''Gulliver's Travels'' is a 2010

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Rob Letterman in his live-action

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

, produced by John Davis and Gregory Goodman, written by Joe Stillman and

Nicholas Stoller Nicholas Stoller (born March 19, 1976) is a British-American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the comedy films ''Forgetting Sarah Marshall'' (2008), its spin-off/sequel ''Get Him to the Greek'' (2010), ''The Five-Year Engagement'' (2012) ...

with music by Henry Jackman. It is loosely based on Part One (and slightly on Part Two) of the 1726 novel of the same name by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

, though the film takes place in the modern day and contains references to modern pop culture. It stars

Jack Black Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include a Children's and Family Emmy ...

in the title role, Jason Segel,

Emily Blunt Emily Olivia Laura Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Emily Blunt, several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition t ...

, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Chris O'Dowd, T.J. Miller, James Corden and Catherine Tate, and is exclusively distributed by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. The film was theatrically released on December 25, 2010, in the United States. Even though the film was panned by critics and failed at the box office in North America, it earned $237.4 million worldwide on a $112 million budget. ''Gulliver's Travels'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on April 19, 2011, by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

. , March 14, 2011 Section: end of first paragraph. Retrieved May 27, 2011.Gulliver's TravelsVideoETA
"Section: On Video/DVD". Retrieved May 27, 2011.

Plot

Depressed by his dead-end job in the mail room of a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

newspaper,

Lemuel Gulliver Lemuel Gulliver () is the fictional protagonist and narrator of ''Gulliver's Travels'', a novel written by Jonathan Swift, first published in 1726. In ''Gulliver's Travels'' According to Swift's novel, Gulliver was born in Nottinghamshire c. ...

decides to impress journalist Darcy Silverman. He convinces her he can write a report about his (false) extensive world "travels.” After suffering

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

and thinking that Darcy will not want to hang out with a "guy from the mailroom", Gulliver plagiarises a report. The next day, Darcy, impressed by his writing, presents Gulliver with a new task – to travel to the

Bermuda Triangle The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region in the North Atlantic Ocean, roughly bounded by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Since the mid-20th century, it has been the focus of an urban legend sug ...

and write an article about the legends of ships mysteriously disappearing there. Upon arriving in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, Gulliver rents a ship and travels into the triangle. After falling asleep at the helm, he is caught in a storm and the ship is overwhelmed by a

waterspout A waterspout is a rotating column of air that occurs over a body of water, usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud in contact with the water and a cumuliform cloud. There are two types of waterspout, each formed by distinct mechanisms. ...

. Gulliver washes up unconscious on the shore of Lilliput, where he is seen as a "beast" by the town's tiny people. After the citizens claim him to be dangerous because of his size, Gulliver is imprisoned in a cave. There, he meets another prisoner named Horatio, who was jailed by General Edward because he loves Princess Mary of Lilliput, whom Edward is pursuing. After the island across from Lilliput, Blefuscia, orders some commandos to kidnap Princess Mary, Gulliver breaks free and rescues the princess from being kidnapped. He also saves her father, King Theodore, from a fire by urinating on it. Gulliver is declared a hero by Lilliput's citizens and lies that he is the President of Manhattan. Edward becomes enraged by the luxurious accommodations that have been built for Gulliver and for being presented as an honorary

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the Lilliputian Army. The next day, the Blefuscian Navy lays siege to the city when Edward shuts down its defense system as revenge for Gulliver's treatment. Gulliver defeats the armada, invulnerable to the cannonballs being fired at him. Embarrassed, and with Mary no longer wanting anything to do with him, Edward defects to the Blefuscians and brings blueprints of a robot he made from a page from Gulliver's '' Guitar Hero III'' game manual. The Blefuscians secretly build the robot, with Edward as the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. The Blefuscians invade Lilliput, and the robot-wielding Edward makes Gulliver admit to the people that he is "just the guy from the mail-room". Edward banishes Gulliver to the shores of "the island where we dare not go" ( Brobdingnag), where he is captured by a "little" girl ( Glumdalclitch) who towers over him while Edward begins renaming Lilliput "New Blefuscia". Gulliver wakes in a pink dress in a dollhouse, and the girl treats him as a doll, playing with him roughly. Horatio, who has gone to find Gulliver after being spurned by Mary, reveals to Gulliver that Darcy was imprisoned by the Blefuscians after she was lost in the Bermuda Triangle in the same manner as Gulliver. Gulliver escapes with him, using a

