Gulliver's Travels (1977 film)
Gulliver's Travels is a 1977 British-Belgian film based on the 1726 novel of the same name by Jonathan Swift. It mixed live action and animation, and starred Richard Harris in the title role.
| Gulliver's Travels | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Peter R. Hunt |
| Written by | Don Black (lyrics, screenplay) |
| Based on | |
| Produced by | Derek Horne (producer) Raymond Leblanc (producer) Josef Shaftel (executive producer) |
| Starring | Richard Harris Catherine Schell Norman Shelley Meredith Edwards |
| Cinematography | Alan Hume |
| Edited by | Ron Pope |
| Music by | Michel Legrand |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Arrow Films Sunn Classic Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes[1] |
| Countries | United Kingdom Belgium |
| Language | English |
Plot
The opening sequence in live action shows Gulliver announcing his intention to go to sea as a ship's surgeon, followed by scenes of a shipwreck. The remainder of the film has Harris on Lilliput and Blefuscu, with the tiny inhabitants created by animation.
The film ends with a cliffhanger: Having escaped by boat from Lilliput, Gulliver encounters one of the giant inhabitants of Brobdingnag, but there is nothing more about his adventures there or in the other lands mentioned in the novel.
Cast
- Richard Harris as Gulliver
- Catherine Schell as Mary
- Norman Shelley as Father
- Meredith Edwards as Uncle
Voice cast
- Michael Bates
- Denise Bryer
- Julian Glover
- Stephen Jack
- Bessie Love
- Murray Melvin
- Nancy Nevinson
- David Prowse (uncredited)
- Robert Rietti
- Norman Shelley
- Vladek Sheybal
- Roger Snowden
- Bernard Spear
- Graham Stark
Production
The film was not consistently funded during its production, which was noted by some reviewers who consider this production to be "low-budget".[2]
Animation sequences were produced by Belvision
Reception
In comparison to other adaptations of the source material, this film is not well-received.[2][3][4] In the words of one reviewer, "the film falls flat."[1]
References
- Maltin, Leonard, ed. (1983). TV Movies. p. 313. OCLC 1036903970.
- VideoHound's Family Video Retriever. 1995. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-8103-7866-7.
- Martin, Mick; Porter, Marsha (1996). Video Movie Guide 1997. p. 446. ISBN 978-0-345-40643-9.
- Case, Christopher (1996). The Ultimate Movie Thesaurus. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-8050-3496-7.