Gulliver's Travels (1939 Animated Musical Fantasy film)

Gulliver's Travels is a 1939 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Max Fleischer and directed by Dave Fleischer for Fleischer Studios.

Released to cinemas in the United States on December 22, 1939, by Paramount Pictures, the story is a very loose adaptation of Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel of the same name, specifically only the first part of four, which tells the story of Lilliput and Blefuscu, and centers around an explorer who helps a small kingdom who declared war after an argument over a wedding song.

The film was Fleischer Studios' first feature-length animated film, as well as the second animated feature film produced by an American studio after Walt Disney Productions' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as Paramount had commissioned the feature in response to the success of that film.

The sequences for the film were directed by Seymour Kneitel, Willard Bowsky, Tom Palmer, Grim Natwick, William Henning, Roland Crandall, Thomas Johnson, Robert Leffingwell, Frank Kelling, Winfield Hoskins, and Orestes Calpini.

Plot
On November 5, 1699, Lemuel Gulliver washes onto the beach of Lilliput after his ship is wrecked in a storm. Town crier Gabby stumbles across an unconscious Gulliver during his rounds ("All's Well") and rushes back to Lilliput to warn everyone about the "giant on the beach". Meanwhile, King Little of Lilliput and King Bombo of Blefuscu are signing a wedding contract between their children, Princess Glory of Lilliput and Prince David of Blefuscu, respectively.

An argument erupts over which national anthem is to be played at the wedding; the anthem of Lilliput ("Faithful") or the anthem of Blefuscu ("Forever"). In fury, King Bombo cancels the wedding and declares war against Liliput. He seems to consider changing his mind, but then Gabby rushes in, and a guard pursuing Gabby accidentally grabs Bombo, who takes it as an insult and storms off.

Cast
Sam Parker as Gulliver
Max Smith as Gulliver (singing voice)
Pinto Colvig as Gabby, Snitch, Gulliver (water gurgling sounds)
Jack Mercer as Prince David, King Little, Twinkletoes, Snoop, Horses, Royal Chef
Lanny Ross as the singing voice of Prince David
Tedd Pierce as King Bombo, Sneak, Villagers
Lovey Warren as Princess Glory
Jessica Dragonette as the singing voice of Princess Glory
Joe Oriolo as Italian Barber
Margie Hines as Lilliputian Woman, Princess Glory (some crying and sobs)
Carl Meyer as Lilliputians

Music
No. Title Length
1. "All's Well"
2. "Faithful/Forever"
3. "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day"
4. "Bluebirds in the Moonlight (Silly Idea)"
5. "I Hear a Dream (Come Home Again)"
6. "We're All Together Now"
All of the songs were written by Leo Robin and composed by Ralph Rainger with the exception of "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day", which was written by Sammy Timberg, Al Neiburg and Winston Sharples.

The Gulliver's Travels score by Victor Young was nominated for a Best Original Score Academy Award while the song "Faithful/Forever" was nominated for Best Original Song, but both of them lost out to The Wizard of Oz with the film winning the latter category for the song "Over the Rainbow". "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day" and "All's Well" later became standard themes used for Fleischer and Famous Studios cartoon scores, while "I Hear a Dream" was quite popular as well.

Directed by Dave Fleischer
Animation directors
Seymour Kneitel
Willard Bowsky
Tom Palmer
Grim Natwick
William Henning
Roland Crandall
Thomas Johnson
Robert Leffingwell
Frank Kelling
Winfield Hoskins
Orestes Calpini
Written by Dan Gordon
Cal Howard
Tedd Pierce
Edmond Seward
Isadore Sparber

Based on
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Produced by Max Fleischer

Starring Pinto Colvig
Jack Mercer
Sam Parker
Jessica Dragonette
Lanny Ross
Tedd Pierce

Cinematography Charles Schettler

Music by Victor Young
Leo Robin (songs)
Ralph Rainger (songs)
Al Neiburg (songs)
Winston Sharples (songs)
Sammy Timberg (songs)

Production companies
Paramount Pictures
Fleischer Studios
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
December 22, 1939
Running time 76 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $700,000[1]
Box office $3.27 million