Fleischer Classics Featuring Gulliver's Travels Plus Eight Fantastic Cartoons From the Golden Age of Animation Blu-ray / DVD Combo [Blu-ray]

I caught this wonderful old film countless times on a local UHF station as a young boy and had forgotten how much I loved it. I was soooo happy to discover that it had received a legitimate home video release, PLUS it has been remastered AND it'd in High-Def Blu-ray to boot! Remarkable!!! I hadn't seen the film in probably 20 years, but memories of the scenes and catchy music all came rushing back. It was like revisiting an old childhood friend. Gulliver himself is a wonder to behold and the Lilliputians are a fun and lovable bunch. Sadly, many (most?) younger folks seem to have never even heard of this film! It truly deserves better recognition. While the animation is occasionally rough in a few spots, for the most part it is breathtakingly beautiful. Tracing painted cells over live-action footage like Disney did for many of their classic animated films gives "Gulliver" that same unique and beautiful look as many of Walt's best works. The Fleischer Studios could have been a legitimate contender for Disney's crown if only they hadn't gotten too big for their boots. They simply tried too much too soon, before establishing any sort of box office track record. They did more, so much more than this one film, to be sure, but their failure to be the "other" Disney/mainstream animated movie studio, (much the same as the decades later ill-fated Don Bluth Studios), cemented Fleischer's legacy in mainstream minds as the guys who made the 17 Superman animated short films and the B&W Popeye cartoons, and that's a damn shame. Luckily, Thunderbean has included 8 other shorts (including one of their excellent Popeye cartoons) on this disc, which is a nice touch. It will give those unfamiliar with Fleischer Studios excellent examples of just how talented they were and hopefully help underscore the loss that came when they finally closed their doors. The only real downside of "Gulliver's Travels" (which I honestly never noticed until watching it again, as an adult), is how underdeveloped the characters are. There is essentially ZERO background story, character growth or arcs for any of the characters. Gulliver gets one scene where he sits by the seashore and dreams of someday returning home. That's pretty much it. Folks are introduced, the plot rushes along and before you know it, it's over. I never realized as a youngster how one-dimensional the characters were. I have the Kerwin Matthews "3 Worlds of Gulliver" film which is just OK, as well as the excellent 1995 "Gulliver's Travels" TV movie adaption. Oh my. If only the Fleischer Brothers had tackled the entire Gulliver novel the way that the Ted Danson mini-series did. What an amazing film THAT would have made. It would have trumped Disney for sure. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. I am not thrashing Gulliver's Travels. Honest! This film still retains the power to enchant, especially the young (and young at heart). It's an important piece of animation history and a wonderful little film in it's own right. Just don't go in with any preconceived notions if you've never seen it before. The animation IS gorgeous, even more so now thanks to Thunderbean's careful restorative work. Kudos to Steve Stanchfield and his dedicated crew for undertaking such a project. Thunderbean Animation is a small outfit, so it was truly a labor of love. The Blu-ray's liner notes really help fill out the history of the studio and the nuts & bolts behind the feature film. The Blu-ray IS a tad on the pricey side, but the superior quality of this restored edition blows away EVERY other version of this film you're likely to see offered in those $1 DVD bargain bins. Those cheap, washed out, copy of a copy of a copy discs are a travesty! If you love classic animation, THIS is the edition of "Gulliver's Travels" that belongs on your shelf!!! 4 stars for the feature film (with it's beautifully restored picture & soundtrack) plus another star for including 8 more animated Fleischer Studio shorts as a bonus.

The Max Fleischer 1939 animated feature, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, has been denied proper appraisal for decades. This was largely because it fell into public domain and prints of inferior quality flooded the home video market. Happily, this is no longer the case with this gorgeously restored Blu-ray/DVD Combo Edition from Thunderbean Animation. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS was the second full-color animated feature - Walt Disney's 1937 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS was the first - and it became one of the top ten most successful films of 1940. Utilizing the rotoscoping process, the animation of Gulliver is smooth and delicately nuanced, and its realism blends well with the more whimsical gesturing of the Lilliputians. The marvelous lighting effects add mood to the scenes, especially when Gulliver is discovered washed ashore. The scene of the tiny townfolk banding together to harness the unconscious giant is a tour de force of organic drawing and technical expertise seldom matched in animated films. Directed by Dave Fleischer, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS is a wonderfully engaging adaptation of the famous Jonathan Swift satirical tale, and features a beautiful music score by Victor Young with songs by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin. The sources used for this new transfer included the finest 35mm and 16mm elements, resulting in the best possible version we can ever expect to see. The original mono audio track contains some glitches which betray its age, however it's nothing that detracts from enjoying the film. Along with GULLIVER, this edition contains eight vintage Fleischer cartoons and a generous amount of bonus material including the complete Decca record album, a pencil test, original production art, publicity material, and the original trailer, just to list a few. Thunderbean is to be applauded for finally making this timeless classic available in such beautiful condition, and I give it my highest recommendation.

If you have ANY interest in animation whatsoever and you have a big screen tv with a blu ray player, YOU NEED THIS! I made the big mistake of thinking that ALL of the dvds and Blu Rays out there are just going to be the same ole blurry/mushy public domain stock like all the others. Well, PLEASE do not make that mistake. There is this wonderful man named Steve Stanchfield that owns this company and has been restoring the best animation besides WB Golden Collection. We are talking out of his OWN POCKET! Yes, he has been collecting and trading and searching the world over for prints, negs, 16, 35 and everything else in order to scan these Van Beruen, Fleischer, Bray, you name it, in HD! Sometimes off of the original NEG! Then he removes damage, color corrects, grades, fixes sound issues, and puts cartoons that are WAY MORE important than whats seen on adult swim theses days into High Definition! Let me tell you something, when you turn off the lights, sit back, and GT BLASTS OFF THE SCREEN it will make you cry. Yes, the work Steve has put into this and other releases is truly an outstanding achievement in archival restoration. The Painless Window Washer and some of the other cartoon treats also kick major ass in HD. You still get that beautiful film grain, NO Digital Noise Removal here to ruin the color definition! Get this, NOW! If saving the great animation of the early 1900s is important to you and your friends, please help Steve do this by purchasing his wonderful products.

