which I can only describe as "Max Parrishesque." Gorgeous clouds and seas, and a rather glowing affect infused throughout. The night scenes with Gabby and his lantern are especially effective, and the shadowing is superb. Compared to SNOW WHITE, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS moves at a rather leisurely pace and the story is more expansive. There's plenty to grow on you, too. From the catchy tunes and the cute characters, to a towering, striking Gulliver with the brooding, thoughtful soul of a poet combined with the spunk and spirit of a true adventurer.

I've read that other versions of this dvd have omitted scenes for some weird reason. One scene in particular that was left out of the other version was the "All's well" song sung by gabby.

This version has it all, the picture quality is absolutely stunning. I own a VHS copy of this movie and i can't believe how beautiful this version looks. I'm seeing things on film i've never seen before. Another great feature of this dvd is the sound format. They offer several different sound formats, you can watch the movie with enhanced sound features, or just watch it with the original soundtrack, there are others i just can't remember.

Yes it has no subtitles, but i think you can live without subtitles. I'd rather have a complete movie without subtitles, than a movie that's been shortened with subtitles.

They also have some cool bonus features such as two Gabby episodes, showing you the cleaning up process of old fleischer films, and also how the old school fleischer films were made.

All in all for roughly 10 bucks, you're getting a great deal.

Fleischer's 1939 animated feature "Gulliver's Travels" delivers! My kids request it all the time, and I cannot help being drawn into it every time its playing. Comparisons with Disney being inevitable, I believe that this is a case were the underdog matches the abilities of its powerful rival. The opening song "All's Well" is as catchy as any musical tune - including Snow White's "Hi Ho". The attention to 3-D effect and other visual detail is mind-boggling. The moral message of toleration and compromise is very well developed, and, in view of its sophisticated source in Jonathan Swift, the point is anything but trivial. Parents on the lookout for a great lesser-known animated film for their children should be delighted with this - as with Fleischer's other animated feature "Hoppity Goes to Town". This DVD edition restores the work to pristine condition. It comes with extra Gabby shorts, which draw on the same settings and characters; this was a nice surprise. The other bonus features were also enjoyable.

This is the first and finest top to bottom restoration of this classic animated movie from Fleischer Studios ever done. The Pro Logic Surround Sound jumps out at you, all new sound effects done from classic sound effect archives, bright magnificent colour, and the animation which inspired Disney, many of the animaters who worked on this project formed the backbone of Disney's animation personel. Another superb product from Audiogalaxy and Winstar. I can't wait for the DVD version to be released, with over 150 pages of Rom text and exclusive photo's.

This is just a head's up to the people who haven't converted to Blu-Ray just yet, and were considering giving this DVD a purchase. The 5-star reviews for this product are all fake.

Koch completely butchered this classic animated feature. The most notable alteration to the film was stretching the picture from its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio into a 1.77:1 aspect ratio so it will fill up the entire screen on an HDTV. As a result, Gulliver and all the characters look fatter than they actually are. Aside from altering the picture, sound effects have been added to the soundtrack that weren't originally there. Lastly, the two Gabby cartoons in the bonus features section are not outtakes from the movie. A series of Gabby theatrical shorts were actually made to build on the success of this feature film.

Walt Disney said of this film, the first non Disney animated feature to hit theaters just 2 years after Snow White (the first animated feature), "We could have done better than that with our second unit of animators". Well, that may or may not be true, depending on how one looks at the film. True, the animation overall, but particularly of the incidental and secondary characters, is a bit on the crude side. Also, the character designs, as a whole, seem a bit more dated than the earlier "Snow White". Still, one of the things I have always loved about the Fleischer Studio is that they were the one studio that never tried to be Disney. MGM, Universal and even early Warner Brothers tried to emulated the lush quality of Disney cartoons and, for the most part, always fell short because by the time they got to where Disney was, Disney was already far ahead of them. But the Fleischer cartoons were always different. They developed a kooky but brazen quality all their own. There is no mistaking a Fleischer cartoon from the 1930s to around 1942. They have a unique, eccentric look and way of movement that no other studio had. A quirky, imaginative, jaunty quality that was bold, innovative, and unashamed. Once the studio was taken away from the Fleischers and changed over to "Famous Studios" all that changed and the studio output became more mainstream. But, during the great Popeye, Betty Boop and Superman era, the Fleischer cartoons remained origina and uniquel. And even with the rather "rubbery" Prince and Princess and the somewhat stiff Rotoscoped looking Gulliver, this feature embodies all the wonderful Fleischer qualities of their shorts, pushed up a notch for a feature and embellished with lavish backgrounds and dimensional sets or "setbacks", great songs and a wonderful rich score by Victor Young. Don't miss Gulliver and, if you like that, check out "Hoppity Goes to Town", (the second and final Fleischer feature). It is also very enjoyable.