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

that he took from the skeleton of a dead U.S. Air Force pilot sitting in the dollhouse. Accepting a duel from Edward, Gulliver defeats him with the assistance of Horatio, who disables the machine's electrocuting weapon. Horatio is hailed a hero and gets King Theodore's permission to court the princess. Edward threatens to kill the princess, but she punches him in the face. When King Theodore sentences all Blefuscians to the gallows or to prepare for war, Gulliver helps to make peace between the rival island-nations by reciting

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

's "

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

" so the two nations can become one island nation, and he and Darcy return to New York City on their repaired ship. Gulliver, now a legitimate travel writer, takes Darcy to lunch, after returning from another travel assignment.

Cast

, a mail-room worker who becomes a journalist after plagiarizing a report and winds up in Lilliput after encountering a storm * Jason Segel as Horatio, Lilliput's tallest man who Gulliver befriends *

as Princess Mary, the princess of Lilliput and King Theodore's daughter * Amanda Peet as Darcy Silverman, a journalist and Gulliver's girlfriend * Billy Connolly as King Theodore, the king of Lilliput and Mary's father * Chris O'Dowd as General Edward Edwardian, the commander of the Lilliput Army who begins despising Gulliver * T.J. Miller as Dan Quint * James Corden as Jinks * Catherine Tate as Queen Isabelle, the queen of Lilliput and Mary's mother *

Olly Alexander Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is an English singer, actor and List of LGBTQ rights activists, LGBTQ activist who rose to prominence as the lead singer of the English pop band Years & Years, who achieved two No. 1 albums on the U ...

as Prince August, the prince of Lilliput and Mary's brother (cut from theatrical version, but listed in end credits)

Production

Cote Zellers created and directed a series of segments for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

's animated sketch comedy anthology series '' KaBlam!'' called ''Prometheus and Bob'', and a film based on the segment was considered and announced in 1998, with Joe Stillman as a screenwriter. While that film was ultimately cancelled, Zellers would say in 2019 that "a lot of those ideas from that ''Prometheus And Bob'' script showed up in that really horrible

''Gulliver’s Travels'' movie". In a January 2010 interview on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...

'', Jason Segel explained his character spends most of the film in Black's shirt pocket. The film features 7.1 surround audio in select theaters. The name of Liliput's rival country, Blefuscu, was also changed to Blefuscia. Filming of the Lilliput royal palace was at Blenheim Palace. Miniature 1:12 scale dolls' house furniture and accessories from Derbyshire firm The Dolls House Emporium were used to bring the movie alive with less need for special effects. Jonathan Swift, the original author of the novel on which the film was loosely based, is not mentioned during the credits, despite the titles mentioning that the film is not an original piece. According to co-star

, Blunt was originally cast as Black Widow in '' Iron Man 2'', but had to drop out due to her commitment to do this film. During her interview on

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was radio syndication, nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WINS-FM, WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The sho ...

on May 11, 2021, Blunt revealed to Howard Stern that she was forced by contractual obligation to appear, because of a two-picture deal with Fox when she starred in '' The Devil Wears Prada''.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album of Henry Jackman's score was released by Varese Sarabande. Rock music and film themes that appear in the film include: * " Rock and Roll All Nite" – Performed by

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

* "Listen To Mama" – Performed by Walkerman * "Rose's Theme" – Written by

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...

* " The Imperial March" – Written by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

* "

Sweet Child o' Mine "Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released on their debut studio album, '' Appetite for Destruction'' (1987). In the United States, the song was released in June 1988, topping the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 cha ...

" – Performed by

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

* "

" – Performed by Taylor Graves * "

" – Written by

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...

