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| Released | February 4, 1996 (miniseries) |
| Duration | 120 min (miniseries) 187 min (full movie) |
| Director | Charles Sturridge |
| Written by | Simon Moore Jonathan Swift (novel) |
| Music | Trevor Jones |
| Studio | Hallmark Entertainment |
| Rated | PG |
Promotional poster
Gulliver's Travels was a two-part 1996 miniseries adaptation of the Jonathan Swift novel. A co-production between Channel 4 Television Corporation, Jim Henson Productions, and RHI Entertainment Inc., Gulliver's Travels starred Ted Danson as Gulliver and featured an international all-star cast. It aired on NBC over two consecutive nights, on February 4 and February 5.
The production had been in the works since 1989, shortly after the cancellation of The Jim Henson Hour, when it was intended as a four hour mini-series combining animatronics and live actors, initially scheduled for Easter 1990. Jim Henson was set to executive produce.[1] Producer Duncan Kenworthy recalled the situation:
The project remained on the schedule following Henson's death and the dissolution of the Disney deal, [3] but actual filming did not begin until 1995. As Kenworthy recalled, "I thought that after four years of trying to find the financing, it was never going to get made... I was so thrilled that the project finally got off the ground."[2] While the final production was co-produced by the Jim Henson Company, the involvement of Jim Henson's Creature Shop was limited to make-up effects for the Yahoos and the construction of a rod-puppet giant wasp.
Gulliver's Travels was hailed for its inclusion of all four "books" of Jonathan Swift's novel. The film added a new parallel frame story, however, in which Gulliver, returned to England, is placed in Bedlam by a designing doctor, and must prove his sanity. Other alterations include a more malevolent conceptualization of the governor of Glubbdubdrib (rechristened "The Sorceror") and a softened ending, regarding Gulliver's reunion with family. The production itself was a family affair; apart from Ted Danson's teaming with wife Mary Steenburgen, director Charles Sturridge's wife played Phoebe Nicholls played the Empress of Lilliput and their son Thomas Sturridge played Tom Gulliver while brothers James Fox and Edward Fox played Dr. Bates and General Limtoc respectively.
Additional Credits
- Executive Producers: Robert Halmi Sr. and Brian Henson
- Producer: Duncan Kenworthy
- Production Designer: Roger Hall
- Visual Effects Supervisor: Tim Webber
- Animatronic Wasp: Jim Henson's Creature Shop
- Project Supervisor: Neal Scanlan
- Visual Artist: Jeremy Hunt
- Animatronic Designer: Andy Roberts
Cast
- Ted Danson as Lemuel Gulliver
- Mary Steenburgen as Mary Gulliver
- James Fox as Dr. Bates
- Ned Beatty as Farmer Grultrud
- Geraldine Chaplin as Empress Munodi
- Graham Crowden as Professor of Politics
- Edward Fox as General Limtoc
- John Gielgud as Professor of Sunlight
- Robert Hardy as Dr. Parnell
- Isabelle Huppert as the voice of Mistress
- Shashi Kapoor as the Rajah
- Nicholas Lyndhurst as Clustril
- Phoebe Nicholls as Empress of Lilliput
- Karyn Parsons as Lady-in-Waiting
- Edward Petherbridge as Dr. Pritchard
- Kristin Scott Thomas as the Immortal Gatekeeper
- Omar Sharif as the Sorceror
- John Standing as Admiral Bolgolam
- John Wells as Flimnap the Treasurer
- Richard Wilson as the Professor of Languages
- Alfre Woodard as the Queen of Brobdingnag
- Edward Woodward as Drunlo
- Peter O'Toole as the Emperor of Lilliput
- Warwick Davis as Grildrig
- Kate Maberly as Glumdalclitch
- Thomas Sturridge as Tom Gulliver
- Annette Badland as Farmer Grultrud's Wife
- Navin Chowdhry as Prince Munodi
See also
Sources
- ↑ "Elsewhere in Television." Associate Press wire. July 29, 1989.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bacon, Matt. No Strings Attached. p. 151
- ↑ Kolson, Ann. Knight-Ridder new service. June 9, 1990.