The Adventures of Gulliver

The Adventures of Gulliver is a 1968 American action/adventure/comedy/fantasy, animated, television series based on the novel, Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. This version of the story was produced by Hanna-Barbera. After the series had its run, repeats aired as part of The Banana Splits and Friends Show, which was a syndicated version of The Banana Splits Adventure Hour in 1971.

Plot
Gary Gulliver, his father, and dog, Tagg, are at sea on a voyage for a treasure hunt when they get caught up in a storm, which causes a shipwreck. Later, Gary and Tagg are on the island, lying unconscious, but Gary's father isn't there with them. The island is called Lilliput, which is the home of tiny people. Thinking that they might be foes, several Lilliputians have Gary and Tagg restrained, but after clearing up the misunderstanding, they become good friends, especially with four of the Lilliputians named Bunko, Eager, Flirtacia, and Glum. Gary then sets out on a goal to find his father, who is unaccounted for and continue his search for treasure, and guards a treasure map, which Gary's father had hidden within Tagg's dog collar. The antagonist, Captain Leech, is constantly pursuing Gary for the treasure map so he can use it for his own search for the treasure and snag it for himself.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) This is one of several Hanna-Barbera productions that is based on literature. Unlike most other like-minded productions at that time, this wasn't limited to be just a special nor a mini-series. This and the other literature-based H-B productions would pave the way for a few of the literary specials by the same company that were apart of the anthology series, the ABC Weekend Specials and CBS Storybreak.
 * 2) Depending on one's view, if not focusing on the novel and comparing, and contrasting that with this, it stands on its own as a decent take on the story in its own right.
 * 3) The art is up to high standards as usual, the animation (the scrolling, repeated backgrounds aside) is decent enough with few animation goofs, proving that there were parts of higher quality television animation before the mid 1980s.
 * 4) The storylines of the episodes are well-written in this rendition's own right.
 * 5) All of the characters are great.
 * 6) The character designs aren't too hard to look at as usual.
 * 7) The theme song is okay and the way the compositions or scores are placed is proper.
 * 8) Sometimes there are lessons provided and they're taught well.
 * 9) Some funny moments that are worthy of laughter.
 * 10) Gary's dueling scenes with Capt. Leech provide plenty of action, among other things action-related.
 * 11) Many of the voices sound pleasant.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The series was dropped too soon before reaching the proper conclusion as it didn't get far enough to reveal how Gary would find his father.
 * 2) Some may prefer the novel to this.
 * 3) Although this Gulliver's design is nice, he looks too much like Samson from Young Samson and Goliath.

Trivia

 * Hanna-Barbera would later make a second adaptation of Gulliver's Travels, which was featured as part of Famous Classic Tales.
 * This is one of a very few T.V. series by the studio that is based on literature. The others include Sinbad Jr. and His Magic Belt and The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, although the latter featured both animation and live-action. Again, this is among the few H-B animated television series based on a literary work.

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