(as Norman J. Whitfield) and

Barrett Strong Barrett Strong Jr. (February 5, 1941 – January 28, 2023) was an American singer and songwriter known for his recording of "Money (That's What I Want)", which was the first hit single for the Motown record label. He is also known for his songw ...

* "(I Keep On) Rising Up" – Written and Performed by Mike Doughty

Release

Marketing

The official trailer for the film was released on June 3, 2010; and attached to ''

Marmaduke ''Marmaduke'' is a newspaper comic strip revolving around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke, drawn by Brad Anderson (cartoonist), Brad Anderson from November 15, 1954 to 2015. Publication history The strip was created by wri ...

'' a day after. The second trailer was released on November 5, 2010, and it is also attached with ''

Megamind ''Megamind'' is a 2010 American animated superhero comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Pacific Data Images, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, ...

''. As a prize on the television show '' Survivor: Nicaragua'', four of its contestants were able to watch the film before its release. Originally scheduled for release on June 4, 2010, it was pushed back to December 24, 2010 and later changed once again to December 22, 2010. 20th Century Fox later announced on March 23, 2010, that the film would be converted to 3D. On December 13, 20th Century Fox announced that it would again move the release date, this time to December 25, 2010. The film was accompanied by an ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

'' short titled ''Scrat's Continental Crack-up''.

Home media

''Gulliver's Travels'' was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on April 19, 2011, by

and it was released on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

on May 21, 2021.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 19% based on 119 reviews, with an average rating of 4.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though Jack Black is back doing what he does best, ''Gulliver's Travels'' largely fails to do any justice to its source material, relying instead on juvenile humor and special effects." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 33 out of 100 based on reviews from 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' commented that "any sense of fun slowly drains away as the movie insists on highlighting effects over character and story" while '' Time Out'' gave it 2 out of 5 stars, commenting that the film "veers between the very mildly chucklesome and plain not funny." ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

'' called it "a movie of such stupendous uninspiration" that it was "monumentally dreadful" and the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' called it "cute" but "sleep-inducing." ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' rated the film 1.5 out of 4 stars and ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' rated 2 out of 5 stars calling it "a low-grade comedy that'll have Jonathan Swift turning in his grave." Conversely,

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

commented that knowing whom the film is for, and whom it is not for, might help viewers appreciate it. He awarded the film three out of four stars.

has openly slighted the film, especially since she was forced to turn down the role of Natasha Romanoff in '' Iron Man 2'' for it. While promoting '' The Fall Guy'',

Ryan Gosling Ryan Thomas Gosling ( ; born November 12, 1980) is a Canadian actor. His work includes both independent films and major studio features, and his accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, a ...

brought up ''Gulliver's Travels'', causing Blunt to respond, "We do not talk about that film."

Box office

''Gulliver's Travels'' opened to $6.3 million for its opening weekend, landing at #8 in the US; this ranks it as the 84th worst opening for a film with a wide release tracked by

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray ...

. The film grossed $42.8 million in the US and Canada and $194.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $237.4 million against a production budget of $112 million.

Awards

received a nomination for favorite movie actor at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards, losing to

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

. Black was also nominated for a

Golden Raspberry Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John ...

for Worst Actor, losing to Ashton Kutcher. Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor: 2010

References

External links

* * *
Some of the real dolls' house items used in the film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulliver's Travels (2010 Film) 2010 films 2010 3D films 2010s adventure comedy films 2010s children's comedy films 2010s children's fantasy films 2010s fantasy adventure films 2010s fantasy comedy films 20th Century Fox films American adventure comedy films British adventure comedy films American fantasy adventure films British fantasy adventure films Davis Entertainment films Dune Entertainment films Films based on Gulliver's Travels Films directed by Rob Letterman Films produced by Gregory Goodman Films produced by John Davis Films scored by Henry Jackman Films with screenplays by Joe Stillman Films with screenplays by Nicholas Stoller Films set in the Bermuda Triangle Films set in New York City Films shot in England Films shot in Oxfordshire Films shot at Pinewood Studios 2010 comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films English-language fantasy adventure films English-language fantasy comedy films English-language adventure comedy films