Gulliver's Travels

This part-animated version of Jonathan Swift's novel predictably concentrates only on the early section in Lilliput and inevitably blunts the satirical intention of the original.

One of a seventies slew of underwhelming vehicles for Richard Harris. In addition to being rather light on the charm, Harris certainly brings little subtlety to the part. But the supporting cast contains a number of surprises.

This is the famous tale of a man called Gulliver who is shipwrecked on an island inhabited by tiny people from a land called Lilliput. Before long he finds himself caught between two warring kingdoms.

This version of Gulliver's Travels has to count as being something of a curious obscurity. It was obviously a film that came and went quite quickly at the time and has consequently become largely forgotten. It stars Richard Harris pretty much on his own, owing to the fact that this is one of the earliest films to attempt a live-action/animation hybrid, with Harris playing the part of Gulliver and all the Lilliputians being cartoon characters. I think for this reason it remains quite interesting. The animation is pretty basic, although quite a lot of 70's cartoons were generally, so it isn't alone in this. But it's pleasingly unusual to see Harris interacting with these animated characters and towering over the models of the little city. It's certainly a film aimed squarely at kids though, with the people of Lilliput coming across like creations from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon. There were also a few songs as well, which only added further to the genre mash-up that this movie constitutes. It's a pretty ropey effort to be absolutely honest but it also has a charm and earnest endeavour about it which ensured that it was quite an enjoyable watch.

I have to disagree with the only comment listed. This movie is not the best adaptation of the novel by any means though it is significant in that it was one of the early movies to use animation to the effect seen in this move; that is, mixing real life actors with animated characters. It pulls this off spectacularly. The problem is more to do with the dialogue and pace which is, at times, tiring. I watched this as a child and always had a soft spot for it, as I now know other children to have the same. This isn't a horrible movie, it should certainly not be overlooked in my opinion. It certainly should be bought at a car-boot sale though!

This was painful! Recently given away as a free DVD with a British newspaper, this British-Belgian co-production from 1977 (could've fooled me, it looks ten years older than that at least) is quite deservedly obscure and if you make it past the half-hour mark, consider yourself a trouper. The combining of animation and live action is ropey at best and downright dreadful at worst, which makes you wonder why it was decided to even attempt making the film in this manner when clearly the technology wasn't really there. Harris is no more than a human prop and the animation is some of the most flat and lifeless I've seen, with the obligatory 'trippy' moments (especially where the animation of the brainiac-type Subtracto character is involved) that rendered countless cartoon features from the late sixties onward instantly dated. The screenplay by Don Black provides a convincing argument for the usually resilient lyricist to stick to what he does best, and the pace is so slow that even the very young will be bored. As for adults, stick to Jonathan Swift's original novel.

I don't know why and what everyone is complaining about in here.. Personally as a child i loved it so much i still remember some of it and want to watch again now as an adult but of course adults would have another point of view now for a 1977 children's movie.