Swiss Family Robinson

One of fourteen films from 1940 nominated for a best special effects Academy Award, Swiss Family Robinson captures the great moment from the Wyss novel were the family escapes a crippled ship, rowing a makeshift raft to a nearby island, while cows, pigs and other livestock swim along side them.

For its time, this is a successful mix of multiple effects techniques: a miniature raft (with stick-figure people) in a studio tank ocean; in the background a miniature ship lodged against rocks; puppet animals bobbing in the water, heading to a matte painting tropical island. The rear-screen work and cross-cutting to a live-action section of ship make for an exciting scene.

Later in the film, as huge trees topple in a thunderstorm, one recalls how effective these b&w FX scenes can be - - even though to modern eyes the illusions are obvious.

The film has heart and captures the spirit of the book but cannot compare with the entertainment and fun of Disney's version of 1960. The sparse thrills include Kilburn's ride on an ostrich and his encounter with cave spiders.

Thomas Mitchell as the father acts with conviction, and the brothers are well-cast.

For years, this film was as lost as the Robinsons...kudos to Disney Plus for allowing a modern generation to discover its charms.

I had never before seen any version of this film, nor have I read the book.

My mother tells me that she first saw this film when she was 10 (1946) and simply loved it. She hadn't seen it since.

In the 70's she wondered what had become of this film and wrote to Frazier Thomas, host of "Family Classics", in Chicago.

His response stated that Walt Disney purchased this film when his 1960 version came out and locked it away never to be seen again.

She recently mentioned it again so I looked it up, and to my surprise, found it.

Swiss family Robinson is a good 1940 children's film. But that is all!

Thomas Mitchells acting is as good as always, and the boys did a good job acting like wealthy brats reformed by their ordeal.

Did anybody notice that the youngest boy, Francis Robinson, played by Baby Bobbie Quillan, was a girl? I didn't.

I think Edna Best could have done better as Elizabeth Robinson. Her acting was stiff and boring, though it may not have been entirely her fault, this is a 1940 film set in 1820.

The story is ridiculous, most children's stories are, and there's too much religion for me, but I can look past these points.

The special effects are dated but are reasonable for their day.

This film is obviously a low budget production. It needs a good disaster scene when the captain and crew are washed overboard and more adventure on the island.

If you are into nostalgia take a look.

The 1940 version of "Swiss Family Robinson" is very much like the original British version of "Gaslight". A major studio (in this case, Disney) bought up all the known prints of a film in order to prevent folks from comparing the newer version to the original. So, although the 1940 is NOT a Disney production, it is included (along with the 1960 Disney version) on the new Disney+ service.

When the story begins, you learn that William Robinson (Thomas Mitchell) is planning on uprooting his family from England and taking them to Australia. You soon see why....this Swiss family has a few budding young jerks in it. One of the Robinson sons is a 'sophisticated', useless twit who has ambitions to be a richer useless twit and another who loves war and longs to be a soldier. Lacking decent values, William is intent on making his children decent and industrious and wants to get them out of Europe during the Napoleonic era. Not surprisingly, the family hates this but it is 1813....and what dad says goes. Now it is VERY easy to hate two of the Robinson sons and sympathize with William...they truly were worthless individuals and in his place, I would have considered euthanasia...not just uprooting the family to Australia! But unfortunately for William, neither occurs...they get shipwrecked along the way and must fend for themselves on a deserted island. Will it bring the family closer or forever tear them apart?

A weak point of this film is that Mrs. Robinson whined and complained much more in the 1940 version...to the point where it was very tough to like or sympathize with her character. Additionally, much of the story is missing from the movie and it really seems abbreviated. And, the story itself looks like it took place over a few months at most--but the book had them there for over a decade. Compared to the 1960 Disney version, there is less action and excitement...and no pirates. On balance, the film is good and worth seeing...and quite different from the later film. My recommendation is to see them both, as they really are much like separate stories.

By the way, at one point in the film, young Ernest Robinson is bitten by a tarantula and soon passes out...and nearly dies. Well, this is silly as tarantula bits are hardly venomous at all and are much like a bee sting in severity. There has never, in fact, been a recorded death attributed to this arachnid's bite. Additionally, cutting ANY bite to 'suck out the poison' is ridiculous and pointless. So, this clearly is a case where you can say "Kids....don't try this at home".

Saw this "Thomas Mitchell" Swiss FR years, decades ago broadcasted on TV. In fact during the 50's and 60's this wonderful movie would be shown often. It was just a great kids adventure movie, and is simply the best of them all. Would be great to see it now, but...

Just watched this film on Disney +. Wanted to find out more about it so I looked in IMDB and read reviews. Many really liked the film and complained that it wasn't readily available and what you could get were very poor quality. The quality on Disney + is very good and we really enjoyed the film although I still prefer the Disney version. I believe Disney + still has a 7 day free trial so if you just wanted to watch this movie you could do the free trial and cancel.