Thunderbean, the reigning king of classic cartoons on home video, has done of their best releases yet with Max Fleischer's feature length classic. If you're thinking the previous releases, even the nice Winstar DVD release from years ago, is enough, think again. The film hasn't looked this good since it premiered in 1939; it really changed my appreciation for the film. Besides the main attraction, there's lots of extras, including eight classic Fleischer cartoons! There's some great ones (Modeling, In My Merry Oldsmobile, Paneless Window Washer, Is My Palm Red) and some not so great ones, but they all look way better than any previous release--once you see these films in glorious 1080p HD, you'll want to set your bargain bin tapes and DVDs on fire! In My Merry Oldsmobile in particular is my favorite; a classic Fleischer Screen Song, once only available in mediocre, grainy copies, now looks like it was made yesterday! Paneless Window Washer, while a little worn looking compared to the restored print on the official Popeye DVDs, boasts such pristine detail in 1080p HD, that it can easily hold it's own against that release. The already stunning backgrounds look even better than ever! Even the weaker cartoons like Little Dutch Mill are jaw drooping to look at, especially for the 3D stereoptical sets! Overall; highly recommended. Hooray for Thunderbean!

Wow! What an amazing accomplishment from the true master of animation, Max Fleischer! This edition is beautifully restored and digitally remastered, and that's no joke! I have NEVER seen this movie look so gorgeous! There was a brief time that Fleischer eclipsed Disney, and this movie is proof of that! Fleischer was a true pioneer in the field of animation. He created the process of Rotoscoping for animation, and patented it in 1917 far before Disney was a household name. He is also credited for creating the first cartoon with sound; "My Old Kentucky Home", two years before Disney's "Steamboat Willie". Had Paramount not screwed Max over, I'm sure he would have reigned in popularity over his competition at the time... Walt Disney, but it was not to be. In my eyes, Max Fleischer was the "Nicola Tesla" of animation, and Disney...the deceitful and arrogant, Thomas Edison. Do yourself a favor and buy this THUNDERBEAN Edition of "Gulliver's Travels"and enjoy this glorious classic as you never have before! 1939 never looked so AWESOME! Most highly recommended! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All the reviews for this DVD are saying that this is the best DVD of the movie to buy. The reviews also praise Thunderbean. Well listen to them. Steve Stanchfield, the head of Thunderbean, cares a lot about forgotten films that no other studio would bother to restore. Don’t expect mediocre to poor picture quality. Expect a terrific restoration job with clear picture quality and vivid colors. We seriously need more people like Steve Stanchfield, and other studios need to start restoring and releasing what classic cartoons they have, because there are a ton of amazing films that most people haven’t seen!

This classic animated film from the same era as Disney's "Pinnoccio" has never looked better. There is a previous bluray release, but it actually looks pretty darned awful! That version appears to have been made from the same laserdisc master (not a great looking laserdisc either) which was re-purposed to create their sub-standard looking DVD. That they then used the same inferior master to create a bluray is criminal. "Thunderbean" did a far superior job! This new "Thunderbean" issue is not on a level with some of Disney's amazing looking, painstakingly remastered classics which the studio has issued on bluray, but you will never see a better version of this Fleischer Studios classic animated film. "Thunderbean" should be applauded for issuing classic animation which has been overlooked by others, and, even though they couldn't afford the kind of painstaking frame-by-frame digital restoration that Disney performs on their films for bluray release, for finding the best prints they could to produce their version. Fleischer Studios was the only REAL competition for Disney Studios in the full-length animated film category, and in the short animation field had sizable hits of their own such as Popeye, Betty Boop and their amazing Superman cartoons (one of which, "The Mechanical Monsters" was borrowed heavily from for the film "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"). It's too bad that subsequent financial downturns brought this studio down and left the full-length animated film market almost entirely to only Disney Studios. With their edgier sense of humor (listen to the remarks Popeye mutters under his breath in the early black and white Popeye cartoons) Fleischer Studios could have made some wonderful films over the years--if only they had survived. Alas. If you are a fan of this picture, this version issued by "Thunderbean" is the one--and the ONLY one--to get! Avoid all other bluray versions at all cost (unless you want to see what a bluray with video quality no better than a VHS tape looks like!).

This is a presentation of the best archival footage of this classic film available. While the image still has some visual "noise" as in visible lines and speckles; the overall presentation is a clear and colorful high definition package that is sure to please animation buffs and film musical fanatics. This movie has been in the public domain for years and has regrettably been marketed (as all Fleischer cartoons have been) with little concern for quality. The cheap marketing ploy of so many companies trying to make a fast buck on all the Fleischer animated classics is regrettable, annoying and disgraceful. This package is, however, a clear representation of a company that loves it's own product. Thunderbean has located and transferred the best possible print around and has given it the "Blue-Ray" treatment that it has sorely needed for years!!! Not only has Thunderbean given this classic lots of loving attention, but it has also provided extras that are amazing. The audio extra that lets us hear the original Victor Young Orchestra recordings of the score is a jewel in itself. This Original 78 rpm album has never been in print and lets us hear what an album to film music sounded like before soundtracks were common place. Disney was the only exception to this. I also enjoyed the variety of animated shorts available on this Blue-Ray. In short...if you like animation...if your a film buff...if you love musicals....BUY THIS!!!!

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