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Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels
Released 1996/Broadcast on NBC, later released on video
Directed by Charles Sturridge
Starring Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, James Fox, Ned Beatty

Gullivers Travels is based on the 1726 novel by Jonathan Swift, which relates the adventures of Lemuel Gulliver in four strange lands: Lilliput, where everyone else is ankle-high to Gulliver; Brobdingnag, where Gulliver is ankle-high to everyone else; Laputa, where everyone else is regular size, but they live on a mechanical flying island and act peculiar; and the land of the Houyhnhnms, where everyone else is an intelligent and morally superior horse. The movie retains the broad outlines of the book, but changes most of the details. Purists will hate it; non-purists might have a good time. The movie was originally broadcast in two two-hour segments, with approximately one strange land per hour. The video version doesn't have the commercials, of course, but still runs better than three hours long.

Warwick makes sporadic appearances in the Brobdingnag section of the movie, and briefly demonstrates skills in juggling and stiltwalking. In the book, the Brobdingnagians gave Gulliver the name "Grildrig," which translates roughly as "miniature person". The character Warwick plays was never named in the book - he was simply called the queen's dwarf. NBC needed something better than that to call him, so they let Gulliver keep his own name and bestowed Grildrig on Warwick's character.

The author of the book did not intend for the reader to take everything Gulliver says at face value; you're supposed to look beyond Gulliver's prejudices. In the book, the Brobdingnagian now known as Grildrig was the bane of Gulliver's life. Gulliver doesn't like the tricks Grildrig plays on him, and describes him as a nasty character. But there's plenty of room to believe that Grildrig is thoughtlessly playful rather than mean. In the movie, Grildrig is just plain vicious, with no sense of humor to redeem him. To make sure the audience doesn't miss the point, Grildrig's costume includes an unnaturally orange wig that looks terrible and encourages everyone to despise him. Grildrig hates Gulliver for taking his cushy job as smallest man in Brobdingnag. He eventually tries to kill Gulliver, but fails because he doesn't just step on the little pest when no one is looking. Instead, he sets off a special-effects fight scene by turning a few hornets loose while Gulliver is trapped on top of a banquet table. Not the most sensible murder plan that's ever been devised.

The official website is here on the RHI Entertainment website (formerly Hallmark).